[Interview]Interview with “Stellar Blade” director Kim Hyun-tae.A big challenge to AAA action from Korea for users in Japan and around the world

SHIFT UP CEO Kim Hyeon Tae

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) will release the action game “Stellar Blade” for PlayStation 5 on April 26, 2024.

This is an action-adventure game developed by South Korean developer SHIFT UP as “Project EVE.” Set on Earth, which has been invaded by aliens and left in ruins, humans who have migrated to space fight a battle to take back the Earth. A story is drawn.
A trial version of this work was released in March of this year, and the main character Eve’s sexy appearance and intense action attracted a lot of attention.

At the time of the release of this work, SHIFT UP representative who is involved in the development and the game director of “Stellar Blade”Mr. Kim Hyun Taecomes to Japan. Responded to media interviews. This article presents a joint interview conducted by two media outlets including 4Gamer.

Taking on the challenge of creating AAA titles from the Korean game market to Japan and the rest of the world

–First of all, please tell us how this project came about.

Mr. Kim Hyun Tae:(hereinafter referred to as Mr. Kim)
As you may know, there are currently very few games made for home consoles in South Korea. Many games are limited to the mobile market, and I felt that if this situation continued for a long time, we would miss the chance to reach users in Japan and around the world.

Of course, the mobile market is great, and we value it, but there are limits to the hardware, and it would be risky for the company to continue down that path alone. I was worried that if we didn’t create games of AAA quality, we would be left behind when times changed, so I decided to take on the challenge of making this work.

–Was it planned as a home game from the beginning?

Mr. Kim:
I agree. These days, I often connect a controller to play PC games, but when I’m making games, I keep in mind home games.

–When this work was announced as “Project EVE,” it was not announced that SIE would be publishing it. Please tell us how you decided to partner with us.

Mr. Kim:
I myself have been a PlayStation fan for some time, and creating games for PlayStation has been one of my goals. One day, Shuhei Yoshida from SIE came to our company and played various games with us.

Mr. Yoshida was really enthusiastic, and we received a lot of feedback on the games he played, which led to more opportunities for us to talk to him, and in order to deliver our games to people all over the world, Mr. SIE I thought that this would be the best partner.

–Did you consider making it an action game from the planning stage?

Mr. Kim:
This is also a personal story, but the genre that I enjoy playing the most is action-adventure.
I believe that as games evolve, the distinction between genres will become blurred and integrated, and this work is also about fighting enemies, exploring, discovering things, and then appearing in a single world. We chose an action-adventure game as the best solution to incorporate everything, including enjoying the story drawn by the characters.

――Are there any things you pay attention to when creating an action-adventure movie?

Mr. Kim:
Recent action games include highly difficult so-called “Souls-like” games and hack-and-slash games. In this work, we wanted to combine the best parts of these elements.
For example, I don’t want to create a game system where the player attacks the enemy one-sidedly and is satisfied with pulling off an exhilarating combo, but instead needs to be able to read the combat and carefully assess the enemy’s movements and respond accordingly. We aimed for a game that is. From the middle of the game onwards, as you get used to the action, it is also designed to allow you to interrupt enemy attacks midway through and attack further.
We are proud that this is a game that anyone can enjoy, not only those who like action games, but also those who are not limited by that.

–The DualSense’s haptic feedback was effective not only when moving the player during battles and movement, but also during movies and cut scenes. Could you tell us about the focus on vibration-based effects?

Mr. Kim:
The DualSense controller is truly amazing, and there were many things that impressed me while developing the game. With that in mind, we devised ways to incorporate vibration effects using haptic feedback into every part of the game.
In order to effectively incorporate vibration production into actions and events, we work with the sound team to synchronize it with music and SE.
There are also scenes where adaptive triggers come into play when using long-range weapons that you obtain in the middle of the game. We also take advantage of the built-in speakers and touchpad, so please enjoy the play feel unique to DualSense.

— Mr. Kim, the game director, could you give us some advice on how to enjoy playing “Stellar Blade”?

