It seems like this title has more in-game text to read than earlier Kirby games. Was it difficult to approach all of that text from a global perspective?
Kumazaki:
We collaborated with one another to make sure that the localisation teams from each country had a full, shared understanding of the content during development, even for minor details that don’t appear on-screen during gameplay.
Those details of the game settings have an in-depth backstory already mapped out, but players will only have the bare minimum of that information placed in front of them through gameplay. So, players won’t see everything that we mapped out…
However, we did make sure that the localisation teams had a deep understanding of our setting and backstory to process their localisation.
These detailed settings were useful in this way, and communicating those to each language team as part of the localisation process actually helped us deepen our own understanding as well.
Kamiyama:
Here’s another first for this series – when we designed the user interfaces (7) for buttons and menus, we used English.
Using Japanese for the user interface would be more intuitive for us, but designing those spaces for Japanese characters left other languages with text that was squished and hard to read.
So we decided to design those sections in English rather than Japanese, which resulted in much longer text than we’re used to seeing.
That’s true. The character counts differ greatly between Japanese and English, even if they say the same thing.
Kumazaki:
That said, when I wrote the text, implemented it, and checked it in the game, it was…all in English. So it was very difficult for me. (Laughs)
We believe it’s important to make sure the text in those areas doesn’t slow the game down for anyone, so we tried to keep players from all over the world in mind. We put a lot of effort into that section of the game.
It’s clear to me that this game was made so that everyone – from beginners to advanced players, from Japanese fans to fans all over the world – can experience the same content in their own unique way. I can really sense your passion for wanting to make this game as enjoyable as possible for all consumers.
Do you think the Kirby series will continue to explore 3D action gameplay? And if you’re able to, could you tell us what kind of Kirby games you would like to make in the future?
Endo:
We have packed in many unique ideas to make a variety of different 2D actions of Kirby.
To create Kirby’s first-ever 3D action game, however, there were still a lot of learnings, like how to manage stage density and direct 3D camera movement.
If we can apply the skills we gained from this title, I think we’ll be able to come up with a lot of new gameplay ideas in future Kirby titles.
Kamiyama:
It feels like some people consider Kirby games to be for younger players, with older players eventually aging out of the series.
But Kirby and the Forgotten Land ended up being a game that we believe players of a wide age range can enjoy, compared to previous games in the series.
We’d like to continue making titles that earn the attention of players who may have moved on from Kirby. We want to make titles that adults will thoroughly enjoy too.
With that said, I hope this game grows into an experience that can be appreciated all over the world.
Kumazaki:
This title was the biggest project of the entire Kirby series thus far.
For a while, it felt as if we weren’t able to release a mainstream game, but now I’m overwhelmed to see the efforts of our team finally blossoming and delivering a 3D action Kirby game to players all over the world.
Also, throughout this production, we were able to create an environment in which we will be able to further take on new challenges with our most reliable staff members.
Kirby still has unlimited potential. We hope to be even more wild and free when we create future Kirby titles.
This might be an exaggeration, but after everything we’ve discussed here, I think it’s safe to call this title a masterpiece within the Kirby series.
At the same time, I think this is just another checkpoint in Kirby’s long history.
We hope everyone looks forward to future titles in the Kirby series.
Ninomiya:
We were actually worried that Kirby’s most beloved qualities would have to be reduced to better fit a full 3D action game.
Once we completed creating the game, however, it became clear that this is a fun-filled title that still feels like Kirby and is easy to enjoy. That made me very confident.
This title encourages us to keep making games that cherish the “Kirbyness” of Kirby, and it challenges us to do many new things, in both 2D and 3D.
Thank you all for your time today.
Find out more about Kirby and the Forgotten Land at our gamepage!
