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StarTopic Monolith Soft Development and Speculation |ST|

On a whim I decided to check the artist credits for Xenoblade 3 and Xenoblade DE and it seems like they only share 4 artists on the character artwork side. Definitely makes me suspect that the "face of Monolith Soft" that Takahashi talked about wanting to find in his Xenoblade 3 hiring notice is, in fact, Saito.
 
AoiHana said:
On a whim I decided to check the artist credits for Xenoblade 3 and Xenoblade DE and it seems like they only share 4 artists on the character artwork side. Definitely makes me suspect that the "face of Monolith Soft" that Takahashi talked about wanting to find in his Xenoblade 3 hiring notice is, in fact, Saito.
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That notice went up in 2018 which is when the character designs were done for 3 (at least the main party members according to the art book), it was a concurrent thing. I don't think they'd put out that article if they wanted Saito as the perma artist, though things can change.

Edit: not true
 
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Zeal543 said:
That notice went up in 2018 which is when the character designs were done for 3 (at least the main party members according to the art book), it was a concurrent thing. I don't think they'd put out that article if they wanted Saito as the perma artist, though things can change.
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IIRC the dates for the main party members are 2019 (EDIT: some even 2020), not 2018, unless new information came up with the Trinity Box. So it still possibly is Saito.

EDIT: Even the beta Ethel design is dated as 2019, so I think they very well may have locked in Saito at that point.
 
Went through Xenoblade 3's credits again. There are a couple of recent hires, who I believe are all credited on Future Redeemed as well, but only one (Akira Takimoto) is also credited on DE. Any one of these could be the new "face of Monolith Soft", though I can't find their portfolio pages so I have no idea which of them, if any, was primarily responsible for designing XC3's non-story character heroes.
 
AoiHana said:
IIRC the dates for the main party members are 2019 (EDIT: some even 2020), not 2018, unless new information came up with the Trinity Box. So it still possibly is Saito.

EDIT: Even the beta Ethel design is dated as 2019, so I think they very well may have locked in Saito at that point.
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I'll have to look at my art book one more time ill be back later

EDIT: nope i was wrong, the main party are 2019/2020, don't know where I got 2018 from
 
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toutoune134 said:
1080p60fps with less pop-in would be more than enough to please me!
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The current Switch is already enough to solve the pop-in issues (more memory, faster loading), so higher res and framerate on top of that should be cake for the new hardware.
 
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What was it like re-releasing work that you did 20+ years ago? Was there anything surprising to you about returning to these classic games from an earlier part of your career?
Honne: Although I am only supervising the Remaster version, to be honest I really want to remake the whole thing since the original version was released 20 years ago. But unfortunately, I don't think any gamers out there have the same thoughts as mine, haha. I feel relieved and happy to look back at how well the game was made, in terms of playability and length.

Kojima: We are genuinely happy that more people will have the opportunity to experience Baten Kaitos. I would like to thank all the fans for their continued support and everyone involved in the Remaster's production. One thing that amazed me once again was the background art, which is still beautiful after 20 years, probably because it is 2D art. It is also surprising that Mr. Honne drew all these almost by himself at the time.

Higurashi: It is a very strange feeling, and to tell the truth, it feels surreal. I have enjoyed playing the remastered titles of respected seniors in the industry, but I never had the thought of having the opportunity to be a part of a remaster project based on a title I was involved on. When creating the key art for the remastered version, I faced the illustrations I drew in the past. Looking at Kalas in the drawings, I could vividly recall what I was thinking in the past when creating, the feeling of the tools I used, and the faces of the people who supported me. It really made me want to talk about each of my memories during development in the past, recall how much fun I had and how fortunate I was to have the opportunity to work on such a good title.

These games have stood the test of time and the fanbase enjoys various aspects of the games. What do you personally enjoy most about them?
Honne: While I am very confident and proud of the background artwork since I take the worldview and the use of colors very seriously in the game, at the same time Baten Kaitos is a game where all development staff worked hard; hand-and-hand together like an orchestra, skillfully piling up their own rich and dignified notes. For my favorite, I personally would choose Mira, the City of Illusion that goes its own ways.

Kojima: The charming character designs, the uplifting music, and everything apart of those are lovely, but if I had to pick only one thing, it would be the fact that the player can become a spirit and participate in the story. This wonderful world setting is what I love about Baten Kaitos.

Higurashi: Hmm, will it sound like I am lying if I say I love all of them? I’m a big fan of Baten Kaitos so I can list out a lot of different elements, but if I need to choose just one, I will say I love the story of the characters the best. Every character has their own desires and emotions, and I feel like all characters and the universe of Baten Kaitos have their own souls.

Do you have any special message to fans who are experiencing these games for the very first time?
Honne: Although the original games were released 20 years ago, I hope you can enjoy going on a relaxing journey in the world of Baten Kaitos I and II. I am sure that wonderful memories will be made.

Kojima: Baten Kaitos is a fantasy RPG in which you and your companion explore a wide variety of landscapes. It is such a classic RPG, yet it is filled with various innovations, including an innovative battle system. We hope you will enjoy this journey away from your daily lives.

