At Anime Expo 2018, Siliconera spoke with APlus Games’ director Hideaki Mizota, Arc System Works producer Toshimichi Mori, Studio Trigger producer Hiromi Wakabayashi to talk about the game and the partnership behind its making.
Siliconera: Can you tell us about the gameplay in Kill la Kill: The Game?
Hideaki Mizota, Director from APlus Games: It is an action fighting game in 3D space, primarily one on one fighting. At our panel tomorrow, we’re going to reveal gameplay footage that has the characters moving in their environments.
There isn’t a ring out mechanic. A game that would play similarly is the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm series. It has a similar feel. What we wanted to do is take elements from the story that may or may not have existed and put them in a one on one scenario. To be able to express that, 3D space was the decision that was made.
With Arc System Works overseeing the development, their keyword for the game was “fun.” A lot of weight was put into how fun it is. There won’t be RPG elements in Kill la Kill: The Game.
What advice did Arc System Works suggest to achieve that goal?
Hideaki Mizota: We’re getting a lot of advice on the visual aspect as well as the playablity of the game. In developing an action fighting game, we thought about the balance of different characters, but Arc System Works pulled us back to look at the bigger picture. The game needs to be fun even if you’re playing it by yourself first and then we can think about balance.
Toshimichi Mori, Producer at Arc System Works: In terms of visuals, I think Trigger is more strict than we are! [Laughs]
At Arc System Works, the idea of the game feeling good the moment you pick up the controller when you’re moving around is important. I think this is true with the anime industry as well I’ve heard people decide with one episode to follow an anime or not. I think in the world of video games the distinction is made in the first 30 to 60 seconds when picking up the controller. It’s really important to get the feeling right.
Is the story a what if scenario for the anime?
Hiromi Wakabayashi, Producer for Studio Trigger: Let’s say your working theory is on track. If you take a look at the poster and the title and make a deduction, I think you’ll be on the right track there.
Will we see parts of the original series in the game?
Hiromi Wakabayashi: I think bits and pieces of the story from the anime will be in the game and then some. [Laughs]
Will characters be able to wear different Life Fibers?
Hideaki Mizota: I wouldn’t go as far to say as you can customize characters, but with certain characters there are going to be some different skins you can fit. These will affect gameplay too.
What game modes will Kill la Kill: The Game have?
Hideaki Mizota: In terms of modes, with Arc System Works help it’s been close to what Arc System Works has done in the past. In terms of the gameplay mechanics, there are going to be cool systems we have. One is where what the players are feeling at the moment is going to be recreated as dialogue or taunt.
Can you tell us more about this system?
Hideaki Mizota: [Laughs] I can’t go into too much detail this moment, but maybe you can imagine what you felt and saw in the anime, we are tackling the challenge of recreating that feeling now and have players control it.
Hiromi Wakabayashi: As a fan, picking your dialogue will be an element fans will have a lot of fun with.
Hideaki Mizota: There are quite a few lines that are prepared, but that’s all I can say for now. It will be fun!
Are there any characters or storylines that you had a chance to explore more in the game that didn’t have as much screen time in the anime?
Hiromi Wakabayashi: I think one example is the Elite Four. When you think about, I don’t think they had too much time fighting in the anime. Fans will be able to pick their favorite character and explore their moves.
[Laughs] I think I recall seeing some special attacks in the game that weren’t in the anime.
Hideaki Mizota: That’s true.
Who got to create these new attacks and moves?
Hiromi Wakabayashi: I think it’s a partnership in that regard. Of course, there were some ideas we couldn’t do on TV, but we could try in a game. I think it’s been a good development.
Could you tell us more about the partnership when working together?
Hiromi Wakabayashi: The dialogue mechanic came from APlus Games and Arc System Works. What I think they were able to do, and we’re not video game makers, we were focused on the story and fighting and they presented a fresh perspective and transforming part of the anime into a gameplay mechanic.
Hideaki Mizota: In the trailer, you’re going to see Satsuki and Ryuko fight and there is this one scene from Satsuki’s shoulder where she launches these things, which doesn’t appear in the anime. That was something me and Sushio [Kill la Kill animator] said let’s try it out because we can do anything inside a game.
This is kind of a challenge we’re going through now. It feels like a line in the sand has been moved to take on new things and gave us new courage to show what these characters can do.
Kill la Kill: The Game IF releases in 2019 for PlayStation 4 and PC. You can check out its latest trailer and screenshots in our previous report.
