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Kondo sat down with GameSpot for an exclusive interview on what's next for the studio, particularly as it begins to wrap up the Trails series--which began in 2004--for good. With a team of now-veteran developers full of ideas (and a bit worn down from working on long-running series), the team is ready to showcase new ideas, new IPs, and their new business model, which leverages the studio's reputation and smaller-scale to create unique projects and expand the JRPG genre. Regardless of if you're a longtime fan of the studio--or a newcomer who's been a bit overwhelmed by its vast catalog of games--there's never been a better time to turn your eyes towards the company.
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With Trails starting to wind down and this emphasis on new IPs, is the studio looking at starting a new major series?
As for a direct successor to the Trail series, there's nothing specifically planned--we're just extremely focused on finishing up Trails. However, in terms of new IPs, there are actually several things that are actively being worked on right now.
You see, the Trails series has been going on for 20 years now, and as great a thing as that is, the issue is that that means a lot of folks have been working on that title for many, many years. They want to try new things. They have new ideas. There are new challenges they want to tackle.
Developing a game series like Trails over this great period of time is kind of like developing an online game in that you're constantly thinking, "What's the next event or thing that we have to do? What's the course of the game itself?" And what that causes, a lot of times, is that the younger staff and their development kind of stagnates for a while. But I want them to be able to grow and experience new things that lead to new skills and new ideas.
So, in the background, we allow them to create and work on these new IPs--to talk about the things that they want to do. I believe that that will make them even stronger developers and they'll have even better ideas that contribute even more to our games.
Is it a bit scary, going away from these established worlds and characters and starting a new adventure?
Yeah. It's absolutely disconcerting to think about creating something new--to worry if people will like it or not. But the cool thing about development is that when you're in the midst of it, there usually comes a point when you feel like there's something there. There's something that you're creating and it's coming together. It's gelling. And it becomes the thing that you want to take out into the world to show people.
Having that feeling, that's kind of what gives you the ability to carry on. Even though you might be scared because it's a game that no one's ever heard of before in terms of IP and characters, the fact that you created something--that you know there's something there and that you want to show it to other people--is what allows us to bring out these new games and it's why we want to.
As time has gone on, I feel like making the crossover from Japan to the States--in terms of both distribution and finding a dedicated audience--seems to have gotten simpler. And we've seen studios, like Atlus for example, have these sudden booms in Western countries that set forth these resurgences. But do you think that it's now easier to make that transition? Or do you feel like maybe it's more competitive now?
Rather than a feeling of competitiveness, it's more a feeling of cooperation. We've been making games for a very long time--since the 1980s--and back then JRPGs didn't have a lot of success or popularity. And so a big contributor to our genre's growing success is these companies like Atlus who have these great games that come out regularly.
And as the Western market has finally started to accept, appreciate, and be hungry for these Japanese RPGs, ultimately it feels like less studios are making them. We are probably the smallest makers, but companies like Capcom and Konami, who used to have strong JRPG series, have largely backed away from them.
So it's a very limited market which is a shame because if the market's hungry for something, you have to have a constant supply to satisfy those people and maintain it. So, rather than seeing Atlas, for example, as a rival--although I can't speak to Mr. Hajime--I see when their games come out as a good thing. It means the market's being satisfied and more and more people are learning about what makes JRPGs great.
Do you think that the company will ever reach a place in which the Japanese and the English versions of the games are released simultaneously? Is that a goal that the company has?
Yes, we would love for the games to come out at the same time. That is actually one of the things that we're working with with NIS America to do--to decrease that time as we go forward in the future. We understand the necessity to have the games come out as soon as possible.
I hear it occasionally from the Western fanbase that they would love if games could come out sooner. We know that fans want to play the game as soon as possible--it is something we really want to do and will work on going forward.
You will notice though that we have been trying to decrease the amount of time. Daybreak, for example, came to the United States much sooner than titles in the past. And Ys X will, comparatively, be coming out not long after its release date in Japan.
But it's important to say that we have a standard of quality that we need to maintain as well. Our priority is to bring a high quality game for [English-speaking] fans so that they experience the same thing as our Japanese fans do. We will never sacrifice that quality in order to get a game out quickly. So it's been about finding that balance.
You mentioned the term "JRPG" a moment ago and I'm curious, because there has been some debate on if "JRPG" pigeonholes games made in Japan, is that label one you embrace? Would you prefer that people say, "turn-based RPG" or "action RPG?"
Originally, JRPG was kind of used as a pejorative and, obviously, we didn't like it. There was this initial reaction against it. But gradually, it feels like it's almost begun to mean the opposite. I mean, take something like Miyazaki-san's Elden Ring. I've asked myself "Is that a JRPG?" Well, maybe not quite. But at the same time, one of the things you can kind of identify in JRPGs are these influences from anime and manga. Knowing how to incorporate those elements and themes into games gives them that distinct Japanese flavor, which is not only a good thing, but creates a sort of cultural bond too. Japanese people can kind of come together and rally around this specific thing and make it our own.
So while in the past I might have kind of shied away from that terminology or kind of cringed at it, it's now something I embrace. There is a thing that only the Japanese creators can create by using these elements that we discussed. And by doing so, it creates something worthy of celebration. Rather than solely make RPGs, we make JRPGs--we're proud to say it.
I love that you mentioned Elden Ring and that sort of "well, is it a JRPG?" feeling because it does feel like a hard genre to define. How would you describe it?
That's difficult. Obviously the easy answer is, "Well, if it's made in Japan…" But when you look at what is made in Japan, it's trickier. There's action RPGs--can those be JRPGs? Are only turn-based games JRPGs? Well, no, not necessarily. There's kind of an ineffable thing that makes games in Japan, specifically JRPGs, what they are. It can't really be described. But it's the core and the essence of what a JRPG is. It's why I loved them from the time I was a child and why all of the people at Falcom feel it necessary to share that love for the next generation. So that people can continue to love them and to get involved with them.
The rest of the interview is up on Gamespot's website so be sure to give them a visit.
What's Next After A 20-Year-Old RPG Series Ends? Ys And Trails Director Toshihiro Kondo Talks Falcom's Future
Kondo sat down with GameSpot to discuss Falcom's future, the studio's localization efforts, and how he sees studios like From Software and Atlus as allies in the quest to keep JRPGs thriving.
www.gamespot.com
