A Chat with Hiroaki Yura on Project Phoenix

Japanese indie game Project Phoenix smashed its humble funding amount of $100,000 in a mere eight hours.

So what’s moved so many gamers from all corners of the planet to take notice, pledging not only their support but their money, of Kickstarter’s “first Japan-based video game project”?

For one, it’s the immense talent behind Project Phoenix, but perhaps it’s also the mission statement outlined by the game’s director, Hiroaki Yura, to deliver a new standard to not only Japanese role playing games, but to Japanese developed games right across the board.

To begin, could you give our readers a little more information about yourself, and some of the projects you’ve personally worked on previously?

Hiroaki Yura: Well, most people know me as a Music Director, Producer and Violinist. Maybe the founder of Eminence. I’ve worked on games such as Diablo III, Odine Sphere, Soul Calibur V, El Shaddai, Xenoblade and Ace Combat Joint Assault to name a few.

I was brought up in Sydney, Australia since the age of six and was exposed to both games Japanese and Western, and I see great potentials and benefits in both.

Although I have had a heavy musical career, I’ve always had found time playing a lot of games (often forgoing sleep) and would spend time with my developer friends and compete in PvP (peer versus peer) on many genres of games.

How did the team at Creative Intelligence come together?

Hiroaki Yura: Well, the team here is mostly a music team where I work with people I like from the music industry. However, the team for Project Phoenix… well, they’re mostly my friends who shares the same values as I do and agree to do something about the state of games in Japan in general.

How long has this project been in the works prior to it going public on Kickstarter?

Hiroaki Yura: Project Phoenix has been in the works since late 2012. We concepted a lot of things and refined our direction as to where we want to take this game.

The Kickstarter exceeded its original goal of $100,000, which in comparison to similar projects and indeed, the scope of this project, may seem like a small amount. Did you ever expect to receive such an overwhelming response?

Hiroaki Yura: No. Honestly, we thought we’d be hard pressed to reach $100k. We are totally humbled by the overwhelming response and we really hope we can reach and perhaps exceed people’s expectation with Project Phoenix.

What are some of the direct influences cited by members of the team in developing Project Phoenix?

Hiroaki Yura: Lots. Loads. I don’t know if I can do justice to the question as there are tonnes of games we love, but here are some.

The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, Secret of Mana — For it’s simple but clear cut layout of the game. It’s painfully easy to understand and fun to play as an ARPG.

Final Fantasy 7 & 9. — For it’s story, the setting. GONTARO and my special favourite is 9. We just love that world to bits.

The Warcraft III and StarCraft series — I personally love RTS. It’s awesome, it’s cool and you feel in command.

JRPGs are usually associated with having long, sweeping storylines and hours upon hours of gameplay content. Can players expect the same from Project Phoenix?

Hiroaki Yura: Yes absolutely. Why else would we start a JRPG? I believe JRPG is a musical or an opera, to a certain extent. It’s awesome.

The game’s Kickstarter profile makes the bold claim that it “will set a new standard of excellence for the Japanese gaming industry” Can you elaborate on how you feel the team will achieve this?

Hiroaki Yura Well firstly we’re cheaters. We cheat to win. How? Well, it’s easy, all we did, was get the best person for the job in each genre of expertise who are also very passionate about this.

In a broader sense, I got what Japan excelled in. Awesome art and music, great stories (sometimes very uniquely Japanese but that’s ok right?). And I got what the West excelled in. Great programming, use of a very efficient engine, gameplay that works (woops! we don’t mean all Japanese gameplay doesn’t work, we just really like many of the gameplay concept from the West in general), and functional design, whether that be in it’s art, world, story or gameplay.

In respect to platforms, PC, Mac and Linux have been confirmed. What can players expect from the possible iOS and Android versions?

Hiroaki Yura: Yes, but what I have to strongly point out is that we don’t know where the iOS/Android will be in mid 2015. So we will do what’s suitable for these devices then.

However, this does not mean it will affect the Win/Mac/Linux versions in anyway whatsoever. If the iOS and Android platforms don’t cope well with our game, and we will either tone the game down for those platforms or if we feel it’s been toned down to an extent where we can’t claim it’s really the same game that gives out the same experience, then we start thinking of something else for these devices. These “something else”, we’re not ready to talk about it just yet!

Do you have any special message you’d like to give to readers?

Hiroaki Yura: Australia, you are the place I call home, and I will not let you down!

Interview originally conducted September 2013.