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Japan's Falcom's 40th anniversary commemorative work "The Legend of Heroes" has been released in September 2021. Its sequel, "Trail of the Hero 2 - CRIMSON SiN-", was also officially announced recently and sparked a heated discussion. This time, Fami Tong of Japan also published the latest information of this game and interviewed Falcom President Jiyo Kondo, and the following will introduce the information currently disclosed to you.
In 1209, the threat of the underworld organization Yamata was eliminated, and the Republic of Calvad returned to its former calm. One day, a strange massacre took place in a corner of the capital, Edith, and the special forces of the CID (Central Intelligence Agency) were brutally killed. The Calvad police and the Guerrilla Association are moving to resolve the incident, and the underworld forces, perceiving the chaos, are also stirring.
At this time, van Yaclide, the "Spriggan", also welcomed unexpected visitors and used this as an opportunity to investigate. Who exactly did the killings come from? What was his purpose? What would Yanias, who wanted to find her great-grandfather's last legacy, the 8th Genesis, do? The beast-like roar of the "Red Dawn" demon and the encounter of young girls who are constantly searching for "something" will lead their "trajectory (story)" to an inescapable cause and effect...
Special Interview with "The Trajectory of Lai 2": The summary of the previous work and the highlights of the latest work
The afterglow of "The Trajectory of Lai", which was released in September last year, has not yet dissipated, and the news of its sequel "Li Zhiluo 2" has been quickly released. Japan's Famitsu interviewed President Kondo, who coordinated the production of the game, and asked him questions that fans were very curious about, such as the development experience of the previous game, unsolved mysteries, and information about the latest game.
Feedback after the release of "The Trail of Lai"
—— It's been 3 months since the release of Trail of Lai (hereinafter referred to as "Li Rail"), and you should have a general understanding of the players' feelings. How have the players responded? What experience did the development team members gain?
Kondo: Judging by the history of the past development of the "Trajectory" series, this work is a very changeable work. I feel like players are also looking at this game from a whole new perspective. There are many players who say that the game is "a challenging work" and "although I was confused at first, I enjoyed the end", and we learned a lot from it. I think that's the feedback that comes with a new approach to game development.
—— The style of the story and the protagonist's way of doing things have changed a lot compared to the past, how have the players reacted to this?
Kondo: We developed this game with the core of "creating a protagonist who is a little different from the past", so this time we show players a different side from the previous "Trajectory" series. This aspect is generally well received.
- Vann behaves unexpectedly and at the same time seems very real, which makes people feel close to him.
Kondo: There are many players who say that "Vann is by far my favorite protagonist". He is a character whose position is not pure, and the work made from this as an entry point will also give the player a fresh feeling.
- Trail of Dawn has also evolved in terms of combat. What is the feedback from players in this regard?
Kondo: We've heard from players that at action bars are hard to read clearly (wryly). Even the content that has been polished through many works in the series has been greatly modified this time, so it is inevitable that there will be some flaws and confusing problems in the game that need to be improved.
—— Regarding the guide editing system, although it gives the impression that the depth of the system is worth excavating, some people think it is a little too complicated...
Kondo: How to enrich the diversity of the system while making it simple and understandable, I think this aspect may be more detailed, and we are currently thinking about how to improve this problem.
—— At this point in time at the end of the story of the "Dawn Track", how much does the Republic of Calvad probably say?
Kondo: If you reveal it now, you're sure to imagine the rest, so it's a little hard to answer (laughs).
- It's true (laughs). However, the current plot should be advancing according to the predetermined plan.
Kondo: The current progress of the story is the same as we planned. What kind of country the Republic is, what kind of people live there, what the political situation is, and what mysteries are buried, these contents should be successfully passed on to the player.
—— It also leaves many mysteries and foreshadowing for the sequel.
Kondo: Yes. In fact, the story of "The Trail of Dawn" basically does not involve the mystery that runs through the entire series. Although the members of the society "Snake Eater" appeared in full image and had a sense of presence, they were only showing their faces at best. The next game will cover these unsolved mysteries.
It is obviously unlikely that the members of the Seven Yao Church appeared in "that place" only to cope with the Almata affair. And the mystery of the president has not yet been solved...
Kondo: The president is certainly not a simple person. In this work, the Church of the Seven Yaos and the Spotted Dove also appear, and although the full picture of the Black Moon has been partially surfaced, there are still some secrets that have not been mentioned.
