Fairy Tail Interview – All About the Journey

Developers Gust will be delivering what’s looking like a meaty RPG adaptation of the popular manga and anime Fairy Tail, and as fans of their Atelier games would tell you, it’s an exciting prospect. There’s a while to go before we get our hands on the Fairy Tail game, which means there’s still plenty we don’t know about it, and to get some of those details, we recently sent across a few of our questions about the game to its developers. You can read our interview with the game’s producer Keisuke Kikuchi below.

"My thoughts are to maintain the character elements and events of the original, but to add elements to make it more exciting as a game and customizing parts specifically for the game, so there will be original magic and items."

Are you taking any creative freedoms with the game as far as story and the setting are concerned? How closely does Fairy Tail stick to its story material? 

The main story of the game follows the story of the manga and anime. Though, in order to fit the structure of a game, we are making edits to the events and battles by simplifying some but showing others in detail. My thoughts are to maintain the character elements and events of the original, but to add elements to make it more exciting as a game and customizing parts specifically for the game, so there will be original magic and items. We are preparing original character episodes, requests, and story for replayability, so please look forward to it.

What can you tell us about the new story content in the game for characters who didn’t get too much screen time in the anime or the manga?

You can become friends with more than 10 different characters, but characters that appear more than others in the original have been selected.  The characters that you befriend have original episodes in the game, and by leveling up your favourite character(s), you can experience these episodes.

How does Fairy Tail’s friendship mechanic work? As the relationship between two characters grows, how does that manifest in terms of gameplay?

When characters are included as party members, and requests are completed together, the bonds between these characters are deepened. Depending on the stage of the bond, character conversation events take place, the success rate of Magic Chains increase, and the amount of MP used decreases are bonuses that can be earned.

Can you talk about guilds, and how they work in conjunction with progression mechanics and side quests?

When requests are completed, the guild rank increases which means higher ranked requests can be accepted, more chains are linked during battle, and legendary class magic can be executed. In addition, the guild building, such as the request board, goods shop, and research facility can be developed so that there are more things the player can do in the game.

"Mashima-sensei is someone who is overflowing with energy, so we get inspired when working with him. Also, we feel that he is someone who is always thinking about his fans. When he is checking the game, his opinions are based on the viewpoint of what fans would think."

What’s the experience of working with Hiro Mashima been like?

Mashima-sensei is someone who is overflowing with energy, so we get inspired when working with him. Also, we feel that he is someone who is always thinking about his fans. When he is checking the game, his opinions are based on the viewpoint of what fans would think. Also, he has told us that in order to make the game interesting, changing it from the original material is not a problem, so he is open-minded about the work, but also serious about it.

Gust Studios has, of course, garnered a strong fanbase with the Atelier series- for fans of those games, can we expect to see any similar mechanics in Fairy Tail?

The game cycle might be close. In the Atelier series, players explore through each map and collect items, and become stronger by creating items at their atelier, which is their base, and in Fairy Tail players will explore through each map and complete requests, and become stronger by making their guild stronger when at their guild, which is their base. Other than that, for people who have played the Atelier series, the menus and battles may have parts that feel a bit similar.

For completionists who enjoy diving into side content as much as main quests, roughly how many hours of gameplay will Fairy Tail offer in total?

It depends on how the game is played, but there is around 70 hours of gameplay.

Do you have any plans to launch on the Xbox One?

We have heard requests since we announced development of the game, but there are no plans at this current moment.

How will the PS4 Pro version turn out in terms of resolution and frame rate?

The resolution is 1080p. The frame rate is variable, but we anticipate a maximum of 60fps.

"It depends on how the game is played, but there is around 70 hours of gameplay."

How is the game running on the original PS4, frame rate and resolution wise?

The resolution for this is also 1080p. The frame rate is variable, and we anticipate 30fps to 60fps.

The PS5 is confirmed to have an SSD. From a development perspective, how will this help you to improve game performance in the future?

I think that for customers, the unnecessary loading time will be eliminated and the range of depictions will be increased, such as cinematics that go back and forth between multiple scenes, but I think that it is necessary to give players some time/breaks during gameplay, so I think that it will become necessary to devise ways in game design to intentionally prepare these moments of time/breaks.

The PS5 will have a Zen 2 CPU processor which is a major leap over the CPUs found in the PS4 and Xbox One. From a development perspective, how will this help you in developing games of the future?

I am glad that it will greatly broaden the range of depictions and operations, so I look forward to being able to have more natural depictions, and especially those that feel realistic, as if you are there. But, the higher level of depictions will also consume clock speed, so I am also preparing myself that things may not go according to expectations.

Xbox Scarlett features GDDR6 memory. How will this increase in memory bandwidth help you in the future?

This is also similar to the previous question, that the bandwidth is a bottleneck for the type of depictions that couldn’t be processed up until now, so I look forward to these issues becoming largely resolved.

"In the Atelier series, players explore through each map and collect items, and become stronger by creating items at their atelier, which is their base, and in Fairy Tail players will explore through each map and complete requests, and become stronger by making their guild stronger when at their guild, which is their base."

Backwards compatibility is a big feature PS5. How will it help your past library to evolve and grow?

For game franchises, people who have played past games in the series can now fill out their collection, and for people who are buying the PS hardware for the first time are able to see past titles, so I think it is very good for adding to the longevity of games.

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