Shujinkou Interview

Rice Games’s Shujinkou is a dungeon-crawling RPG that sees three protagonists — Shu, Jin, and Kou — banding together to take on the Akuma, language-devouring monsters that terrorize the land. Shujinkou offers a vast world, two-arc story campaign, sixteen different labyrinthine dungeons to traverse, and an optional language-learning element across its gameplay. Ahead of its release later this month, RPGamer was given the chance to ask director Julian Rice about the game’s features and development.

Jordan McClain (RPGamer): What inspired you to make Shujinkou, and where did you draw inspiration from?

Julian Rice (Rice Games Inc): The inspiration for Shujinkou started with the word itself — Shujinkou (主人公) in Japanese means “main protagonist.” Growing up, I spent time in both the USA and Asia, particularly Taiwan and Hong Kong, and my mother is Taiwanese. When I first started learning Japanese in high school, I would break down each kanji character and compare it to my somewhat limited knowledge of Chinese (Mandarin). When I came across the word shujinkou, I had a eureka moment—like almost every other word, each kanji within the word had its own distinct meaning. That sparked the idea of creating three characters—Shu, Jin, and Kou—each with unique personalities inspired by their respective kanji. In the early days, I imagined them sailing the seas, riding airships, and embarking on grand adventures to save the world from looming threats.

Six years ago, I didn’t yet know how to make a full-fledged game, so I started by following YouTube tutorials to create a simple platformer. But deep down, I knew that wasn’t the game I truly wanted to make. On top of that, the art team I had assembled wasn’t specialized in a style that suited a platformer. So I decided to pivot toward a genre I’ve always loved — dungeon-crawling RPGs — and that’s how Shujinkou really started taking shape.

RPGamer: DRPGs have a passionate player base. How did you balance appealing to veterans while welcoming newcomers?

Julian Rice: Believe it or not, I’m one of those passionate DRPG players myself. Just a few years ago, I was addicted to titles like Etrian Odyssey I-V, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, Demon Gaze, and Dungeon Travelers 2. In fact, EO IV and SMT: SJ are both in my top five games of all time — though even they weren’t without their flaws.

The key to making Shujinkou accessible to newcomers while still challenging veterans was developing a robust difficulty system. With five difficulty options, players can adjust the experience at any time, and the changes go beyond just combat. Lower difficulties make the game more approachable by slowing down some of the Yajuu (large beasts in the labyrinth), reducing random encounter rates, lessening the impact of Ontological and Elemental weaknesses for both heroes and enemies, and plenty more. Meanwhile, for veterans, I wanted to preserve the thrill of striking weaknesses, making strategic use of items, and staying on high alert — both in the labyrinth and in combat. That’s why Normal, Hard, and Extreme difficulties are carefully tuned to offer a rewarding challenge.

And to my fellow DRPG fans: Shujinkou has some seriously wild labyrinths — over 40 different floors to explore! Coming from someone who “loved” SMT: SJ‘s Eridanus sector, trust me when I say you’re in for a memorable ride.

RPGamer: Can you talk about the language-learning feature of the game, how it came about, and how much work went into it? 

Julian Rice: The language-learning feature of Shujinkou was inspired by the game’s core concept—every main and side character has a name and personality derived from an actual kanji character (or two). This sparked the idea that Shujinkou could offer players a unique way to engage with Japanese language and culture while still being an exciting JRPG. With so many incredible RPGs and JRPGs released each year, I knew Shujinkou needed something that truly set it apart.

My background played a huge role in shaping this vision. Until graduating in 2020, I was at UCLA, where I double-majored in Linguistics & Computer Science (one major) and Japanese, while also minoring in Entrepreneurship. Founding a company, developing a full-scale JRPG, and integrating language-learning mechanics felt like the perfect way to bring together everything I had studied.

That said, I recognize that most people don’t play games to learn, so I made sure the learning elements in Shujinkou are entirely optional. They exist to enhance the experience rather than dictate it. More than 85% of development has been focused on crafting a full-fledged JRPG — with a deep story, well-written characters, stunning art and music, and engaging mechanics designed to support an 80-hour campaign with over a hundred hours of side content.

Marketing this aspect has been a real challenge, but I hope that once people play Shujinkou for themselves, they’ll see that it’s, first and foremost, a great JRPG — one that just happens to offer an innovative, optional approach to language learning.

RPGamer: Can you talk about the game’s development process, especially as an independent developer? Was there a specific moment when everything came together?

