Exclusive Interview: Oi 'Mush! - Capcom's Inafune speaks
Thursday 10-Jun-2004 4:40 PM The gaming legend gives us the low down on Onimusha, Shadow of Rome and PSP-vs-DS Kejji Inafune is a gaming legend. Creator of the splendid Mega Man series, his epic Onimusha trilogy will finally come to a blood-soaked, demon-slaying climax this month as Onimusha 3 gets its UK and European release.
However, Onimusha is just one of many strings on Inafune-san's bow, as no sooner is Onimusha 3 dispatched than he's already plotting his next move with the epic Shadow of Rome, one of our underground sleeper hits from E3.
So when we were offered a chance to sit down and have a chat with the great man, you can bet we almost bit Capcom's arm off. So join us for this exclusive chat, where we discover Inafune-san's thoughts on the Onimusha trilogy, where he stands on the PSP-versus-DS debate and why he's determined to bring the delights of Ben Hur-style Chariot racing to the PS2.
Interview by John Houlihan
Onimusha 3 has been out in the US and Japan for a little while now and of course we saw some of it at E3 - how do you feel it's been received?
Inafune-san: Yes, it was released at the end of April and also exhibited at E3, but E3 was just really to check that all was okay with it. We already have information that the press scores are very high in the US, but we haven't finished counting how many or how sales are going. Still, I'm hoping that it will sell and do well. I'm very pleased with it.
Onimusha 3's opening cinematic scene is one of the most amazing game openings we've ever seen - how long did it take to make?
Inafune-san: Well if you consider it is only about six minutes long, it took two whole years to make. Approximately one hundred people were involved in making it, all for just those six minutes!
This is the first full 3D Onimusha game: how difficult was it to make that transition?
Inafune-san: The game engine in Onimusha 3 is very different from the game engine of Onimusha 2 and I think that was one of the most difficult factors in making the game. It was certainly one of the biggest challenges we faced when moving onto this title.
Onimusha 3 flips from ancient Japan to modern day France - are you pleased with the way that time slip game mechanic works?
Inafune-san: The time slip element could be a big surprise for the audience and therefore it was not very easy to make it convincing. I think if we had got that wrong, the whole game could have fallen apart.
But the trick was when Jacques and Samanosuke warped from past to present and vice-versa, there is ten day's difference in game time, which allowed us to do some interesting things. In the end I am very happy with the way the time slip mechanism works in the game.
What was it like working with Jean Reno and Takeshi Kaneshiro?
Inafune-san: Well, my mission is to keep on making games in the games industry, but when these two actors were invited to collaborate in making the game, we also invited many people from the movie industry like CG movie Director Takashi Yamasaki and CG movie action Director Donnie Yen [Blade 2] to collaborate also.
This helped immensely, because they had real expertise in the process of making movies and they brought that knowledge directly into the game. When it comes to making improvements to games in the future, I think that working with movie techniques and actors may be a big part of my plans.
You've said Onimusha 3 marks the end of the Onimusha trilogy. How do you look back on all three games now and how the series has developed overall?
Inafune-san: From the beginning I always thought of Onimusha as a trilogy of three very separate but linked games, with a definite end in sight. This theme was always respected when we discussed making the series.
Each of these three titles has its own theme and I was always thinking about this three-part structure as we made each game. It was always accepted that this was the case, and I am very pleased with the way the story has slowly developed to this climax. It has been very satisfactory to watch things slowly build up throughout the series.
Structure-wise it really helped from the beginning to be able to allocate resources and I think it has been pleasing to finish with a fully three-dimensional game, with all the appropriate effects, a lot of substance and in the end quite a long, involved story. I think its appropriate to finish with a really nice 3D graphical style. I am very happy with the ending. Onimusha 3 is a very happy ending for the series.
Onimusha has a legion of fans from all over the world. Tell us, is this really the end?
Inafune-san: All these voices, like you say, have been asking, is this really the end? Every day since Onimusha has been released, I have heard "Is this really the end?" And these voices have been getting louder and louder.
Well I can say, yes it is, the finish, final, the end... As a trilogy. [laughs]
But these fans must be respected, so maybe in a different way there might be a new Onimusha title. This might not be the end and if the clamour continues, a new Onimusha may re-appear... In some form... Probably. [laughs]
Excellent news, well we won't give up hope yet then. However the big story at this year's E3 was the battle of the handhelds: Nintendo's DS versus Sony's PSP. What do you think of the prospects for the handheld market and those new technologies?
Inafune-san: I am very positive about both new pieces of hardware. But the characteristics of the PSP and the DS are quite different.
I think the PSP will probably be the one for us to focus on more because it is said that with that type of handheld, PS2 class games can be played.
On the other hand, the DS may just have the capability of an N64 but with the dual screens and the touch panels, there may be an opportunity for some interesting new types of game to be made which have different aspects.
At E3 we saw another of your games, Shadow of Rome, which was very impressive. What inspired you to create that title?
Inafune-san: After making Onimusha for quite a while, which is a very hack and slash kind of game which sees you battling a lot of supernatural monsters, I wanted to try something new.
Well in Shadow of Rome, there are no monsters at all, but your opponents are all human beings and I wanted a new challenge, to challenge myself with a title where the opponents are human.
The concept of the game itself is going to be very different, because we're showing and describing human beings. I wanted to try something which is not a fantasy hack and slash, but focuses more on realistic, historical style fighting.
In both Shadow and Onimusha 3 you seem to concentrating more on the human element. Is storyline and plot becoming more important to gaming?
Inafune-san: A lot of the visions I have for games are derived from movies, therefore I think that storyline has to be very solid and interesting. Games don't necessarily have to have a storyline, but as far as Inafune games are concerned, storyline is always going to be very important.
Which movies influenced you in creating Shadow of Rome?
Inafune-san: Well of course there's Gladiator and going back further Ben Hur was a big inspiration. But more than that, I visited Rome and looking around the ancient monuments, my mind was inspired by what I saw.
Is Rome itself the third star of Shadow of Rome? What kind of research did you do to bring it to life?
Inafune-san: Well, I was hugely impressed by modern Rome itself, but I also studied many more Roman ruins and monuments in the course of my visit. The Roman empire was spread across such a wide range of countries which I also visited. Of course I also read a lot of information on ancient Rome and historical documents and histories from the ancient world etc.
Not only the backgrounds and buildings which you can see, but also the Roman style of fighting and the way that they fought was very interesting to me. We conducted a lot of very precise research to get that right. It is very different from my other games.
How much fun was it creating the chariot racing?
Inafune-san: Well, my big inspiration for that was the chariot racing from Ben Hur, but it's my ambition to create chariot racing in Shadow of Rome which is even more impressive than that! I am going to make it even more dynamic than when Charlton Heston raced. It's one aspect of the game that I'm really enjoying working on!
We've heard that Shadow of Rome will adapt to the player's style - is this true?
Inafune-san: It is true that there are two types or main ways of playing the game, either by strength and force of arms when you play Agrippa, or a more stealthy approach when you play as Octavius.
If you play as Agrippa you'll enjoy a more action-packed style of play, however if you choose to play as Octavius, you'll find a more story led, narrative approach. In this sense it will reflect your style of play.
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