Interview with Rune Factory Frontier's Yoshifumi Hashimoto
Thanks to XSEED, I got the opportunity to ask several questions of Marvelous' Yoshifumi Hashimoto, scenario writer and producer—though perhaps best known to me as the guy whose name is in the "Produced by" slide that I saw so many times when starting Rune Factory 2.
Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions today. A few of us have become great fans of the Rune Factory series, though we weren't Harvest Moon fans to begin with. I personally was still playing Rune Factory 2, which came out here last November, for many weeks, even after I beat the main quest—it really is a game that you can play for a long time.
I know you've been asked this before, but maybe you could go into detail a little bit more; from where did the inspiration for Rune Factory come, and how did that inspiration get developed into the games we're playing now? I really think you've hit on a winning formula, and I'm curious how it came to be.
Yoshifumi Hashimoto: With RPGs, after you level up and progress the game, there’s nothing to do but defeat the last boss. There’s usually a scene before the ending where you return to the first castle you visited. I love games, but this part near the ending where townspeople are nice to you and you can pretty much defeat any enemy is particularly fun, don’t you think? ... It really makes me not want the game to end.
In the beginning, I planned the game as something where the main parts of gameplay involve this endgame type of element.
I thought that even in a fantasy world, they may be warriors first and foremost, but they also need to grow crops to live.
I initially planned the game as a sort of everyday life in that particular fantasy world.
Is Rune Factory Frontier similar in structure to the handheld games, where you have simple goals to progress but use complex and long-running systems to use to achieve them? Would you say it's got a similar length and depth, or has that been changed in light of the shift from portable to console? Did you consider making that change, if yes?
Hashimoto: If we did not have the handheld version of Rune Factory, we probably wouldn’t have made it for the home console. We put that into consideration and tried to make it so that all kinds of users can enjoy it. We added more powered up versions of the current features as well as newly-created features as a way to challenge this new home console "frontier" for the series.
What sorts of new systems and features can we look forward to in Frontier? Anything along the lines of forging and crafting like we had in Rune Factory 2?
Hashimoto: Of course! As I explained earlier, we upgraded the system as a new challenge for us and as a way to thank the fans of the series. We made some real enhancements to the forging and crafting systems to make them that much more worthwhile. Not only do you just create items, we have features like how a female character will happily wear a hat that you crafted.
I've heard a little bit about the "Runeys", the little spirits you can apparently collect and use to influence crop growth; do these guys have depth of their own?
Hashimoto: Yes, you can think of the Runeys as spirits of the world of Rune Factory, where they are involved in a sort of food chain. If you want a certain Runey to flourish, you’ll have to eliminate another type of Runey that eats those Runeys, or you can even let them be eaten on purpose to change the environment to your liking.
You can manipulate the Runeys to adjust the environment to allow you to grow crops faster.
Once we're done with the main quest, what sorts of things can we expect to be able to do? For example, like Rune Factory 2's underground shrines and boss rematches, as well as the ability to keep farming and work on rare crops.
Hashimoto: We made sure that there is plenty to do in this game, too. Once the main quest is over, that doesn’t mean the game is over so you can rest assured in that respect. There are users who like to progress the main quest while others would just like to expand their fields. This allows each and every user to play this game however they want. Aside from the open-ended gameplay, there are also many quests that can be received so I encourage everyone to try out everything that’s available.
One of the things I particularly liked about the DS games was the look of the world; in contrast to many 2-D games which look assembled from small pieces repeated over and over, every place in the DS games looked unique and drawn as a whole. Did you seek to reproduce this look in Frontier, and if so, how did you go about doing it?
Hashimoto: In the Rune Factory series, we try to make the game map similar to how it may appear in the real world. We try to make it so the visual (screen display) will link to your memory to remember where you’re at. For example, "There’s a sign board here which means the place I want to go to is right around the corner." This is easy to say, but it was something our designer put a lot of detail into so that’s what made it possible.
What is the flying whale island all about? I think it's really become the game's trademark in our minds.
Hashimoto: We tried adding this in because the previous 2 handheld versions were as if the player was looking down upon the world. We wanted something where you could look up as if the entire world was just an island.
Since this world is a very peaceful place, we wanted more than just having a floating island. That’s how the idea of making it a whale came about.
We had talked about there being a floating island in the beginning, but it was another staff member that suggested it look like a whale. In retrospect, I believe it gave the world much more depth.
What does the future of the Rune Factory series look like? Will there be more interesting changes to the formula, going forward? Do you see it lasting as long as Harvest Moon has?
Hashimoto: I think that will be up to the readers of this interview. I want to continue working on it and create even more fun things. If you buy our game, it will certainly lead to more, so please purchase it! I already have some new concepts for the system and I believe it will be very fun. I’m just waiting for a good opportunity to use it.
Any final comments?
Hashimoto: Rune Factory started off as a handheld game and is now on a home console. This was only possible due to all the support we received from the fans. I’m very thankful to have this opportunity to express my thanks to everyone.
Thank you and please play the game if you get the chance to.
It’s fun, but there are also dangers that await you.
That’s what it means to live in a fantasy world, so please enjoy life inside this world!