Julian Rice: The development process for Shujinkou has been a long and evolving journey, especially as an independent developer. In the earliest stages (2019–2020), when the game was still a platformer, I brought on summer interns to help work on coding with me based on my initial game design concepts. However, none of us had prior experience working with production-level code. When I pivoted Shujinkou into a DRPG, I had to rethink and refine its entire design, introducing a slew of new mechanics to fit the genre. From there, I was responsible for every aspect of development — designing, implementing, integrating, testing, documenting, optimizing for console ports and performance, and repeating that cycle several hundreds of times to bring the game to a fully playable state.

There are definitely areas where the process can be improved for future projects, but in general, the workflow was: build a set of features, release builds for QA testing, identify and fix bugs, and then continue iterating while minimizing regressions through unit tests and manual verification. Organization was absolutely key. Properly formatted issues, pull requests, build notes, specifications, and test cases helped reinforce my memory, provided quick reference points, and allowed QA to work independently. This was especially critical because I was based in Tokyo while my testers were in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Being concise and clear in communication was also crucial — it streamlined development and testing, making the entire process more efficient. While indie development comes with its share of tough challenges, seeing everything slowly come together over time made all the hard work worth it.

RPGamer: Was there a feature or idea you had to cut that you still think about?

Julian Rice: Believe it or not — no! That’s actually a big reason why Shujinkou took six years to develop. While there were features I initially lacked the motivation or energy to implement, I eventually found the time and drive to make them happen. One of the biggest advantages of having no external funding and being the Director was having full control over the development process. I could refine the game until it was exactly how I envisioned it, without external pressure to cut corners.

To be specific, here are three features that I originally thought of in the first two years of development but didn’t implement until the sixth year, just in time for porting and launch:

1. Kanakae Set Swap in Combat: With over 200 Kanakae Orbs to collect in the main story, I knew players needed a way to swap their equipped orbs mid-battle rather than restarting a battle just because they had the wrong setup for an enemy’s ontological weakness (I personally experienced something similar, and frustrating, in Shin Megami Tensei with bosses and their elemental weaknesses). Now, players can prepare up to 50 sets in advance and swap them mid-combat. The trade-off? The action takes place last in the turn order, and the character swapping sets is left vulnerable to attacks that round.
2. Detailed Status UI in Combat: While the general Battle Status screen (R2 or “3” on keyboard) provides an overview, some status ailment icons and effects weren’t self-explanatory. To fix this, I added a more detailed UI that players can access by selecting any hero or enemy in battle. This displays a rundown of active status ailments, buffs, bonus effects, remaining durations, and more. With Shujinkou being a brand-new IP featuring over 25 ailments and dozens of buffs, debuffs, and a bunch of new, unique effects, this feature turned out to be really useful for both newcomers and seasoned players.
3. Writing Japanese with the Controller: This was especially crucial for the PS4 and PS5 versions. Implementing controller-based Japanese writing was tricky from a coding standpoint, as it had to work reliably across different menus. Thanks to this feature, players can now use the controller to write Japanese in the game’s Moji Kiroku or in Jin’s Nen’oshi—a daily reminder system where practicing writing characters earns in-game currency. Of course, both of these are entirely optional for those who just want to focus on dungeon crawling.

Looking back, I’m glad I had the freedom to take my time and refine Shujinkou exactly the way I wanted. It made the journey much longer, but it was worth it.

RPGamer: What was your north star when designing this game — something that guided every decision?

Julian Rice: Perspective and empathy. I constantly put myself in the shoes of different types of players — veterans, newcomers, language learners, and those just looking for a classic JRPG experience. Every feature and mechanic in Shujinkou was designed with these perspectives in mind.

At the same time, I made sure I was creating a game that I would genuinely want to play. That personal passion fueled every aspect of development and kept me motivated throughout the six-year journey. Finally, as Director, I meticulously reviewed every asset — whether from artists, composers, or writers — to ensure everything aligned with my vision for Shujinkou. Balancing all of these factors was critical in guiding every decision for both the team and the game.

RPGamer: If you could push the industry in one direction, what would it be?

Julian Rice: I’d push for more CEOs and Directors to have hands-on experience in game design and development. Games are a business, and making money is necessary, but too often, business-driven decisions overshadow the passion and artistry that make games truly special.

When you look at the first entries in beloved franchises — like Final Fantasy or Ys — you can feel the soul, love, and sacrifice that went into them. I sometimes worry that the modern industry’s focus on maximizing profits has, in some cases, diluted that creativity and passion.

