Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z - new screens, Unreal 3 deal, Inafune Q&A
Loads of new details regarding upcoming spin-off Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z have dropped today.
The first bit of news, and probably the least interesting to those of you at home, is that Epic Japan and Tecmo Koei have announced a licensing deal, meaning Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z is built on Unreal Engine 3.
Team Ninja boss Yosuke Hayashi and collaborator Keiji Inafune both expressed their satisfaction with the deal, noting its quick iteration and rapid turnaround on asset production.
In a Tecmo Koei produced Q&A with Hayashi and Inafune, transcribed by Gematsu, the two designers said the game begins in the Ukraine, as suggested by co-developer Spark Unlimited, because they wanted to start somewhere unfamiliar, Other settings - including where the game ends - have not been determined.
The protagonist's cyborg arm was described as "really important" to the game.
"I think the cyborg arm turned out pretty cool. It’s kind of over-the-top, like anything’s possible. But it needs to be practical, too. You need a little comic touch when taking out zombies, and I think the cyborg arm does that pretty well too," Inafune said.
"When thinking about new experiences, not just a ninja slicing down zombies, the cyborg arm is a concept that allows us to do pretty much anything," Hayashi added. "Everyone involved has given a lot of ideas for what we could do."
You can watch the full Q&A session below, and check out some tiny images courtesy of Bloody Disgusting.
