Despite his love for Square Enix, Reynatis director says he joined FuRyu because of its rare culture of letting young developers make their own games 

FuRyu’s upcoming urban fantasy RPG Reynatis is being planned, directed and produced by Takumi Isobe, the young creator behind 2022’s Trinity Trigger. At 32 years old, the developer has two original IPs to his name, which is not so common when it comes to Japanese game companies nowadays. In two recent interviews, Isobe talks about how he got the chance to direct games so early in his career and why he chose to join FuRyu Corporation. 

Aside from officially collaborating with NEO: The World Ends with You in Reynatis, Isobe has been very vocal about his adoration of Square Enix’s RPG series such as Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy, which were formative for him. However, in a three-way interview with Famitsu and Tetsuya Nomura, the developer notes that he opted to join the game company FuRyu because it offered him the possibility of creating his own games based on skill and motivation, rather than age or experience. “At other companies, you have to be old enough or have enough experience under your belt to be entrusted with your own games.” 

In addition, as game development periods have grown longer, with big projects lasting up to 10 years, it has become difficult for young developers to gain experience – another point Isobe brings up. Despite his love for Square Enix and Tetsuya Nomura’s works, Isobe did not wish to end up working on Kingdom Hearts himself, which is why he decided to join a company where he would have the freedom to make his own games. 

According to an earlier interview with Denfaminicogamer, Isobe got exactly what he wanted at FuRyu, as he landed his first position as director in his second year at the company. This was not a simple task, however, as the creator recalls drafting up 106 game proposals during his first year at the company and building up his planning skills from zero, all while juggling work on existing titles. Incidentally, one of those 106 proposals was the prototype for the upcoming Reynatis. Claiming to have known “nothing about game development” in his first year at a game company, Isobe made big leaps on passion alone, and his efforts were propped up by a corporate philosophy that’s advantageous to young creators. 

Reynatis is scheduled to be released on September 27 for the PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, PS4 and PS5.