In January 2025, Makoto Asada was appointed President and CEO of MAGES. Mr. Asada joined MAGES. in 2013.Since then, he has established himself as a meticulous creator, overseeing remakes of titles such as *YU-NO: The Girl Who Sings of Love at the End of the World* (hereinafter *YU-NO*) and *Famicom Detective Club: The Vanished Heir and the Girl Standing Behind*.Playing these remakes, one could truly feel the overflowing passion for games.
Remaking classic games can be seen as a battle against the original’s ardent fans.If even the slightest cut corner is spotted, the game is immediately compared to the original; and while it may be a good remake for first-time players, it’s not uncommon for players who’ve played the original to dismiss it outright, saying, “The original was better.” However, when you play a remake created by Mr. Asada, you’ll realize it was made by someone who absolutely adores the original.
There’s another anecdote that made me want to talk to Mr. Asada. I’ve been a long-time fan of the *Memories Off* series and have been following this long-running franchise as it approaches its 27th anniversary. Recent *Memories Off* releases have included ultra-limited editions with lavish bonuses, one of which is an invitation to a live event.
When I attended that event as an audience member, I saw Mr. Asada serving as the MC for the stage event—and on top of that, he was even helping to manage the crowd at the merchandise booth.The event—which Mr. Asada reportedly conceived himself—was full of energy and gave a sense of a new MAGES. Companies naturally evolve over time. Feeling that Mr. Asada would be the catalyst for this change, I approached him with a request for an interview at that very moment.
Interviewer: Taiga Asaba
■ A Passion for Adventure Games
――Thank you very much for agreeing to this interview today. I’ve long been interested in your work, Mr. Asada, which is why I’m here today. “YU-NO,” the remakes of “Famicom Detective Club,” and the remaster of “Mystery T.” I get the impression that you’re bringing back titles that can be considered landmark adventure games—ones that would otherwise be difficult to re-release.
Asada: Actually, I’ve received interview requests from time to time in the past, but lately I’ve been turning them down almost without exception. However, this time, my PR representative told me, “The person conducting the interview is a huge ‘Memories Off’ fan. They even bought the ultra-limited edition and were at the event venue!” (laughs).
When I heard that, I figured I really couldn’t turn it down (laughs). First, regarding remakes: I absolutely love adventure games. I was originally at Cave, and while I worked on porting all kinds of shooters to home consoles there, I also created an adventure game called *Instant Brain*.
However, it wasn’t until I actually tried making an adventure game that I realized just how deep it is. Back then, there were already some interesting indie adventure games coming out, so I thought, “Even if it’s not necessarily fun, a company should be able to make one.” Basically, I figured that as long as we had a scenario and artwork, and a team of skilled programmers working together, we could make it work.
But when I actually tried making one, I realized just how complex it was. There’s a knack just to syncing the audio with the dialogue, and once I started thinking about the finer details, I realized this wasn’t such a simple genre after all. I believe that experience is what allowed me to be involved in the production of various adventure games after joining the company.
▲This is MAGES.’s *YU-NO: The Girl Who Sings of Love at the End of the World*, a remake featuring modern graphics that preserves the essence of the original work.
――First, may I ask you about *YU-NO*? Since your comments were included in the limited edition, I could sense your extraordinary attachment to that work.
Asada: It’s a work I love dearly, and one I’m very attached to. Ryu Umemoto, who served as the composer for *YU-NO: The Girl Who Sings of Love at the End of the World*, and I have known each other since our student days. We’ve been friends for about 20 to 30 years now.
During his lifetime, Mr. Umemoto always said, “There are parts of the music for *YU-NO* that I’m not satisfied with, and I really want to redo it.”I used to say to him, “It’d be great if we ever had that chance.” But back when I was just starting out in the game industry, Mr. Umemoto—who was already working in the field at the time—told me, “If you really want to do something, you have no choice but to rise to the top in this industry.”
It didn’t really click with me at the time, but later—thanks to the support of those around me—once I’d risen to a reasonably high position, I thought, “Maybe I should tackle *YU-NO*…” But by then, Mr. Umemoto had already passed away. It was a bit of a poignant moment, and once I decided to do it, I wanted to create something truly great.
