If you're a fan of RPGs than creator Shinichi Kameoka needs no introduction. For those who might not know, Kameoka-san has worked on the director and creator side of development for many of the most beloved RPGs including, the Mana series, Mother 3, and Saga Frontier.

Recently, Kameoka-san announced that his newest game Egglia: Legend of the Redcap will be coming west for iOS and Android devices. The game features world building and RPG systems found in many of his past works, but has that distinct art style that only Kameoka-san can produce.

DualShockers had the opportunity to interview Kameoka-san who served as creator and art director for the title to learn more about the development and what we can expect to see in the future.

Azario Lopez: Egglia features elements found in previous titles that you’ve worked on. With such a large catalog of games in your resume, which did you choose to use as reference in Egglia and why?

Shinichi Kameoka: I didn’t make a point of referencing any other title specifically. But that said, this is a culmination of my life as a game creator. So I incorporated playful bits here and there that would entertain players who enjoyed other titles that I have worked on in the past.

AL: What can you tell us about the main protagonist Chabo, his role in the game’s story, and why you chose him as the main protagonist?

SK: I have always wanted to create a game featuring a Redcap [a type of demon] as the main protagonist, because Redcaps tend to be treated as villains in the world of fantasy.

In the story, Chabo has already become a cute character by the time the game starts, so I wanted players to feel the difference between him and past Redcaps that were wicked demons.

[pullquote]"I enjoyed thinking about how to entertain players in a touch-control-specific way."[/pullquote]

AL: Did you run into any issues during Egglia’s development? How did you overcome them?

SK: Egglia does have a battle system, but it is one that does not place the main focus on battle, and it was hard to explain this concept to my staff. Most RPGs have a battle-centric system, and so the staff tended to focus on elaborate battles. It wasn’t easy to make them change their habits.

AL: Was it a difficult choice to go from working on console titles to your own mobile title? Such as using touch controls as compared to a controller and the larger marketplace?

SK: Having experience in working for a Nintendo subsidiary, I am used to developing titles for new devices. Actually, playing with touch controls wasn’t a big challenge for me, because I always had to work on innovative new hardware at that company. I enjoyed thinking about how to entertain players in a touch-control-specific way.

[pullquote]"I am personally very much interested in seeing Egglia on consoles"[/pullquote]

AL: What do you think of the Nintendo Switch and, on a side-note, would you like to see Egglia on consoles?

SK: I am very interested in new hardware. I am personally very much interested in seeing Egglia on consoles, too.

AL: With many mobile games choosing the free-to-play model, why did you want to use the one-time-purchase model which is rare for mobile releases?

SK: I couldn’t make up my mind until the last minute. It was [Michio] Okamiya, the producer, who made the final decision after playing the game through.

In order to immerse the player in the world of Egglia, I wanted to avoid anything that might pull them back into reality during play, such as messages that say things like “Would you like to make a purchase?”

[pullquote]"I wanted to avoid anything that might pull them back into reality during play."[/pullquote]

AL: Gameplay in Egglia features board game-like mechanics, such as dice rolling and grid-based maps. Do you have a history with board games and why did you chose these systems for Egglia?

SK: I don’t really play board games. The reason why I employed dice is that they are a universal system that is easy for anyone to understand. It is also because players may return to the same map more than once in Egglia. I didn’t want players feeling like their movements and attacks were always the same, and I thought dice would give players a sense of feeling something unexpected even if they were in the same place again.

AL: At what point did you want Egglia to release in the west and what was yours and the development team’s general reaction when you found out it was going to happen?

SK: The West was on my mind from the very earliest part of development. That’s another reason I thought to use dice, since they are common throughout the world. And of course, the whole dev team is also hoping to reach as many players as possible too.

[pullquote]"I feel a lot of attachment to titles that I was given a free hand in creating."[/pullquote]

AL: Looking back at titles that you’ve worked on in the past, many of them haven’t received a sequel in quite some time. What would you say is your favorite or if that’s too tough to answer which would like to see a new sequel of?

SK: I feel a lot of attachment to titles that I was given a free hand in creating. For example “Magical Vacation” from Nintendo, and “Legend of Mana” from Square Enix. I have no idea who might create sequels to either of those, but I’d love to play them if they came out!

AL: Lots of Mother fans in the west have been begging for an official release of Mother 3, is this a game that you’d also like to see come to the west?

SK: Speaking as a creator, I’d love to see any of my previous games come out again and reach even more people.

Egglia: Legend of the Redcap will launch for iOS and Android on August 3