7th Anniversary Famitsu Interview
This interview was conducted and published by héro-san at Famitsu App, soon after the Fan Meeting on the 18th of January. Please give him a follow at: https://twitter.com/cinema_hustler
Additionally, thanks to FamitsuApp for the images used. You can find a link to the interview here: https://app.famitsu.com/article/202501/31475
TL by User:Prymnis. I'm not great with conversational Japanese, so please do let me know if something seems off. Thank you to User:Reika for what's essentially the template.
Contents
A Face to Face with Executive Director Iwasaki
Sega's SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI Liberation Dx2 (subsequently, Dx2) celebrated its 7th Anniversary on 22nd January, 2025!
In this article, we had a chat with Executive Director of Dx2, Iwasaki-san, now known as Sabatoma Iwasaki, about the recent Fan Meeting and the future of Dx2!
Dx2 Finally Celebrates its 7th Anniversary!
héro: Well, first off, please tell us what you think about Dx2 celebrating its 7th anniversary.
Iwasaki: First and foremost, I believe it is only because of all of you who play the game that we are able to celebrate our 7th anniversary. Thank you all very much. I'm sure there are other games out there which have been going for 7 years, but I don't think many have been able to constantly communicate and provide information to players eagerly. We believe that this is an important part of Dx2, and we want to carry on with the operations and development of Dx2 as we continue to value contact with our own players.
héro: Iwasaki-san, when did you start working on the development of Dx2?
Iwasaki: I joined as a Planner around the 2.5 anniversary of the game.
héro: So you've been working on the game for quite a while now. What are some of the most difficult things that you can recall?
Iwasaki: As far as content is concerned, Devicon was really difficult. It's not content where you actually have to fight, or even earn any rewards. It's based purely on self-satisfaction, which is why I kept wondering, 'Would the players really be happy with this?' But when it was actually released, the players' love for the demons of Shin Megami Tensei really shone through, which is why a lot of them actually enjoyed Devicon.
héro: What was the most difficult demon that you've had to design?
Iwasaki: It has to be Camael! This demon debuted with the Spirit Chains mechanic. It was really hard to properly balance Spirit Chains of Indignation, and reducing it by just 1 made it extremely weak, so it was a pretty rough time. (TL note: Unsure about whether he meant the MP Consumption or number of counts inflicted, apologies.) But in the end, I think we were able to make it pretty strong.
héro: He was really strong (lol)! I couldn't even tell you how many times he's made me cry in PvP. How satisfied are you with his performance from a developer's perspective?
Iwasaki: With Camael's release, a lot of demons people already had came to life. Astaroth, in particular. "This demon is in the meta, so maybe I should bring out that old demon?" is the kind of experience we considered important, so though all the adjustments around the demon were difficult, it became what I personally consider a big success.
The 7th Anniversary Fan Meeting was Held!
héro: This time, you held the Fan Meeting you were unable to hold the last time on the 18th of January. How was the atmosphere at the venue?
Iwasaki: The atmosphere was really cheerful! The impression this one left compared to the previous ones was really strong, I think it was great!
héro: The atmosphere was certainly great even during the Livestream!
Iwasaki: The actual Fan Meeting was a little under two hours along, so both that and the Livestream combined meant it went on for about 5 hours in total (lol)! There was a comment in the survey we held that said "I felt like I was going through spiritual training." To those who attended the Fan Meeting as well as those who watched the Livestream for 3 hours, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks. Thank you very much for sticking around for so long.
héro: Could you tell us a little bit about what happened during the Fan Meeting?
Iwasaki: We had a Suggestion Box at the Fan Meeting that went on beyond the Livestream. Unlike in the Livestream, we wanted to discuss some things that had no clear answer, so we covered various things, along with some behind-the-scenes stuff too.
(Here's some of the questions asked after (or before) the stream: https://imgur.com/a/vZJgLxC)
Iwasaki: We also held a little Time Attack race for a special quest. Players had to cook up a team in under 3 minutes then clear the Time Attack. The fastest player's time was just 2 minutes, and I thought, "As expected." How they were able to do that with no knowledge of the enemy team and with minimal hints was seriously incredible. We also had them try out Hell's Park Underside on a Demo device and provide us with feedback.
About Hell's Park Underside and Improvements
héro: I would like to ask you about Hell's Park Underside (Subsequently, HPU). HPU seems like a game mode that was centered around what the players really wanted. Please tell us about the whole concept, and how we can enjoy the game mode.
Iwasaki: We wanted the players to find the fun they initially had when they used their favourite demons. We also value the fact that everyone would be able to enjoy this part of the game. Since the game has been around for 7 years now, the content can become too difficult for the majority of the player base. So, we sought to create something that the majority of players and even new and returning players would find fun, while meeting Fusion or Race restrictions.
héro: I see. I got the impression that the whole concept was put together quite well.
