New Trauma Team Scenario Screenshots and Interview-1.052010-02-24 07:32:12Maura S
Atlus has today released new Trauma Team screenshots and an interview with scenario writer Teppei Kobayashi (that’s him wielding the sword in the pic). Today’s theme, as shown in the screenshots, is the creation of the game’s storyline. Kobayashi begins by saying that the reason he got to participate in the development of Trauma Team is because he has a friend who is a doctor (that can’t be the only reason, can it?!). Anyway, apparently after Kobayashi contacted the Trauma Team development team, following on from working on a game called Etrian Odyssey 2, the director asked him to write “a tear-jerking story with six doctors as the main characters.” Kobayashi says that right then and there he decided to write a game scenario with a purposely positive message.
“Lately, there have been a lot of opinions going around saying that violent games have harmful influences on children. If the impact of games in our society is so strong, I thought that we could use them as good influences, not just bad ones. I made the decision to join the development team with the mindset that we’d be creating a game that doesn’t take lives, but saves them!”
Kobayashi says that he then began diligently researching medical matters, reading a ton of medical books and papers: “I always think that realism is important. It’s not that it has to be 100% reality, without any kinds of dreams or fantasy, but it can’t be obviously fake. The realism is what gives off a sense that the events could happen for real.” Kobayashi adds that during the making of the game the swine flu epidemic occurred throughout the world, giving him and the rest of the development team even more pause for thought.
“It made us realise that as we live each day, there’s something we don’t give much thought to but stays close to us at all times: how precious life is, and how much we fear disease, injury and death. I wanted to convey that message through Trauma Team, but it wouldn’t even reach the players if they didn’t play through the game. That’s why we included various systems for people to want to learn more about what happens in the story.”
Kobayashi explains that although the game looks as if the episodes are presented sequentially, the player can actually jump around from storyline to storyline, switching over from playing the surgeon’s story to the first response story, or focusing on a favourite character’s story.
“No matter how each person plays the game, the information we want them to see is clearly visible so they understand what’s going on. At the same time, the hints of coming events are left subtle for those who realize.”
Kobayashi concludes his uniquely personal insight into the development of the game’s scenario with these words that indicate just how much the creation of a game means to the team behind it:
“At the end of the story, you’ll want to cherish those precious to you a little more than before. We hope that you’ll enjoy our extremely cool, exciting, and touching game that is Trauma Team!”
Trauma Team will be released for the Wii on April 20th, 2010.
