1 year has passed since the release of FIGHTING EX LAYER on June 28th, 2018. In order to commemorate the 1st anniversary, Marina interviewed Mr. Akira Nishitani, Mr. Kato, and Mr. Takano. The interview is divided into 3 parts.

We held a FEXL character popularity poll in June, and at that time, we have also asked for the question you would like to ask the development staff. Thank you for all your votes and questions.
In this 3rd part, I asked them the most frequently asked and curious questions. In the second half, they predicted the top 3 popular character.
We hope you enjoy!

Q:

What was the very first trigger you decided to make FEXL?

Nishitani:

The reaction to the April Fools version was quite large, and the demonstration sample we showed at EVO got a good response, so we kicked into gear.

Q:

When you designed FEXL, did you try to make a thing that brings back memories, or did you aim to modernize the EX series?

Nishitani:

We were aiming to create something that would be able to play properly for those who were playing the EX series, weren’t we?

Takano:

Yes, and we kept the representative system and Super Cancel.

Kato:

Then a modern weapon “GOUGI” was added. We wanted everyone to see GOUGI, so wanted the main game to be so simple.

Q:

What were you conscious of when applying the motion of the EX series characters to FEXL?

Kato:

The old polygon model did not have a lot of facial expressions, so it was so much an exaggerated motion. But because the model looks real now, it seemed strange putting the old motion as it was, so the designer modified it.
In particular, Blair’s footwork and standing poses were created by discussing what movements are cool with current technology.

Takano:

We mostly remade her. The image of Blair in the past was like Muay Thai.

Kato:

We changed the costume from leotard style to a battle suit style, like an assassin. But then, it will become similar to Sharon.
Therefore, the designers had a hard time struggling to differentiate while making use of the old motion as silhouettes and arranging them in a modern style.

Blair Dame with upgraded costume and motion.

Q:

Who was the most difficult character to produce?

Kato:

Blair was the most difficult to make silhouettes of movement but had a hard time on Hayate too. A standard character like Kairi was easy to flesh out with GOUGI, but a character with a gimmick was hard.
Hayate has a sword, so we came up with an idea to make it an attribute that he cannot guard, and to make it a more special technique, but when it specialized in the sword system, the chemistry between GOUGI was too good or too bad.

Takano:

Sanane was harder than Hayate for me. She has a weapon that moves independently of the main body, so it was difficult to consider compatibility with GOUGI.

Kato:

The dash was added for the first time as an EX series and the tempo of the game changed considerably by running.
So the fireball was most influenced by the dash because you can sandwich the opponent with the object that separates from the main body.

Takano:

For example, Sanane can throw her stick on the ground, go behind and sandwich the opponent.

Kato:

Also in the case of Doctrine Dark, he can step over after throwing a bomb so the probability of sandwiching has increased tremendously due to the faster dash speed.
Thus we had a hard time in those characters.

Doctrine Dark sandwiching the opponent with a bomb.

Q:

What was the hardest part of appealing to the new generation of gamers?

Takano:

It seems that recent games place great importance on production. But since we focused on the tempo, cut the production, and wanted it to be speedy, there were quite a few calls for direction. So I think we had to approach the new generation of gamers differently from the speedy style of FEXL.

Q:

Why are the poses such as “Kinniku Buster” in the old Skullo Dream gone?

Kato:

The model looks very real now, so it will become sexy when we made them take those poses.

Nishitani:

We used to have more other things: such as ranger pose, it branches when you input the stick, etc.

Kato:

Because the ethical standards were different from those in the past and now, we had to remove those that seem dangerous or replace them with others. For example, we used to have the blood splash when Doctrine Dark cut the opponent’s neck. There were a lot of things we had to remove unwillingly.

Q:

Why isn’t the win counter in offline matches?

Kato:

I think it’s not displayed because it might get in the way when running a local offline tournament.

Nishitani:

There are times when two people play offline match at home, but there are a lot of unspecified people invading playing the trial version or having a tournament, so there are not many meaning getting counted.

Q:

Which FEXL character and GOUGI do you use as a main?

Nishitani:

Kairi and Aggro.

Marina:

The reason you like Kairi is because he has fireball?

Nishitani:

Yes.

Marina:

Why did you choose Aggro?

Nishitani:

Kairi works well with any GOUGI, but Aggro is a deck that put emphasis on offensive ability so I like that point.

Marina:

Then how about you, Mr. Kato?

Kato:

One is Doctrine Dark and Sky Dancer. Another is Shadowgeist and Fantasista.

Marina:

So… as I thought, you like a character which has darkness like Sanane, huh? (NOTE: Please read the Part 2.)

All:

LOL

Kato:

The darkness of the character doesn’t matter so much, but I love to play gloomily.

Nishitani:

That is so insidious. LOL

Kato:

I like how the playing style changes by GOUGI.

Marina:

How about Mr. Takano?

Takano:

My main is Allen. The favorite GOUGI is Babel. Allen is actually a wonderful character that can be moved freely even though there are only a few attacks, so I think he is a really well-made character.

Marina:

Do you want to praise yourself?

