Fragile - information blowout

This information comes from a panel discussion with…

Producer : Kentarou Kawashima (Seven, Venus and Braves)
Art Director : Keiko Harada (Seven, Venus and Braves)
Main Programmer : Munehito Yasui (Baten Kaitos - Tri Crescendo)

• after performing a study, the team found that the average Japanese and European identifies with these three game elements in this order: 1) Story and Characters, 2) World presentation, 3) Game system.

• Kawashima comparison - “Resident Evil” = “frightening” ; “Fragile” = “oppressive”

• Kawashima believes that experiences had in the real world are important to translate into the game world. That’s where Fragile got its deep sense of atmosphere from

• around 30 hours long

• Kawashima - “First is to provide varied experiences, the technology comes afterwards.”

• Kawashima prefers games that put average characters into situations where they cannot take direct control

• Fragile has been in development for 2 years, and has cost quite a bit of money. More money will be spent on advertising, but the team is hoping that sales of the game will help make up for the costs of development and advertising

• Fragile originally took place during the Winter

• The original main character was a treasure hunter, and looked like the art below

• elements from the original idea that made it to the final game: bonfires, the messages written on the walls, pointer/flashlight mechanics.

• the idea of exploration and no combat was tossed around

• the prototype version was completed in about about 4 months. The purpose of the prototype was to get the game greenlit.

• the original art director was switched out for Keiko Harada

• a lot of attention was paid to the soundtrack and environmental noises

• development has been right on schedule for the entire project, which allows the developers to add some extra touches for the final game

Link