—— The internal structure and style of the Black Moon Organization have been clearly demonstrated.
Kondo: After all, "Dawn Track" is also a work that inherits the story development of previous works, so there will be new movements in the Nanayo Church and the Association. There is certainly a reason for the conflict between the two sides every time, but we have not mentioned much about this before.
Evaluations of the main characters and popularity
—— The protagonist Van En has revealed some of his secrets in this game. What do players think of Vann?
Kondo: Players generally find him "handsome, but he's always teased by the people around him." It is often said that "he likes sweets is a good setting", "it looks like a lone hero or a cold character, but I didn't expect it to be a worried, mocking young man-type role". Vann's age is 24 years old, and at first I was worried that it would be unacceptable that he was older than the protagonist in previous works, but I didn't expect that everyone would have a positive opinion of him, which was really good.
- Vann is a character in a gray area, do you think some of his characteristics will be difficult to express?
Kondo: Falcom's past works have been gray-aread characters, but this should be the first time for the Trajectory series.
- He seems to be very close to the image of Kevin, the protagonist of "Empty Track the 3rd"?
Kondo: Kevin, as a person with the title of "heretical sanctioner", usually deals with some unscrupulous guys, so there should be some difference. Vann is more like an underworld dweller in a normal society, or a character living in a gray area, and our employees were confused at first about how to express this. When designing tasks, you can no longer blindly use routines that are willing to help others solve their troubles, so there will be more to think about.
If the design is not rigorous enough, it is easy to do the role of a guerrilla.
Kondo: "Isn't that the same as a guerrilla?" , for this reason reworked situation we encountered many times during the development process. Since it is impossible to directly follow the previous experience, the cost of writing this script is much higher than in the past.
- Are there any other popular characters besides Vann?
Kondo: Although each character is still quite popular, judging from the results of our internal investigation, the most popular except for Vann should be Ellein. This time, we conducted a player questionnaire survey for pre-play and post-play, and the result was that Ellein's popularity increased significantly after the level (laughs). Yanias was also very popular, but was eventually surpassed by Erein. Since Erein is not the main character, she suffers some difficulties at the end of the game. Many players see this scene and think that "she is too pitiful". Although she works hard, sometimes she chooses to quit on her own in order not to cause trouble to others. These personality traits make people think she is both brave and cute. So more and more people support her.
—— Which is more popular, Yanias or Ellein?
Kondo: Overall, male players prefer Yanias, while Elein is more popular among female players. However, there are also male players who were originally Yani Ess, but after completing the level, they awakened to the Ellein faction (laughs). Yanias looks like a big lady of the king, but she unexpectedly has a strong sense of self, which makes people lament that she is worthy of being the president's daughter. From this point of view, both of them are characters that have never been seen in the previous "Trajectory" series.
—— The evaluation of the main characters seems to be good?
Kondo: Yes. Male players are fond of Yanias and Ellein, while cartels and Aaron are also popular among female players. In addition, Belgaard is actually more popular among female players, which surprises me. For example, we have received the message "When Van En and Belgaard trade, Belgaard is the only character fann wants to communicate with using honorifics, so Bergard must be included in the team!" Letter from female players with the letter. Judith may be too noisy so her popularity is slightly stagnant (laughs), but there are not a few people who like her, and the most attractive point of her body should be her clumsy traits.
—— What do the members of the rival yarmata say among the players?
Kondo: Basically no one says they like them, but they've been well received as impactful villains.
After all, they have no scruples to launch terrorist attacks directly, which is indeed very impactful.
Kondo: When making that drama performance, the development team also had a problem with each other because of "What is the degree to be achieved?" There have been some differences of opinion, and the final choice of this form further deepens their evil image.
- They are almost at odds with the D∴ G Order in terms of brutality and ruthlessness.
Kondo: The names of the D∴G Orders also appear in the plot, and their connection to the Order may be discussed in the future, which you can pay attention to. The original D∴G Order, "Paradise" (the strongholds and facilities of the Order mentioned in the series) and other contents are likely to be further explored in the future.
Use cars for long-distance movements with details hidden in movies
There are so many opportunities to drive in the game that people can't help but want to customize the appearance of the vehicle (laughs).
Kondo: Although we also wanted to do custom elements, we gave up in the end. Incidentally, we've included custom elements in Trail of Flash, but the moving dialogue scene in Trail of Dawn is special. Whether it's talking about the situation at a destination or about a rider, it's common in RPG titles. While this is not a trip for the characters, similar performances can create a travel-like feel.
