{"id":43693,"date":"2025-02-04T17:13:48","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T08:13:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=43693"},"modified":"2025-02-04T17:14:42","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T08:14:42","slug":"kingdom-come-deliverance-2-japanese-concept-artist-about-their-depiction-of-medieval-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/kingdom-come-deliverance-2-japanese-concept-artist-about-their-depiction-of-medieval-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"Kingdom Come Deliverance 2\u2019s Japanese concept artist went above and beyond to make sure there was nothing foreign about their depiction of Medieval Europe\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Warhorse Studios\u2019 Kingdom Come Deliverance II<\/strong> launches on February 4, taking players on a realistic RPG adventure to early 15th century Bohemia. One of the developers behind the game\u2019s promised historical and cultural authenticity is Japanese concept artist Kumi Kawatani. As a non-native to Prague or even Europe, Kawatani put in relentless effort to make sure there was nothing artificial or \u201coff\u201d about their depiction of Medieval Europe, which went beyond just researching references. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Famitsu recently interviewed<\/a> Kawatani, who was in charge of designing the characters, tools, buildings and environments of Kingdom Come Deliverance II. Kawatani comments that accurately recreating the historical era was \u201ca difficult job, but it was difficult in a different way for me, a Japanese person, than for my colleagues, who are native [to Prague].\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Kawatani, recreating an environment based on research and reference images cannot produce the same results as creating something based on an immediate, tangible connection to a place. As an example, she cites foreign depictions of Japan, such as those seen in games set in the Edo period. \u201cIt tends to feel a little different and unnatural to Japanese people, doesn’t it?\u201d Kawatani says that this phenomenon goes both ways, and whenever she\u2019d create an environment based on reference materials, her colleagues, who are local to Prague, would be left with the feeling that something was \u201coff.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To overcome this challenge, Kawatani went beyond traditional research, immersing herself in the stories and memories of local colleagues, absorbing their recollections of childhood visits to their grandmothers’ houses and other firsthand experiences. Although it took time, this approach allowed her to \u201cput into words\u201d what she was missing and bridge the cultural gap.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an older interview with Famitsu<\/a> (around Tokyo Game Show 2024) Kawatani also commented that her approach to Kingdom Come Deliverance II was not to pursue her own art style, but to match the worldview of the game and \u201caim for 100% accuracy.\u201d To this end, she practiced channeling the aesthetics of medieval paintings while constantly incorporating feedback from her team. \u201cI basically pretended to be a medieval artist, recreating the scenery of their time.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kingdom<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 
As a result, Kawatani comments, \u201cthis game does not have the sense of incongruity that I mentioned earlier. It is a genuine reproduction of the European Middle Ages, so it is unique to this game in that it does not feel artificial, but rather gives you a sense of immersion as if you have traveled back in time.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kingdom Come Deliverance II launches February 4 for the PC (Steam), PS5 and Xbox Series X\u2758S. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2’s Japanese concept artist talks about the specific difficulties of portraying medieval Europe as a non-native.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":43698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[64,3],"tags":[18],"class_list":["post-43693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-development","category-news","tag-global-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nKingdom Come Deliverance 2\u2019s Japanese concept artist went above and beyond to make sure there was nothing foreign about their depiction of Medieval Europe\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kingdom Come Deliverance 2's Japanese concept artist talks about the specific difficulties of portraying medieval Europe as a non-native.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/kingdom-come-deliverance-2-japanese-concept-artist-about-their-depiction-of-medieval-europe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kingdom Come Deliverance 2\u2019s Japanese concept artist went above and beyond to make sure there was nothing foreign about their depiction of Medieval Europe\u00a0 - 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