This interview focuses on the scenario for Xenoblade Chronicles, so I’ll be speaking to the man responsible – the scenario writer, Takeda-san, alongside Takahashi-san. Thank you very much for joining me.

Thank you.

Let me start by asking about the models on the table. Takahashi-san, am I right in thinking these represent the point where Xenoblade Chronicles began?

That’s right. I was heading back to the office after a meeting, and as I was on the train, I was struck by the idea that it would be interesting to have people living on the enormous bodies of some kind of gods. That was where it all began.

Did it feel like that idea struck you out of nowhere?

Yes. As soon as I was back to the office, I got the idea down on a piece of paper before showing it to (Hirohide) Sugiura¹ and the others. They all thought it looked interesting, and (Yasuyuki) Honne² was good enough to offer to turn it into a 3D model. So he rushed out and bought lots of materials for creating dioramas and made it.

This model focuses on the two towering gods: Bionis and Mechonis. I’d also had an unrelated idea for a story, and I thought that if I could successfully combine the two, it might well make for an interesting RPG. This is how the planning process for Xenoblade Chronicles got started.

So we’ve heard how the development of Xenoblade Chronicles got started. Could you explain the process by which Takeda-san came to work on the scenario alongside you?

As I was Executive Director for this project, I knew that my workload was going to get pretty heavy. To make the development process more efficient, I thought it would be a good idea to have a partner with whom to collaborate on the scenario. That’s when I got in touch with Takeda-san, whom I’d known for ten years.

Was this the first time you had worked together this closely?

After the first episode of Xenosaga³, we collaborated on the scenario for audio and anime versions. But in terms of working together on something of this scale, this was a first for us.

I’d like to ask you, Takeda-san, what kind of projects you have worked on as a scenario writer up to now?

Most of my work has been writing scenarios for anime⁴. I have also worked on a number of games, but my job was to take the original animation scenario and create a base scenario which could then be made into a game. In terms of working on the entire scenario for a game, as I did on this project, my first experience was the Nintendo DS version of Xenosaga⁵. This project was the second.

I see. While we’re on the subject, I wonder if you could tell me what writing scenarios for anime and writing for video games has in common, and how it differs. I’m sorry if that seems like rather a naïve question...

No, not at all. What scenarios for anime and games have in common is that you have to come up with a story and lines that will really draw people in emotionally.

So they both share the need for that dramatic element.

That’s right. But there are a lot of differences on the technical side. With an animated feature, there are time restrictions, and you have to create a drama that will fit within those designated limits. I’d say the biggest difference between working on video games and writing for anime is this restriction on volume.

I see. So for instance, with a half-hour episode of an anime series, you may only have 22 minutes of broadcast time. This means you have to construct a story that will fit within those 22 short minutes, demanding the technical skill to get those dramatic moments and climaxes at the exact right moments.

Right. It means, for instance, that you will put an exciting development just before the commercial break, or have a cliffhanger to make people want to watch the next instalment. You need to use these sorts of techniques. On the other hand, with video games, you can fit a large-scale story in there, and there aren’t really any limitations. It’s nice for a scenario writer to be able to write to their heart’s content.

Would you say that when working on games, though the restrictions on volume may have been removed, that you feel conscious instead of the limitations of your powers of expression?

I would say so. But at the same time, games are now capable of communicating so much expressive power that I don’t really feel overly conscious of those limitations. Having said that, there are very particular issues that come into play due to the fact that the player is controlling the action himself. For instance, when working on the scenario for Xenoblade Chronicles, I considered the idea of having one of the hero’s allies, who had always stood beside him, becoming the enemy you face at the end.

So though you’d always thought he was an ally, at the very end, he would turn out to be your enemy.

Right. But when I floated this idea to Takahashi-san, he thought that it would be pretty galling in a game if an ally that you had been through all sorts of adventures with, and constantly worked on building up their experience, ended up leaving your party and becoming your enemy.

From the player’s perspective, you’d feel betrayed if the character you’d looked out for and levelled-up turned out to be an enemy.

