Kamitani, while holding the position of CEO, also did the character designs for Grim Grimore, Odin Sphere, and Oboro Muramasa. He has a love for 2D games, which shows in their unique graphic styles.

[Titles that influenced Kamitani?]

It seems that an aesthetic world view is unique to all of your games. Are there any games that affected the fantasy worlds you make?

The first time I saw anything fantasy-related was in a game. I clearly remember, even now, when I first picked up the package of The Black Onyx. It was about this time I started with resources on Table Talk and drawing pictures.

Were there other titles that pushed you towards 2D graphics?

The ones that influenced me most were those when I was with Capcom. Surrounded by Gods all the time definitely changed me. The games Capcom was making at the time: Vampire, Alien vs. Predator, and Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom, are still impacting me today. Anyone who has played these games doesn't need that explained to them.

Tell us why you go to such great lengths to make games in 2D.

It's because I like the 2D games from the height of the arcades. Games changed with 3D, but I like to think, "what if we didn't have 3D, but had 2D with today's technology..." That's the premise of the games I make. But, I also go after low count polygon games like Fantasy Earth. Adjusting the silhouettes with few vertices is similar to meticulously editing pixel art, so I'm happy with that.

Tell us about the techniques you use to make 2D graphics

A long time ago we had multi-jointing, which has lately become something like Flash. The basic premise hasn't changed since Princess Crown, but since the resolutions and amount of colors has gone up since the pixel era, we're able to make objects with paint tools rather than pixel editors.

It seems that 2D would take a lot more effort than 3D. Is there any merit worth mentioning when using 2D over 3D?

No matter how many production methods you have, when compared to 3D polygons which are automatically calculated, 2D is horribly low tech, and therefore more work. I'd say there are no merits other than because you like it.

Looks like it's all done out of love for 2D.

[We only make originals! The story behind each game]

Please tell us how each game came to be.

Grim Grimore: A project that took about 6 months, due to us having to meet the client's scheduled delivery date. I challenged myself, making an RTS I would like without taking into account anything else. I was considering it as a series, and left quite a few things open for future development, but unfortunately it didn't sell well, so a sequel is unlikely. The fishbowl map in the event parts as well as the animations turned out far better than I had hoped.

Odin Sphere: This one was actually on ice for over half a year, so production actually started before Grim Grimore. It started out with five people. By the time it was done, about 2 years had passed, and 12 people were involved in the project. The graphics and scenarios were given priority, and towards the end, man hours from the game part were severely cut. The full voice scenes were supposed to total an hour and a half, but in the end, were over five hours in length. I was such an imposition on Basiscape.

Kumantachi: A DS game which was a product of Vanillaware becoming a 2-line outfit. Well, I say 2-line, but there are no people in the company. So, the development team was Shigatake doing graphics as well as Direction. The pixel animations he's poured his life into deserve a look. It was such a tough schedule, he said for the time being he doesn't want to do any direction. So, unfortunately, our 2-line model will have to wait. Shigatake-kun, I'm sorry!

Oboro Muramasa: The plans started as a game I had wanted to make from long ago, which was something akin to Kage no Densetsu and Genpei Toumaden. But, no matter which client I showed it to, none had any interest. At the very end, Marvelous Entertainment picked it up. Unlike Odin Sphere, the game part takes precedence, and a lot of time was spent tuning the controls and fighting. The design team, after having worked on any projects, poured their heart and soul into the graphics. Wouldn't you say they're quite unique?

For these projects, who was the one that came design? Vanillaware or the publisher?

Vanillaware is a company I established because I wanted to make original games, so for the most part we only make games whose designs we've created. The genre of our games is simply because of my tastes.

Basisicape has done the sound for all your games, starting with Grim Grimore. How did that happen?

The first time I met Sakimoto-san was when we were working on Fantasy Earth. He puts all his energy into his songs. I fell in love with that creative spirit. He looked at us when we were walking the death march, and thought he could help us. When the Odin Sphere project started, I went straight to Basiscape. Sakimoto-san was glad to see that we had survived.

From Odin Sphere, the food animations leave quite an impression. Tell us about your dedication to food.

Eating is one of the three human desires. If one eats, he is happy. I don't know if eating in a game would make one happy, but I hoped maybe it would just a little.

I don't think I'm the only one that wanted to eat candy and soba after playing Oboro Muramasa (laughs). Please tells about your plans for your next game.

I can't say too much, but we're already working on the next one. Hopefully we can make an announcement soon.

Finally, how about a message for our readers?

I want to continue making original games, and I would be happy if you played them.

We're looking forward to your new game. Thank you very much.

Translation: Gaijin Punch
Originally appeared in Gameside Vol. 19