Anniversaries are always something special. Even with big companies. To celebrate the tenth visit of Bandai Namco Entertainment to the Japan-Expo 2015 in Paris, we were invited to play a lot of games, witness a great show and, of course, interview some important people. We sent our reporter Rygdea to meet the developers of three upcoming games, that many people can not wait to play.
The second interview was with Yosuke Futami, producer of Sword Art Online: Lost Song. The waiting time is almost over. In autumn this game will be released in the western territories and both the gamers and developers are very excited about that. Interested in a collector´s edition? Then check out our interview!
JPGames: Hello, I’m Jan from jpgames.de! First of all, I would like to thank you for bringing Sword Art Online in the west. It was a really big surprise and something special for us.
Futami: I am very glad to release this game and share it with the world! Thank you very much.
JPGames: Alright, let’s get started now! So, Sword Art Online: Lost Song…what exactly does Lost Song mean?
Futami: When we say Lost Song, it’s not like “I lost my watch” or “I lost my wallet”. Lost, in this case, means: “I don’t know where to go.” That is the meaning of the Lost-part of the title. You are lost, because you don’t know where to go. There are two singers in the game that will appear, one in the virtual world and one of them is in the real world. For the one singing in the virtual world, no one can see where the song is going and what its purpose is. That’s why I wanted to call it Lost Song.
JPGames: Are there more plans for PlayStation 4 now, like possible games in the future for the console?
Futami: Of course!
JPGames: Alright, nice to know! What sets Lost Song apart from Hollow Fragment, when it comes to gameplay? That is something many fans would like to know.
Futami: One difference are the friend battles. Another one is, that you can’t only play as Kirito, but also as Asuna, Sinon or other characters from the show.
JPGames: I already had the chance to play it a bit and I really like how it went seamlessly from ground battle to flying and battle there. Was it difficult to combine these stages of battle?
Futami: Yes, it was really difficult to balance these battles out. The most difficult part, for me, was not to show the underwear of characters from the ground! (laughs)
JPGames: A thing that many fans are worried about is, that the PlayStation Vita version of the game could hold back the PS4 version, since the PS4 is technically way more capable of things when it comes to its hardware. Is that the case with this game?
Futami: The existence of the PSVita version won’t hold back the PS4 version of the game. But there are actually differences between the two version, not when it comes to content, but how the games are developed. That is slightly different between both versions. So that’s why it’s not holding back the PS4 version.
JPGames: Do you have any influence on a possible Collector’s Edition of the game?
Futami: Of course we have, but there is nothing to announce at the time, so please stay tuned.
JPGames: Can you tell us a bit about the difficult level in Sword Art Online: Lost Song, because Hollow Fragment had some places, especially in the Hollow World, which were really difficult. Will there be the same kind of difficult places in Lost Song?
Futami: So in terms of difficulty of Lost Song…if you are focusing on the main story, I don’t think there are any too difficult stages as you found in Hollow Fragment. However, if I include all the side missions, even from after clearing the game, there are some missions that are really difficult to clear.
JPGames: How long will it take to completely clear the game, including all side missions and the platin trophy?
Futami: Around 80 hours of gameplay.
JPGames: Now, our last question: If you could, would you change places with Kirito and be him?
Futami: If I could be him, of course I would! Because he is very good at playing the game and is also very famous among women! (laughs)
So, Jan, please give us your personal thought about the following thing. We spoke about a Collector’s Edition of the game…so, if we decided to attach a figurine to the Collector’s Edition of the game, would you rather have a male or a female character as a figurine?
JPGames: A female character!
Futami: (laughs) Just you wait!
JPGames: Thank you very much for the interview!