Precisely. It might be easy to make that kind of plot development work in an animated series, but video games present a range of difficulties due to their interactive element.

So there are limitations specific to games.

No matter which medium you are working in, there will be particular restrictions inherent in that medium. By thinking of this in terms of being bound to the medium by certain conventions, rather than being hampered by limitations, I was able to enjoy creating the scenario for this title.

Now, Takahashi-san, when it came to actually writing the scenario, how detailed were the instructions you were giving to Takeda-san?

I did not give any detailed instructions in the beginning. At the preliminary stage, I explained the basic premise to him and we agreed on the approach to take. We then took that as our base and conducted a to-and-fro discussion as if we were playing a game of catch.

So as the two of you played catch, the scenario steadily took shape.

That’s right. But it wasn’t just the two of us involved in that task. (Shingo) Kawabata⁶, the producer, and (Koh) Kojima⁷, the director, also took part as it was important not to simply look from the viewpoint of the scenario writer, but also to see things from the dev team’s perspective. Takeda-san worked on a general overview of the plot, which I then gave to the Monolith team to check over and revise. I then gave that to Takeda-san, and he would do rewrites based on that. So we kept up that game of catch for some time.

Do you usually play these games of catch on your projects?

No, I haven’t done it all that often. I mean, there’s a time when you try to play catch where you throw the ball but not get it returned in the way you’d expected.

So I take it you’ve had past experiences where the ball didn’t come back in the way you wanted, and you wanted to say: ’No, not like that!’ (laughs)

Right. It would be something like: ‘Where did you throw it!?’ (laughs) That’s why, when you play catch, you need someone who is at least as experienced as you are, otherwise it won’t go according to plan.

Also, when you’re creating something, you need to play catch with a partner who understands what you’re doing and who has something that you yourself lack. Otherwise, it can be really draining.

That’s true. So to put it another way, when you find someone who has a range of abilities that you don’t possess yourself, you’re going to want to play catch with them.

And that person was Takeda-san?

Yes, that’s right. I hadn’t really come across someone like him before, and he was good enough to throw that ball back to me really well. I really learned a lot. He also had the advantage of being able to offer the perspective of someone outside the gaming industry, having worked for so long in anime.

You said that someone from outside the industry was able to offer a different perspective, but can you give specific examples of this advantage coming into play?

For instance, for a 22-minute episode of an anime series, the script would be about 15,000 Japanese characters long. So if Takeda-san wrote a section of the scenario of that length, we’d know that this would make about 22 minutes worth of story content. This made it much easier to plan the overall structure and schedule.

I see.

Takeda-san spoke a little earlier about how, when he was working on anime scenarios, he would make the section leading into the commercial break or the cliffhanger at the end of an episode exciting. Well, when I came to read the scripts he wrote, I’d be able to tell: ‘Ah, okay. There’s a dramatic point here on the fourth page.’ When we were sifting through the cut scenes, deciding which ones to use, we would take pages three and four of the scenario to be about five minutes worth of material, and we would then steadily ramp up the excitement over that period. We could then judge how best to space out the cut scenes to keep costs down over the subsequent five minutes. In that way, we were able to use the script itself as a set of guidelines, which really helped.

So simply by looking at the script, you could get a clear image of how it would unfold when you made the actual game.

Yes, that’s right. And because Takeda-san came from the world of anime, I was most excited about what he’d do with the sections where the scripted lines were spoken. There are certain scenes where I’d think: ‘I want the characters to say this...’

So you had your own general idea of what kind of lines you wanted to tie the scenes together.

Right. But Takeda-san would come back with much better lines and scenes than I had managed to come up with. So I’d think: ‘Ah, so you’ve come up with this twist... You win!’ (laughs) Then I’d think: ‘Next time, I’ll come out on top!’ We constantly repeated that process.

That really is just like playing catch. When a ball comes back to you that surpasses what you predicted, it’s going to sting your hand a little when you catch it! (laughs) But you’re still happy about it, and you really want to throw a good ball back. Why do you think that this process ended up working so well? Just because both of you are really putting your energy into it, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to work out. Would you say that you just had a good connection, or that you shared similar opinions on what worked and what didn’t?

