33bits

Gamasutra ha podido entrevistar a Yusuke Hashimoto, director de Bayonetta 2, y Atsushi Inaba, productor del juego. Os dejo a continuación algunas preguntas y respuestas. Aquí la entrevista al completo

Sobre la relación con Nintendo. Inaba dice que ha sido un placer trabajar con Nintendo, saben mucho de juegos y se está bien, trabajando con ellos codo con codo.

Cita:How do you feel about the relationship with Nintendo for Bayonetta 2?

Atsushi Inaba: Due to various circumstances, we've now had a chance to work with Nintendo and it's been really great. You have a certain image of a company, and in the case of Nintendo, we've found it's been really nice to actually work with them and find out what that's like.

They know a lot about games, and they've been really great to work with.  Our relationship so far with Nintendo hasn't been very long, but so far it's been a great experience. Not to say that we won't have some serious fights over things later, but so far it's been good.

A la pregunta de si han aprendido algo de Nintendo, en términos de gameplay, Hashimoto responde que ha habido cierto feedback de Nintendo y eso les ha ayudado a mejorar el desarrollo. Hashimoto añade que es estimulante recibir ese apoyo.

Cita:You got a superficial question about whether the game had to change its aesthetic direction due to the Nintendo relationship during the roundtable Q&A [at E3 this year]. But I'm more curious if you learned anything from your relationship in terms of the direction gameplay should go.

Yusuke Hashimoto: In certain terms, there have been instances where there's been feedback Nintendo brought to the game -- where we come up with something and they'll be able to play it and provide it with feedback that we've been able to use.

You tend to get tunnel vision when you're working on a game, so when suddenly this volley of advice lands from the outside, honestly, it's refreshing.

Les preguntan que al ser Bayonetta un juego enfocado tanto en el gameplay, en cierta manera, es algo que Nintendo entiende muy bien. Hashimoto responde afirmando este hecho, y añade que Nintendo no les dificultó el trabajo en ese sentido, al contrario. Por otro lado, Inaba comenta que no podían mostrar ningún fallo jugable en pos de mejorar los gráficos o añadir cinemáticas, y es algo que Nintendo tiene mucho en cuenta. Lo primero y ante todo, es el gameplay. Inaba añade finalmente que es un poco enervante trabajar con personas tan perfeccionistas en ese sentido.

Cita:Bayonetta is so gameplay-focused that I honestly feel that Nintendo would understand it very well. Do you find that's the case?

YH: Yes, exactly. And all of the things we want to do in the game, they're not standing in our way, in that sense. But it's almost as if they are a very critical player that can sit back and give us great advice on how we're creating the game.

AI: Working with Nintendo, one thing that comes out of that is that we're not able to cover up weaknesses in the core gameplay by making the graphics prettier or adding cutscenes, or whatever. The concern, first and foremost, is the core of the game and the quality of the gameplay. They really have our back in that sense. And that's actually a little bit unnerving, working with people who are such perfectionists in that sense.

El juego no ha cambiado desde que Nintendo está detrás. Ellos [Nintendo] están más como observadores y dejan que Platinum se encarguen de todo.

Cita:Has the game changed much since Nintendo came into the picture?

YH: Actually the spec hasn't changed at all. Really, Nintendo has been more as an observer, and really good to just let us do our work, but to point out some minor things throughout the course of development.

Les preguntan si es peligroso que los jugadores no necesiten profundizar en las posibilidades que ofrece el juego para pasárselo (como por ejemplo no conseguir ninguna habilidad o mejora). Hashimoto comenta que han recibido estas opiniones y están trabajando en ello. Han habido mejoras para Bayonetta 2.

Cita:In the first game you could get upgrades that significantly changed the way the game worked. Not just weapons, but also abilities. You could skip them entirely -- it was not obvious how much they would affect the game. Do you feel it's dangerous, that players can't necessarily understand the potential of the game unless they get deeply involved in it?

YH: Yeah, that's feedback we received for the first one -- we're taking that feedback and working on it in the game, how we can implement it. There have been improvements there, in the second one.

Hashimoto comenta que es importante dar una cierta flexibilidad en el gameplay. Habrá gente que quiera usar sólo pistolas, otros querrán armas para el combate cuerpo a cuerpo, etc.

Cita:At the same time, do you think there's an advantage to the flexibility? Bayonetta -- the character -- can behave completely differently for different players, depending on how you configure things. That's pretty atypical for a game like this.

YH: So that flexibility is absolutely something that we're putting a lot of importance on. It's not necessarily the most important thing, but players, some might prefer to use guns, some might perfect to use hand-to-hand combat weapons. Increasing the quality of the game to provide that sort of flexibility in the gameplay is really important.

El objetivo con Bayonetta 2 era crear un juego mucho más grande, mucho mejor y mucho más pulido.

Cita:It sounds like refinement is more your process rather than just trying things. Would you recommend taking a strong idea and refining it, or trying a lot of different stuff?

YH: That is definitely the case with me personally. There are a lot of different directors and designers within Platinum Games and that style doesn't necessarily apply to everyone -- but I would definitely say there is more polishing in my personal style, especially in the case of Bayonetta 2. We start with a solid base and the goal this time is to create something bigger, greater, and more polished. For example, we had a base, and this time we're announcing we have a co-op mode. So that's consistent with that philosophy of adding to the experience, and that's consistent with my personal style.

Preguntan a Hashimoto que consejo le daría a alguien que estuviese trabajando en un juego de acción. Hashimoto responde, que el combate en un juego debe de tener un enlace directo al cerebro. Todo esto depende de la capacidad de respuesta y de las sensaciones. Lo primero que se debe hacer es conseguir eso. Y, obviamente, 60fps.

Cita:If you were going to give advice on someone who's working on a combat-focused action game, what would you say is the most important thing to keep in mind?

YH: This also applies to the first Bayonetta, but one of the big things of the combat in the game, as a designer, was having almost a direct link to your brain -- having no inconsistency between what you were thinking and what you wanted the character to do, and what was happening on screen.

Of course, that all depends on responsiveness, and that all depends on feel. The main thing was to put effort into achieving that. You can take that kind of advice in different ways, depending on the person, but that would be my advice.

And, of course, that responsiveness relies heavily on a good framerate, being at 60 frames per second. So that was also a really important element to achieve that initial goal of responsiveness.

Con Bayonetta 2 quieren probar que pueden hacer algo incluso mejor que la obra original.

Cita:Bayonetta was Platinum's first big game. You've come a long way since then. Do you feel you have as much to prove with the sequel as you did with the original?

YH: Of course, this time, we want to prove ourselves in the sense that we want to show we can make something even better than the original. We're known for making original titles -- this is our first sequel. In that sense, there's still a lot to prove. We want to achieve something greater than the original in many ways.

AI: When Platinum Games was first established, we were working on a number of titles. But, in particular, Bayonetta was the first major title, and we felt like we had to put a lot into it -- so much so that we felt like the future of the company depended on the title. So in that sense, everybody in the company had a strong feeling of value placed in that title, so in that sense it was a very, very critical title.

This time around, with Bayonetta 2, we have to increase the bar. So in the same way, not so much in establishing our reputation around this title, but establishing where we can take the company -- and in that sense, again, it's just as critical as the original.

Comparado con cuando estaban en Capcom, ahora tienen más motivación por crear algo.

Cita:Now that you've been doing the independent studio thing for a few years, having come from Capcom, do you find it's even more pressure than you were anticipating?

YH: Compared to back in the Capcom days, we feel more pressure, but at the same time, we feel more motivation to create something.