Interview | Cubed3 Talks The Silver Case with Suda51

Cubed3's Brandon Howard: Can you tell us a bit about the story in The Silver Case and how big was the original team that worked on it? Also, have you retained most of the original staff for this new release?
 
Goichi Suda, aka Suda51: The Silver Case is the first game that Grasshopper Manufacture has made; it was released on the PS1 back in 1999. The genre falls under the adventure genre and it follows the story of investigators and the serial killer, Kamui. You as a player wear the shoes of one of the investigators to uncover the story. Also, you get to follow the criminal case from the perspective of a journalist, Tokio Morishima. To break from the established old school adventure games, we created a new style called the "film window" system.
 
Cubed3: It's now been almost 17 years since The Silver Case was first released for the original PlayStation. How do you feel about the story in terms of today's world? Has your view of it also changed since working on other titles?
 
Suda51: It's nostalgic for one, but also felt as if I had met a young indie developer. Not only is The Silver Case Grasshopper's debut, but it's also my first original debut game, and it reminds me of all the emotions that I've put in it.

I'm not able to recall all of the emotions, but it does remind me of all the effort I had put into it as I tried to make a new game and the effort to change the sense of value of what a game could be. In other words, it's a very important piece of my work.

Suda51: The most popular hardware back then was the DS. The transfer of the game to DS was complete, but it didn't utilise the double screen feature and we had the need to remaster it. However, at the time we didn't have the time to finish it.

Cubed3: What are some of the issues you've faced since originally considering remaking The Silver Case?

Suda51: The biggest hurdle was localising the massive amount of text. Simply translating the Japanese to English is basic, but the core mechanic of the game is the scenario, so a complete localisation was required. Until this issue was resolved, a re-master or even a remake was deemed too difficult.

Cubed3: You previously told us that the gameplay system needed a lot of work. Have you achieved everything you hoped to achieve with this upcoming PC edition?

Suda51: We succeeded in developing the best "Remastered" version of The Silver Case we could have hoped. If it was to be remade, I feel it would have taken a different path. However, currently I don't feel that it requires a remake, and I do believe that a great remaster has been made.

Cubed3: Prior to The Silver Case, you worked on the Twilight Syndrome series of games. Spike Chunsoft holds the rights to that series now, but would you want to see the series get re-released?

Suda51: No, not really.

Cubed3: What links are there between Flower, Sun, and Rain and The Silver Case? Are you hoping that fans that played the DS remake will be eager to try out the PC release of The Silver Case?

Suda51: FSR is both a spiritual sequel and an actual sequel. I have a firm belief that those who played FSR on the DS will enjoy The Silver Case.

Cubed3: Is this just the start for bringing older games back for the new generation? Will the excellent killer7 eventually be on the cards? Thinking back, what do you think about how the media and fans reacted to that game?

Suda51: killer7 is a title that I would definitely like to remaster. One day, I would like the younger gamers to be able to play it. At that time, the media and player's reactions weren't able to reach us, and only after some time had passed was it revealed that a lot of players had a special spot in their hearts for killer7. It's a game that our staff worked very hard on, so it's truly an honour.

Suda51: In one word, it's probably the amount of "heat." The energy that's generated by the writer is conducted to the player through the medium. I think my midnight writing causes this.

Cubed3: With The Silver Case's release, are there any plans to release it to other platforms? You know Nintendo fans love your games…

Suda51: Release of the game on the PS4 has been confirmed! It would be cool to put it on the Switch, as well. If it comes to fruition, I will be happy.

Cubed3: Finally, will 25th Ward ever see the light of day, as well? Another game that DS owners were eagerly awaiting!

Suda51: 25th Ward remake is a game that's been forgotten in the past. I will try my best to make it a reality, but it is a "dangerous" game so everyone, promise me that you won't be put off by it!