{"id":56031,"date":"2026-01-22T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=56031"},"modified":"2026-01-22T17:40:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T08:40:19","slug":"drawing-inspiration-from-great-games-is-whats-holding-developers-back-megami-tensei-original-writer-on-why-taking-inspiration-from-other-media-is-crucial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/drawing-inspiration-from-great-games-is-whats-holding-developers-back-megami-tensei-original-writer-on-why-taking-inspiration-from-other-media-is-crucial\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cDrawing inspiration from great games\u201d is what\u2019s holding developers back. Megami Tensei original writer on why taking inspiration from other media is crucial"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Aya Nishitani, Japanese novelist and the father of the <strong>Megami Tensei <\/strong>franchise, recently shared his theory on how favoring popular genres and not turning to other media forms for inspiration in game development may link to the industry\u2019s stagnation, sparking a wider discussion on X among Japanese gamers and developers alike. The conversation was initiated by a comment under one of Nishitani\u2019s posts. The commenter argued that much of the innovation of games created back in the day comes from the fact that developers mainly drew inspiration from other media and genres, like music and film, while nowadays, most games are inspired by other games, leading to \u201cless interesting\u201d titles being made.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">\u7570\u306a\u308b\u30e1\u30c7\u30a3\u30a2\u306b\u30a4\u30f3\u30b9\u30d1\u30a4\u30a2\u3055\u308c\u305f\u3089\u3001\u65b0\u3057\u3044\u30b2\u30fc\u30e0\u30b7\u30b9\u30c6\u30e0\u304c\u3067\u304d\u308b\u304c\u3001\u512a\u308c\u305f\u30b2\u30fc\u30e0\u306b\u30a4\u30f3\u30b9\u30d1\u30a4\u30a2\u3055\u308c\u308b\u3068\u3001\u3069\u3046\u3057\u3066\u3082\u3001\u540c\u3058\u30b7\u30b9\u30c6\u30e0\u3092\u4f5c\u3063\u3066\u3057\u307e\u3046\u50be\u5411\u306f\u3042\u308b\u3068\u3001\u50d5\u3082\u601d\u3044\u307e\u3059\u3002<\/p>&mdash; Aya Nishitani \u897f\u8c37\u53f2 (@ayanakajima3) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ayanakajima3\/status\/2013778418903699845?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 21, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In his X post, Nishitani agrees it\u2019s difficult to create interesting games if your inspiration mainly comes from other games, a trend he recognizes as present among many current game creators. \u201cI believe that if you draw inspiration from other forms of media, you\u2019ll be able to come up with brand-new game systems, but if you draw inspiration from outstanding games, you\u2019ll usually just end up making the exact same system,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another user <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/salu_monkey1\/status\/2014084936672874654?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">commented<\/a> on Nishitani\u2019s post agreeing with the sentiment. As they explain, games which were made based on the same template get popular, but it\u2019s the mold-breaking games that manage to secure a broader user base. On the other hand, \u201cgames inspired by other popular titles in the same genre tend to become popular quickly, and among most users, there is a demand for games that follow similar trends.\u201d However, the user argues that, despite them being very hard to sell, it&#8217;s precisely the works that are different and fresh that lead to new breakthroughs. And those kinds of works are easiest to create for people who draw inspiration from a wide variety of genres and media forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">\u3053\u306e\u65b9\u306e\u30b9\u30ec\u30c3\u30c9\u3001\u6700\u5f8c\u307e\u3067\u8aad\u3080\u3068\u8aac\u5f97\u529b\u304c\u3042\u308a\u307e\u3059\u3002\u79c1\u306e\u601d\u3063\u3066\u3044\u308b\u306e\u306f\u3001\u3053\u3046\u3067\u3059\u3002\u73fe\u5728\u30d2\u30c3\u30c8\u3057\u3066\u3044\u308b\u50be\u5411\u306e\u4f5c\u54c1\u3060\u3051\u3060\u3068\u3001\u5e02\u5834\u306f\u5927\u304d\u304f\u306a\u3089\u305a\u306b\u7e2e\u5c0f\u5747\u8861\u3092\u59cb\u3081\u307e\u3059\u3002\u305d\u3046\u306a\u308b\u3068\u5e02\u5834\u306e\u53ce\u76ca\u304c\u6e1b\u3063\u3066\u3001\u305d\u3053\u306b\u3069\u3093\u3069\u3093\u30af\u30ea\u30a8\u30fc\u30bf\u304c\u52a0\u308f\u3063\u3066\u304d\u307e\u3059\u304b\u3089\u3001\u3072\u3068\u308a\u3042\u305f\u308a\u306e\u53ce\u5165\u306f\u3055\u3089\u306b\u4e0b\u304c\u3063\u3066\u304d\u307e\u3059\u3002\u4ed6\u306e\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/hatNPsaO5p\">https:\/\/t.co\/hatNPsaO5p<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Aya Nishitani \u897f\u8c37\u53f2 (@ayanakajima3) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ayanakajima3\/status\/2014128264818962698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 22, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In response to this, Nishitani shared his impression of how \u201cmaking only things that are popular\u201d leads to market stagnation, noting that this problem is not unique to the video game industry. \u201cIf there are only works that are made with a tendency to become hits, the market won\u2019t expand and will start falling into a diminishing equilibrium (stagnation). This means that, despite more creators coming on board, market revenue will drop, causing individual income to become even lower. This is something that often happens in other industries too. Though, it may have been difficult to notice it because the game industry was on a steady growing path until now,\u201d Nishitani explains. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kazunari Suzuki, a game developer who worked on numerous titles in the Megami Tensei series, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/baelzebub\/status\/2014148700981928231?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">also shared his view on the issue<\/a>, agreeing with Nishitani: \u201cBoth games and novels have that same tendency. Back in the day, with every new generation console that came out, breakthrough games would always follow, but nowadays things are a little bit different. That\u2019s when indie games started taking the spotlight, and it\u2019s been like that for around 6 years I think.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related articles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/the-indie-game-boom-has-been-propped-up-by-the-short-form-content-culture-of-tiktok-and-peoples-shortening-attention-spans-japanese-game-artist-suggests\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>The indie game boom has been propped up by the short-form content culture of TikTok and peoples\u2019 shortening attention spans, Japanese game artist suggests<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/bayonetta-director-hideki-kamiya-says-pretty-graphics-alone-dont-do-much-for-him-a-good-action-game-needs-mechanics-no-other-game-has\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bayonetta director Hideki Kamiya says pretty graphics alone don\u2019t do much for him. A good action game needs mechanics no other game has\u00a0\u00a0<br><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nishitani Aya, writer of the original Megami Tensei novel, discusses theory on how favoring popular genres influences the game industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":56034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[64,3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-56031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-development","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u201cDrawing inspiration from great games\u201d is what\u2019s holding developers back. 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