Mr. Kim:
First of all, in the early stages, it is important to get used to just parry and just avoidance. As you progress through the game, you will be able to obtain equipment such as “gear” and “exospine”, which will allow you to customize your battle style to your liking. For example, if you equip all three types of gear that make the main character move faster, you will be able to engage in extremely high-speed battles.

Also, if you look at the skill tree, you can see how to use it. For example, by making a Just Parry, you can not only simply block enemy attacks, but there are also attacks and skills that are derived from that, so choose the one that suits your play style and grow Eve.

–There is also a difference in difficulty between “Normal Mode” and “Story Mode.”

Mr. Kim:
In story mode, where the enemy’s strength is suppressed, a function called “Action Assist” is activated, which displays buttons to press in response to specific enemy movements. A guide for when to press the button is displayed, so even beginners of action games can enjoy it.

Eve and the others from the stars descend into the post-apocalyptic ruined world.

–In terms of design, the mechanical aspects of the opening, such as the spaceship and the pod that Eve and the others are riding in, felt very unique. On the other hand, I had the impression that the world in which it takes place is the ruins of the modern world. Please let me know if you have any concepts related to this worldview.

Mr. Kim:
The spaceship and drop pod that Eve and her friends ride in have some motifs from the classic baroque era.
As with the costumes of Eve and her friends, the concept is to create a design that gives the impression at first glance that it is far removed from Earth’s worldview. It emphasizes that the destroyed Earth and the space colony in which they live were separated for a long time and developed separately.

As for the world, we deliberately did not introduce anything new or unusual, but rather followed the post-apocalyptic world depicted in movies and anime from the 1980s and 1990s, and designed it with a modern interpretation to create an attractive design. I thought that I could express something.
I’m sure those who enjoyed this kind of worldview in real time will be able to bring back memories, and I think younger people who don’t know about it will find it novel.

–The main appeal of this work is the sexiness, cuteness, and coolness of the main character Eve and other characters, but I also felt a fetish in the grotesque designs of the enemy characters. Please let me know if you have any concerns.

Mr. Kim:
I’m very happy that you noticed that (lol). We paid more attention to the design of the enemy characters than we did to the main characters; they are the characters closest to Eve in battle, and they often appear on the game screen, so we are very particular about their designs, images, and settings.

Native does not use general modeling, but instead creates a clay figure-like model in advance and 3D scans it. Therefore, there is less patterning during modeling, resulting in a natural texture.
If you carefully observe the appearance of the natives, you will discover many things, and as you play the game you will be able to understand why they look the way they do.

–What does the game title “Stellar Blade” mean?

Mr. Kim:
“Stellar” comes from the Latin word “stella,” meaning “star.” “Blade” is a “sword” that everyone is familiar with. The main character, Eve, is born in space, trains to take back Earth, and then comes down to Earth with her sword in hand. The title “Stellar Blade” means “a sword that came from the stars.”

–When I played the trial version, I felt that there was a slight gap between the action of this game, such as “Just Parry” and “Just Evasion,” from when you press the button until they are activated. Is there an intention?

Mr. Kim:
In “Stellar Blade”, there is a lag of about 0.05 seconds from when you press the button until the skill is reflected on the screen. This is a time lag that cannot be reduced any further.
Our intention was that pressing a button and suddenly performing a motion would not be suitable for the animation style that shows the character’s movement in this work, so when you press a button, the skill itself is activated and the movement is performed. It looks like the animation is an afterthought. There may be slight errors due to the connection between actions and the video equipment used to play, but if feedback becomes a problem in the future, we may be able to improve it to make it easier to play. .

–From the time it was announced as “Project EVE” until its release in 2024, it took a lot of time to develop due to release delays and other factors. Could you tell us about the difficulties you encountered during development?

Mr. Kim:
First of all, it was not easy to produce high-quality graphics on PlayStation 5. It was my first time making an action game on a home console, so everything felt like a challenge.
The most difficult part was creating the narrative cutscenes and drama so that the conversations between the characters would naturally connect and the story would progress.

