It has been 30 years since Tekken's start as a fighting game franchise, and Katsuhiro Harada (director of Tekken 8) has worked on the IP ever since its inception. Harada has met a lot of different fighting game developers and fans along the way, and his worldview was greatly expanded as a result. It was only upon meeting Smash's director Masahiro Sakurai that he realized there is more to learn about Tekken in the hearts of the fans and experienced players, and by learning from them, Tekken can rise and reach further new grounds. In a recent interview with IGN, he elaborates greatly on how he reached these conclusions.

To know so much to a deep extent about all of these different IPs to be able to do that… he's probably the only one that could properly make that game. We thought there's still a lot we can learn ourselves from different products outside of Tekken by looking at his example. - Katsuhiro Harada

These sentiments can be traced to the moment that Tekken decided to add guest characters. During an edition of EVO, Bandai Namco president Yasu Miyakawa was able to sit with Yasuyuki Oda, the director at SNK, and the person that educated Miyakawa on guest characters. Upon seeing this, Harada realized there is more to learn regarding the guest characters they wished to implement and to find out this information they'd have to go to the character's creators. Collaborations with other franchises were not only enjoyable for the fans, but were a precious learning experience for Harada.

Fast-forward to the recent Kazuya collaboration with Sakurai, a moment where Harada's worldview expanded even more. At first, he thought Sakurai would be asking them, the father figures of Tekken about what to do or how to get everything right, but the reality ended up being completely different. Sakurai already had an image of what Tekken should be, and in fact, he had a concrete image of every IP on the market. He played a lot of Tekken himself and conveyed not only what should be done but also what he thought is right for the Tekken brand. Harada realised he could learn a lot from other producers.



With this context, Harada realized that Smash was only achievable through Sakurai due to his extensive knowledge of fighting games. Tekken is also an IP that has been moulded through continuous exposure to different artists and creators who have tried to add their own touch to the franchise. Harada also states that he clearly changed as a person, from someone who previously boasted about having a lot of knowledge about fighting games to someone who appreciates the connections and bonds he created through the process, and how this influences both his future and the future of Tekken.



Posted: Sep 23, 2022 9:26 am
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://www.dualshockers.com/sakurai-only-one-who-could-create-smash-tekken-director/