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In this continuation of our previous interview, we talked with Disgaea D2 director Takehisa Matsuda and series writer and Nippon Ichi Software President Sohei Niikawa.
[Regarding the 10th Anniversary of the Disgaea Series]
––With the Disgaea series now having reached it’s 10 year anniversary, why do you think the series has maintained its popularity for so long?
Niikawa: There are many different ways to enjoy Disgaea games. Some are satisfied once they complete the story, others immerse themselves in collecting items, and still others get into the level-building aspect after completing the game. Each player can experience the game in their own way depending on their personality and lifestyle. There’s a kind of “laxness” to the game, in a good way, that doesn’t impose a set style of gameplay on the player. I think that element is surprisingly important to many players. In addition to the “good laxness,” I think the game system and dialogue between characters is unique to the series. Whenever we make a new series, we put everything we’ve got into striving to be as interesting, exciting, and silly as possible. To have that determination come through to our fans––there’s nothing more rewarding than that.
––Looking back on the past 10 years, what has changed the most about Disgaea? What hasn’t changed at all?
Niikawa: I think the most dramatic change in the history of the series came in Disgaea 4 with the addition of high resolution animation. Up until then, pixel art was kind of a selling point for Nippon Ichi Software, so it certainly took some courage and diligence to move away from our traditional area of expertise and try a new method of expression. But by incorporating high resolution animation, we were able to use Takehito Harada’s original illustrations as they were.
If we hadn’t been able to do this, after Disgaea 3 we wouldn’t have been able to release on PS3, and as a result, the direction of the series, particularly its expansion abroad, would have been sorely limited. What hasn’t changed at all in the past 10 years is the spirit of Disgaea. Our spirit for challenge and commitment to service is still the same, and the fact that we’re always working on improving things up until the very last minute. I’d say we dare to do the stupid stuff that other companies won’t. That mindset just won’t change.
––Is there anything in particular that you did specifically for the 10th anniversary?
Matsuda: We did a redesign on Laharl’s shorts to make them more contemporary!
Niikawa: We really wanted to bring back Laharl, Etna, and Flonne, so I’m glad we were able do that this time. I’m looking forward to doing something for the 15th anniversary.
––Over the past 10 years, what event has left the biggest impression on you?
Niikawa: There are many little things that have stuck with me, but I’d have to say the most impressive thing for me was the fact that foreign customers actually took kindly to the game.
When the first Disgaea game was released in Japan, there was talk of expanding the series abroad, but at the time I wasn’t really interested, or rather, I didn’t think it would sell. Disgaea was made with Japan’s core game fans in mind, so character conversations and previews were filled with otaku culture references and parodies that I thought only Japanese fans could understand and enjoy. I honestly didn’t think it would be understood by a foreign audience. However, when we did release abroad, it ended up selling just as well and garnered just as much, if not more, support than it did initially in Japan. That’s when I finally realised that I was mistaken. We have comrades abroad! I was extremely happy.
[Turning to Foreign Audiences]
–– Disgaea has not only become a much-loved series in Japan, but also in many other countries around the world. Why do you think that Disgaea has crossed borders the way that it has and gained so much support?
Matsuda: I think the fact that us developers focused on what we thought was fun, and what would satisfy Japanese users, without really considering a foreign audience actually made foreign users respond so favourably. Of course, it does make things a bit difficult during localization [laugh].
––To follow up my previous question: The Disgaea series is known for its gorgeous 2D character designs. Do you feel that the 2D aspect of the game helped to separate it from other, mostly 3D, foreign titles?
Matsuda: We weren’t particularly focused on separating the game from other titles. Since the first pixel art games, our core fans have been the ones who are into 2D character graphics. Of course, this is also true for us as developers; we love cute and warm character graphics, and it’s still where we focus a lot of our attention in development. Through the Disgaea series, we plan on continuing our tradition of artistic expression with 2D graphics.
––Have you had any experiences that might suggest Japanese gamers and foreign gamers have had different reactions to your games, or that they enjoy the games in different ways?
Matsuda: Surprisingly, both Japanese and foreign players seem to respond positively to the same things (like Laharl-chan). The preference of Disgaea fans defies national boundaries! Also, recently more and more people have been uploading videos of themselves playing the game online. Overall, I get the impression that it’s mostly foreign users that are actively doing this. This sort of thing seems to be a new and contemporary way of enjoying our games.
––The Disgaea series is packed full of gags and parodies that I can imagine make it difficult to localize for other countries. When localizing Disgaea D2, were there any specific points that you focused your attention on, or parts that were particularly challenging?
Matsuda: The development team honestly doesn’t know what parts will or will not be understood by a foreign audience. That’s why we leave the details up to the localization staff, because they have knowledge of their particular culture. However, they do apparently have a hard time translating text with so many gags and parodies [laugh]. Of course, the staff that do the translations have an interest in Japanese culture and enjoy the work they do, but there are inevitably things that just do not translate and need to be cut. To make up for this, they add many other gags and parodies that the foreign audience can relate to. And of course, we try our best to not drastically affect the original storyline [laugh]. In terms of points that we focus on...because the Disgaea series is so established, we strive to make sure that everything is consistent throughout the series. Data, story, names, and items––we take the time to double check that the translations of these things are correct. For example, “Kanda Gum” is “ABC Gum” and “De-ru” is “Mr. Gency Exit,” so for familiar items there’s a corresponding English translation. However, the Japanese developers don’t necessarily understand what they mean………[laugh]
––Do you have anything to say to your fans abroad?
Matsuda: How are you enjoying Disgaea D2? If you haven’t played it yet, it’s a very entertaining title, so I suggest you take this opportunity to try it out. We plan on making more games in the Disgaea series, so stay tuned!
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.
