Managing the Stress System: REYNATIS Creative Producer TAKUMI

With its combination of style, fashion, and high-flying action, REYNATIS was one of the bigger action-RPG surprises of the summer. We sat down with TAKUMI, REYNATIS's creative producer, to speak more about the game.

What kind of lessons did you learn through the production of your previous game, Trinity Trigger, and how have they affected REYNATIS?

Takumi: Because I held the position of director on the previous title I worked on, Trinity Trigger, I was limited in what I could do and what I could portray. To elaborate, there was already a producer on the project who had set the targets, budgets, and the like, so I had to direct within those confines. For this game, to convey my intent to more specific players, I took on the role of Creative Producer, which meant I could check everything in addition to being the producer and director.

Of course, having to check each and everything was very difficult, but those days were very rewarding. (laughs)

What kind of challenges did you confront with REYNATIS' development?

Takumi: Probably the biggest challenge came in faithfully representing Shibuya itself since the buildings and shops kept changing every time we went out to check things!

What was it like working with composer Yoko Shimamura?

Takumi: Ms. Shimomura's house is really close to mine (only a 5-minute walk) and we recently went for a meal. (laughs) [This should explain what I thought about working with her.]

With REYNATIS being inspired by Kingdom Hearts, what aspects of Kingdom Hearts do you think were most influential to REYNATIS?

Takumi: They have often been compared, and this is by design. However, I don't want people to just do a simple comparison. Of course, the scale of the games is different, as are their histories. I think it will appeal to those players who enjoyed the world setting, atmosphere, and unique aspects of the early Kingdom Hearts games.

Conversely, what do you feel is the biggest factor that differentiates REYNATIS from Kingdom Hearts?

Takumi: They're completely different. There aren't really that many aspects that are the same, are there? However, at the core, the darkness in people's hearts and thoughts might be the same.

The Stress system, whereby players need to balance their stress to prevent being outed as Wizards by the public, is a fascinating approach; the website reveals that petting cats can lower Stress. Whose idea was it to incorporate cat-petting to lower stress?

Takumi: That would be me. Petting animals relieves stress and heals you, right? I actually wanted to put rabbits and other animals in, but since the setting is Shibuya, we went with cats. But... in the real Shibuya, there aren't even stray cats. There are only rodents. (laughs) Petting rodents isn't exactly "healing," so... (laughs)

The character Moa Fukamachi seems to have the most drastic change between her Suppression form and her Liberation form, with her twintails becoming bunny ears. Were there any other wild ideas for Suppression/Liberation forms that didn't make it to the final game?

Takumi: Why is it that Moa's appearance changes so drastically compared to the others? Well, once you play through the main story, you might just find the answer.

Takumi: I never really noticed that Mr. Nomura's works often feature characters with hime cuts. That said, now that you mention it, that might be true. The hime cut looks like a Japanese doll, and the image of the hairstyle is that it symbolizes "Japaneseness." It's a good hairstyle for a character with a Japanese-like personality. At the very least, it works for Tsumugi.

Who is your favorite character in REYNATIS?

Takumi: I like all of the characters! But, I guess Moa, maybe.

Do you have any final words for fans in America?

Takumi: The content of the collaboration with The World Ends With You is quite surprising, so please enjoy it!

Thank you to TAKUMI for taking the time to speak to us!