I was surprised that the movies I could watch in the game were all made up of good faith. Is it because there is no book-related collection element in this work, so a lot of effort has been spent on this?
Kondo: Actually, we wanted to add a book collection element, but because of the relevance to the plot, we only made a movie. But since we want to do it, we can't stop at the level of "as long as you enjoy and understand 1 of the movies, there is no need to watch other movies", so our original goal was to enrich the gameplay and give the player the feeling of actually going to the cinema, so we carefully designed and produced the content related to the movie.
I've heard that the books that go to the works as collectibles were written by new employees, and the script of this movie is the same?
Kondo: It wasn't written by a new employee, but we did find younger team members to take care of this part.
—— Who wrote the script for Missy in Boots? It's a very impactful script (laughs).
Kondo: Elein loved that movie (laughs). This may also be a plus for Erein to gain such popularity.
Asking your peers who watched the movie together is also a pleasure unique to the form of film.
Kondo: And each character's perception of the movie is different, and watching the movie with a different companion may lead to new discoveries.
The goal is to fuse the thrill of Isu with the strategic nature of Trajectory
—— Designing a combat system that combines wilderness combat and command combat should have gone through many trial and error, have you learned anything from it?
Kondo: How to speed up the pace of combat has always been a problem for the "Trajectory" series, and we are constantly thinking about how to solve this problem. One of the ideas was to combine the thrill of the Isu series with the strategic nature of the Locus series to create a new combat system.
—— Did the idea in the early stages of development come true?
Kondo: During the pilot phase, we realized the original idea to some extent, but then the architecture of the system changed a lot. We often hear games that use systems that blend action and command battles, but these precedents are often not well done. I'm very worried about how to ensure balance", so I have been paying attention to the development process in this area. It was a pleasing miscalculation for me to finally be able to take on what it is now.
What kind of feedback do players have about the combat system?
Kondo: We've received a lot of things like "very fresh," "Is this an invention?" opinion. But on the other hand, there are also players who feel that "it is too novel to be a little confused", and the more familiar they are with the past "trajectory" series, the more they may feel this way.
Indeed, the more experienced the "Trajectory" series, the more confused they are about the flow of combat and the design of the guide.
Kondo: The most common comments we get are that it's difficult to understand the design of Shadow Skill, such as "It's only in the middle of the game or even 2 weeks that I start to feel the fun of chip skill after accumulating so much experience" (wry smile). I think that's something we need to address in the future.
That being said, the difficulty can be changed at any time, and even players who are not good at action games in terms of balance will not encounter a situation where they cannot advance the game.
Kondo: We pay a lot of attention to this aspect when designing. However, the system of customizing chip skills is still a bit too complicated, which is also a problem that needs to be solved in the future. Of course, "Li Rail" is a game after all, so a certain depth of the system is also indispensable.
- If the system is too simple and loses the depth of being an RPG, the game lacks diversity and makes the design too repetitive and monotonous. It's really hard to do.
Kondo: The staff who designed the system liked the guiding device setting in Trail of Emptiness, so they re-added the attribute value element. His idea was "I hope people feel a sense of spending energy tinkering with small things."
- In terms of combat, adding the "attract hatred" design is also a new attempt, how did you come up with this?
Kondo: The concept of "hate" was an element that was decided to be added at the final stages of development. During the development process, we found that Vann had a hard time doing anything in combat, so we held an emergency meeting and concluded that it was necessary to add an element of "attracting hatred". In this way, Vann can play his own unique function when fighting as a team.
- He has reached the point where he has to re-plan the way he fights if he is not in the team. I understand it even more in the high difficulty.
Kondo: "Hate" is an element designed with Vann as the main axis, and it seems that it has achieved its original purpose.
How have the players reacted in terms of UI? I was confused when I first came into contact, but I was impressed by the smooth use after getting used to it.
Kondo: At the beginning of the game, some people may not know what will happen when this button is pressed, so it will be difficult to master. But some people think that as long as you get used to it, you can use it smoothly and it is very convenient to use.
- I didn't notice the way to confirm achievements and how to receive rewards at first (laughs).
Kondo: If you don't find these two features, the balance of the game will change a lot. While we've removed quite a few features, there are still too many features in the game. For example, restoring HP can be done by pressing a button, but there may be players who do not find out in the end. I think we need to try to be more simple and understandable in these areas.