If industry leaders had more direct experience with the development process, they’d have a deeper appreciation for the craft and the effort that goes into making a truly memorable game. I mean, games should be made for the players, right? Their enjoyment, their memories, and the emotional journeys they take in these fantasy worlds can help change their lives for the better — I truly believe this!

RPGamer: How did you approach character progression and party customization?

Julian Rice: This was really challenging! A lot of math was involved, and I created multiple Excel sheets to project hero and enemy stats, analyze their impact on combat, and fine-tune balancing. My goal was to ensure that each character felt unique — both in their personality and in how they played — so I decided against a free stat allocation system. Instead, character stat progression is fixed, reinforcing their distinct traits and roles in combat.

With that being said, customization still plays a major role. Equipment significantly impacts stats and combat strategies, with hundreds of different pieces of equipment offering unique effects — some strike all enemies at once, others have a chance to inflict ailments, while certain gear can nullify debuffs and ailments from enemies. This allows players to shape their party’s playstyle without altering the characters’ core identities.

Since Shujinkou has three main protagonists, it made sense to have three active party slots. However, from the very beginning, I wanted different allies to join the crew depending on the story arc. This led to a flexible system where players can swap party members in and out or even take on challenges with only one or two characters for grinding purposes. Some story and quest battles also impose specific team restrictions — either requiring certain members or preventing others from joining — forcing players to adapt their strategies instead of relying on the same lineup for every fight.

RPGamer: Looking back, what’s something you wish you had known when starting this project? If you could go back five years, what advice would you give yourself?

Julian Rice: I could probably write an entire book on this, but if I had to distill it down, here’s what I’d tell myself (and any aspiring developers or game directors tackling their first major project):

• Take feedback seriously, but trust yourself the most — especially if you have a clear vision and strong confidence in it.
• Be open to pivoting, even late in development. Outside of development, turning Shujinkou into a trilogy and staggering the Nintendo Switch port release to a later time are two examples of important pivots that I’m proud I made.
• No matter what, work on your dream every single day. Like interest, progress compounds over time.
• Don’t push things back too much — momentum is everything.
• Grow your skill set as much as possible. When crunch time hits, there may come a time when you need to handle everything yourself.

It was exhausting, but also incredibly rewarding to be involved in every aspect of Shujinkou — building the lore and economy of an entirely new world and IP, storyboarding and editing all the trailers, creating icons, designing mechanics and levels, using Photoshop and SPINE to polish art and animations, and even learning graphic design to create the 35-page Digital Artbook. I visited a mastering studio in Japan to learn about soundtrack mastering and publishing, implemented audio with FMOD, designed dozens of sound effects, and even wrote a few music tracks when needed.

More recently, I’ve had to design and implement dozens of quality-of-life features, fix critical bugs, fine-tune the game’s balance both in and out of combat, and navigate the complex porting and publishing processes for Steam, Sony, and Nintendo. I’ve failed certification with them dozens of times and had to find my way through the fog — figuring things out as I went. If I had known all of this from the start, I might have been better prepared, but honestly, the challenge itself was part of what made the journey so fulfilling.

RPGamer: Is there anything else you would like our audience to know?

Julian Rice: First off, thank you for taking the time to read through this interview! I poured my heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears into Shujinkou, from its conception to its final execution. Somehow, I managed to bring the game to life on PS5, PS4, and PC. I have been sitting on the Nintendo Switch port for a few years now, and am looking forward to figuring out how to get Shujinkou to work smoothly on it for a Switch (and hopefully Switch 2, eventually) release later this year.

Working on Shujinkou every single day, even while juggling a full-time job as a full-stack engineer here in Japan for four years (I left the job at the end of 2024), and never giving up — even after losing my mother to colon cancer at 23 — was the greatest challenge of my life, and I’m sure it’s only the first of many to come. This game carries not only my love for video games but also the contributions of a global, remote team of over a dozen talented individuals who put their hearts into the art, music, narrative writing, and quality assurance behind the game.

I don’t know many games that have this much love behind them. We truly believe that Shujinkou will give you the dungeon crawling experience of a lifetime. Thanks again for reading, and I can’t wait to see you in Genya and Sabaku!

We would like to extend our deepest thanks to Julian for taking the time to answer our questions. Shujinkou releases on February 13, 2025, for PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5, with a Nintendo Switch version anticipated to release at a later date.