――I thought a port might be difficult due to rights issues and creative considerations, so I was surprised when the remake was announced.
Asada: Negotiations with the rights holder at the time were settled in about two weeks, but if we’d been even a little late, I don’t think we would have been able to make the remake.The reason things moved so quickly was, of course, because Mr. Shikura (Chiyomaru), who was the president at the time, was familiar with *YU-NO*. When I told him, “I’d like to port it so that people today can play it,” he replied, “That sounds great. As long as it’s within acceptable limits, the company should go ahead with it.”
As for the content, I thought it might be quite difficult ethically to present the original material in this day and age, so that’s exactly why I resolved to go all out right here and now.If we’d waited to make it after regulations and self-regulation became even stricter over the next five or ten years, people might very well have said, “This isn’t *YU-NO* at all.” So I took the approach of pouring everything we could into what was possible within the current limits, and if it didn’t work out, we’d just have to cut it—no hard feelings.
During the rating review process, I personally called the reviewers one by one to negotiate and counter every point they said was “off-limits.” As a result, I was able to bring the game to market with almost no changes to what I had envisioned. I think it would probably be rejected if we tried that today (laughs).
As for the PC-9800 (the NEC computer available at the time of *YU-NO*’s release) version included as a bonus with the first production run, it was obviously too difficult to release it completely unedited, so we made some adjustments—but I think we managed to get it pretty close to the original.
――I was surprised to see the PC-9800 version included as a bonus. Even if a remake is exceptionally well-made, with classic titles, there’s always that sentiment that “the original was better”—it’s something you can’t really escape. And you solved that by including such a lavish bonus (laughs).
Asada: Since I’m a fan of retro games myself, I totally get that sentiment. It’s not something that can be done with every title, but I figured it would definitely work for *YU-NO*.
――I heard development was quite a struggle.
Asada: It was the remake that hit a rough patch. But as we were working on it, we realized that playability is essential for a modern release. So, we had to rework that aspect—led by a director who joined us partway through to help—and make significant graphical adjustments. As a result, we asked for an extension of about nine months to complete the project.The budget did increase, but Mr. Shikura gave us his approval. He’s the kind of person who can tolerate us making something that doesn’t sell—at worst—but he absolutely cannot tolerate us making something boring or of low quality.
“It’s fine if it costs more as long as users appreciate it,” he said. Thanks to that, the initial production run did well, so we managed to pull it off.
――The Nintendo Switch version came with a bonus title called *Famicolle ACT: Yuno’s Great Adventure*—a completely unexpected side-scrolling action game. I played it, and the quality is so high you’d never guess it’s just a bonus. I was surprised at how solid the gameplay was.
Asada: Back in the day, old galge games used to come with all sorts of bonuses like that, didn’t they? I consulted a programmer friend of mine who develops solo, and he said, “I can do it,” so we made it happen. Actually, I’d originally designed it to run on a real PC Engine console.
I thought it would be cool if *YU-NO* ran on the PC Engine and the bonus game for the later *STEINS;GATE* ran on the Famicom (laughs).
▲This is *Famicolle ACT: Yuno’s Great Adventure*. It seems these bonus games were largely Mr. Asada’s idea.
■ From “Let’s Eat” to MAGES.
――Just hearing you talk a little bit, I can really feel your love for games—it’s a pleasure. Could you briefly explain your career path again?
Asada: All in all, I’ve been doing all sorts of things for about 20 years now. I’ve worked part-time, been employed by companies, and worked as a freelancer.
I’ve acted as a licensing intermediary and served as a sort of “game savior.” By “game savior,” I mean someone who steps in to “figure things out” for titles that are struggling to reach completion. It was a long time ago, but back then, my job was to join the development team to see a title through to completion—titles that were “too far along to cancel at this point.”
In terms of hardware, that was around the time of the original PlayStation.
――Is that when you joined Cave?
