Spike Chunsoft Anime Expo 2024 Interview - Natsu-Mon, RAIN CODE Plus, and the unique struggles of localization
Much like last year's show, we had the chance to sit down with Spike Chunsoft to discuss some of their recent announcements - this time focused around Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid and Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE Plus. This year, the focus was on some of the unique challenges of localization - animal species that don't have an official English name, and some of the unique hurdles that come from coordinating releases on Steam, and more:
RPG Site: Obviously the biggest announcement of the panel was Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid. That’s kind of mind-blowing! It’s not directly part of the Natsuyasumi series, but that’s clearly cut from the same cloth, and that’s a franchise with a very, very strong legacy. What was the process of getting that ready to go, since that’s coming out in less than a month!
Yu Namba: I mean, we’ve been working on it for a decent amount of time - though I did wish we had just a little bit more…
RPG Site: Well, you have to get it out in Summer!
Spike Chunsoft: [laughs]
Alex Flagg: That’s the case with every game; you wish it just had a little more time.
Daniel Le: It’s been hectic, but definitely a delight to work on. Especially since most of us here are 90s kids, it’s sorta something that just makes you feel warm inside as you’re working through it and playing the game yourself.
RPG Site: One specific question I had, because it was a line Yu actually shared during the panel - there were 50 Japanese insects that didn’t have existing English names that you had to translate. That’s one of the wildest translation stories I’ve heard, and it was just an anecdote - can you expand on that was like?
Yu: So, Google was my friend - first and foremost. We were given scientific names for each of the insects, and that’s where we started. There were some that were major, and popular, that everyone would know - and those were no problem. But a lot of times you’d look it up and it says “this bug is only found in Japan” and because of that there’s no English common name for it. So, what do we do? Well, I tried to see if the genus, the species name might have an existing English name. To see if the family of insects had a common name in English and if it did we’d start from there and add adjectives that would describe what’s so special about this particular bug species. Whether it might be physical characteristics, people who found them, things like that.
RPG Site: That sounds like how basically every species gets a name, honestly!
Yu: Unless those people just say “I found it, so I’m gonna put my name on it right there!”
Mimi Saito: Did you think about that? Did you seriously consider just going “I’m coming up with this English name, so it’s a Namba Fly!”
[laughs]
Yu: No, no.
Alex: You don’t wanna be known for a bug!
Yu: Maybe if I discover a unique new species, like a real one in real life maybe I’ll consider it.
RPG Site: Taking a step back, I mentioned that obviously this is a game with a very strong legacy attached to it. Is there anything you’d like to share with folks that aren’t already familiar with that legacy, about what makes the game unique and special in that sense?
Yu: What do you think, Daniel?
Daniel: I’d say that the strengths of all the previous Summer games is that they’re based around nostalgia, and this idea of childhood wonder and triumph. You, as a child, are set upon this task and when you succeed it feels really rewarding from that perspective of a child. “Wow, I can’t believe I actually climbed that!” It’s something you look back on as an adult and be like “Wow I can’t believe I got away with doing that as a kid!”
RPG Site: I remember in Middle School I had a buddy of mine - who I’m still friends with - who after school we were hanging out in the woods next to campus. We found this old desk, and a couple of us went to go get drinks or something and the guy we left was like “I’m gonna see if I can get this in this tree!”. We were all like, whatever dude, we come back and he’s in the tree, in the desk, asleep.
[laughs]
Daniel: Isn’t that just a strange universal truth of all young children? You just wanna put stuff in trees.
Alex: I wanna be in the tree, I want to climb the tree, and then… yeah.
Daniel: If I find an object in the forest, I want to put it in the tree.
Alex: I’m gonna put it in the tree, yeah. To expand on that it’s definitely the unique feeling of not just accomplishment, but specifically accomplishment from the perspective of a child. So there’s a kind of wholesomeness to it, that’s a uniquely nostalgic feeling - and Natsu-Mon definitely has that in spades. It’s great to play.
Yu: On top of that, I personally view this game as a two-pronged approach. As they mentioned right now, they’re going for the nostalgia factor with the adults, while on the other hand it’s very much a game for children - to see if they can experience something different from what they usually do during Summer time. Because of that, we kept the language of the game pretty tame, and not too difficult for young kids to understand. But at the same time we have a bunch of little things here and there that adults would get.
Daniel: I think in the localization process, at least one of the approaches I wanted to take was similar to a lot of 90s comedy series, especially The Simpsons. It’s something like as a kid you like because of its mischievous nature, but as an adult you really enjoy it because of how clever a lot of things are in the game. That’s what you’ll see in a lot of Natsu-Mon’s localization, there’s just a lot of really clever jokes you’ll only really get as an adult, but kids will still laugh at.
RPG Site: One thing I’m curious about, is that one of the core conceits of the game is that you’re not just a regular kid, but a child of the circus as it were. Which feels like it explains some of the acrobatic antics you can get yourself into! I understand you’re not the best people to ask this question, since you’re only the localization team, but how has it impacted the gameplay compared to the games that came before it, that were its inspiration?
Yu: That’s definitely more of a developer or director question, though I did look at some of the Japanese reactions back when the game released in July of 2023, and I noticed that a lot of people called this game a “Zelda Natsuyasumi”.
