When the Showa American Story series was first announced in 2022, its trailer depicting a parallel year in 1991 in which the United States became a colony of Japan went viral. with almost half a million views on IGN’s YouTube channel It’s been a year since the last update by Interview with IGN JapanChinese developer Nekcom delayed the game’s release, switched from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5, and devoted additional time and resources to meet players’ high expectations.
Now, in a brand recent interview with XY.Luo’s imaginative director, IGN can exclusively reveal a brand recent boss character and a few recent screenshots that show how work is progressing on this invigorating recent game.
Gokou is an imposing recent boss that players will face at some point in their adventure. This American politician has blond hair, a muscular chest covered in beastly hair, and a treacherous past.
“Gokou is a character who is a mix of an American cowboy and a Japanese samurai,” Luo explains. “Although he is American, he has a deep knowledge of Japanese culture, and when you fight him, you will notice that his fighting style draws from both Eastern and Western cultures.”
Luo continues, “While I can’t go into detail yet about the techniques Gokou uses in battle, he is closely tied to the game’s story. He is not the final boss or the main villain, but in our alternate history, Gokou is the governor of Texas and he was the one who sold the land of Texas to Japan.”
While Gokou’s character model appears almost photorealistic, and development involved some photogrammetry, Luo explains that Gukou and most of the other main characters were initially hand-drawn before being converted to 3D and added to the game. “Gokou’s design was inspired by a famous American rock star from the ’80s,” Luo suggests. “Whether each character is hand-drawn or based on a 3D facial model, we make sure they convey realism. Because our development team is small—only 26 members—we outsource some of the asset creation.”
Indeed, from our exclusive set of recent screenshots, it’s clear that the game’s visual quality has improved significantly since its initial reveal. Luo says that development is “on track,” with his team aiming to achieve the quality they originally envisioned.
“Thanks to over two years of hard work by our amazing development team since the first trailer and the upgrade of the game engine from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5, the game looks much more solid, including the graphics,” says Luo. “However, compared to a large development team, I have to say that Showa American Story is not a AAA game, but I believe it will exceed players’ expectations when it is released.”
Showa American Story follows the story of protagonist Chouko, a teenage stuntwoman who mysteriously comes back to life after her death, battling hordes of monsters and zombies in a post-apocalyptic 1980s United States that has been colonized by Japan. The game, heavily inspired by B-movies and American and Japanese popular culture, is currently in development for PlayStation 5 and PC. A release date is currently unknown.
Daniel Robson is the editor-in-chief of IGN Japan and Ryuichi Kataoka is a freelance writer for IGN Japan
