After playing Let It Die briefly at E3 2016, I had the opportunity to ask executive director Goichi Suda, a.k.a. Suda51, and executive producer Kazuki Morishita, CEO of GungHo, questions about the hack-and-slash action title for the PlayStation 4. Originally titled Lily Bergamo, Let It Die is Grasshopper Manufacture’s first game developed as a subsidary of GungHo and marks a new direction for Suda51’s studio.
What are the main inspirations for the story and visuals of Let It Die?
Suda: The world setting and backdrop somewhat grabs inspiration from Go Nagai’s manga Violence Jack. We had the entire staff read it and understand what it was all about.
What was the biggest challenge with developing this project?
Morishita: As you can see, the game is a rogue-like, hack-and-slash, action survival game. There’s also PvP feature where it’s asynchronous online multiplayer. I think combining those two together was probably the biggest challenge for us.
In terms of the business model, it’s a free-to-play console game. So that was an additional challenge because there aren’t a lot of games like it out there that we could base the model off of. I think we’ve come to a good balance.
Right, that is a fine line to walk: how to balance what parts of the game are free and what the player can pay for.
Morishita: We want to make sure it’s not a pay-to-win game. If you don’t want it to be a pay-to-win, you really need to focus on how to balance things out. But you have to ensure it doesn’t become a free game that everyone can download and enjoy forever. That’s always a hard decision we have to make.
Was there any big reason behind going free-to-play?
Suda: After Shadows of the Damned, Lollipop Chainsaw, and Killer is Dead, we at Grasshopper Manufacture came to a point where we said, “Hey, I think we should move on to the next chapter of our brand.” When we partnered with GungHo, it was a great opportunity for us because they have expertise in free-to-play. Because we wanted to start a new chapter, it was pretty much a given to move on to a new business model. We’ve always done premium games. Also, we’ve always wanted to do online play, which was lacking from our previous titles. So that supported our decision to go free-to-play.
Since Let It Die is free-to-play, should we look forward to regularly scheduled events or new content to keep players engaged?
Morishita: Yep, you nailed it. Player retention is a huge goal for us. We will definitely come up with new content and new features on a regular basis. Hopefully, we can get as many updates as possible. At the same time, users are passionate, especially the hardcore players that we’re targeting with this kind of game, and they will probably finish the content immediately, haha! Even though it took us a few months to create [content], they will probably finish it in a day! So how do you keep up with that? You could work 24 hours a day nonstop to provide updates but they will still finish them very quickly. They will always be ahead. They will always be waiting for content. Just to mitigate the wait and give players freedom, I think the PvP element will come to play a lot. Hopefully, we can make sure the user base creates content themselves so it’s not always up to the developer and publisher.
We want the PvP element to branch out to actual events that the user base is enjoying, either by participating in or spectating. There could be rivalries happening or maybe groups against groups. That’s something we’re hoping happens and something we want to push in the game.
So will there be support for clans or guilds?
Morishita: Clans and guilds are great, too — they work. We (Gungho) have done multiple games based on clan-based PvP. But we want to create a new kind of PvP that isn’t clan versus clan and hopefully it’s received well. It’s a very new game system we’re providing.
From a creative standpoint with the visuals and game design, did you try catering more to a Eastern or Western audience?
Morishita: We are for universal game design. That’s always been our company motto – making everything as fun as possible for everybody. We want to make sure the gameplay itself is universally accepted. Putting that element with Suda51 and Grasshoppers’ world setting and story elements was challenging but it was our goal to make it succeed.
As GungHo CEO and creative director, I’m also working on multiple other projects internally at Gungho. Currently, I’m working on the next Puzzle and Dragons title for 3DS and it’s very much targeted towards children. So it’s very different working on a game like Let It Die. So in terms of creating content for kids, I’m able to come with it easily. But for Let It Die, it’s all on Suda51 and Grasshopper to create content since it’s their idea.
Is Suda51 and Grasshopper Manufacture interested in making a VR game?
Suda: Definitely interested in VR but we are currently not making a game for VR yet. We are just focusing on Let It Die for now.
Morishita: Over at GungHo, we are developing VR titles. Since we are Grasshopper’s parent company, there’s always a chance. We’re doing research and development on VR and can share our results and knowledge with Grasshopper, as we are always looking out to make new titles.