Asada: I joined Cave, my previous employer, as a result of the various connections I made while working as a freelancer.Once I’d built up a certain level of experience and a network of contacts, I heard that Cave wanted to enter the home console market, so I got involved in the launch. Up until then, Cave’s games were mostly released in arcades, while other publishers handled the development and release for home consoles.
After I joined, we switched to in-house publishing for everything. So I handled sales and PR myself, and we released a lot of shooters… Cave’s games are high-quality, so they were well-received.
――So is the story that you joined MAGES. because you liked adventure games?
Asada: It wasn’t just that. It felt like the right time for a fresh start. Back then, many companies—including Cave—were starting to focus on social games played on smartphones.
As a company strategy, I think it’s a great move if they can pull it off. However, I was a complete novice when it came to the world of social games and had no experience in that area. Given that situation, I felt a strong desire to continue working on console games rather than venture into an unfamiliar field, so I decided to leave Cave.
As for my next company, I’d received offers from several firms, so I was planning to choose from among them. In the midst of that, I thought I should also stop by to say goodbye to Mr. Shikura, whom I’d known for some time, now that I was leaving Cave.I’d known Mr. Shikura for some time before that, and since 5pb. (the former name of MAGES.) was handling ports of Cave’s titles at the time, we’d had lively conversations about how much we both loved adventure games, and we’d even done a panel discussion together at the event celebrating the 100th issue of Famitsu Xbox 360.
Basically, we completely ignored the topic of current games and talked almost exclusively about retro games, but he was someone I really admired, so I figured I should at least let him know. So when I contacted him to say, “I’m changing jobs and leaving Cave,” he replied, “Well, let’s grab a meal then.”From there, things took an unexpected turn, and as a result, I ended up joining MAGES.
――It sounds like an atmosphere where you couldn’t say no (laughs).
Asada: What’s amazing is that nothing had been decided—not even the terms. My salary was undecided. The HR department at MAGES. only found out I was joining about a week before.
With only Mr. Shikura and me in the know, they just said, “Anyway, see you on July 1st.” I left Cave on June 28th, and since I had the maximum amount of paid time off left, I thought, “Maybe I’ll just take some time off…” but then…But they said, “No, no, you don’t need that. You start on July 1,” and I was like, “Seriously?” (laughs). I went to work at Cave on Friday and started at MAGES. on Monday.
――Did Mr. Shikura give you any specific tasks?
Asada: None at all. Absolutely nothing. The only condition I set myself was, “Please don’t put me in a management position.”
I told them I wanted to work the way I liked, so please don’t put me in a management position under any circumstances. We made a verbal agreement—they said, “We get it”—but it was broken almost immediately a year later (laughs). I became an executive right around the time we merged with Dwango.
I actually found out about it during an announcement to employees saying, “We’re going to be working together with Dwango from now on.” They showed us the company organizational chart, and that’s when I first found out. I was like, “Why am I in a management position?” (laughs).
――Which projects did you work on after joining the company?
Asada: It was around the time of *PSYCHO-PASS: Happiness Without Choice* and *CHAOS;CHILD*. As for *CHAOS;CHILD*, I was in charge of the business side for the Xbox One. I was the one who decided how many titles to release on Xbox One and signed the contract with Microsoft.
As for *PSYCHO-PASS*, we already had a connection with Noitamina through projects like *ROBOTICS;NOTES*, and they approached us saying, “This anime would be perfect for a game—what do you think?” We took a look at the content and said, “This is interesting—let’s do it.”
▲This is *PSYCHO-PASS: Happiness Without Choice*, Mr. Asada’s first project at MAGES. It garnered attention as a game featuring a unique gameplay system.
――And then, in January 2025, you became president. Could you tell us about the circumstances leading up to that?
Asada: Mr. Honjo (Kengo) was in that position before me. After making the decision to focus the business on games and wind down other operations, his contract expired, and he said, “This is a good time to step down.”When the question arose of who would succeed him, I happened to be holding a position in the Game Division, so it seemed like a natural progression… though that’s just how it looked from the outside (laughs).In reality, I had been thinking I’d rather leave the role of president to someone else. MAGES. is the company I’ve worked at the longest out of all the companies I’ve been with. So, timing-wise, I was also considering the option of stepping down here and taking on new challenges at another company.
