Katsura Hashino knows exactly what he wants when it comes to video games. The legendary game director, responsible for the current Persona games and most recently Metaphor: ReFantazio, believes that in a world obsessed with pixel counts and frame rates, only one thing matters: the people who made it.
It’s a philosophy that has served him well over the last 30 years, and is one of the reasons why the Persona games are so popular with fans. Yes, the art direction is impeccable, as is the attention to detail, even in the user interface, but it’s the characters populating this fantastic series that really make the difference. Chie, Junpei, Ann… They all feel like real people, with traits and emotions we can relate to, to the point where they feel like aged friends rather than video game characters. This is entirely intentional, and is what drives Hashino to create games – a personal approach that is at odds with some of the larger projects that are required to meet the expectations of both the company’s fans and shareholders.
Hashino is a long-time Atlus executive. He worked on several of the company’s Shin Megami Tensei games, a beloved RPG series that combines the occult with more grounded settings. In a world dominated by “traditional” Japanese RPGs like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, they are a kind of gothic alternative that has steadily gained popularity over the years.
He took over the Persona franchise, starting with Persona 3, after the departure of previous Persona director Kouji Okada. Hashino took some of the darker themes from Shin Megami Tensei and mixed them with the more stylish pop vibe of Persona, creating a spirited anime-inspired aesthetic set against a high school backdrop that grappled with mythical ideas such as gods and demons, as well as psychology. Thanks to this series, Hashino became one of the most respected game directors. On the eve of the release of his latest game, Metaphor: ReFantazio, IGN caught up with Hashino to reflect on his previous work and what motivates him to create games.
Instead of focusing on the fact that Nanako is a video game character and therefore the dialogue may not sound truly genuine, Hashino and his team went back to the writers’ room. “We started cutting back on the overly cute dialogue and instead tried to root it in reality. Even though Persona 4 is a current fantasy game, we wanted it to be closer to what might be happening next to you.
One thing that becomes clear when talking to Hashino is the love he has for the well-being of the characters in his games. Discussing his favorite moment in Persona 5, he tells us that the Phantom Thieves go into hiding when the cast of characters can hang out at a retro cafe in Shibuya.
It’s no surprise that Hashino’s love for the characters he creates resonates with fans, and while Metaphor: ReFantazio strays from the familiar Persona setting – the action takes place in a fresh fantasy world rather than Tokyo – it has a lot in common with the games he’s created before . Likewise, the characters you’ll meet in Metaphor, while different from the Phantom Thieves we know, struggle with many of the same emotional pressures, such as prejudice, fear, and anxiety.
Matt Kim is senior features editor at IGN. You can reach it @lawoftd.
