Virtua Fighter is returning in a completely new form titled 'Virtua Fighter Crossroads.' As the first numbered entry in 20 years, it surprisingly features a unique gameplay blend of fighting and adventure.

The goal of Virtua Fighter Crossroads is clear: to be a special game that is accessible to new users while offering deep satisfaction in single-player mode. Instead of relying on simple nostalgia or a remake, we want to deliver a 'new experience' to everyone. That is why we are introducing a unique style of adventure called 'Crossroads-style Adventure.'

Of course, we have not forgotten the essence of a fighting game. RGG Studio, which is in charge of development, is carefully considering elements that will satisfy both existing fans and new users as a fighting game.

We had the opportunity to hear more about the appeal of this special new Virtua Fighter through an interview with producer Riichiro Yamada.

Virtua Fighter Combined with Crossroads-style Adventure

You mentioned a new style of game called 'Crossroads-style Adventure.' Could you explain how this style differs from traditional adventure games and what its characteristic elements are.

"It is difficult to explain everything in detail at this stage, but I believe there were quite a few hints in the released trailer.

First, as this is a game produced by RGG Studio, I felt that the studio's narrative delivery was a major strength. However, since this is not 'Like a Dragon,' we are building it in a different direction. We are striving to provide a different experience that suits the Virtua Fighter title.

You mentioned that various innovations have been introduced. Could you explain some of the most representative elements.

"We are attempting various things in terms of innovation. It is unfortunate that I cannot share all the details yet.

However, I can say that the ability to enjoy a Crossroads-style adventure is one of the innovations we want to highlight. There was a lot of trial and error in establishing that structure, but if the fun of this game is conveyed well, I believe users will feel a new experience and enjoyment that is different from before.

Another aspect is the battle in single-player mode. While there is the traditional Virtua Fighter style, we thought a lot about how to incorporate it into the adventure gameplay. We felt that a structure of simply repeating 1-on-1 matches would not be fun, so we put a lot of thought into how to resolve this.

Previously, because it was an arcade game, the title would change and upgrade whenever a character was added. Since this is an adventure game, I am curious how it will expand.

"In the past, because it was a simple fighting game enjoyed in arcades, I think changing the title with every major version update served as an effective way to announce it.

However, this is a home console game, and as I mentioned, it carries significant weight in single-player mode. We are making it a game that can be enjoyed even if you don't necessarily play against other people.

Whether the title will change with the addition of characters or how it will expand will depend on how users enjoy Virtua Fighter after its release. For now, I want to see how many people play it and how they enjoy it once it is out.

The story of Virtua Fighter Crossroads presented by RGG Studio

Could you introduce the four protagonists, including Cielo.

"I can talk a bit more about Cielo. Cielo is the first character the player meets in the story. The character comes to a city called Villasapara from the U.S. and lives a realistic life, sometimes even doing bad things. The story flows toward how they seize a certain opportunity.

We thought a lot about what kind of character to make Cielo. We wanted to give them a persona that players could empathize with. Just because Cielo is the protagonist doesn't mean they are a superhero. We made them more of a relatable, friendly hero. Their fighting style is MMA based on boxing.

It is difficult to explain the other three in detail yet, but each has a different story and theme. Their stories unfold in this city, and the tone of each story will be different. I hope you enjoy it as if you are watching four different scenarios. Detailed information will be provided later.

Is there a story mode in addition to the four new protagonists.

"The story mode focuses on the four announced protagonists, and you can enjoy their stories. Stories for other characters exist as well.

Pai looks younger than I expected. There seems to be a big difference from the Akira revealed previously. I am curious how much time has passed since the previous work.

"I don't think Pai is that young. If you watch the video carefully, that will become apparent. In battle, you can consider her to be wearing makeup and looking very beautiful.

Since the character Pai Chan is originally an actress, I thought it was reasonable for her to have a beautiful appearance. If she weren't wearing makeup or dressed up, she would look like an appropriate age. I thought it was natural for the character herself to pay some attention to her appearance.

On the other hand, Akira is a character who has nothing to do with such things. Therefore, I think his aging is clearly visible on his face.

We have set ages for the characters, but whether to reveal them immediately is a different matter. For now, I want to leave it to the users' imagination. I don't think the ages of all characters were revealed in detail in previous works, and I hope you accept this work naturally in that flow.

As RGG Studio is in charge of development, expectations for character expression and direction are high. It seems the story mode takes up a very large part, so I am curious about what you focused on to strengthen the narrative aspect.

"This is a part that connects to the Crossroads adventure style. We were very conscious of gameplay that enhances narrative immersion. In fact, the Like a Dragon series also has great strengths in that area.