Ultimately, what convinced me to take on the role of president was, of course, my conversation with Mr. Shikura.Mr. Shikura runs a wide range of businesses himself, but as far as MAGES. is concerned, he expressed a desire to focus on producing works rather than management, and he currently works for the company as an executive producer. When Mr. Shikura told me, “If you don’t take on the role of president, we might not be able to work together,” I thought, “Is this a threat?” (laughs).
However, even though I’m now in the position of president and have to oversee the company’s overall performance, I’d already been in charge of the game division for over 10 years. Now that the company is focused on the game business, what I’m actually doing hasn’t really changed that much.
■“Memo Off,” Which Released a New Title for Its 25th Anniversary
Remake Projects Are Also Underway
――Even after you became president, I’ve seen you involved in various games. I heard it was you who suggested we make *Memories Off: Sōsō ~Not Always True~*.
Asada: We wrapped up the series once with *Memories Off -Innocent Fille-* and its fan disc, and there hadn’t been any plans for a new title since *Syn Memories: Under the Starry Sky*. Then, during a meeting for the 15th anniversary of *STEINS;GATE*, someone mentioned, “*Memories Off* is also celebrating its 25th anniversary.”While *STEINS;GATE* is undoubtedly MAGES.’s flagship title these days, many fans—including those from 5pb. and those who’ve supported us since before that—have been with us since *Memories Off*.
I pointed out that, as a company, I didn’t think it was right to focus on *STEINS;GATE* without doing anything for *Memories Off*. That’s when we decided, “Alright, let’s make a game to coincide with the 25th anniversary.”
▲ This is *Memories Off: Sōsō ~Not always true~*, produced to commemorate the 25th anniversary of *Memories Off*. While *Memories Off* is a romance adventure game, its story—partly thanks to Mr. Asada’s ideas—has a rather edgy tone.
――“Sōsō” has a rather edgy storyline for a “Memories Off” title—did Mr. Asada propose anything specific?
Asada: Since we were doing this for the 25th anniversary anyway, I wondered what kind of theme we should go with. I thought, “If we miss this chance, we might never get to make it again…” so I put forward a few themes myself. In the end, we chose a theme that would resonate with the current social climate.
I think you’ll see this when you play it, but it’s definitely edgy. With *Memo Off*, even in previous titles, once someone decides on a theme, the team is free to develop it as they see fit—so I believe this installment fully captures the essence of *Memo Off*. By the way, the fan disc *Break out of my shell* was more of a struggle than I’d anticipated.
We considered the usual approach for a fan disc—focusing mainly on a sweet scenario after the hero ends up with the heroine—but at the very last minute, I said, “I want to resolve the unresolved issues from the main story.”The development team said, “Since it’s a fan disc, let’s wrap it up with some cute moments between the characters,” and I agreed, “You’re right,” so I backed off for a while. The scenario Naotaka Hayashi initially wrote wasn’t bad, either.
But then, during the supervisory meeting where we were set to finalize the plan—which we held weekly—I suddenly thought, “Actually, that’s not right,” just five minutes before it started (laughs).
▲ In *Sōsō*, an organization called “Family” plays a key role in the story. I’d also recommend it to fans who enjoy the suspenseful atmosphere of the Science Adventure series.
――Personally, I think that direction worked out really well.
Asada: Even though I was hesitant to break with the format of past fan discs… I finally decided, “This might be the last one, so let’s just go for it!” Because of that, the production period ended up taking longer than I’d expected.However, I heard in another interview that Hayashi-kun said, “At first, I could only write it as a comedy, so having it turned on its head was a godsend. Thanks to that, I was able to give it my all,” and I thought, “Well, if that’s the case, then I’m glad we did it.”
――The “Memo Off” Super Limited Edition is also generating a lot of buzz. It’s pricey for a limited edition, but I’ve heard it’s packed with interesting items and sales are going strong. Where did the idea for that come from?