I’d say that the kind of genres we like are pretty similar, whether in novels or films.

Yes, that’s true. We share similar tastes. What we consider important as consumers is very similar.

So when you read a book or watch a film, you can really relate to what the reader or viewer is going to like.

Yes. But in fact, the approach we take as creators differs quite a lot.

Right, it definitely isn’t the same.

Ah, I see. So while your judgment of what’s good and bad on the input side is extremely similar, your views of what the angle and contents on the output side should be is completely different.

That’s right. And this meant that when I wrote the scenario and had it revised by Takahashi-san, his approach would seem incredibly fresh. I’d think: ‘Ah, so you can do things that way too!’ So I feel really lucky that I was able to collaborate with someone who is a completely different creative type.

So we worked like that and did as much as we could between ourselves. We would then deliver the polished scenario we had come up with to Nintendo for them to check over. Then when that came back, we saw that they had picked up on some really unexpected aspects, and we couldn’t help going: ‘Arrrgh!’ (laughs)

(laughs) So Nintendo managed to throw a completely different ball into the mix, from a completely unexpected angle!

Exactly! Nintendo really picked up on a huge number of issues.

I’d imagine that from your point of view, Nintendo’s input must have felt like outsiders getting involved. How did you actually feel about it?

My attitude when making Xenoblade Chronicles was that we should be greedy and not stint in adding anything to the game which would benefit it. This applied not just to the scenario, but to every aspect of the game, including the music.

So you didn’t stint in adding elements that would make the game rich and varied, while also being of a high quality.

Right. And the scenario was no exception. Takeda-san and I had put the scenario together by ourselves, and I think that while it was rock solid from certain angles, from others, we had absolutely no defences...

And it was just these vulnerable elements that Nintendo picked up on.

Yes, that’s right! (laughs) As Takeda-san and my tastes and influences often converged, there would be aspects which we were completely convinced were good, but then we’d be told, for instance, that it was hard to follow. There were quite a few instances where we’d be made aware of things: ‘Ah, so you can also look at things in this way...’

That seems like the relationship between an author and their editor.

Yes, you’re absolutely right. I think it’s vital to have the more objective viewpoint of an editor when you want to make something that will appeal to a broad section of players, and not just a limited audience. In that sense, I was really grateful for Nintendo’s input.

But of course the task of creating something can be a very harsh and unforgiving one, particularly at its more extreme edges, and your views can’t always be in perfect harmony. Did you not have any major differences of opinion?

There were hardly any major differences of opinion. But when you get scripts that have piled up, you’ll often end up with all sorts of things that don’t quite match your expectations, because of all the time that has elapsed while they were being written. You can easily end up with lots of cases where you’re going: ‘No, that’s not it at all!’ For that reason, we agreed to working by breaking it down into manageable chunks: ‘This time, we’ll go up to here’.

How exactly did you do that?

Once a week, on Thursday, we’d gather here and have a meeting about the scenario.

I see. So by keeping things on a short cycle, and by keeping the game of catch on a small scale, you’d be able to communicate any problems you had promptly and solve them without delay.

Right. For that reason, there weren’t any major differences of opinion between the two of us personally. Those scenario meetings were also a lot of fun. I’d find myself wondering just what kind of ball Takeda-san was going to throw my way this week.

I’d also imagine that having a meeting once a week provided a good goal to work towards and helped you keep things going at the right pace. But wasn’t this pretty tough on Takeda-san? After all, he had to pitch a good ball at an eager and expectant Takahashi-san.

No. I’ve worked mostly in weekly television series, so for me this kind of work was...

Ah, of course! Working on a weekly cycle is your forte! (laughs)

That’s right. So I was grateful that we worked at a very comfortable tempo for me.

How long did this game of catch end up continuing?

Well, it took place at the same time as the development of the game, so I’d say it lasted about a year.

