A few weeks ago, our producer Guo had the opportunity to sit down with Yasumi Matsuno, the mastermind behind Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics, courtesy of the leading Japanese video game publication - Famitsu. Guo and Matsuno discussed the design process of Sword of Convallaria, and shared interesting stories from behind the scenes of their experience as tactical RPG developers.
Below are some highlights from this exchange; a link to the original full interview can be found at the end of the post.
What is the meaning of Sword of Convallaria?
GUO: Sword of Convallaria is the name of the mercenary band that the player's character is part of. So we have "Sword" and "Convallaria." In the game, "Convallaria" signifies the beauty and transience of peace. “Sword” signifies weapons to protect that peace.
How did the Sword of Convallaria project start?
GUO: I'm a fan of tactical RPGs. I'm especially fond of Mr. Matsuno's Tactics Ogre. Sword of Convallaria is to a certain extent a game that pays homage to Tactics Ogre.
The second reason was that I saw Octopath Traveler I and my production team were also pixel art fans. Octopath Traveler used today's new technology to bring pixel art to audiences again. We also wanted to make a new pixel art game to bring everyone something that we like. That's how Sword of Convallaria was born.
Campaign Story Branches
MATSUNO: How exactly do players make these choices? In Tactics Ogre, players can select lines to speak. Sometimes they choose from one of two choices.
More recently, in Square Enix's Triangle Strategy, they have the Scales of Conviction. These tilt and diverge the plot. What systems do you have in Sword of Convallaria to make the story diverge? Can we discuss this in more detail?
GUO: We have also incorporated a branching system similar to Tactics Ogre. And at the same time, actions taken during battles also affect the story and the outcome of the battles.
For instance, if a player acts based on humanitarian principles during a battle, like helping civilians, there may come a time when the civilians will support the player, and this action might change the unfolding of the later story.
Overall, there are seven or eight possible endings.
Online Gameplay and Storylines
MATSUNO: You mentioned earlier that you wanted to make a framework for an online game. If it's an online game, then the game must go on because the service must continue. There will probably be story arcs like the seasons of a foreign TV drama.
What's your ideal scenario in terms of story development to keep the service going? How would it unfold? What are you aiming for? I'd like to know your thoughts.
GUO: Sword of Convallaria's story proceeds on two levels. The online part is bigger and sees the story from a broader perspective. The story must progress gradually so that the service can last. The online part will have complete story arcs, and each arc will be part of the overall story. They won't be closely related to each other. While people will be able to keep on playing, each arc will last about three months and will be complete in itself. It will be almost like playing offline. Like with Tactics Ogre, there will be different perspectives of the same world and how you play will influence this perspective.
Expanding the Tactical RPG Audience
MATSUNO: I want to ask about the game mechanics. I played a sample of the game. Many elements seemed to be typical of tactical RPGs, but could you explain what’s the same as existing games, and what's different about it? Could you explain for the viewers?
GUO: Designing RPGs comes with a difficulty which may be why tactical RPGs are not so popular now. Because their battle feedback is indirect compared with other types of games the process is more difficult, and gameplay is unwieldy. Battles take too long overall.
Sword of Convallaria tries to pick and choose from these. It simplifies gameplay and makes maneuvers more intuitive. We made it easier but retained the fun of strategy hoping that users will be able to enjoy a tactical RPG more easily.
The story also has a high perspective, which is an advantage of tactics RPGs, and emphasizes character building.
300 Maps And 1,000 Stages
MATSUNO: If you count all the stages, daily quests, and so on, How many maps do you have in the game when you are releasing?
GUO: We have 300 maps so far. There are actually over 1,000 stages.
Pixel Art and Character Styles
MATSUNO: The animation is extremely well executed. Even though it's pixel art, I can sense the artist's love and attention to detail. The backgrounds and so on are beautiful. The illustrations are also very high quality.
Overall, I can tell that it's going to be brushed up even more. That's my impression and I'm really looking forward to it. I want to play the finished version as soon as I can. I guess it's based on Unity.
The engine is Unity, right? Why didn't you make the game 3D?
GUO: The scenes are actually 3D but they're mapped to make them look 2D. The characters are all drawn in 2D. A normal map is laid over the pixel art to match the lighting and get a more subtle expression. This blends the characters more effectively with the scene's light source.
MATSUNO: We did much the same with Octopath Traveler. I think that with Triangle Strategy and Octopath Traveler, we could have made the backgrounds appear as three-dimensional as we liked.
What did you aim to achieve by making Sword of Convallaria look 2D?
GUO: Octopath Traveler is a 3D game with a pixel art style. We like traditional pixel art so we want to use 3D to reinforce it. We also like pixel art's unique "negative space" effect. It gives room for players to use their imaginations. Their brains can fill in the details so they envision more detailed scenes. Sometimes it can outdo a realistic 3D image.
For example, in Tactics Ogre, the protagonist argues with his sister at the port. He faces the sea and ponders something. That scene, where his hair streams in the wind left a profound impression on me. I think that showed pixel art's charm.
Deep down, I like that era's pixel art. I want users to see it in a better form so that more people can enjoy pixel art.
Creating Music with Hitoshi Sakimoto
MATSUNO: You got Mr. Sakimoto to do the music. Could you tell me why you chose Mr. Sakimoto?
GUO: Probably because I love Tactics Ogre. I asked Mr. Sakimoto to compose the music because I was influenced by Tactics Ogre. Another reason is that the feel and theme is realistic and grave, and I think Mr. Sakimoto's style is perfect for that.
At present, we have about 51 tracks. Since 2020, in terms of progress, we've been dealing with them in stages.
Concluding Remarks
GUO: As a tactical RPG developer, and as a lover of the great golden-era games, Sword of Convallaria is my love letter to fans of games from that era. I hope that through Sword of Convallaria, players today will feel the charm of the games from back then. I hope you will play Sword of Convallaria and find it enjoyable. Thank you.
MATSUNO: As a game fan, I like all kinds of games, but thinking games such as simulation games, war games, and tactical RPGs are my favorite. I live this genre both as a game creator and as a user. I haven't made such games recently, but new titles like this are coming out overseas, in China. From what I saw and felt, it looks really fun. I haven't played the release version yet, but I truly want to play it when it's ready. This is really worth looking forward to, and I hope you grab it for yourself when it's released. By doing so, we can support the tactical RPG genre.
Watch the full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjBn5onO6Gc
Sword of Convallaria is expected to go global and cross-platform in the fall of 2023.
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