People give him crap for calling them "his daughters" but honestly....thats how it feels creating characters with entire personalities and backstories. You can tell he still has a lot of pride for each creation.
I always wanna slap the shit out of people who try to pull the "he's just mad because doa's doing so well" bullshit excuse. NO, you can see in this interview that he, as well as a sizeable chunk of the fanbase, dislikes how DOA5 lost what made DOA special in the first place. Yes it got some gameplay adjustments that were good, but it lost virtually everything that made it DOA, all of its charm and polish.
Some of his responses that really stood out to me.
"YOU say that because you are a pro hardcore player! But I look at it from a game designer standpoint. It is almost impossible to attract new players with the way the game plays now. Look back at the older DOAs. When a new comer tries out the game for the first time, his first instinct is to just press the buttons randomly. But, those button presses usually lead to some very visually pleasing moves and even at some points lead to that beginner’s first victory. When a new player experiences this, in his mind he would think, “Hey, I think I can play this game” and would start to play it more and maybe even attract more players to play it. When you compare this to the state DOA5 is in, a new comer has virtually no chance at all. The technical gap is so huge to the point that the game will feel too awkward and this new comer will never be able to play effectively or ever get a win. A game like that would never sell. This is why they thought they can overcome this by making the game more erotic and milk you loyal players all out of your money with erotic DLC. It’s disgusting."
Its all very, very true. People who already know the game inside and out think there's nothing wrong, though, and so they argue it to death.
" It’s like this. Think of DOA as the Pacific fleet, Ninja Gaiden as the Atlantic fleet, and DOAX as the Mediterranean fleet. Each fleet is stationed in a specific location and is placed there to protect that location with its own unique rules and regulations. Team Ninja went and took all those fleets and sent them together to the North Pole!
But turning it into an “ero-game”? Just what the hell kind of market are they targeting exactly?"
I wound up just nodding my head in agreement with pretty much everything you and Itagaki said in the interview.
Love this interview, and it really does show that Itagaki, for whatever other faults he may have, is an amazing game designer because he approaches it the right way. not in a "whats the best cash grab formula" like so many others, but as an actual, imaginative, artistic, game designer.
Thanks a ton, Emperor Cow.