Iwasaki: We also integrated a lot of things that were discussed during the Famitsu App corner in the previous Fan Meeting. Stuff like "Give a place for Obsolete demons to shine", or "somewhere even F2P players can do well", or "things that don't necessary lead to players having to play" and so on and so forth (lol). It was something we kept in mind during development.
héro: There seems to be 3 areas open at the moment, but what will happen after February?
Iwasaki: The 3 Areas will remain as they were during the Preseason in February (TL note: As we know now, based on the news post about Season 1. The three areas are Grave Area, Kawara Area and Spike Hell Area). Then, from March onwards, one area will be replaced each month. Then the next month, one of the two areas that weren't replaced, will be replaced, and so on. With regards to rules and the balance, we will adjust them accordingly as we take the players' feedback into consideration. We also plan to update titles, so once the Preseason ends, you'll be able to get gorgeous titles based on your ranking.
héro: You can only get Gold Coins up to level 10, right? Is that essentially the goal (that most players would work towards)?
Iwasaki: That's right. I think that most players would prefer to aim for level 10. We've also received requests from players asking for more Silver Coins, so we'll increase the amount obtainable by a lot from February onwards.
héro: Was HPU difficult to develop?
Iwasaki: The UI was quite troublesome to make. It was a rocky road all the way to the end, and we made more design changes to make it look more like Hell's Park as well. The "Underside Rules" button, which you'd press to show the rules of HPU, was something we worked on until the end, and the balancing took a long time too.
héro: Personally speaking, I'd be quite happy if the rules were balanced so the gameplay wouldn't be too complicated. On that note, I also wanted to ask about the recent Gift Box update. The suggestion box also mentioned the matter about Skill Points (TL note: See: "It's a hassle to go back and forth between menus in order to transfer a Skill. I wish it could all be done from just the Transfer menu."). I believe that it is important to have updates like these that can improve the daily playing experience. In the future, can we expect more updates in this fashion?
Iwasaki: There are many things that I actually do want to do, and I hope I will be able to in the gaps (of updates).
héro: In the gaps?
Iwasaki: Well... I thought if I put out an update that was simply "This update overhauls 10 inconvenient parts of the game!", people wouldn't really like it... (TL note: And all the readers and players agree, right? Yup. We HATE QoL improvements.)
héro: I think that's fine. It'd be really fun, wouldn't it? It's just like with Skill Points and the Fusion UI, but I think it'd be easier to enjoy game modes like HPU if I could select a bunch of demons and remove their brands all at once. I'd even like Time Limited Dews to show up at the top of the "Items" list. I think it's a Great Idea to have the main attraction of an update to be a huge overhaul.
Iwasaki: That is true. There were quite a lot of requests about Skill Points in the suggestion box, along with requests about Equipping and Removing Brands. As it stands, we're making Quality of Life improvements with each update, so we're addressing the most crucial problems first.
héro: You don't have to make any promises, but it'd be great to see an announcement in the future like "Special Huge Overhaul! An update to make Dx2 more user-friendly!
Iwasaki: Of course, I can't make any promises, but I'll take note of your expectations.
A Chaotic 8th Year
héro: Well then, as the 8th anniversary comes into view, could you tell us about some of your plans for the year?
Iwasaki: 2025 is most certainly going to be a chaotic year for Dx2. (TL note: I don't think he means "chaotic" negatively. I may even be mistranslating it, but most sources I saw tie it to upheaval, and I felt chaotic was a more fitting word.)
héro: Chaotic?! What do you mean?
Iwasaki: Yes, there's no doubt about it. It's going to be quite the chaotic year. It'll be a rather "pleasant surprise" for our players. It'll also be a big challenge for the team, and will have a big impact too, so please look forward to it.
héro: When you say "chaotic", do you mean there will be lots of events rather than just one large event?
Iwasaki: Well, I can't give away too much at the moment, so stick with us as we go through this chaotic year! In turn, we will continue to develop our game!
héro: Sounds like it'll be quite exciting!
Iwasaki: Absolutely! That, I can promise you, so please do stick with us!
"We're Seriously Aiming for Them!"
héro: Well then, please do give us some parting words for our players.
Iwasaki: First of all, 2025 is going to be quite the chaotic year. Regardless, it will assuredly be a year where everyone can have a lot of fun, but we're seriously aiming for the 8th, 9th and even the 10th anniversaries. We've only come as far as we have thanks to everyone who's played the game, so don't just say it's the 8th anniversary, but come along with us to the 10th anniversary!