Of course, this work is a bit different from the adventure in Like a Dragon. Like a Dragon is set in Japan and is deeply infused with Japanese sentiment. On the other hand, the setting of this work is Southeast Asia. It is set in a city where people of various nationalities gather.

Therefore, we introduced a context more like an international drama rather than the sentiment of existing Japanese manga or anime. That aspect will naturally appear in the characters' dialogue. Of course, RGG Studio's strengths and scenario direction are included, but we pursued different elements within that. I think you will be able to feel it sufficiently in the game. It was a difficult production, but a rewarding challenge. I believe it will lead to good results.

It seemed like there were choices in conversations with other characters in the story mode. I am curious if the player's choices cause story branches.

"This single-player mode includes elements that strengthen relationships between characters. It is difficult to say right now that the story changes significantly because of that. However, there are definitely parts where gameplay variations change depending on the player's actions.

I also like having choices when playing games and feeling like I am actually doing something. In this work, I really wanted to give the feeling that something changes depending on the player's choices or actions.

The scene in the story trailer where the new protagonist Cielo and Pai Chan face each other was impressive. Will there be more scenes where existing characters and new protagonists naturally meet through the story? And are there additional directorial elements to naturally integrate new and existing characters.

"The theme of this work emphasizes the element that some time has passed. You can think of it as an era where new characters are beginning to appear. A new generation is emerging, a new era is unfolding, and as a result, a new game is being born.

Of course, how existing characters appear and what they have been doing was a major point of consideration for us. We have prepared related settings. In the era of this work, the world tournament of the original Virtua Fighter is no longer held, and you can see it as an era where existing characters are gradually being forgotten. In fact, Pai also appeared as a restaurant owner this time.

However, if you look at the story video, there is a character among Cielo's friends who is a fan of what happened in the past. Such characters know the existing ones well. You can consider them not completely forgotten.

Existing characters will naturally appear. However, it seems unlikely that all characters will come to Villasapara, the stage for this work. I hope you look forward to seeing what kind of story each character has when they appear. You can think of this as a kind of anticipation element.

Originally, the story was not treated as that important within the Virtua Fighter series. In this work, we want to show a narrative that makes you think, "So this is how it connects," or "So this is how this character has been living."

Is there a reason why you set the Southeast Asian city of Villasapara as the main stage of the game? And I am curious about what kind of atmosphere, feeling, and story you aimed to showcase through that city.

"We chose the city of Villasapara as the background for this work because we wanted to create a setting with reality.

For example, Like a Dragon created Kamurocho as a street in a city with a real model. That method is good, but since Virtua Fighter is a fighting game, each character has a very strong personality. So I thought that using Tokyo as a stage could create a sense of incongruity. Conversely, I thought it was difficult to bring out that much reality in the case of the U.S. or Europe.

So what I thought of was Southeast Asia. Although it is a story from 30 years ago when there was almost no internet, I felt a big impact when I first traveled to Thailand. I felt great vitality, power, and energy in the way people lived while rubbing shoulders with each other. That impression remained strong.

I thought it would be good to use that power as a basis for the stage and draw the story. Also, I thought that if we set it on an island with special settings in Southeast Asia, we could naturally depict characters with various personalities gathering in one place. There is also the reason that I personally like it.

Virtua Fighter Crossroads as a Fighting Game

I think adventure users might struggle with the fighting aspect. Are there any devices to prevent this.

"I think there will be users who enjoy the fighting game as it is, and adventure users who like single-player mode. Initially, users familiar with fighting games might get ahead, but it is hard to say that this work is not a game for single-player users. We are making a game with rich volume and value that single-player users can fully enjoy.

Since it is basically a fighting game, I wanted to make it so that you can naturally learn the rules and techniques of a fighting game while enjoying the story. The original Virtua Fighter was a game enjoyed in arcades, so there was a lack of learning controls or techniques while slowly progressing through single-player mode. In this work, we have greatly strengthened that part. Through this, we are trying to make it lead naturally from single-player to fighting.

However, I didn't want to make it a structure where single-player users must enjoy fighting to enjoy the game. So we are paying a lot of attention to the narrative aspect as well.

What elements have you prepared in terms of controls to lower the barrier to entry.

"I thought Virtua Fighter should be a game that even beginners can enjoy. Since this work is being made exclusively for home consoles, we considered a control system that anyone can enjoy when playing with a game controller as important. We are preparing simple control methods and adjusting existing controls to be easier to handle. We are preparing various play control patterns and aiming for a direction that can be easily operated with a controller.

In Cielo's battle scene, I saw Jacky's Jeet Kune Do or Vanessa's mount technique. I am curious if they learn and use other techniques, or if it is something Cielo originally has. I am also curious if there is a character growth element in the story mode.