Also, when it came to facial motions in cutscenes, we were very particular about lip syncing, which was a challenge. In this work, due to the differences in the languages ​​of English, Japanese, and Korean, the lip syncing of the characters blends in naturally. In the long term, we would like to support lip syncing in all languages.

In order to make “Stellar Blade” loved by Japanese users, we created entertainment unique to SHIFT UP.

–As Kim said, there is an impression that Korean games are strong in mobile and MMORPGs, but in recent years, there have been hits such as “Stellar Blade” as well as large and medium-sized works for home game consoles and indie works. can be seen. Mr. Kim, what do you think about this trend?

Mr. Kim:
As you said, Korean games such as MMORPGs are saturated and are sluggish. As a breakthrough, there is a movement to look at domestic and international markets and the home video game market, and I think this is a positive trend.
We believe that such an era will come sooner than expected, and we are very happy to be able to deliver this “Stellar Blade” to you as the first in line.

–From your perspective, Mr. Kim, where do you see compatibility between the Japanese game market and the Korean game market, and where do you find them different?

Mr. Kim:
The interesting thing about the Korean game market is that it has characteristics of both Europe, America, and Asia, and it also has its own market, such as the rise of MMORPGs. The trend for best-selling titles is that titles from Europe, America, and Asia, including Japan, dominate, with titles from China gaining momentum in recent years. However, if we look only at sales, it seems that MMORPGs like “Lineage” that appeal to a small number of heavy-paying users are dominating the top rankings.

While the Japanese market is home to a wide variety of game genres, I get the impression that there are very high hurdles for foreign games to enter the market. We have a very high standard for Japanese users to pick up the game, but we understand that if we can exceed that standard, they will continue to love our work, so this “Stellar Blade” is one of those games. I made it with the aim of becoming.

–What was the response from users after the trial version was released?

Mr. Kim:
We have not yet been able to confirm all the responses, but fortunately we have received high praise for the fun of the game and the action of the battles, which we are grateful for. We are also confirming the points you have made regarding the need for corrections, such as the time lag in actions mentioned in your previous question.
We also received a lot of feedback about Eve’s appearance. Her looks and costumes completely reflect my tastes (lol).

I am responsible for all opinions, both positive and negative. Games are entertainment, so I believe that users can make choices based on their preferences, so if you like some of the elements I’ve presented in this work, I’d like you to play it. hey.

–You can change the length of Eve’s ponytail on the options screen, but what does that mean?

Mr. Kim:
Eve’s ponytail was made long as a technical expression of the complex movements of her hair during the action, but at that length, part of Eve’s costume could be hidden. We think there are some people who want to see the costume properly, so we have made it possible to change it as an option. The content of the game remains the same, so choose the one you like and enjoy it (lol).

–The BGM of the game is extremely complete, and you can change the BGM that plays during the camp. What kind of orders did you give to the sound creator?

Mr. Kim:
Deciding on the musical concept for this work’s visuals was a very difficult point. Not many science fiction games are made in Korea, so we had a lot of trouble deciding on a direction for the BGM that would match it.
The order I gave to the sound creator was, “I want you to create a lot of medium tempo songs with vocals.” It’s a song that has a high-quality feel to it overall, and includes high-quality vocals.

–By the way, are the vocal lyrics in Korean?

Mr. Kim:
The songs are mainly in Korean and English, but there are also songs in Latin and fictional languages. We have over 100 songs for the entire game, so we hope you enjoy them while playing the game.

–I think the quality of the game was conveyed to Japanese users through the trial version, etc. Based on that, could you give a message to those who are looking forward to the main game?

Mr. Kim:
I’m overwhelmed with emotion as this is the first time in 20 years that I’ve been able to greet Japanese users for a home video game since “Magna Carta” in 2004.
We have created a game that can be enjoyed by both those who like combat, those who like adventure, and those who are familiar with games and those who are not. We are creating it for you to enjoy as entertainment, so we hope you will feel free to pick it up.
I hope that “Stellar Blade” reaches as many people as possible through PlayStation 5, and that I can use this as an opportunity to interact with many Japanese users. thank you!

–thank you very much.