Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi released his brand-new game, To a T, on May 28 this year. To celebrate its release, Takahashi got together for a chat with another game industry legend – Fumito Ueda, the director of Shadow of the Colossus and ICO.
In a three-way discussion with Denfaminicogamer, the two creators shared their thoughts on the new game, with Ueda praising it for “not relying on unique gameplay mechanics.” As odd as those words of praise may sound, what Ueda is actually saying is – “the age of coming up with new gameplay mechanics with each release has long passed.”
To a T is a puzzle adventure game developed by Takahashi’s indie studio Uvula, and it follows the odd coming-of-age story of a boy stuck in a T-pose. When its trailer was first released, Ueda apparently reached out to Takahashi to ask him – “How do you play this game?” Takahashi remembers answering that the game didn’t have any special mechanics – to which Ueda replied with: “That’s great.” The Katamari Damacy creator jokingly remarks that he thought “Ah, these are the words of a professional” when he first heard that comment. While Ueda’s reply may not seem that serious at first glance, what he was actually trying to suggest is that current day games could benefit from focusing on more than just gameplay mechanics.
“While I don’t know why I replied with ‘That’s great’ back then, I was most likely thinking – The age of gameplay mechanics had already passed. I guess this is not the age to release new devices or offer new mechanics with each and every new game.”
Ueda explained that, in his opinion, mechanics don’t necessarily need to be “new” or “innovative,” because the game’s art and story are there to build the experience. “Even if there’s nothing novel about the mechanics, you can push the game further with a certain vibe or artwork. Personal preferences aside, what I’m saying is – I think it would be better to give already existing game mechanics more definition.”
If we take into account Ueda’s previous works, the logic behind his reasoning becomes much more obvious. In his cult classic game ICO, rather than focusing on gameplay mechanics that would make the game entertaining and comfortable for players, Ueda decided to bring the art and the atmosphere to the forefront. Other prominent creators like NieR: Automata director Yoko Taro have praised Ueda’s games exactly for this reason – by using already existing gameplay elements and deliberately ignoring playability in favor of conveying the message through the story and worldbuilding, the game ended up being one-of-a-kind experience for Yoko, and many others.
This is the same reason why Ueda believes To a T to be a great game – rather than offering gimmicks, the game is story driven, with an emphasis on visual presentation and aesthetics and heavy messaging about living with disability. He said that the “loose gameplay” felt fresh to him, and that it was just the right amount to make the game feel great overall. He even jokes that this is the first game in a while that actually captivated him so much that he played it to the end.
To a T is currently out for PC (Steam), PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X❘S.