—— The update patch released after the release made the game more comfortable to play.
Kondo: I remember that the "Trajectory" series will be updated every time (laughs) to add new features that were originally scheduled to be added but have not yet been able to make, and the improvement in frame rate is also one of the changes. But the elements we want to add, such as mini-games and built-in novels, have not all been added to the game through updates, and these elements should appear in future works.
The sequel will appear a completely different "concept" from the previous "Trajectory" series
—— You have officially released "Li Zhi 2 - CRIMSON SiN- " ( hereinafter referred to as "Li Zhi 2"), can you first tell us about the meaning of the title?
Kondo: We were very torn between whether to change the title of "Lai", or simply add "2", or add a subtitle. The 3 screenshots released this time appeared in the figure of the red li magic ghost (red magic ghost), and before the actual idea of the script, some designers proposed the plan of "letting the magic ghost appear as an enemy". This program gave the development team a great inspiration and soon developed the visual concept of the new work. The story, gameplay, and title of the game were conceived based on this proposal. For Falcom, this way of making is also unprecedented.
President Kondo used to say that you would decide the theme of your work by conceiving the title first. In this way, the above way of making is really special.
Kondo: The script was also based on a proposal solicited from the development team. In the past, we all focused on the head of the script to conceive the story, but this time we chose to collect the script on a large scale, and many young employees who had just joined the company for a long time proposed a good plan. While collecting scripts and advancing development, we finally decided to set the accent color as "Red", which gave birth to the subtitle "CRIMSON SiN". The subtitle was chosen because people thought it "seemed appealing," so they decided it was (laughs).
CRIMSON can be understood as the meaning of "red", and the meaning of "SiN" is somewhat mysterious.
Kondo: SIN refers to "sin," but it is not the sin of sin, but the concept of original sin in the religious sense. Too much of this part involves spoilers, so please imagine what follows (laughs).
—— It seems that it is not a certain movie "Shin · so-and-so" (シン なんちゃら), the works supervised by Hideaki Anno usually have the prefix "シン", which can be interpreted as new, true, etc., here playing terrier) meaning (laughs).
Kondo: It's true that some people say, "The name sounds a lot like some works." But if that's the case, the title should be "Shin's Trail," so that's not what it means (laughs).
—— The logo of the game has also been officially announced, is this the final draft?
Kondo: It's still provisional, because the final design hasn't been finalized when the game is announced (wry smile). Next, we will also polish the logo, so according to the current situation, it may be difficult to publish the final version of the logo within the year.
—— Although the final design of the logo has not yet been finalized, the "red" theme color should have been determined, right? Tell us what it means.
Kondo: The accent color of red is already determined. This game will have a completely different "concept" compared to the previous "Trajectory" series, so stay tuned. The game incorporates the original general framework into the proposals proposed by the newcomers and internal employees, and I think it should be difficult for me and the old employees alone to come up with these ideas related to the "Red Dawn Demon".
The mystery of the "supreme treasure" will finally begin to be revealed
The first characters you made public were Vann and Ellein, and I'm concerned why you didn't announce Yanias first...
Kondo: Choosing to be the first to disclose the intelligence of these two people is related to the development of the story of this game. For example, "Why do two people act together?" That's one of the key points. However, the protagonist of this work is still The Vann of the previous work, and does not use the design of the double protagonist. As for the specific reasons, you can freely imagine, such as "whether there was an incident that these two people had to work together to solve."
Elein's identity is still a guerrilla, right?
Kondo: Yes. Why would Elein, a guerrilla, team up with Vann? Considering Ellein's personality, it may be easy to think that it is a work reason, but in short, there must be a specific reason for this, and the two will not simply walk together.
The story begins in 1209, 1 year after the previous game, right?
Kondo: The story of "Riku" ends in the winter of 1208, while "Riku 2" tells the story of what happened years later, so the interval is less than 1 year. The story begins in the Republic after the events of Yamata, and there is a brief recap of events that occurred not so long ago.
—— Will the origins of several of the main characters also be revealed in the new work?
Kondo: Part of it will be made public, and the other part will continue to retain suspense.
- The sequel should involve more of the core mysteries of the "Trajectory" series, right?
Kondo: This game will not advance the key plot to the next stage, but it will give some clues. This clue will involve some "concepts" that have never been described before, and all I can reveal now is these.
—— There are many mysteries besides the characters that have not yet been solved, will these things be covered in this work?
