At the Brazil Independent Games Festival in Sao Paulo, the biggest gaming expo in Latin America, I find myself across the table from Takashi Tokita. Though his affable demeanor doesn’t waver as we make polite small talk, I strain to𓆉 keep myself together as the director of classics like Chrono Trigger, lead designer in Final Fantasy 4, and participant in at least a dozen other iconic RPGs compliments my Sonic The Hedgehog sweater b▨efore we take a picture.
But despite the undeniable coolness of my Sonic getup, we start at the only natural point - RPGs. With a trajectory spanning almost four decades, what could possibly be the favorite aspect of the genre for a🧜n expert in the matter?
“I think that the character’s experiences are the most import🙈ant thing” he quickly responds. “Because players live through the character’s experiences and any emotions they will feel will be through the main characters, I think that would be the most important aspect of an RPG game”.
These days, a wide array of new RPG games are being released on multiple consoles, often bringing new mechanics that innovate. But there is a particular one that Tokita feels helped the genre to evol🌟ve. “Back in our day, any game had many types of mechanics, UIs, systems, and other elements to keep track of. I think RPG games these days capture the player’s attention with emotional action and super-skilled combat, and that’s very important for the evolution of the genre.”
Of course, changes like this don’t make everyone happy, and some claim these modern titles don’t feel like RPGs, with the upsurge in action-based combat. But is there a static formula to follow, or does the g🦄enre allow developers to experiment more with classic and modern elements?
“I think that&rsqu⛦o;s more of a generational preference. In the past, action games were action games, Strategy games were Strategy games, and so everybody played ‘their thing’” Tokita says. “Nowadays, younger generations (especially in indie games), love to add different elements and create new mixtures, and that practice can now be found across the gaming culture as a whole.”
When I ask him about the audience’s apparent reluctance🅘 to accept those changes in the genre, ꦚhe thinks for a minute before responding.
“I think that’s like cuisine. Take Japanese ramꦜen for example. Ramen has noodles, soup,🉐 and toppings, but then there are different sauces that you can add, like miso, and soy sauce, and different combinations will give you a different flavor” he says, laughing. “To me, RPGs are like that. You have characters, stories, combat mechanics, and other elements that you can combine at the moment of creating a game, and the resulting flavor will be different for every person.”
“Not o🌼nly for RPG games but I think that for every piece of entertainment, these days everything can be found on the internet. You have way more freedom of choice than back then, and preferences in video games are tied to the player’s personality, once again, like a ꦆramen choice” he adds. “Some will like it spicier or more simple, but I think it’s not a negative thing to have in any kind of entertainment. I hope we can get to create video games even more freely and to have more freedom of choice, both for creators and players”.
With more independent game developers showing up across the globe every day, people from all kinds o𝔍f cultures now work on video games. In this new era of the gaming industry, does the future of RPG games feel going in the right direction? &ldq♏uo;Yeah, absolutely” he quickly asserts. “I think that RPGs are everything, you can find stories like you would read in manga, gameplay, characters, music, and cutscenes, like an anime”.
“I believe that RPGs are our most representa📖tive pieces of entertainment, but now even more people can control and feel emotions through th𒈔ose characters. There is so much potential for those characters and their stories.”
When I ask him if there is any change he would like to see in the future, he meditates on it for a bit and adds while softly laughing “There are so many creators in the world now. Some places have even more cre𒐪ators than players! And everybody can create games now by themselves, anywhere, and there is so much to play.”
“But that’s a good thing because now we can share the same energy with our audience overseas more easily, and it’ll be even easier. With that kind of close relationship growing over time🌄, I believe we can take RPGs to a new level of entertainment.”