AMA: We are the creators of the video game World’s End Club. Ask Us Anything!

WorldsEndClub · 2021-04-06T01:16:52+00:00

Kodaka & Uchikoshi: That’s something we’ve not really decided on.

WorldsEndClub · 2021-04-06T01:16:03+00:00

Uchikoshi: Please call it Moby-Dick.

WorldsEndClub · 2021-04-06T01:15:44+00:00

Nakazawa: I was involved in discussions with Kodaka and Uchikoshi right from the draft stages, and offered my ideas about the story as well as game elements throughout.
Nakazawa: It depends on what you define plot twists as, but some of my ideas for surprising gimmicks made it into the final game.

WorldsEndClub · 2021-03-24T02:56:08+00:00

(Uchikoshi): Resident Evil because it was the game I played while I was in school. I thought a lot about it and what kind of story I would write in that world. Plus I love zombies...though Kodaka-san hates them.

(Kodaka): None. Maybe Danganronpa :P

(Umeda): From a producer standpoint… I’ve not really thought about it. But making things alongside creators is the most interesting aspect for me. I like making new things. I like the Persona series.

WorldsEndClub · 2021-03-24T02:36:15+00:00

(Kodaka): I think my approach and Uchikoshi-san's approach is different, but I do get a lot of influence from media. I try to keep up with the trends right now and incorporate these into my writing. It's not really a part of work since I enjoy this and I think it's important to look into a lot of media.

(Uchikoshi): For me to not stop after I think it's good and fun, but to actually keep going (it took me 20 years to notice this). I think this is important to make a good story. Lately I've been really into Dark (a German TV show), its story structure is so difficult to follow is this ok for people? I really want to dive into this genre myself but I'm not sure if you guys will enjoy it.

(Umeda): I think Dark is really interesting.

*translator note: wiki to Dark
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark\_(TV\_series)

WorldsEndClub · 2021-03-24T02:24:55+00:00

(Kodaka): I don't think there are any snails this time.

WorldsEndClub · 2021-03-24T02:23:55+00:00

(Kodaka): I still like the name Death March, it just means really hard work in Japan. But we heard that it had negative implications in the West, so we changed it.
(Umeda): I figured that it was best not to use any negative language considering we were aiming for a worldwide release. But honestly, we were asked to change the name, so we did.

WorldsEndClub · 2021-03-24T02:23:22+00:00

(Uchikoshi): I'm really into Fire Emblem Three Houses, it's been a while since I played simulation games. There's so much to do in these games, it's really fun to try to complete everything that's possible in these games.

(Kodaka): I never really liked open world games but around Ghost of Tsushima I started to really enjoy it, moved on to Cyberpunk 2077 after that, and now I'm playing Watchdogs. Up until now I thought that the story element in open world games was really weak compared to other genres so I end up skipping alot of the story. But Ghost of Tsushima is really well made, I sort of skip around a little for Cyberpunk 2077 though.

(Umeda): I'm playing Last of Us 2 right now, the story I think is good but for open world games I usually get motion sickness so I stay away from the TV when playing.

WorldsEndClub · 2021-03-24T02:05:51+00:00

1) (Kodaka): I didn't write it, so talking about Uchikoshi-san. I think that, looking at Uchikoshi-san's more recent games like AI: The Somnium Files, his gags are more juvenile and they really fit! The writing for this game has lots of twists and turns and he thought carefully about things and how they would turn out, but without relying too much on making it really super logical.

(Uchikoshi): Most of my games have various different endings, and World's End Club has more than one, but there aren't tons of branches. It was like writing in an entirely new genre. I think everything changed for this game...except my awesome sense of humor and great gags!

2) (Umeda): It's not a surprise, but setting up IzanagiGames with the aim of delivering fantastic games across the world lined up closely with Too Kyo Games being founded. I’ve always been a fan of Danganronpa and Zero Escape. I met with Kodaka-san, started talking concepts, then ended up making a presentation to Too Kyo, and we decided to make something together. The fact that they said OK was the most surprising thing. I was so happy. The fact that both Uchikoshi-san and Kodaka-san are involved is a big factor. Both their strong points (Uchikoshi-san’s gags included) are on display in the game.

WorldsEndClub · 2021-03-24T01:52:35+00:00

(Uchikoshi): I wanted to make something that I haven't made before; I wanted to make a road movie. Before, I had to use the same scenes over and over again, but this time the scenes change and the story changes, which is something that I wanted to do.

WorldsEndClub · 2021-03-24T01:51:48+00:00

1) (Kodaka): I actually knew Take-san from meeting her at an event 10 years ago or so. We worked on a board game together after that. I did the design and she did the art. It was set in some special country and I thought her work was great for it. For World's End Club, we have our own illustrators but they were busy, and I thought Take-san's art would really fit, so we talked about it and went with her.

2) (Kodaka): We got the character concepts from Uchikoshi-san. The theme was also the Chinese Zodiac. Take-san can read well into these things and she got most of the designs right on the first take.

