Feelings of MOTHER 3

You were strict during those overnight shifts. There’d be a spot you’d already seen several times, but all of a sudden you’d point it out to cut it and completely rewrite it.

Itoi

I’d say “Hmm, from here to here we don’t need.”

(Laughs)

Itoi

One thing I can say about the Brownie Brown staff that developed on the preliminary work is that they were young. From the perspective of people my age, we’re four generations behind kids making games these days, so it’s only natural that their sensibilities are different. I worried that doing the game my way would make the humor fall flat with younger generations. But when it was finished, it didn’t seem off at all.

Yeah.

Itoi

Strictly speaking, that’s not something I can control. But as long as I’m making MOTHER, that’s all I can do.

What struck me was the way you wouldn’t just fix the parts that needed fixing, you’d fix the ones that didn’t, too. As long as there was something you weren’t happy with, you’d fix it. There could be a line where a character says “Hello!” and you’d change it to “Hey, hello!”

Itoi

That’s just the way I am. It’s physiological for me when I write, so I can’t help it. I wouldn’t be able to explain what’s wrong with the line “Hello.”

I see. You also made some lines longer and longer, while other lines that started out long got drastically cut.

Itoi

There were many parts that I intentionally kept short, or changed back to an overused phrase on purpose. If people sounded too quirky the whole time, that would become the status quo, and it would get lazy.The frogs were pretty symbolic of that.

Up through the overnight shifts, each frog had said a different thing.

Itoi

But that would make that an expectation. It would be a given that each frog says a different thing.

Yeah. And when actually playing through the game, the player could start to feel an obligation to go and talk to each frog to see what they say.

Itoi

That’s why I went back and gave them all the same lines. Then I specially picked out which frogs would have a unique line. That means creating their script had been twice the work. It’s like having simmered something in a dish with broth, only to change your mind and decide you’ll make it a simple boiled dish. I made a lot of big decisions that way during the overnight shifts.

I could sense the tension in the room when that happened.

Itoi

How can I say it? There are times when things get a lot more serious. I brace myself going into it, knowing I might get pushback. You know how there were times that even if I got a nonplussed reaction from the whole team, I’d say “Well, this is the way I’m doing it!” It made me feel like [controversial sumo wrestler] Asashoryu. (Laughs)

(Laughs)

Itoi

There were moments when I just had this primal feeling of, “No, I’m above you.” If I didn’t, it would get dull. Half-hearted. I can only do it, though, because I’m with people I share a mutual understanding with. There’s this feeling that can come from squeezing your butt checks and totally bracing yourself. It’s the same feeling I’d get as a bratty little kid thinking I was above someone.

I see. (Laughs)

Itoi

But you know what? It’s necessary. Creative people have something in them that’s akin to the animalistic nature you see in athletes sometimes. Something that’d make them yell at somebody to shut their trap. (Laughs)

Other people would warn you that doing something would have knock-on effects, but they couldn’t even finish their sentence before you’d tell them that it didn’t matter. (Laughs)

Itoi

(Laughs) I was a monster. And even so, later I would follow up and say “Look, if we do this, that will fix the problem you mentioned.” In the end, it’s embarrassing when we turn into monsters. So we can’t do that if we don’t have a “field” in which to do so. For me, those overnight sessions were my field, and the people around me understood that. That’s why I was able to act that way. You can’t just act like that all the time; it wouldn’t be good. No one would enjoy themselves.

I think at that point you’d just be a pushy jerk.

Itoi

That’s why it’s so amazing that I’ve been able to find people who understand where I’m coming from. I work with really good people. If anyone’s set on living their lives creating things and asking others about them, I hope they don’t settle for less with a smile plastered on their face. I want them to enter the village sumo ring and squeeze their butt cheeks together.