That’s right. So we had these pretty intense meetings for around a year, while at the same time various people’s ideas were reflected in the script. Now when I look at the final scenario, I can’t really tell where my ideas end and the ideas of others come in.

Everyone’s ideas gradually coalesced into a single whole.

Right. Although the ideas of a lot of people are in the mix, and the scale is huge, the final scenario is incredibly well balanced.

So after a year of playing a fairly intense game of catch, you’d more or less completed the scenario for this title. I just wonder, Takeda-san, if there were any particular things you paid attention to when working on the scenario for a video game, given that you usually work on scenarios for TV and films?

As I usually work on writing for TV and films, I know that the most effective weapon in the scenario writer’s arsenal is the element of surprise.

Certainly, when something surprising happens, it grabs the viewer. Usually, if things go precisely as they had expected, they won’t be moved.

Right. That’s why you can say that, to some degree, half hour TV programmes are constructed using the element of surprise and the betrayal of expectations.

Constructed from ‘surprise and ‘betrayal’... That’s an interesting way of putting it! (laughs)

Right, but what I’ve felt when actually playing games myself was that when the hero goes against your wishes, by saying something you didn’t want them to say, or betraying you with some action you didn’t want to do, you’ll feel like: ‘Hey! That’s not what I wanted to happen...’

So you’re saying there are instances where the character - who had been you up until that point - suddenly becomes someone else.

That’s just it. I’ve been a gamer for decades now, and I’ve often felt like that. That’s why I didn’t use ‘betrayal’ in that way. I avoided using ‘betrayal’ and ‘the element of surprise’ in relation to the words and actions coming from the hero himself, and decided to use them only in the varying events that occurred in the exterior world. As it was the first time I had the opportunity to be so deeply involved in a single title, I was especially conscious of these issues as I was coming up with the story.

Did you talk about that kind of thing with Takahashi-san?

No, I don’t think I discussed that with him. As it was the first time I was so deeply involved in a project like this, there were certain rules I’d set myself.

Takahashi-san, did you notice that Takeda-san was following this kind of rule?

Not in so many words, but we did discuss something similar very early on. The hero in this game is Shulk, and we made one of our themes that he should be ‘a hero who isn’t hated’.

Could you tell me specifically how you set out to achieve that?

It’s something I’ve felt about my own games, of course, as well as games by other people. Essentially, the heroes and heroines in RPGs often end up being disliked. Naturally, there are well-loved characters too, but I’d say that in general, they end up being hated. I think it comes from the huge emotional investment the player has made in the hero or heroine.

So that’s the flip side of love. Precisely because players care so much about them, this can all too easily turn to hatred. But this time, you set yourself the challenge of avoiding this.

Right. We really paid a lot of attention to this issue. Actually, just prior to this interview, I got the staff at Mario Club⁸ to give me their impressions of the hero, and it turns out that none of them disliked him in the slightest. In fact, they had felt affection towards the hero and his companions throughout. I was incredibly happy when I heard that.

I’m sure that’s because you’ve made it so the players can be sympathetic to the hero and his companions. It might seem rather odd to talk about Mario at this juncture, but when I spoke with Miyamoto-san in Iwata Asks about Super Mario Galaxy 2 he said that in all of the games he had worked on up until then, he had aimed to create games that ‘resonate’. I think that the idea of ‘resonance’ relates to what you have been saying about creating a ‘hero who isn’t hated’.

Right. Player characters are a part of yourself, and for this reason, they shouldn’t think or do anything that you don’t want them to. With RPGs, there is one way to ensure the hero isn’t hated – and that’s to make it so they don’t utter a word.

If they don’t say anything, the player is less likely to feel alienated from them.

That’s right. Not making the main character say anything is easy, but for this title, we wanted him to speak. This meant we were groping for a way to get that ‘resonance’. In the end, I think we managed to achieve that to some degree.

And now you have the staff at Mario Club telling you that everyone felt affection towards the characters.

I really feel we’ve got a very positive response. In fact, this is the first time anyone has ever said something like that to me.

So after all the years that you’ve spent making games, you’d say this is the first time where the hero and his companions haven’t been disliked?

