Like a Dragon creator believes the overall size of a game is becoming less important
Toshihiro Nagoshi, the creator of the Like a Dragon franchise, has stated that he believes that the overall size of a game is becoming less of a selling point as time passes, and that he hopes to create a new title that is "fun to play, but isn't too much of a hassle."
The details:
Speaking with Famitsu (via VGC), Nagoshi confirmed that, while the first game from his own studio will be an action-adventure title, the emphasis will be on creating a fun experience rich in content rather than designing a large map for the sake of size. “I want to make a game that is fun to play, but isn’t too much of a hassle,” Nagoshi explained. “Even though there aren’t many completely original games now, if you include overseas games there are so many titles out there that it’s impossible to play them all. Looking at the situation, I think that the number of console games in the lives of ordinary game fans may be a little excessive. There are still many titles being released, but I feel that the era of games where the size is the selling point is coming to an end.”
Nagoshi went on to say that Nagoshi Studio is looking into shrinking the overall size of the map in its upcoming game as it moves into the next phase of development. ”Of course we have the map, but the current version is so large that it’s almost too large,” the director explained. “This time, while researching existing games, we started by making a fairly large map with roads and highways. Now we are gradually shrinking it down and exploring the best balance for the game.”
When the Famitsu reporter suggested that a large game world is acceptable as long as it contains high-quality content, Nagoshi agreed and went on to explain why he chose to create a smaller map. “You could fill it in with some element to create a sense of density, but it’s not modern to have similar experiences repeated over and over again,” he said. “I think that in order to properly connect the scale of the map with the fun of playing, it is important to design the world view and explain what the player, as the protagonist, is doing in this world. The role of the drama is to support that. I feel like the time to decide what the right size is to balance everything is coming up soon.”
Nagoshi created Like a Dragon (formerly Yakuza in the West) for Sega in 2005, and despite its open-world structure, the franchise's playable area are typically small. Each game takes place across various urban areas of Japan and is packed with optional minigames and side quests, as opposed to the larger collectable-filled worlds of other popular titles from developers such as Ubisoft.
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