Metaphor: ReFantazio, Like a Dragon GDC Lectures Available for Free

Atlus and Sega announced that their lectures from this year’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco are now available to view for free. The following lectures are available to watch through the GDC Vault website without needing to register, covering the development of Metaphor: ReFantazio and the Like a Dragon series:

• Developing Metaphor: ReFantazio and the Potential of RPG Command Battle Systems

How has the genre of command battle RPGs, often ridiculed as old-fashioned, been updated into the latest titles? This presentation from Kenichi Goto (Lead Battle Planner, ATLUS) will cover the twists and turns, decisions made to realize the director’s vision into the optimal game system, and the methods of test play conducted to gather data for balance adjustments more reliably and cost-effectively, using the latest work Metaphor: ReFantazio as an example.

• From Persona to Metaphor: ReFantazio: Creating a Visual Identity for a New Series

This session will introduce the process of realizing the UI style of Metaphor: ReFantazio. Koji Ise (Lead Interface Designer, ATLUS) will explain his approach to the art style, convey the importance of UI design to gameplay, explore some of the problems encountered during development, and explain how the team tried to differentiate Metaphor from Persona.

• The Secret to Narrative-Driven and Short-Term Development in Like a Dragon

Ryosuke Horii (Chief Director and Producer, SEGA) and Eiji Hamatsu (Design Manager, 1st Business Unit, SEGA) explain how the Ryu Ga Gotoku series has been able to continuously develop narrative-driven games in a short period of time.