Granblue Fantasy: Relink and Versus: Rising Interview with Tetsuya Fukuhara and Yasuyuki Kaji

Gematsu recently sat down with Granblue Fantasy General Manager Tetsuya Fukuhara and Granblue Fantasy: Reconnection Director Yasuyuki Kaji to discuss action RPGs Granblue Fantasy: Reconnect and fighting game Granblue Fantasy vs.: Ascension While Cygames begins promotional activities for its console and PC games.

Granblue Fantasy vs.: Ascension It is scheduled to be released for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and PC via steam On November 30, 2023, w Granblue Fantasy: Reconnection It is scheduled to be released for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and PC via steam On February 1, 2024.

Read the interview below.

Jimatsu: Granlue Fantasy: Reconnect It was announced in 2016 and faced many delays, even shifting developers from PlatinumGames to Cygames Osaka. Can you guys talk a little bit about that long period of development and what it was like when you took over full development from PlatinumGames?

tetsuya Fukuhara, Granblue Fantasy General Director: “In terms of working at PlatinumGames initially, there were contracts coming to an end and organizational things that needed to be rebuilt, so the fact that we stopped developing with PlatinumGames wasn’t a negative at all. There was no fall or anything like that. It was more about scheduling. As the game began to expand, and the amount of content we began to put into the game increased, we decided that this amount would have to be handled by Cygames on its own, as PlatinumGames had other games on its agenda to start preparing for. So, with their schedule in mind, he took over development at Cygames Osaka. And originally, the Cygames Osaka team didn’t have enough organizational strength or numbers to support a game of this caliber, so we really had to start from the beginning – get the structure together to get game development like this off the ground.”

Given that such a long time has passed, do you feel any pressure to live up to expectations? Did you know that delivering a game fans might think was “worth the seven-year wait”?

Fukuhara: “The pressure is something we are very used to. Speaking as the director of the original mobile game, I can say that when we decided to do the anime, which came out two years after we announced it, as well Reverse, which also came out two years after announcing, I always feel pressure when announcing something – because in the world of mobile games, we don’t actually know how long something will be after it’s announced. Especially when you’re talking about mobile game sideshows. So, I’m very aware of the pressures that this puts.”

I know there have been comments from the community regarding some of the changes in the Granblue Fantasy vs.: Ascension– Especially the simplified control system. Street Fighter 6The new control system has been very well received, so I was curious if that had something to do with the changes that were made Granblue Fantasy vs.: Ascension.

Fukuhara: “Street Fighter 6Modern controls weren’t really a factor in our decision to change how simple inputs work Granblue Fantasy vs.: Ascension. I also personally think it was interesting to watch the reactions among fans from Japan and abroad regarding this change.

How did the reactions differ between Japan and abroad?

Fukuhara: “For foreign players, it seems like we got a lot of feedback in terms of the simple inputs, and how the actual process of learning the more technical controls is part of the fun, while the Japanese response has been kind of the opposite, where the practice is not really The fun part is not getting better at the game, but rather the actual strategy and gameplay itself Street Fighter 6You may see some high level players using modern controls. If you’ve seen an EVO, I think some of them were using modern controls — while some foreign players, or I think non-Japanese players, were using classic controls even though they were quite new to finding them. So it was really interesting to see and discover.

One of the announcements that surprised a lot of people was the decision to offer a free version. The original game didn’t offer a free version, so I wonder why you decided to do that now Granblue Fantasy vs.: Ascension.

Fukuhara: “Releasing a free version was actually something we wanted to do with the previous version, but we couldn’t do it for a variety of reasons, unfortunately. And so this time with Granblue Fantasy vs.: AscensionWe definitely wanted, as mentioned earlier, to up the game in every possible aspect. This included doing things we couldn’t do before, like releasing a free copy of the game. This isn’t something you often see in the fighting game genre, so Cygames as a company wanted to challenge this and see where it would go.

“Grand Bruise Legends” is a new mode that is not focused on fighting games. Are you hoping to attract new players through this mode? For example, players are looking for something more attractive Fall guys-Kind of experience, who might end up checking out a fighting game with that?

Fukuhara: “Fall guys It wasn’t really part of the equation in the discussion to create “Grand Bruise Legends”. Granblue Fantasy vs.: Ascension It’s a spin-off of the original mobile game, so of course there will be a lot of players who might not be familiar with fighting games. When it comes to fighting games, there will always be some people who keep winning, but there will also be some people who lose most of their matches, so we didn’t want to create an entirely negative experience for those who jump in on this as a Granblue Fantasy Fan just trying to experience Granblue Fantasy The universe in a casual game. The only thing that was well received in the previous game was the avatars you could use in the online lobbies, and a lot of players thought it was really nice, so we thought maybe we should do something about that. And that was kind of the catalyst for the creation of what we now know as “Grand Bruise Legends.” So it was just something we wanted to offer as a form of stress relief for people who want to have fun Granblue Fantasy vs.: Ascension as an occasional game.”

Jump back to re-engagementYou said earlier that post-launch content was planned, I believe it was at Anime Expo. Since you guys just announced the release date and the digital deluxe edition, and we haven’t seen any paid downloadable content as part of that, can you talk about what kind of post-launch content is planned? Will it be free?

Fukuhara: “We’re still a bit far from the release date, so we don’t have anything to announce at this time.”

Another thing you guys discussed at Anime Expo, as well as today, is the general flow of the game – moving from the central city, riding on the Grandcyhper, progressing through the stages, etc. Can you talk a little bit about how the story progresses? Are there any kind of areas between stages that you visit? Or other hub cities in addition to the main city we saw?

yasuyuki Kage, Granblue Fantasy: Reconnection exit: In terms of other hubs to travel from, I think the trailers might indicate there might be more out there, but I don’t want to spoil anything right now. In terms of progression through the scenario, rather than it being quest or mission based progression, there are more A campaign mode where, as you progress through the story, more and more things will keep happening. So instead of moving back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, you can only progress continuously through the scenario. But as you progress through the scenario, you can go back to your base in Any time to engage in some multiplayer mission or something else while playing.

Can any of the story missions be played in multiplayer?

Kage: The main story is for one player only, but the missions can be played by up to four players.

Can you guys talk a little bit about RPG elements? Gear, Equipment, Level Up and Learn New Skills – Do you learn new skills as you level up? Do you earn points that can be allocated to learning skills?

Kage: “Among the things that we have already announced, there are levels for characters, and as you level up, their base stats will increase. In addition to levels, each character has their own upgrade path. When you unlock nodes in this upgrade path, you can increase their basic parameters, and this is where they learn skills Also.In addition, you can customize your character build by equipping weapons and tags.We have more to share in the future, but for now, this is how you can customize your character with RPG elements.In addition, the other important element is that you You will be able to upgrade your weapon.This provides another way to incorporate RPG elements.

the Granblue Fantasy Mobile game promotional codes included Granblue Fantasy vs.: Ascension Limited to PlayStation versions. Is there any reason why these codes are not also included in the Steam version?

Seiges representative: “So we can’t actually answer that. Sorry.”

Are you guys going to launch the mobile game on the App Store in the West?

Fukuhara: So we don’t currently have plans to release it on the App Store, but you can play the game on a browser from your smartphone or on PC. So, it doesn’t look like the gameplay will change if we release it on the App Store. So for those who are interested in the game, we recommend going for the browser. .