Asada: The ultra-limited edition does incorporate some of my own ideas. It’s expensive, but I want to make sure those who buy it are satisfied. If you purchase it, you’ll definitely receive a ticket to attend the event. We’ve also made the bonus content extremely lavish. While it may seem like a pricey limited edition at first glance, we’re committed to creating something that ensures buyers don’t feel like they’ve wasted their money.
――It was also revealed that plans are underway for a remake of the original *Memories Off*.
Asada: Currently, “Memories Off” is strong in the Asian market, but we haven’t released it in the English-speaking world yet. However, we do get a fair number of requests from English-speaking fans asking us to release it. I felt it would be disrespectful to simply translate it and swap out the text without putting more effort into it.
So, we’re planning to do a full remake, release it as the first installment to properly introduce it to international audiences, and then decide on future plans based on their reaction.
――I was also surprised to see the president himself on stage at the *Memories Off* event.
Asada: Ever since my days at Cave, I’ve handled events myself—both behind the scenes and as a guest speaker. Since we don’t have a massive budget, we do things with a DIY feel, but it just feels wrong to me when the person in charge isn’t actually there. It goes against my instincts for the person who approved the event—saying, “We’re holding an event,” or “Sure, go ahead”—to be absent from the venue.It was the same for the *STEINS;GATE* event held in August, and we’ll also be hosting a *STEINS;GATE* event organized by MAGES. in Osaka this November. I’m sure I’ll be working on the ground there, too (laughs).Also, aside from that reason, the MAGES. team has remained virtually unchanged for 14 to 15 years now.
There are plenty of people who’ve been here since around the time I joined the company. The turnover rate in the Game Division’s development team is under 5%, so there are many members who’ve been with us that long. That’s why we feel such a strong sense of camaraderie.
Among the colleagues I’ve worked with, the idea of being treated differently “just because I’m the president” feels awkward. That’s why I’ve asked everyone in the company to stop calling me “President.” Of course, it can’t be helped when we’re in the presence of people from outside the company. Since we’ve worked together for so many years, I don’t want our existing relationships to change just because my title has changed.
▲This is the “Memo Off” 25th Anniversary Celebration held at a location in Tokyo. Event admission tickets were distributed as a bonus for purchasing the ultra-limited edition.
Looking ahead to remakes, remasters, and “even completely new titles”—we have high hopes for MAGES. in the future!
――Last year saw remasters of the “infinity” series, and this year has brought “My Merry May with be” along with many other remasters of past titles. May I ask about these developments?
Asada: Once I became president and had a little more leeway to broaden my perspective, I realized that if we didn’t bring KID’s works to light now, they might never see the light of day. Even if they didn’t sell incredibly well, I thought, “This might be our only chance, so let’s give it a try,” and that’s how we got started. We’ve released *My Merry May with be*, and we have another two or three titles lined up for the future.
I think the process will be something like “announce it and release it right away.” I believe there will be some surprising titles among them.
▲In 2025, the classic titles *Never 7 - The End of Infinity* and *Ever 17 - The Out of Infinity* were also remastered.
――Speaking of Hiroyuki Kanno, you released “Mystery Tale: Kaoru Yasogami’s Challenge!” last year.
Asada: With *Mysteryte*, we weren’t just thinking about a port; we were also considering creating the final ending based on the manuscripts Mr. Sugano left behind. Since our company now holds the copyright, we could do it if we wanted to. However, it was extremely difficult to make the story consistent based on the remaining manuscripts…
Of course, I think we could complete it if we added various elements or changed the content ourselves. But we struggled with the question of whether it was right to arbitrarily alter a work that someone who has already passed away had been creating—even if only partially—based solely on our own judgment. In fact, we went through a cycle several times of finishing the script in a completely different form only to scrap it.
We’ve also received messages through our support email saying, “Please make it, no matter what form it takes.” Some have even gone so far as to say, “We’ve gathered a group of volunteers, and we’ll raise funds through crowdfunding to support the project, so please make it happen.” I’m truly grateful that there are people waiting for this with such enthusiasm.