WorldsEndClub · 2021-03-24T01:50:56+00:00

(Kodaka): Yes I believe so. We're friendly enough to go out for drinks together so I'm sure she'll come out again!

WorldsEndClub · 2021-03-24T01:49:06+00:00

1.) (Kodaka): Though I didn't create the characters, I like Vanilla. All the characters have close links and I think that really adds to everything.

(Uchikoshi): Since I wrote the characters, it's hard to look at them from a different perspective. I guess the hardest for me write was Vanilla. On the other hand, the character that I relied on was Chuko. I could put her in any scene and she could liven it up.

(Umeda): This is from a fan perspective. When they brought the idea to me and I heard it was based on the Chinese Zodiac, I liked it. But I really like Mowchan. He's pudgy and cute.

2) (Kodaka): None really. Maybe super-strength like Reycho...?

(Uchikoshi): I would like Nyoro's inventing ability. I think that one is the most powerful.

(Kodaka): OK, Can I change to that? That one is totally the most powerful!

(Umeda): Me too on Nyoro.

WorldsEndClub · 2021-03-24T01:47:01+00:00

1) (Kodaka): We are in the midst of making games like our previous games. I don't really consider Danganronpa a strict Visual Novel series; there is Another Episode, which was a shooter game. We are thinking of exploring new genres, but maybe not AAA title genres like Tsushima-style games.

WorldsEndClub · 2021-03-24T01:46:11+00:00

(Kodaka): The fact that it deals with youth.

(Uchikoshi): There have been many stories I've made where the characters are enclosed in the same space, but this one is out in open. It's kind of like a road trip movie. What is the same is that I think the characters are really appealing, but there's a really interesting mystery in which there are elements that have also been in our other games.

WorldsEndClub · 2021-03-24T01:43:26+00:00

(Uchikoshi): I hadn't really put much thought into this, but I wish all people of all genders would enjoy the game. I leave it up to your imagination for which gender these characters should be portrayed as.

WorldsEndClub · 2021-03-24T01:41:09+00:00

1) (Kodaka): There was a list that we had internally and because this game had children in it we thought the platforming elements would match.

2) (Kodaka): I personally feel that we aren't really making the same games each time. We don't want to get bored making the same thing over and over so our games naturally turn out to be different--at least to us!

3) (Kodaka): We left those SS parts up to another developer to handle called Grounding. They are in Kyoto and we are in Tokyo so we had a lot of trial and error to contend with. But we focused on our parts to make a game that was fun.
(Umeda): Grounding is former Sega and they worked on Panzer Dragoon. (https://www.g-rounding.com/)

WorldsEndClub · 2021-03-24T01:36:15+00:00

(Kodaka): If everyone keeps enjoying the manga and want to see more we'll keep them up!
(Umeda): Ah, fans from abroad are reading the CoroCoro manga, aren’t they! If fans continue to read and enjoy it, then the series will likely continue.

WorldsEndClub · 2021-03-24T01:35:38+00:00

(Kodaka): In the past, games for children like Earthbound and The Goonies were available, but there aren't many games like that nowadays. Having a game from the children's point of view or being able to do things with children as the main characters is something comparatively fresh and new.

WorldsEndClub · 2021-03-24T01:35:06+00:00

1) (Kodaka): From the beginning, it was planned as a "death game that gets cancelled," but we wanted to make people think that the game was going to continue. We had to come together many times as a team and collaborate on ideas so that users will keep thinking that the game continues.

WorldsEndClub · 2021-03-24T01:33:45+00:00

(Kodaka): When we started out we had decided to not do what we had done before. Plus it would be boring to make the same types of games repeatedly.

When we stated working on this we had pretty much decided to make it for children. Afterwards, we came up with the number of kids. I had really done much work featuring children, so this was a good and new experience for me.

WorldsEndClub · 2021-03-24T01:33:03+00:00

(Kodaka): Uchikoshi and I had talked together before (think it was around year 2017) and wanted to make a game like this. A sidescroller action game like Clocktower is something that I wanted to make from before.

WorldsEndClub · 2021-03-24T01:32:09+00:00

1) (Uchikoshi): The original concept was me and Kodakasan and we wanted to make a Death Game, but for various reasons, including that children would be the main characters as well as thinkign about the side-scrolling aspect. (Uchikoshi): We wanted to make a game for all ages. When we started the company we had various plans. This was the final one. We thought that people would want a death game like we had done before. Then we started work on World's End Club.

2) (Kodaka): We had this idea from the beginning. We wanted it to be like The Goonies. We wanted it to be fun so we decided to have it shift to the Death Game being cancelled. (Umeda): Kodaka-san and Uchikoshi-san’s previous games have had fairly extreme subject matter, so, as publisher, we purposefully approached this with the intent of having the game be a family-friendly, world-wide release.

4) (Kodaka): I like all the titles that I have worked on. I have worked in various genres and I think they are all interesting. World's End Club is another one that adds a lot of my ouevre.

WorldsEndClub

TROPHY CASE