Interview of Fumito Ueda on TRICO

This is an interview that was published in the Famitsu of June 12th, 2009, shortly after the unveiling of Trico, the new project of the developers behind "Ico" and "Wanda and the Colossi". He talks about the background of the game.



Representing an animal with profound cuteness

Famitsu: Was it an idea from the beginning to focus on giant creatures ?

Ueda : In the team, we had the idea at the start of this huge creature called Ohwashi. From "Wanda and the giants", we were thinking if we could not push further the kind of couple-like relationship with Agro. Because recent video games out in Japan along with PS3 are not doing too well, we chose the theme of the strength of a big creature. The character that the player handles is a young boy. The basis of the game design is that the kid is so young, therefore his physical strength and abilities are weak. We thought about adding the Ohwashi part to balance the game design. There are scenes were the boy hides from enemies, as he is young and therefore is not good at solving things by mere strength. But in the places where he can bring the Ohwashi with him, he can catch the enemies at once. That way we keep the balance between oppression and liberation, between silence and movement.

Famitsu : The design of the Ohwashi is very particular.

Ueda : Its a being between a cat and a dog. For example, the mucous membrane around its mouth is not completely impossible. Actually, from the point of view of someone who breeds dogs or cats, its more the unnatural things than stand out than the natural ones, I think. Again, thinking about the elements and consistency involved with the game design, we are seeking to be just at the line where you would not find things to be unnatural. We mixed elements from a number of different animals, however even when I look at it by myself, it feels incompatible. But at the same time, that's what we were aiming at. It's important to get "what a strange creature" kind of feeling, we did not want make it too balanced in particular.
There are many games with lovable characters, but most of the time it is a distorted kind of love. The reason why real animals are attractive is because they are more complex. So, we were thinking that on the Playstation 3, we could make this kind of video game. Representing animals, for example the movement of a pupil, the way they open their eyes, the way they move, how their hair bristles, in other words, being able to represent a creature with emotions, is certainly a challenge.

Famitsu: The behavior of the Ohwashi seems very natural…

Ueda: Since my childhood, I have been taking care of cats and dogs of course, as well as monkeys, ducks, and a variety of animals, therefore unconsciously, I registered animals’ movements and behaviors. “ico” and “Wanda and the colossi” were games of a few words, but because animals cannot speak, I wanted to make it more alive compared to what we achieved before.

Famitsu: How about the encounter between the kid and the Ohwashi ?

Ueda: How they got to know each other is still a secret…

Famitsu: there were pictures of the kid giving food to the Ohwashi…

Ueda: Apart from giving food, it is also possible to pierce the Ohwashi’s body with a spear, or extract a lance from its flesh. At all times you can touch it freely, however taking care of it can become cumbersome from start to end, that is why we balanced this aspect. Feeding and solving puzzles in the stages are both important elements, but if the Ohwashi is only looking, it’s wasting time. It can be capricious, and somehow it has this mysterious part where you do not really understand what it is thinking. We chose an animal theme for this game for one reason. Not matter how much you dare doing new things, by being persistant, you can progressively see more and more.



THE MEANING OF TRICO

Famitsu: Grasping, hanging, climbing – are these elements literally in the game ?

Ueda: They are. Besides, you can caress and pet the Ohwashi, but depending on where you grab it, it may have a negative reaction. Differently from the titles made until now, it introduces a full calculated physics system, but it’s not only about introducing a new technology, the more important is to make the technology match the theme to create. For example, it’s not about recreating the motion of the scene where the Ohwashi eats a barrel and swallows it, actually the barrel directly touches the inside of the mouth, then there is the inertia when chewing, and then it goes to the throat… that is honestly what we are doing. In “Ico” we developed the AI handling, in “Wanda and the colossi”, we developed the collision transformation. The Playstation 3 fuses these two technologies and re-creates them on a new level. Moreover, just like what you could feel at the time of “Ico” and “Wanda and the colossi”, we want to create a space where you would say “this world is comfortable, I want to dive more in this world”.

Famitsu : Even the title is defiant !

Ueda: Trico comes from “To-Ri-Co” in Japanese, which means becoming prisoner, being in captivity, as well as other meanings such as “Tori no Ko” (egg), “Tori to Neko” (bird and cat). We chose the title to reflect the realistic aspect of the animal, not only the cute part, but also including the proper representation of the physiological condition of the animal nature and its wildness.

Famitsu: Is is still seamless to move through the stages ? Since the Ohwashi, compared to the size of the kid, is a powerful character, was it difficult to design the stages ?

Ueda: You can move in the stages without loading, in that sense this is seamless, however there is a order to visit the different places. Regarding the level design, as always it is indeed painful. Also, the Ohwashi does not always follow orders obediently, he moves by tossing things on his own will. Whatever the order you give him, more than simply collaborating, you can feel that he is behaving like a creature. If the Ohwashi is standing still, he can do it clearly, but he ends up moving nonetheless. The Ohwashi’s intelligence being not that great, he would not always move at the player’s convenience.

Famitsu : I see. The wind, the direction of the atmosphere opening the eyes there is.

Ueda: The representation of the environment is on of my favorite subjects. Depending on the wind, the wings of the Ohwashi would wave in a different way. The movement of each wing is calculated individually. Using the most of the Playstation 3 capability to process lots of information, graphically the density of information is increasing and the realism goes up as well. Even if until now, with the previous hardware, we could not do so because of the technical constraints, with the Playstation 3 it becomes possible, therefore we are able to render more atmospheric and more realistic stages than before.

Famitsu : the silhouette in armor, is it a human ?

Ueda : Looks like one, humanoid… It’s because we could not render the enemies in smoke. The details are still secret (laughs).

Famitsu: how about the online potential, and the release date ?

Ueda: At the moment I cannot declare whether or not we will do it, but I want to use the online capability. Similarly for the release date, I cannot say it cleary yet, but there was a reason to show this game at that timing. For the everyday lives of the people who liked “Ico” and “wanda and the colossi”, of those who expect new games from us, of those who have a Playstation 3, having one more new thing to enjoy isn’t bad. That’s why “Human-eater Ohwashi Trico” came to existence. Please look forward to it.