Takashi Tokita Interview Reveals Insights on Brazil’s BIG Festival

I wanted to become a comic artist first, in my childhood, when many Japanese comic magazines were born. Shonen Jump, Shonen Magazine, Shonen Sunday… Different magazines sorted by generation. I read many different manga.

Next, manga came to TV, like Space Cruiser Yamato, or the first Gundam. There was a big anime boom in Japan, and so, voice actors became very popular at that time…so, I changed. I wanted to become a voice actor for anime. Because comic writing is so hard!

And so, then I learned acting from junior high school. I had to make any job, a job for life. I was searching for a part-time job in magazines, when I found a pixel artist role for a little game. That was my first entry into the industry.

Back then, that company was very small, but it was really a ‘daddy’ company. Work was so hard and so cheap, guaranteed. So, I switched to over to Square. This was almost 37 years ago! I was 20. That’s at the same time that Dragon Quest became a hit game, from the first game to the second it would become popular in Japan. So, Square started making Final Fantasy after that. That was great and lucky timing for me.

RPGs need character, music, direction, and storyline. Comics need acting and direction – since I can make everything there – but there was no rival in the gaming industry at that time. Manga has so many artists [working], and [characters] acting, too; the same as actors and voice actors in anime, too. But gaming was not such a huge industry at that time. I could make a story, I could [bring] acting, directing, everything by myself. That was a very lucky time to be in games.

So, I changed many things in Final Fantasy IV. Music timing, for instance. At first rnrnIn RPGs, battle scenes are usually accompanied by battle music, and dungeons have their own specific music. But I wanted to change that. I wanted to create a more immersive experience by timing the music with the story and dialogue. It’s like reading a manga, where you turn the page and the music changes accordingly. This is what I call a cutscene, and it’s a game-changer. I took inspiration from manga and implemented it in Japanese RPGs, allowing players to set their own pace for reading and experiencing the game. It’s a small but incredibly important detail that adds so much emotion to the gameplay. This concept is evident in games like Final Fantasy IV and Live A Live. In these games, you can push a button and change the music, creating a more emotional and engaging experience.

Speaking of Live A Live, it’s a game that has recently made a comeback after nearly two decades. While Final Fantasy IV was one of the first epic console RPGs, Live A Live took storytelling to a whole new level when it was released in 1994. Last year, when the game was remade under my direction, it finally made its formal appearance in America. Live A Live is a unique blend of genres, which was quite rare in 90s RPGs. In a conversation about the game, I often compare it to a good bowl of ramen.

Creating this remake was a significant milestone for me, as it marked my first title in 30 years. I never thought I would have the opportunity to remake a game, but my passionate desire to create drove me forward. Live A Live is a game with many stories, just like the manga and movies that inspire me. During its development, I had to make a leap from other media forms into the RPG genre. The game consists of eight shorter stories, each with its own unique game system inspired by different genres like ninja movies and fighting games. The programming and sequencing are in the same format, but we were able to arrange them in a different style, creating a truly unique experience.

It’s like ramen, you know? You have a bowl of soup, noodles, and toppings, and you can combine them in endless ways. Spicy soup, miso soup, shoyu soup – the possibilities are endless. That’s why I believe ramen is the ultimate form of entertainment. And in a similar way, Live A Live offers a diverse and customizable experience that keeps players engaged and entertained.

“Nowadays, soundtracks come from ‘true’ sounds, through recording, but also, it’s just data. That’s amazing to me. ‘True music’ is gorgeous, but too gorgeous. Just like ramen. A simple taste is a good feeling but, with too much complexity, you can’t taste anything, you can’t [pick out the individual flavors]. It’s like comparing a band song versus an orchestra song, and how different that experience can be. But we did not have too much memory back then, so it was very simple sampling only.”

Soken-san, he’s my friend, the Final Fantasy XIV and XVI composer. They wanted to make a Final Fantasy IV song arrangement. My idea was, let’s make lyrics for vocals. I especially wanted to make a choir piece, like gospel – church-like, high-energy. That was the [central] idea.

I wrote the lyrics in Japanese, from the [point of view] of a god. And our localization person switched the words over to English. And the choir is so, so great.

I think the thing about Japanese games is that they like capturing character emotions. And many character emotions – like Kimetsu no Yaiba [Demon Slayer], like Final Fantasy – center on revenge.

Also, for the Japanese, “god” is not singular – there are many hundreds of gods. So, many kinds of manga get turned into anime, from many chapters, from kids’ content to adult, sci-fi, fighting stories, kung fu. The Japanese like and enjoy everything, and RPGs can intake any of those genres.

It’s about the main character, the player character; we build storylines through the main characters. It’s not only a game, it’s an emotional experiment. I believe this is so in manga, anime, and especially Japanese RPGs – it’s a direct lineage.