However—and this is just my personal opinion—I don’t think the crowdfunding model is particularly well-suited for game development. Game development is a field where unexpected troubles and problems frequently arise. Furthermore, since we’re receiving funding through crowdfunding, I feel we’d need to incorporate the opinions of our supporters to some extent.
Of course, I think there are aspects where this can improve the final product. On the other hand, however, I feel the downsides—such as increased constraints on production—are by no means insignificant. As a result, I worry it might be difficult to create an environment where we can freely make exactly what we want to make.
That said, I do have a concept I’d like to explore within the “Mysteryto” universe. The two top-tier “Class A Detectives”—of whom there are only two in all of Japan—Fumasa Akutou and Kaoru Yasogami.
These two meet, sometimes clash, and sometimes cooperate. I’ve been thinking about this concept for a while, and I already have a fairly solid vision in my mind for the story’s beginning, development, turning point, and conclusion. So, rather than forcing a continuation of the works Mr. Sugano left behind, I’d like to bring this to life someday as a standalone story.That said, I can’t help but wonder if there’s anyone out there I could entrust with turning this concept into a screenplay. If anyone reading this thinks, “I’m the one for the job!” please do get in touch with me (laughs). Still, it’s definitely one of the projects I’d like to bring to life someday.
▲This is *Mystery To: Kaoru Yasogami’s Challenge!*, released in 2025. Mr. Asada spoke about his internal conflict regarding the production of a sequel and the new story he has in mind.
――Mr. Asada, it seems you’re committed to creating masterpieces.
Asada: I like new things, too. However, when it comes to past masterpieces, I do hope to create an environment where people can play them in this day and age, and increase the options for enjoying them in an accessible way. I’m also working on a completely new project—one that I’m personally developing in a genre other than adventure games.
I’ve been nurturing this concept for several years now, but unlike in the past, it’s difficult for me to devote all my time to production these days, so I’m working on it with a reliable external partner. It’s been a while since I’ve worked on a project in this genre myself. That’s precisely why it’s so reassuring to have teamed up with a developer I trust, and production is currently progressing smoothly.
I think we’ll be able to make an announcement around next spring, so I’d be happy if you’d look forward to it.
▲A brand-new title by Mr. Asada is also in production. I’m looking forward to future announcements.
――A brand-new title! I’m really looking forward to it. I had a lot of fun playing *Iwakura Aria* and other titles as well.
Asada: Thank you very much. There isn’t just one all-new title—there are several—so please look forward to them. To begin with, creating original works is incredibly difficult.
When you take on a new challenge, there’s no guarantee it will sell. In fact, I’d say—based on my intuition—that about 70 percent of them probably won’t be commercially successful. However, I don’t agree with the idea that “failing to sell equals a lower evaluation.”
Saying this might make it sound like I’m spouting some cool philosophy, but actually, I’m just carrying on Mr. Shikura’s way of thinking (laughs). This mindset hasn’t changed since the days when Mr. Shikura served as president and chairman. It all comes down to how many games are released into the world and how many of those titles actually see the light of day.
Of course, we do make an effort to create things that sell. If you look back at MAGES.’s history, there are many titles where the original work gained popularity and was adapted into an anime. The Science Adventure series is a good example.
That’s exactly why we take on original projects—and if we fail, well, that’s just how it goes. We also have the mindset of “Let’s try harder next time.” Since part of our approach is driven by the hope that even just one original work will be well-received, we’ll continue to take on completely new projects in the future.
▲This is *Iwakura Aria*, released in 2025. It’s a suspense adventure characterized by its painterly illustrations. It’s a work that carefully depicts relationships between women.
――Do you get the impression that what users and the market expect from the adventure genre itself is changing?
Asada: Back in the day, there were these mysterious standards like, “You need at least 2 MB of text” or “At least 100 CG images,” but now I sometimes get complaints like, “The scenario’s too long.” Then, when I try to make it shorter, people say, “It’s too short” (laughs). It’s really hard to find the right balance.
――What about expanding adventure games overseas? I imagine it’s a genre where localization is particularly challenging.
