Catherine producer interview (part 3)
By tansuikabutsu 5 Comments
Reposting, since the original was deleted by an administrator with no reason cited. I will keep this out of the forums for now, though. Moderators - this is my own translation of an interview in a Japanese magazine. If this is a copyright problem, I agree that technically this is not cut and clear, but I think some leeway is in order since this is information people not fluent in Japanese will never be able to get otherwise. I am keeping screenshot scans, character details and many of the other information in the magazine that is pure data, and sticking to a textual translation of the interview.
If this is still a problem, can you please let me know the reason (especially since only part 3 was deleted), so I can have a better idea of how to handle this kind of thing in the future?
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- When making a game, the real life experience of the developers probably influence the end result a lot. How did your experiences reflect on Catherine?
Hashino: Well, I don't have any experience with infidelity myself, and I couldn't ask my staff about their own (laughs). We tried to tell a story that is similar to what you can find in advice books or in internet bulletin boards. If we write something completely unbelievable players wouldn't be able to identify with the story. Some of the characters themselves are a little removed from reality, but we wanted to leave the impression that it's a story that can happen to anyone. In addition, during development we especially asked our female staff members about their experience. For some reason they had much more experience with this kind of thing than the men... When I finished writing the script, I made the women read it and point out problems with Vincent's character.
- You must be worried about what female players will think when playing this game...
Hashino: Actually, we gave it a lot of thought. When we gave it to our female staffers to look at in detail, it turned out the most trivial things we had Vincent say had a huge impact on them. Things like, "it's so patronizing when he says things like that". We made adjustments based on that, but when we asked them if they can forgive Vincent for cheating they said, "when all is said and done, when he cheats it's impossible!" (laughs). We managed to make him a more rounded character than he was previously, but not to the point where he can be forgiven for infidelity.
- During the game, you get text messages from both your lovers, and can select your answer from several options [1]. Did you adjust that as well following the opinions of the female staffers?
Hashino: We considered their input, but ultimately the text replies were written from a male point of view (laughs). But even the female staffers enjoyed that part of the game. It was a new experience for them - meeting your cheating partner at the bar and texting your girlfriend that you are at work. They said it was exciting.
- Leaving aside the different reactions between male and female players, I'm sure you get different reactions between male players who are married [2] and men who don't have a lover. The former can understand the what Vincent is going through, get mad, and even imagine doing the same. How do you think the latter will react to Catherine?
Hashino: I think they will have a different reaction, but there are a lot of shared elements too. No matter what the circumstances are, I don't think there is anyone who doesn't have love issues in his life, even if what's in the game is a little unorthodox (laughs). I think Catharine's appeal is indeed quite wide.
- It's just that in many questionnaires, some players showed deep aversion to games with a love theme. They want their games to be complete fantasy, and are afraid of entertainment that tries to reflect life issues.
Hashino: That's one of the reasons Catharine's protagonist isn't in the Persona mold, but is "Vincent", who is his own character. In a way, you're saved by taking a comfortable audience seat. That said, I don't think this is a game that requires you to search for its deep meaning. We tell the story in a light fantastic way -- this is not a simulator. In addition, you can enjoy the game parts even if you ignore all the love talk, so I think even those people can be satisfied with the game.
- The game's ending varies depending on choices the player makes [3]. It feels like people with different love experience will choose different options and get different endings.
Hashino: This is also something we did deliberately. Whether you're married or not, if you're told we can check your love aptitude you'd be interested, right? (laughs). In the past, when animal horoscopes were trendy, you could hear things like "that's because I am a sheep-type" in bars - it became a seed for communication. In that way, I'd like to see people who finished Catherine sit for a drink and discuss the endings they got, as a conversation snack to go with the beer.
[1] Answering text messages - during the game, when you're sitting in the bar at night, there are times when text messages arrive from both C/Katherines, and you can answer them. You can change the nuance and wording of your answer, and with that a mysterious meter that affects the ending moves left or right. Some times, you'll get a message with a sexy picture attached!
[2] Married people - we asked about the marriage status of the Persona team. "We don't have an unusually large number of married people, but we have some - it's probably a good reflection of any random group of people, not that I know about these things. I think all our main programmers have children. It's probably because their work is so tough (laughs)."
[3] Choices in the game - besides affecting the story, the choices players makes can give them an especially interesting "ability". Look forward to it in the game!
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