"Cielo's basic martial art is boxing. They also use MMA-style fighting techniques. So there are movements that look like Vanessa's mount technique, but they are not using it by learning that technique. If I am not mistaken, I think it is a different style from Jacky's Jeet Kune Do.

In the case of the story mode, there is a growth element. Since there is single-player mode, I thought growing the character was also a great fun. I wanted to give the fun of the player gradually getting used to the game and making the character stronger.

Can the grown character be used in battles.

"There is no growth element in battle mode. I don't think it is desirable to emphasize growth elements in battle mode.

It feels like the offense and defense have become faster and the psychological warfare has been strengthened. Was this intended.

"This work has a system called 'Stunner.' If you use a technique that becomes a stunner, it enters a state where combos are easy to enter. The intention of this system is to make it easy for new users to grasp that if a stunner technique enters and the character is in a crouching state, a combo will enter from here.

We are somewhat avoiding existing launcher techniques. Other 3D fighting games have a strong feeling of long combos starting from a launcher. On the other hand, for Virtua Fighter, we wanted to create a form where combos enter even on the ground and that offense and defense continue naturally.

It is difficult to say in one word because there are parts that are still being adjusted. However, as Virtua Fighter is a long-running series, I want to pursue newness a little differently.

The part destruction effect is impressive. I am curious if you learn it in adventure and take it to battle. Is there a part where damage increases if the same place is hit after being destroyed.

"Originally, when talking about the strengths of Virtua Fighter, reality cannot be left out. I was also impressed by the realistic movements and the motions where you feel pain when hit in the knee or elbow while playing Virtua Fighter. I thought that feeling pain in a fight was a good expression.

Therefore, the expression of part destruction, such as teeth breaking, can be seen as a better expression of the reality that was originally in Virtua Fighter in this work, rather than being brought from adventure and applied to battle.

The part destruction system is not just a simple battle effect. It actually functions to increase the strategic nature of the battle. After a part is destroyed, a demerit occurs, and a structure where the attacking side and the defending side think about what actions to take will be implemented systematically.

Only the costumes revealed in the story mode and battle scenes were shown, but I think there will be other outfits like in the series so far. Are you considering elements such as using costumes obtained in story mode in battle.

"Since there is single-player mode, there will be elements to obtain costumes. I thought there should be customization or outfit changes in the game itself, and they actually exist.

However, in this new work, as a major direction, I wanted to convey the new characters more concretely and well. In previous works, it was possible to decorate very uniquely through customization.

But what I want to express through customization in this work is not that kind of freedom, but changes based on character traits. I don't think of it as an element where the character itself changes significantly. You can consider that users who have enjoyed the existing series for a long time can also enjoy customization.

I am curious about how many battle characters you are thinking of for the open spec. Is there any possibility that a Korean character will appear for the first time in the series.

"It is difficult to say specifically about the number of characters at the time of initial opening at this stage.

Virtua Fighter is a game where one character has a very large number of techniques. Therefore, I think it is a strength that there is depth in researching and playing characters, and there are new discoveries. So, rather than blindly increasing the number of initial characters to show off, I wanted to prepare a first roster that is more dense and complete.

And a Korean character appears in this work.

Pai, Wolf, Jacky, and Akira were drawn on the mural in the trailer where Cielo appears. The appearance of the remaining characters is confirmed, can we see Jacky too.

"I am grateful that you paid such close attention to the people in the mural. However, I will leave Jacky's appearance to your imagination.

I am curious about what part you hope users who are new to the series will feel the greatest fun in.

"I think this work is a complete and fun game just with the story and single-player adventure elements.

We intend to provide the best narrative and the best single-player experience, while showcasing a new experience called the Crossroads style. It is a bit much for me to say, but the game itself is being completed to the point where it feels cool just by looking at it. We have also put a lot of thought into the narrative.

I hope new users will enjoy those parts first. Furthermore, I hope that players who feel such immersion will naturally flow into players who enjoy fighting games, and that the number will increase.

Of course, it is a game that can be enjoyed even if you are not good at fighting games. I think it will be a work that is fun enough even if you only enjoy single-player mode.

Lastly, please say a word to Korean users.

"I confirmed that a documentary called 'Akira Kid' was released in Korea this time. I watched it very interestingly and was very happy. I am very grateful to the Korean fans who have enjoyed Virtua Fighter for a long time.

And we are preparing a lot so that users who don't know Virtua Fighter at all or are encountering it for the first time can enjoy it. New characters appearing in the series for the first time are also coming out, and we are carefully preparing various other elements. Please continue to look forward to and support Virtua Fighter.