Takano:

So much! LOL Well, he’s an original character so there are not that many parts I arranged though. I think it’s a character that can do everything: has fireball, anti-air invincible, can juggle, and give a lot of damage.
Babel is well-balanced and easy to use, as it increases offensive ability and has Guard Cancel. Even if you are conscious, it will be stronger, and even if you are not conscious, it will raise the offensive ability. I like the fact you can increase your offensive ability by connecting combos.

Q:

When you win the round, Sharon and Terry Bogard have different poses in 1P and 2P. Are there any plans for other characters to make a difference?

Takano:

Uh, no plans. Incidentally, there are other characters that have different poses in 1P and 2P.

Marina:

Skullomania?

Takano:

Yes, also Kairi.

Nishitani:

Terry Bogard’s voice is different too. Why is that?

Takano:

I just wanted to let him say Power Wave as Power Wave. But he doesn’t say it in “THE KING OF FIGHTERS”.

Nishitani:

I didn’t know that!

Takano:

He says, “Rock You”. I had some patterns recorded during the voice recording, and wanted to use both because both were good. When I asked the programmer, I heard that different voices can be set on the right and left sides, so I changed it.
But since one is Rock You and the other is Power Wave, the user thought, “I’m inputting Power Wave, but Rock You sounds like Crack Shoot. Isn’t this a bug?”, so maybe we shouldn’t do that much. LOL

Q:

If the FEXL character participates as a guest character in another game, which game would you want them to participate in?

Nishitani:

Skullomania is already participating!

Marina:

“SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy”!!

Nishitani:

Other than that, I want him to be at the sequel of “Ready Player One”.

Kato:

Along with Marvel Comics, I would like to see “Deadpool VS Skullomania”.

Nishitani:

Yeah, that would be great!

• Ready Player One: American science fiction adventure film released in 2018. Many human beings on the planet have escaped to the virtual reality entertainment universe called OASIS and many characters from Japan-U.S. movies, anime, and game have appeared.
  


• Deadpool: A fictional character appealing in Marvel Comics such as X-MEN series and other. It is known as the “Merc with a Mouth” because of his tendency to talk and joke constantly. Deadpool and Skullomania have a similar atmosphere.

Q:

I want Sharon to blow me a kiss!

Kato:

I think Sharon’s blowing kiss is not a heart like Pullum’s. How about a lipstick mark flying around and sticking to the camera?

Marina:

Yes, please! That will be awesome!

Kato:

…then, we need more people to buy FEXL.

Marina:

Please everyone, pleeaassee.

Q:

This is the last question. How would you like to develop this title from now on?

All:

Please look forward to next year’s April Fools!

FEXL Character Popularity Poll Prediction

Marina:

We are now holding a FEXL character popularity poll to commemorate the 1st anniversary of the release. I have brought the current aggregated data (5/30/2019), so please predict the top three!

Nishitani:

Isn’t it Skullomania? LOL I think the 2nd is Sharon and the 3rd is Shirase.

Kato:

I think the characters added later are more popular so 1st Sharon, 2nd Rosso, and 3rd Shirase.

Takano:

1st Skullomania, 2nd Rosso, and then 3rd Sanane.

Marina:

Thank you. Here is the result!

Nishitani＆Kato:

Wow, Allen is popular!

Takano:

Pullum, Garuda, and Dark are about the same. Blair is so loved by everyone!

Marina:

But Blair did not come up from you three!

Nishitani:

I thought she might be like the 4th.

Marina:

The usage rate of Blair is not that high?

Nishitani:

Umm, middle.

Kato:

It looks like female characters are popular.

Takano:

But Shirase is…

Kato:

Uh-oh.

Nishitani:

I think she’s cool, though.

Marina:

Overall, there were many votes from overseas.

Nishitani:

I answered the questionnaire too and wrote: “Because he has the fireball” for the reason I like Kairi.

All:

LOL

Nishitani:

Sanane and Skullo are mostly written in Japanese. Blair seems to be popular from overseas.

Kato:

There are more favorite points of the character than game elements.

Marina:

I saw many opinions written: fun to use.

Kato:

I see those reasons in D. Dark.

Nishitani:

I think Doctrine is a nice character.

Marina:

There were many reasons for Allen that they like him because he’s a Shoto fighter.

Nishitani:

Also, his strange English is loved from before.

Marina:

It’s called “Engrish”, right?

Nishitani:

Yup!

Marina:

I saw the reasons, “Because she is always smiling.” or “Her design is so fun and uplifting!” for Pullum and thought that those are nice reasons.

Kato:

Yah, she always looks very happy.

Kato:

Skullomania seems to be really popular!

Marina:

Many people like his design and uniqueness.

Takano:

Since Blair and Sharon are at the top, it looks like cool and beautiful characters are loved.

Kato:

It may be more popular with overseas people. Sharon has a high usage rate and winning rate, and also it looks like everyone likes how she looks too!

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◆Marina’s Comment◆

How was the FEXL interview? There were many stories we heard for the first time, so I hope you enjoyed it!
Please check out if you still haven’t seen each character’s symbol object or particles which appear from their attacks that the development staff committed so much!

Thank you very much for reading through to the end.

We appreciate your continued support for FIGHTING EX LAYER!
(And I hope someday I can see Sharon’s blowing kiss….)

BACK：Part 2 - The Impression FEXL Team Got / About the Future ARIKA Fighting Game