Anima: Gate of Memories is now available on PlayStation 4, and since we’re currently playing it for review we decided to get in touch with indie studio Anima Project to talk about the game’s development.
PS4Blog.net: Hi! Thank you for joining us at PS4blog.net. Before we being, could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
My name is Carlos Garcia, and I’m the writer and creator of Anima: Gate of Memories, as well as of the roleplaying book saga Anima: Beyond Fantasy.
PS4B: Anima: Gate of Memories is finally available on PlayStation 4, but it’s road towards Sony’s home console began a long time ago. How long was the game in development? How much did your vision and focus for Anima change when going from the initial concept to the final version?
It really has been a long road! The three of us who are part of the Anima Project development team have been working full time on the game for the past three years.
Luckily, despite several small changes, we managed to complete a game that in the end was true to our original vision.
PS4B: How hard was it to port the game to the PS4? Was there any change or additional content developed for this version?
Porting the game to the PS4 was easier than we thought. It’s a very powerful console, and we had no problem making the game run at 60 FPS right from the start.
There were no changes or modifications to the game. The PS4 version was released just as intended.
PS4B: How was it possible to create a game of the quality of Anima: Gate of Memories with the funds secured from its two Kickstarter campaigns? Did you secure additional funding from investors or was the approximately $140,000 obtained from the Kickstarter campaigns enough for development?
Well, with a lot of effort, a lot of enthusiasm and by knowing that sleep was optional. Kidding aside, we managed to do it because all three of us gave it our all in order to create a high-quality game from such a small team. We had to sacrifice a lot but, at the same time, it was something we were passionate about.
As for the funds, it was actually less than that due to the Kickstarter fees. It’s not that the funds were enough, it was that we wanted to create the best game we could, so we had to do everything we could to make that happen.
PS4B: How long will it take someone to play Anima: Gate of Memories from start to finish? Can trophies in the PS4 version be obtained in a single playthrough or do we need to complete the game several times to obtain the Platinum trophy?
Playing the game from start to finish will take around 15 hours or so, but that goes up if you want to get all five endings. Even though you don’t have to play the game five times from start to finish as long as you’re good with keeping save files for specific locations in the game, since the game includes a New Game+ option with (added difficulty) and one of the trophies requires that you finish the game in New Game+, you have to finish the game at least twice to get the Platinum Trophy.
PS4B: On top of the difficulty bump, does playing in New Game+ unlock any additional content not available the first time around?
Indeed! There are several elements and objects that are only available in New Game+, not to mention that, since you get to keep your level and objects from your first run, this can make it easier to get some of the endings that, during your first time with Anima: Gate of Memories might have been to complex or extremely hard.
PS4B: Now that the game has been completed, what’s next for the studio? Are you considering developing additional content for Anima: Gate of Memories or will you focus on a new project?
It’s still too early to make this decision, but we hope that we can eventually work on a sequel if people like the first one!
PS4B: Thank you for your time. Would you like to add anything else before we go?
Thank you for the opportunity given to this small team of three people to be here with you! We hope that PS4 gamers will love the roleplaying/action gameplay of Anima: Gate of Memories.
