Itagaki, the creator of the Dead or Alive and modern Ninja Gaiden series at Tecmo, has a bit of a legacy- Ninja Gaiden Black is considered to be one of the finest action games of all time, and when he announced he would be following that up with something even more ambitious in Devil’s Third, people sat up and took notice. Then his publisher, THQ, dissolved, and the project was seemingly stuck in limbo, until along came Nintendo and rescued it, much like they did with Bayonetta 2, making it a Wii U exclusive.
That said, the game’s E3 re-debut was sort of botched. It looked rough around the edges and did not necessarily inspire confidence. Since then, the game has been on radio silence, though apparently the development is coming along well. Very well, in fact. According to the latest update made by Itagaki on his Facebook page about the game (translated by Gematsu), the new game will smash all previous standards of console multiplayer.
Here’s what he had to say:
I’d like to speak about development status of Devil’s Third in my own words, to the extent that I am allowed.
- Devil’s Third is a strong fusion between action games and shooters.
- Devil’s Third development is going smoothly. In other words, we finished editing the closing movie the other day.
- Devil’s Third will be released next year. Nintendo has already announced this in their press release.
- The scale of Devil’s Third‘s story mode is greater than that of Ninja Gaiden.
- Devil’s Third demolishes the standard of past console games in online multiplayer.
- Almost all specifications I wanted to do were implemented. I got an up-close look at the great forerunners Call of Duty, Battlefield, Gears of War, and my beloved Halo. On that basis, we added completely new level of playability that only we can create.
- Anyone can enjoy this game; from casual gamers to hard-core gamers. Let me put it this way. You guys can throw a fun party, or can kill each other in realistic war. You can play your heart out.
- This is all I can disclose to you today. I can’t tell you when the war will begin. It’s the way the world goes. I really want to tell you more, my fans waiting with crushing frustration.
Do you have faith that Devil’s Third will ultimately turn out okay? Whatever its ultimate fate may be, Nintendo deserves credit for funding games like it, The Wonderful 101, and Fatal Frame V.