Asada: That’s exactly right. Translation costs for adventure games are particularly astronomical, and even after localization, we have to thoroughly verify that the subtle nuances of the expressions are being conveyed accurately. AI translation still seems a long way from being practical.
For example, when it comes to a character’s unique way of speaking—like the tone of the characters in *STEINS;GATE*—AI just can’t capture it. It might produce something that sounds similar, but it can’t fully recreate the character. For now, this is an area where we ultimately have no choice but to rely on “human hands.”
Take *Memo Off*, for instance—the localization costs for even a single language are astronomical. Even so, since it’s a long-running series, we’re committed to doing it right. We want to carefully remake it and bring it to the English-speaking world.
While our science adventure titles generally launch simultaneously in multiple languages, we also plan to translate other original titles that we believe “would be well-received overseas.”
――We have a little time left, so let’s chat a bit. Mr. Asada, I hear you’re quite fond of retro games.
Asada: Yes. I could talk about them forever. I’m stockpiling all kinds of games to play in my retirement (laughs).
When it comes to adventure games, I really love *Sadakichi 7*, *The Vanished Princess*, and the *J.B. Harold* series released by River Hill Soft. I used to like *The Clown Murder Case* too, but if I were to play it again now, to be honest, I’m not confident I could beat it (laughs).I’m also a huge fan of *Sherlock Holmes: Detective Course*—I’m so attached to it that I still keep it safely stored away to this day.
Back in the day, adventure games had this unique joy of figuring things out by trying different commands without any walkthroughs. That’s exactly how I used to play them when I was in elementary school. Even the frustration—like thinking, “How am I supposed to figure this out?!”—is now a fond memory (laughs).
But I think there’s something about that kind of fun that can still resonate with the current generation.As I mentioned earlier when talking about *YU-NO*, the reason I’m drawn to titles that seem difficult to remake or remaster is that I want to preserve those masterpieces in a form that allows people of all generations to play them. Even if those of us who remember the old days say, “It’s really fun,” it’s still a hassle to set up the environment to play them today, isn’t it?
Plus, even if you manage to get your hands on them as retro games, there’s the issue of how long the original hardware and software will actually keep working. That’s exactly why I believe there’s real value in releasing remakes and remasters at key milestones. That said, when I’m personally involved in a remake, the most important thing—above all else—is that I absolutely love the game myself. That’s what matters most.
――Finally, what will MAGES. be focusing on going forward?
Asada: “STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT” has been successfully released, and looking ahead, we have the all-new title that Mr. Shikura is working on, as well as several original projects in the works at MAGES.We plan to continue delivering a variety of titles, primarily for consoles and Steam. As for the all-new title, I’d be delighted if you could come back for another interview once details are announced.
――Thank you very much.
There’s one behind-the-scenes anecdote that left a strong impression on me. When I consulted MAGES. about planning this article, Mr. Asada made a counter-suggestion: “Since *STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT* is about to be released, wouldn’t it be better to interview other staff members instead?”Despite serving as president and personally overseeing the title to no small extent, he apparently judged that “this isn’t something I should be the one to talk about.” When I received this response, I felt a sense of tension, but at the same time, it made me even more eager to record an interview with Mr. Asada.
I went into this interview assuming Mr. Asada must simply be a fan of adventure games, but I was surprised by the passion he displayed—far beyond what I had imagined. The two hours flew by in the blink of an eye, and it was a truly enjoyable interview that left me wanting to hear much more from him.
Hearing about Mr. Asada’s approach as a creator helped me fully appreciate the exceptional quality of *YU-NO: The Girl Who Sings of Love at the End of the World* and *Famicom Detective Club*.These two titles can be considered among the very best text adventures of our time in terms of expressiveness and attention to detail. The “intricately crafted elements that you might easily overlook during a casual playthrough,” as Mr. Asada himself described them, are a must-see.
Additionally, as a bonus, plans for new titles and remastered works—scheduled for release in the second half of 2026 and beyond—were revealed. Since there are multiple projects in the works for each category, readers of this article might enjoy speculating about what’s to come.