Higurashi: We are very happy to bring to you the remastered version for Baten Kaitos. Although the original titles were released 20 years ago, they are still such masterpieces that even me as a creator is very eager to share from a fan's perspective! I am confident that those who are playing the games for the first time will enjoy this remaster.

The Music of Baten Kaitos with Motoi Sakuraba​

What was it like revisiting your work on Baten Kaitos? Is there anything surprising about relistening to compositions you made in the past?
Sakuraba: The orchestra pieces sounded beautiful. The arrangement is simple and the melody is easy to enjoy. I was surprised when listening to the rock pieces and other tracks with synthesizer because I remembered I had a lot of creative freedom when composing them.

Is there a piece of music in the games that you particularly proud of?
I’m proud of all the battle songs from Baten Kaitos I & II. I like them because they show my true side the most. The other one is "Le ali del principio" from Baten Kaitos II. My daughter, who was a small child at the time, sang it. She did her best to sing it in Italian until the end of the song.

The Baten Kaitos soundtracks incorporate many different elements from grand symphonic orchestration to synthesizers/prog rock. Can you describe your creative process a little bit?
Sakuraba: Many of the songs in the Baten Kaitos soundtrack were not created with a specific musical genre in mind but rather came naturally as a result of trying to bring out my feeling. So, I didn't have any idea of what elements I wanted to include in these songs. To create these songs, I needed to understand the emotions for the scene, and if possible, I referred to the visual. Then I tried to adjust or rethink the piece I made by discussing with the producers. What I tried to achieve with the Baten Kaitos I & II soundtrack, and this goes for other titles as well, is to make the music blend perfectly with the gameplay so people are fully immersed when playing the game.

Did your creative approach change between the first and second game?
Sakuraba: In Baten Kaitos I, battle songs usually emphasized hardness. In Baten Kaitos II, acoustic instruments such as piano and violin were also used, adding a light atmosphere to the songs. In addition, one thing that I incorporated into Baten Kaitos II that I couldn’t in Baten Kaitos I was putting actual vocal sounds into the main songs.

Do you have a message for new players who will experience these games for the first time?
Sakuraba: We hope you will enjoy this work with its unique atmosphere and music! It would be great if you would listen to the music because it is very easy to understand.
 
If Monolith really are making an action RPG game do you think they should go more Tales of Arise style with a party setup or more like FFXVI with 1 character you are controlling all game?
 
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Danny said:
If Monolith really are making an action RPG game do you think they should go more Tales of Arise style with a party setup or more like FFXVI with 1 character you are controlling all game?
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I think they try party based but something like FF7R. They are the type to add some a lot of strategy stuff, at least they usually are.
 
Danny said:
If Monolith really are making an action RPG game do you think they should go more Tales of Arise style with a party setup or more like FFXVI with 1 character you are controlling all game?
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eye0h said:
I think they try party based but something like FF7R. They are the type to add some a lot of strategy stuff, at least they usually are.
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¿Por qué no The Last Story? There's definitely strategy elements to be mined from that sort of style.
 
Supreme Overlord said:
¿Por qué no The Last Story? There's definitely strategy elements to be mined from that sort of style.
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Yeah, I think that would be a good system to look at. Playing Future Redeemed this week and while Xenoblade combat has got better at how characters and enemies navigate terrain during combat there are still issues there; I keep thinking that an action combat system which takes aspects of the terrain into account (like Last Story did) would be a lot of fun and that Monolith Soft would be good at it.
 
I think I'd be fine with whatever. Considering Xeno has always been party based I'm leaning towards wanting a solo action adventure. As long as it has cool combos and monolith soft charm I really don't care.
Blue Monty said:
I want a game with a non-fantasy setting game by Monolith Soft, sci-fi
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Boy do I have the game for you


In all seriousness I do want nintendo to make a game with semi realistic graphics. Idk what it'd be but I'd love to see something like that on a new nintendo console just once out of curiosities sake lol
 
The wait is killing me. I hope they use xcx as a base for a new trilogy. I also wouldnt mind them going back to turn based. As long as there are playable mechs I'll be happy (less so if it plays like "tales of").
 
FeiFongWong said:
The wait is killing me. I hope they use xcx as a base for a new trilogy. I also wouldnt mind them going back to turn based. As long as there are playable mechs I'll be happy (less so if it plays like "tales of").
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Takahashi has already said in Xenoblade X interviews that they've been eyeing action-based combat but weren't confident in their ability to pull it off at the time so I see no world in which they'd revert even harder into something as comparatively archaic as turn-based combat when they've been at the forefront of making menu-based action combat sing.
 
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TheMoon said:
Xenoblade X is Xenoblade Cross btw (kurosu in the logo).
So Y is Xenoblade Triangle
and then we need Xenoblade Circle

and then they all go into the Xenoblade Square hole
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FVHMOMr.jpg


edit: fuck!
 
Xenoblade 3 won an Award of Excellence at TGS. Takahashi accepted the award on stage.

I know most people are probably asleep, but I'm surprised no one has mentioned it yet.

 
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