"We're together! Interview with the developers of "Nyanko Great War"! Did the user's passion create a competitive mode?

Interview

The Battle Cats " is a popular defense game featuring kooky kitten (and other things).
The Battle Cats " for Nintendo Switch just received a major update on Thursday, July 16, 2020.
This update adds a new battle mode that allows players to enjoy heated battles with friends, family, and lovers !
Thanks to the generosity of Ponos, Saiga NAK was one of the first to be able to play the competitive mode before its release, and we found that it was so addictive that we found ourselves playing for quite some time.
The Battle Cats" for Nintendo Switch, we had a chance to interview the developer, Seinosuke Shimizu, about the game!



Interview with Mr. Shimizu, the developer of "The Battle Cats!


The Battle Cats" developer, Seinosuke Shimizu

How are you involved in the development of "The Battle Cats"?

I was involved in the operation of the smartphone version of "The Battle Cats".
Now I am also involved in " Nyan Cat Defense Force " and " GoGo Neko Hopping ", both of which are released as LINE Quick Games.
My job is to spread Nyanko to the world through various contents.
The hat I'm wearing right now is also

a kitten.
I want one so bad! If you were to choose between cats and dogs, would you be a cat person?

Well... I 'm a bird person

... (laughs)
Interview via video chat
Saiga NAK

How did you come up with the "Battle Mode"?

The Battle Cats" was released in 2018, and after that, we exhibited at the " Next Generation World Hobby Fair '19 Winter " event hosted by Shogakukan, publisher of Corocoro Comics. We exhibited at an event called "Next Generation World Hobby Fair '19 Winter" hosted by Shogakukan, publisher of CoroCoro Comics.
The Battle Cats" and I also took the stage to talk about the game and introduce Nyanko to the audience.
The Battle Cats" brought their Nintendo Switch to the booth and said, " I got this character! " "I raised this character to this level!

" and so on.

However, I realized that no matter how much they played, the only way to realize their strength was to see how far they could conquer a stage, and there was no place for them to show off their characters to anyone in an easy-to-understand way.
Since children love Nyanko and play Nyanko a lot, we wanted to create an opportunity to promote the Nyanko that our users have raised

.
That was the impetus for the development of the competitive mode.
Author "Look, look! "Shimizu-san, that's great! "
Saiga NAK

Tëm, your children like to see what you like, "Look at that! They like to do that, don't they?

That's right. But we didn't really have that in mind.
I had never had a chance to see the "faces" of users directly before.
At the Next Generation World Hobby Fair, we were able to communicate directly with the children who were actually playing the game, and that was the first time we learned that they were enjoying Nyanko with more enthusiasm than we had expected.
I felt as if the users and developers had become one.
Your child's passion for "I love Nyanko! I guess you could say that it was this passion that gave birth to the competitive mode

.
The newly implemented "Attribute Nyanko Cannon
ふたりで!The Battle Cats
What do you want people to pay attention to in the battle mode?

What do you want people to pay attention to in the battle mode?
Nyanko are a little bit special, and we have specialized in solo play so far. That's why we have given them abilities that are effective only against enemy characters on the stage.
However, if you try to have the kitten fight with other kitten characters, it will not be able to take full advantage of its original characteristics.
The way to play with the kitten is to attack it by making good use of characters with such characteristics, such as blowing up or stopping the movement of the character with that attribute.
The "Attribute Nyan Cat Cannon" was created to take advantage of these characteristics.
This allows the players to enjoy battles by drawing out the original performance of the characters from each other.

When it came to the implementation of the game, we placed a great deal of importance on the sense of speed.
We wanted to respond to the enthusiasm of the children who came to the Next Generation World Hobby Fair as quickly as possible.
It was a lot of work, but I'm relieved that we were able to release the game successfully.


Possibilities of "kitten" as a communication tool
Saiga NAK
How do you want users to play the game?

The Battle Cats" can be played not only between friends, but also as a communication tool between parents and children.
The Battle Cats" is a game with a warm worldview that is different from other competitive games such as FPS, which are very popular.
I hope that people will enjoy the game with a friendly feeling.
It's not about winning or losing, but about harmony between parents and children, and having fun together.

Tëm, do you have any tips on how to become a good FPS player?

No, I don't have any tips.
There are as many correct answers as there are users, so I think it is best to find a way to fight that suits you.
At the Nyanko Studio's year-end party, we held a tournament using the competitive mode, and I was able to see many different ways of fighting.
There were people who won by attacking with different strategies than the usual k itten, and there were also cases where characters that are not often used were surprisingly effective in the matches, and even I, as a developer, don't know what the winning strategy is.
In fact, I lost in the preliminary round (laughs).


Mr. Nakamura, who is in charge of the business, was also able to participate in the interview.
Saiga NAK

I was beaten in seconds! I lost in such a way that I wondered if there was such a way to fight (laughs).

(Laughs)" Yusuke Nakamura, the business manager of The Battle Cats, who was listening to the event from the side, also answered the question.



The world of "kitten" will continue to expand


Enjoy playing "Nyan Cat" in a way only possible on Nintendo Switch
Saiga NAK
Please tell us a little bit about your future plans.

I'd like to expand the unique ways of playing on the Switch.
I don't know if we can do it yet, but eventually we would like to support Internet battles.
The smartphone version of the game is expanding overseas to the U.S. and Taiwan, so I would like to do this in conjunction with that.
This way, I can show the kitten I raised not only to my friends but also to users in Japan and around the world.
I would like to have an online lobby where people can find opponents and learn new ways of fighting...
I think it would be great.


Mr. Shimizu is overflowing with love for "kitten
Saiga NAK
Lastly, do you have a message for our readers?

I have a strange constitution (?) of Nyan Cat Studio. I don't think that I want to actively promote "kitten". I don't think I want to actively promote "kitten".
We don't want to push the kitten forward, but rather to entertain the users who find it.
But I am sure that once people play the game, they will realize how fun it is and how deep it is.
The competitive mode expands the ways to play the game, so I hope that this will open the "kitten's door" for them.


The appeal of "kitten" will keep you hooked!

This is an interview with Mr. Shimizu, the developer of "The Battle Cats"!
As he said in the interview, "The Battle Cats" is a very deep game, and the more you play the game, the more you will get addicted to it.
The more you play the game, the more addicted you will become to it. You will want to show off the characters you have developed and the fighting styles you have devised.
The battle mode that has been implemented this time is a mode that will make that happen, so please give it a try!
The Battle Cats" is available from My Nintendo Store for 999 yen. For more information, check out the official "The Battle Cats" website!

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