While in recent years game creators are becoming increasingly cautious about the expressions that appear in their works, Kaname Date is still cracking dirty jokes like always in the AI series’ latest midquel No Sleep For Kaname Date – From AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES. AUTOMATON recently asked Spike Chunsoft executive Yasuhiro Iizuka how he approaches such matters, given his responsibilities as the series’ producer.
How directly a game producer gets involved in development depends on the person and project, but for AI: The Somnium Files, Iizuka’s stance is not to touch the writers’ and director’s work – an attitude he maintained when developing No Sleep For Kaname Date too. “I usually don’t interfere. The scenario writer and director should be able to do as they please.” Iizuka usually doesn’t give any suggestions on the general creative direction of the series, nor does he raise objections about game content. “The unique vibe of the AI series comes from Uchikoshi-san’s touch in building the characters and story,” he comments, emphasizing the role of the series’ original creator.
“I’ve never made any interventions to the creative process behind the games, especially the scenario. I pretty much don’t say anything regarding development either. There is only one instance when I do get involved in the development process – and that’s after I’ve actually played through the whole game myself.” According to Iizuka, the AI team creates the first playable build of a game quite early on in the process, so he has enough time to do a full playthrough and write down all the things that bothered him about the game. From continuity errors in the story and confusing game elements to unnatural positionings of shadows – he compiles any errors that catch his eye (from the perspective of a player) and forwards them to the director and other developers for revision. Interestingly enough, Iizuka had to play through No Sleep for Kaname Date six times until the game reached a version that everybody was satisfied with.
“I get to play the game very early on in development, and I’m also the only one in the team who’s able to view it from the perspective of a player. So as soon as I find something that seems off, we immediately have a meeting,” he explains. On the other hand, Iizuka does not insist on everything he points out being addressed, and he does not insist on issues being resolved using his solutions. “If the developers say, ‘You’re right, this part is a bit off, we’re going to fix it,’ that’s great, but if they want to fix it in their own way instead of following my instructions, that’s also fine, and another viable option would just be not to fix it altogether.”
“There’s one thing I’ve got to say though – I’ve been having so much fun throughout the whole process,” Iizuka laughed.
No Sleep For Kaname Date – From AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES is out now for PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2.
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