I think that’s actually true.

That’s quite surprising to hear. Takeda-san, what do you think?

This may be a little bit of a digression, but I think that if we take that issue of staying silent, in the titles Takahashi-san has made up to now, you’ll have one or two characters in your party, and there will always be one who doesn’t say a word. I only realised this when I came to write the scenario for this title, but when every member of the party speaks, it gets really tough to write those dialogue scenes. And it was only when getting stuck into the task of writing the scenario...

So you only found this out once you’d already started work on it.

Yes, that’s right! (laughs) I found that if you don’t ensure you have a character who is silent, those dialogue scenes become a real pain. I only realised that once work had got started.

We spoke a little earlier about the difference between games and anime, and I’d say that in terms of the ‘grammar’ of the two media, the biggest difference lies there. In a game with a lone hero, where the game is constructed with this in mind, you’re not really going to have much of a problem. But with RPGs, on the other hand...

You’ve got a party, don’t you?

That means, for instance, with a party of five, you basically have to have all five members appearing together as you can’t be sure which party member the player most identifies with.

It wouldn’t do to just ignore one of them, would it? You can’t just make it so they don’t appear.

In a TV or film drama, you could have each of the five members in a separate location and show all kinds of situations. You can then make the story more complex, or change the pace. But with a game, and especially an RPG, all five members of the party basically need to be in the same place. That’s something very particular to games.

That means that when there’s a particular event or incident, you need to show how each and every one of them reacts to it.

Moreover, because each of the characters has their own individual personality, you have to maintain that personality so that players can continue feeling empathy with them. The way you distinguish the characters, and adjust pace, may well be the biggest difference between anime and games.

As I really didn’t become aware of this until I got started, I did slightly regret not having made it so one or two characters didn’t speak, as that would have made things easier. Looking back now, I see that in Takahashi-san’s earlier work, they had properly considered this issue. So I came to realise: ‘Ah, that’s the thinking behind this character and that character...’

And how did you then go about resolving this issue? Sorry, but I am rather interested... (laughs)

It was a matter of pure brute force! (laughs) I had no choice but to just write a lot of lines!

I see! (laughs) So there are no silent types in Xenoblade Chronicles?

No there aren’t. So I’d like players to enjoy the dialogue right through to the very end.

Takeda-san, since finishing work on the scenario, have you played the finished game?

Yes, I have. I actually played it very recently.

As you wrote the scenario, of course you are very familiar with everything about the game, its structure, settings and so on. When someone like yourself plays the game, what kind of impression do you get?

It sounds obvious, but when I was working on the scenario, that was my whole world. Then when I actually came to play the game, I’d see all these elements that had grown out of the main story, things that hadn’t been in the scenario, such as the overall atmosphere, the villagers’ appearance and so on. I felt like I’d written a huge volume of material, but it actually only amounts to one section of this vast world. I found that really overwhelming.

So even the scenario writer was overwhelmed! (laughs)

Yes, I was. For instance, there’s an area called Colony 9. The sheer scale of it is incredible. When I was working on the scenario, I had in mind the type of village that appears in regular RPGs. But then when I actually came to play the game, I found that this single village had so many ideas put into it that it could have made an entire game in itself. That’s why, as we neared the end of the development process, it was really brought home to me just what a monumental project I had been involved in.

I see. Now, generally speaking, one finds that the bigger the game world gets, the less detailed it becomes. But with this title, you were looking for a world that was ‘both vast and intricately detailed’, weren’t you, Takahashi-san?

That’s right. I wanted to make it so that even if you went to the far edge of the map, you wouldn’t find it empty. I wanted to ensure that wherever you went, there would be something there waiting for you, be it something you’d been seeking, a quest, or a fearsome monster. In certain places, I also wanted to have secluded spots where players would think: ‘Wow, there are beautiful areas like this here in this world!’

So in other words, you made sure the player’s investment in the game would always be repaid.

Yes, and that’s why the number of items you can gather on a quest ended up reaching an absolutely huge total. The staff in charge of a quest would say that they’d make 400 items, and I’d make sure they knew what they were doing: ‘Are you really sure you can make that many?’

