In SEKIRO, why did you choose to have both experience points and money? What would be the use of each?
In the ”Soul" series, money and experience points were one and the same. This time, we've made them separate. One of the major reason for that is that people get bored if resource management is the same. This time, players will use money as such and experience points for skills. That's the idea. Players who got lost in the skill points had a lot of fun this time too.
As for the difference in use, regarding experience points or skill points, we have what's called a skill tree in which players can choose which skill or which ability they want. As for money, it will be used as such, so players will find a shop and they can buy items there. I'm repeating myself, but the game is designed so that it will be fun to get lost in the skill tree. But this time, players will not get lost with how to use money.
It will be possible to get resurrected at the place where one died via the "Kaisei" system (respawn), but will there be any penalty?
We haven't included major penalties in the Kaisei system itself. This game is an extremely difficult one. In the fights between ninjas as we imagine it, there will always be the risk of death and players will be sitting at the edge of their seat each time and go from one thrilling fight to the next, so in order to realize this, we ended with a game in which players die a lot (laughs). If you die too often, the tempo of the game gets bad. Because you cannot maintain an appropriate tempo if players have to restart on and on, so in order to realize both ninja fights that will have you sit at the edge or your seat and a game with a pleasant tempo, we have introduced the Kaisei system which allows to restart on the spot where you died.
It goes without saying that there is no tension if you can respawn as much as you want, so we've set a certain limit to the number of times you can respawn by making players use a certain amount of resources to do so, you also won't be able to respawn for a certain time right after you respawned, so for example, even if you still have Kaisei points left, you won't be allowed to keep dying at the same place. So in this sense, we've been careful not to let the game become meaningless by using Kaisei at will. We actually use that system to our advantage, and it gives us an excuse: we've given you the Kaisei system, so we're allowed to make the game difficult, amirite? (laugh)
In the demo earlier, the number of Kaisei was limited to two, how will it be in the actual game? Will it also be limited to two times?
In principle, that's the idea. We could have raised that number, but it's never going to be like 10 times.
In the presentation of the game, the prostethic arm was emphasized, but isn't there a risk that the presence of this arm gets overshadowed by skills or upgraded items later in the game? Likewise,isn't there a similar risk for the sword "Fushi-giri" (literally "Immortal cutter") which the players carry in their right hand? Or will it be possible to upgrade it and continue using it until the end?
Regarding the prostethic arm, the fact that the emphasis is put on skills is due to the way the promotion video was made, but the artificial arm will be used as a special feature throughout the game until the end. It will define the player's style and it will be a large element of choices and I consider it as the most important element that expresses the element of surprise that the ninjas have in this game.
Regarding the sword "Fushi-giri", of course it will be possible to fight using it, but it will more act as a key item from a narrative point of view. SEKIRO itself has two character variations, the basic sword skills and the skills. Then for the show-off and surprising effect, the players will be able to choose variations using the prostethic arm.
If I may add one more thing, it's about the available strategic options. The efficiency of strategic options against enemies in each situation has been configured strongly than in previous games. So it will be important to decide how you are going to take an opponent and in which situation you are going to do that. In this sense and compared to previous games, in SEKIRO, players will have to use all the elements that we have prepared to overcome the challenges.
Unlike Bloodbourne, SEKIRO is inspired by Japan, so is there any specific reaason for that?
There are several reasons we included Japanese elements, but one of them is that FROM has always been making games with a Japanese theme. So it's nothing spectacular, but it's true that we had discussions like "shouldn't we make a game with a Japanese theme soon?" (laugh)
Seriously though, I can tell you about two main reasons. The first one is about the worldview and the artistic perspective, when I was thinking that I would like to create a new sensational world, I thought that it would be possible to do that in a Japanese setting. The other major reason is that when we finished creating Bloodbourne, I realized that the ninjas would be the best for the game that I want to make which would have a map with routes going up and down for example, and as characters to express the game design concept, reality and seriousness that I want to portray. For example, a knight in full armour sliding down a wire, that would look silly, but if a ninja did that it would still look cool and plausible, and I thought that it would be possible to make a cool game even if they jump left and right. So it's the appeal of the ninja as a character and it fit with the game I wanted to make.
The protagonists until now were very good at melee combat, but the hero this time, being a ninja, will it be possible to set up traps and do ninja stuff like that?
I see what you're saying. I think the ninja aspect can take various forms, so in that sense, you'll be able to hide and sneak on your enemy or throw shurikens, but he's probably relying more on sword skills than ninja usually do. Honestly, you could totally just sneak around, but I hope people will enjoy the different aspects. Our ninjas fight more aggressively than the traditional ninja, so it's a bit like anything goes, using the environment or different weapons and what we eventually propose is to put yourself in a dangerous situation and make it out of it. We didn't try to emulate the traditional ninja. Personally, when I think about ninja, I imagine something along the lines of Yamada Futaro, so I'm biased (laugh).
For example, the stealth elements are positioned in anticipation of a full-on fight and it's all about how the player will use it to his advantage. We could have made a game in which stealth is the correct answer and if you get caught it ws the wrong answer, like stealth games do, but in our game, eventually it will be a brawl, so stealth is more about how you use it to have an advantage in the brawl or how you take a moment to cool down during a fight.
Will the ending change depending on the conditions as in previous games?
Yes, SEKIRO has multiple endings. It is like in previous games if you want, but this time it's even more rooted in the story.
Will there be anything to look forward to in the second run?
Yes, we have included replay value and each run through will get harder.
You did mention the concept of speed run, so will there be a ranking of sorts?
The game will not have support for RTA elements or a discussion board. We are not designing games thinking about RTA ever since Demon Souls. Personally, I like watching RTA, but that's what I'm aiming for, even when I notice how people skip past something or how they make shortcuts. I'm keeping my distance from this. If we started planning or designing the game with that in mind, playrrs will eventually think that we stop enjoying RTA, but that's not what we are after. I'm looking forward to seeing how people do RTA in the game that we've made. Honestly, nobody on staff can do a speed run or anything that those players do. (laugh)
Io adoro gli action ... day one per me. I giochi della from non sono impossibili basta un po' di pazienza e studiare perfettamente i movimenti dei nemici. Vedrai che i riflessi miglioreranno con l'allenamento.