Kondo: Yes. You can recall what the story of the "Trajectory" series was originally written around, such as "Zhibao" is one of them.
- Indeed! There is no content related to "The Greatest Treasure" in "Li Rail". Of course, it may only appear that it does not appear on the surface, but in fact it has already appeared.
Kondo: I can't give more information on that (laughs).
- So there must be something to it (laughs). In addition, there are many unsolved mysteries in the supporting characters.
Kondo: Everyone looks suspicious.
—— Like the actress who looks very suspicious...
Kondo: I have nothing to say about that (wryly).
Not only was president Roy Gramhardt curious, but the so-called "Cosmic Army" statement was also interesting.
Kondo: These mysteries will gradually be revealed, and the core plot of the series will also progress.
—— In addition, the more important thing is the mystery of Genesis (the conductor related to the plot of "Li Rail"), will this part be involved?
Kondo: As mentioned in the previous game, there are 8 Genesis, but there are only 7 so far, so "Where is the last one?" Nature is also an important content that will be mentioned in "Li Rail 2". And "What exactly is Genesis?" It's also very interesting.
—— The characters in "Li Rail" are closely related to the region in which they are located, will "Li Rail 2" still visit various places like in the previous game?
Kondo: Not only will the scenes from the previous game be preserved, but this game will also feature new areas that have not been visited before, such as some areas of the capital Edith that are not open.
—— In response to the newly released screenshots of the game, what information can you disclose?
Kondo: As mentioned earlier, one of the screenshots is of Vann and Elein confronting the "Red Dawn Demon", and you can think of this incident as the beginning of the plot of this game. "Who the hell is this demonic ghost?" Of course, it is also one of the mysteries of the plot.
I guess "Red Dawn Demon" also has an AI similar to Mare (メア).
Kondo: Yes, could it have been transformed by someone like Vann? However, from the perspective of the "beginning and turning" of the story, this should still belong to the stage of "starting".
—— Regarding the development progress, is the development progressing to the stage of script completion?
Kondo: It's still in the stage where the story line has just been set (bitter smile). Since we have officially announced the release window, we are more or less in a hurry now.
—— Because it is a sequel, the combat system of "Rail 2" will basically follow the design of "Rail", right?
Kondo: It will be used roughly, but as mentioned earlier, there are still some issues and issues that need to be addressed. My idea is that I want to refine this part of the content and then present it to the player.
The game framework and Alignment elements will be inherited!
—— The stage of the game is still the republic, this will not change, right?
Kondo: Although the story still takes place in the Republic, this time it will not depict each region one by one like in the previous game. Several major areas of the Republic have been shown before, and this game is about to appear in places between these areas.
- Will the overall framework of the game, like its predecessors, be centered on Vann's firm to advance the story?
Kondo: To some extent, this form will be followed. But we also have the idea of making some unconventional attempts, so stay tuned for more follow-up information to be released in the future.
Will the Alignment system also be inherited from Rail 2?
Kondo: It will be inherited. Elements such as mini-games and built-in novels that we didn't get into before are also expected to be implemented in Railroad 2.
—— Will you add cooking elements?
Kondo: We would also like to add a culinary element, but it's too hard to think about a new menu (laughs). At the moment we are thinking about how to do better.
—— Have you considered joining the Archival Inheritance Bonus of the Railroad?
Kondo: There will be. Although I haven't decided what inheritance bonuses to offer, after all, past works have inherited bonuses, so this time is no exception.
- Can Rail 60 FPS be updated, can Rail 2 also run at 60 FPS?
Kondo: If you don't support it, you will definitely get a bad review. In addition, we are now working to make this game more PS5-compatible.
—— When will the next information be released?
Kondo: We expect to release a teaser video after the start of next year. While the script is still being polished, the video of the characters being able to move should be released earlier than players think.
—— Finally, please say a few words to the fans who are looking forward to "Rail 2".
Kondo: There will be more exciting developments in this game than "Dawn Rail" waiting for you. The inside story of the Republic believes that everyone has already understood through the previous work, the story of the sequel will continue to advance on this basis, and the mystery of each mystery will also have new progress, so stay tuned. In terms of system, although we have made the best efforts before, this time the development team is still confident that it can be done better and present the system design after the re-evolution for players. This game is expected to land on the PS4 and PS5 platforms, and I hope that all players will be able to buy it and play it at that time.
Rinkomurano, Chief
Edited by 丨 Bluestoon
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