You almost want to say: ‘Somebody, stop!’ (laughs)

Yes, absolutely. (laughs) It’s supposed to be my job to put the brakes on, but when I saw how committed the team were, I’d go from questioning whether they could really do it, to saying: ‘You have to do it. Failure is not an option...’

(laughs)

I’d say that, and my staff would reply: ‘No problem. Keep pushing us!’ And so I’d say: ‘Alright then, I will!’ (laughs)

It sounds like you and the team were provoking each other and it kept escalating! (laughs)

But in the end, the team were able to get everything done, and didn’t leave anything out. So I told them they’d done well! (laughs)

So you started off wanting to put the brakes on, and ended up saying how well they’d done! (laughs)

Right. That feeling that maybe someone should apply the brake wasn’t just limited to that aspect of the game. It happened in a lot of areas. For instance, during battles the companions in your party shout out all kinds of things to each other, so it gets very noisy.

Although it’s a single-player game, you don’t feel alone, and it really feels like you’re fighting alongside your allies.

Exactly. And what’s more, if you mess up, your companions won’t criticise you and ask you what on earth you’re doing. Rather, they’ll always praise you.

They’ll praise you even if you mess up? (laughs)

That’s right. In addition, they’ll encourage you and tell you not to be downhearted. We did this so that the player would feel that their companions were really looking out for them.

With so many lines of dialogue, I’m guessing that recording must have been really tough.

Well, yes. To be honest, I felt that I had too much. We had so many lines that, even if we did a very long recording session, you’d still feel that you had so much more left to do. But then when I brought what we’d recorded back to the office and handed it to the person in charge, I’d say: ‘We went to the trouble of recording all of these lines, so you’d better use them. Failure is not an option.’

That sounds a lot like a provocation! (laughs)

(laughs) But then when all of this content was actually put in the game, some people thought that the characters were talking too much and that it was annoying. So at the very end, I had that adjusted. But I think that it will resonate with a lot of players when they see their companions giving their all alongside them in battle, kicking up quite a din.

But in any case, the game has ended up with a physical scale and intricacy of detail that was enough to make you feel you should have put your foot on the brakes at some points. How did you end up feeling about all this, Takahashi-san?

Without question, of all the games I have worked on, this is far and away the largest in terms of scale. But – and I realise this will sound strange – while making it, there were aspects that were extremely easy.

You mean that you found them easy?

Yes, that’s right. Well, I had Takeda-san working as my partner on the scenario, and I had complete faith in him. In addition, it’s exactly a decade since Monolith Soft was founded, and so we’ve trained up staff I can really trust.

So you’ve trained staff inside the company who can be left to take care of all manner of tasks.

That’s right. For the most part, it was fine to entrust tasks to individual members of staff, and there were plenty of times when I didn’t have to look over their shoulders. Thanks to that, I was able to focus my energies where I’m most effective. So while this was a huge and challenging project, in terms of my feelings about it, I’d go as far as to say that it’s the first time I’ve worked on something that proved to be such plain sailing.

Although your previous titles weren’t on the scale of this one, there were times when you were solely responsible for pulling large projects together, and you had to give everything you had.

Yes, that’s true. After founding the company, I started by employing a team, and there were times when most of them would have been inexperienced.

With this project, it’s ten years since the company was founded, and you’ve steadily trained your staff up and got to know them well. It seems to me like a range of people, each with their own specialist field of expertise, have been a great help to you as executive director.

That’s correct. This was a project where I was fortunate enough to have the assistance of a whole range of people. Previously, I would have been forced to expend energy wastefully. This time round, this didn’t happen at all. All of the team members gave their all in their area and while we managed to make a vast world, we were also able to make it richly detailed. I think it’s a fitting tribute to our first decade at Monolith Soft.

Takeda-san, if you were to describe Xenoblade Chronicles to someone who didn’t know much about it, what would you say?