RPG Site: I see; I definitely get where they’re coming from.
Yu: I think this game being open-world, where you’ve got 100% freedom to do anything that you want to do, while having that exciting action feel to it as well, makes it feel a little bit out of the norm - sliding a bit into fantasy, honestly. Like, c’mon, you wouldn’t have a kid climb a super tall chimney at a factory, or to start swimming directly into the ocean all by himself! Yet, the game lets you do that, and I think that feeling of freedom is what the developer wanted to convey in this game.
Daniel: It’s sort of like a lower-stakes Zelda-esque, Breath of the Wild-esque sort of feel to it. You’re not tasked with saving the world, you just have to save your failing family business!
Alex: Slightly lower on the rung.
RPG Site: Just a notch or two lower, yeah.
Alex: They’ll be fine; it’s a circus. People like circuses!
Daniel: It’s definitely a lot lower stakes than some of the other titles we’ve worked on. It’s just something you can sit back and enjoy. Instead of going outside this Summer, sit indoors and experience the outside here!
Yu: Now one thing I didn’t get a chance to mention it during the panel, is that you being the son of the ringmaster of the circus troupe - for some odd reason, you’ll be given the responsibility to direct and run the show yourself. However, since the game leaves you 100% free to do whatever you want you can choose not to do anything! That might lead you to an “interesting” outcome at the end of the game, depending on what you decide to do, and what not to do. That’s just something a little bit extra for players to look forward to at the end of the game.
RPG Site: I guess it’s time to ask about the other game you showcased at the panel; so, Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE obviously came out last year on Switch. It’s finally coming out on other platforms, and I remember Kodaka actually told me something during my interview with him last year that suggested this is the version he always really wanted to put out. So, yeah, it comes with all the DLC and it’s looking and running a lot better. The thing that I wanted to confirm is why the localization is delayed from the Japanese version? Is that because of the novel that is being included for PlayStation 5 and the Steam Limited Edition this time around? Is there a specific reason for that gap between the Japanese and North America versions of this? Because RAIN CODE was day-and-date worldwide on Switch.
Alex: I don’t know how much detail we want to give…
Mimi: I genuinely forgot why that was.
Alex: Well, we can say that no - the new novel doesn’t have anything to do with the localization schedule.
Mimi: Well, the Limited Edition too though, right? The Japanese version doesn’t have a Limited Edition, but our version does.
Alex: We wanted to do a simultaneous release later in the year, on October 1st. The Japanese side, HQ side, wanted to put it on Steam as soon as it was ready. It didn’t make sense to have our Western releases…
RPG Site: Staggered?
Alex: Yeah. Not all released at the same time for each console. So it made more sense to have the Japanese side release theirs, and then have the Western releases all at the same time. Rather than mix-and-matching when the game is available, and on what platforms.
RPG Site: I just had to ask the question; it was the obvious question mark.
Daniel, Mimi & Alex: Of course, we’d have asked the same thing.
Daniel: One of the plusses for this is if Japan’s release is bogged down, then our release is going to be the ultimate version!
Alex: We got some time with our version to maybe tweak things, yeah.
RPG Site: The only problem is with the Steam New & Trending tab, is that it won’t show up for the Western release… that’s a problem I know NIS America has run into with some of their Falcom releases, which is why they aren’t doing that anymore.
Daniel: It’s almost as if we’d never have thought of that - we’re aware, yeah.
Alex: Yeah, we’re aware…
Yu: Is it ok to say that the Steam Physical Edition idea was the brainchild of this man right here? [Pointing at Alex]
Alex: It wasn’t 100% just my idea, but yeah the Steam Limited Edition... every time that we do - I think every Limited Edition that I’ve worked on at Spike Chunsoft I’ve always seen at least some feedback of “I play on PC, I want that stuff, but I’m not gonna buy something for a console that I don’t own. Please bring this to Steam.” I’m very happy we’re able to do that for RAIN CODE+, and we’ll see about that for the future. Hopefully we can continue to expand how many platforms we make Limited Editions for.
RPG Site: I guess it’s notable, then, that there’s no Xbox Limited Edition this time around?
Alex: No, not this time. That has more to do with the relationship between us, HQ, and Microsoft - and the physical production. Xbox as a console is very unique…
RPG Site: Very digital heavy.
Alex: Right. If we see a big demand for physical releases for Microsoft platforms, we might be able to release more in the future. So we will see.
RPG Site: Thank you for your answers. Is there anything else you’d like to share with Spike Chunsoft fans, heading into the latter half of the year?
Daniel: Please play Natsu-Mon, and look forward to more announcements. We’ve got some big stuff coming up.
Mimi: Yeah, we’ve got something we’re very excited about!
Daniel: Something for longtime fans, and new fans as always. I know that Natsu-Mon is pretty different from our other titles - but the passion’s all there. Like, 90s kids, you’ll love it. 90s obsessed kids, the zoomers, you’ll love it!
Yu: Of course, this time around you’ll be able to try it with the demo too!
RPG Site: Thank you for your time, as always. I hope you have a great rest of the show!