Hmmm... Well, in terms of the story, a single pint-sized youth comes face to face with an enormous god, creating some kind of connection. What I had in mind was to find out what kind of story would unfold from that point, contrasting the realms of the micro and the macro. When you actually play the game, you’ll find a vast world which you are free to explore at will. On the system side, you’ll find it’s a game that allows you to experience a host of new things. So I hope players will enjoy themselves as they explore the huge game world, experiencing that contrast between the micro and macro levels.

How about you, Takahashi-san?

For this title, we started with this giant model...We built the game world based on this, and what I really wanted to explore was how these tiny beings, the hero and his companions, would grow, and whether they would be able to embark on their adventure. That’s why I think that if I were to sum up this title in a single word, I would say that it was ‘embarking’.

In the initial part of the game, the hero and his companions set out on their journey, facing the future in an unfamiliar world, and I wanted to describe the way they progress.

And you were able to stay unwaveringly true to that theme, from the moment you first thought that it would be interesting to have people living on the bodies of these god-like giants, right through to the very end.

We didn’t waver at all. We got through to the very end without the slightest deviation.

Personally, when Takahashi-san first explained the idea to me, I thought that it would make an incredibly solid core for the game, a thick central trunk. And because it was such a sturdy trunk, whatever we subsequently added was just a branch and couldn’t rival the solidity of that core. What’s more, the final product doesn’t differ in the slightest from the first time I heard about it. So that initial trunk really was a sturdy one.

So it really seems that these models you made right at the start formed a sort of huge, solid trunk for the project.

I really think that’s true.

To conclude the interview, can I ask you to give the readers a final message?

Certainly. But I just worry that I might spoil some of the players’ enjoyment by saying more than I should! (laughs)

Ah, you’re worried about revealing too much! (laughs)

Right. If the game had already been released, there’d be a huge amount I’d want to say, but... Let me think... Well, I personally loved writing the parts for the enemies. Also, keep an eye out for the way the enemies disperse. That’s one tip from me.

So that’s a part you put a lot of effort into writing?

Indeed. I’m also quite a fan of the character called Riki, so I’d like players to look out for him. Having said that, he’s quite a contradictory character. If you were just to read the script, you’d see that I’d written him as a character that’s going to make you angry. (laughs) But while all sorts of nasty, spiteful things come out of his mouth, he’s got such a cute appearance and voice – I thought that this combination was sure to create some kind of interesting chemical reaction.

And how does he actually come across in the game?

He’s ended up as a character you just can’t help liking.

So that’s just what Takeda-san was aiming for! (laughs)

Right. So I really hope players enjoy the chemical reaction that occurs when the horrible lines and the way he acts combine with that cute appearance and voice.

And now over to you, Takahashi-san.

All of us have always worked on creating things, and we’ve had all sorts of experiences along the way. For this project, I started off by setting myself a very lofty target. The fact that every section, every part, everyone came together and kept running towards that target was a really fantastic experience.

As Takeda-san said a moment ago, the central trunk of the scenario was extremely sturdy. But that wasn’t all it was – once it was placed within the game, it expanded and I think it lets you experience a truly rich world.

The fact that we succeeded in making a game like this is the result of each member of the team giving all they had to their part, while also adjusting to fit in with those around them. I’d love players to experience those rich and detailed aspects which so many people have had a hand in.

There’s no shortage of screenshots that have allowed us to glimpse the world of Xenoblade Chronicles, but that’s only the start. I’d like to emphasise that the true appeal of the world that Takahashi-san and his team have created is one that you need to play the game to really get a sense of.

Yes, I think you’re absolutely right.

Monolith Soft has reached the ten-year mark, and I think that Xenoblade Chronicles is the result of the close and whole-hearted relationship that has been built between you and Nintendo.

If it hadn’t been for the input of every single one of the sound team I spoke to last time, Takeda-san who joined me today, the Nintendo staff, and of course the Monolith team, Xenoblade Chronicles would not be the game it is.

I pray that a great number of players can enjoy the fruits of the labour of so many and experience the charms of this game for themselves.

Thank you very much for joining me today.

Thank you very much.