Interview with the developer of "Borderlands 3," the latest in the popular FPS series that has captivated the world!　This new title is still a blast and a brain-juice pusher!

Borderlands 3 (PC/PS4/Xbox one) will be released on Friday, September 13, 2019 as the first numbered new title in seven years. The title has established a new genre of "router shooter," and its unique comic-like worldview has been highly acclaimed by gamers around the world. We had the opportunity to play "Borderlands 3" before its release and even interviewed its developers.

The first new numbered title in seven years. What is the reason why "Borderlands" continues to be loved?

The " Borderlands " series has sold more than 43 million copies and won numerous game awards. That is the "Borderlands" series. The game is a combination of a "first-person shooter ( FPS) " with a strong image of competitive gameplay, an " RPG" in which characters grow as they progress through the story, and an " RPG " in which players upgrade their weapons and equipment by completing missions. The game has captivated players around the world with its exquisite combination of three elements: a "first-person shooter" (FPS) with a strong competitive image, an "RPG" in which characters grow as they progress through the story, and a "Huxla" in which players upgrade their weapons and equipment by clearing missions.

The new "Borderlands" game, "Borderlands 3," will be released for the first time in seven years, and as you can imagine, expectations for the game are naturally high.

The charm of "Borderlands" cannot be summed up in a few words, but I would venture to say that the characters are crazy but lovable, the comic-like graphics are unique in a world of photo-realism, the wide variety of weapons from the highly practical to the incomprehensible, and the exhilarating experience of using these various weapons and special abilities is what makes the game so appealing. exhilarating battles using these various weapons and special abilities.

↑Latest trailer video.

And let's not forget co-op play, which supports up to two players in split-screen mode offline and up to four players online. The game's unique appeal is that grown-ups can all get together and play together innocently.

The new "Borderlands 3 " has not lost any of this charm and has evolved even further.

Players can choose one of the four treasure-seeking Volt Hunters, Amara, FL4K, Shrike, or Zane, each of whom has different special abilities. Each character has different special abilities, and the same character can be played in very different ways by creating skills and actions to suit the player's play style.

While the previous games in the series were set on the desolate planet Pandora, "Borderlands 3 " takes place outside of Pandora, in a galaxy of other planets. The main storyline involves the investigation of the "Children of the Vault, " a new cult run by the "Calypso Twins," a group of insane twin sisters who are trying to protect the treasures scattered across the galaxy. This is the main storyline.

There are over one billion weapons, the mainstay of the series, made by ten different weapon manufacturers, so you are sure to find your favorite weapon. The exhilarating experience of using these weapons and mercilessly killing crazy enemies is alive and well in "Borderlands 3 ".

Cooperative play is supported for up to two players offline and four players online. While many games are passed up due to the high development effort required, Borderlands 3 's ability to support split-screen play offline is a compliment to the game. And in offline cooperative play, new features such as pin functions and route instances have been implemented, further refining the appeal of the game.

We interviewed the developer of Borderlands 3 to find out more about the game's appeal, new features, and future development. The interview was conducted with the game's art director, Scott Kester, and senior producer, Anthony Nicholson.

Behind the Scenes of "Borderlands 3" Development

Borderlands is known for its comic book style graphics and animation. Why did you dare to take on the challenge of elaborate graphics when there are so many photo-realistic games out there?

Kester: As you mentioned when you mentioned the word "challenge," expressing comic-book style graphics is also a technical challenge. It is much easier to create a photorealistic look using today's technology.

The reason why we dared to take on such a difficult graphic challenge is that we have been exploring what kind of art style would be best for the first and second "Borderlands" games. As a member of the team, I have also seen some of the changes that have been made graphically.

Quite simply, the answer is that I like this style. Of course, there is also the fact that I personally like anime, comics, etc.

I don't want to change the image of the look that has remained unchanged in the Borderlands series. If anything, I want to continue to challenge myself to refine this style and take it to a higher level. However, as an art director, my belief is that I don't want to completely change the look of the series, as if we were shifting gears.

Kester──After all, creating unique graphics like those in "Borderlands" is a lot of work, isn't it?

Kester: If we used photorealistic graphics, it would probably be half the amount of work. It's all hand-drawn. You put your heart and soul into it. I guess you could say I have an attachment to the characters.

─ ─ Since you mentioned that you like anime, I would like to ask you about your love of Japanese works such as " Akira," "Ghibli works," "Samurai Champloo," and "Ghost in the Shell" in a previous interview. Are there any anime that you are into these days?

Nicholson: How much time do you have? I don't think there's any end to what Scott can talk about when he starts talking about anime.

Kester: "The Progressive Titans"! I love the story and the characters, but I also love the dynamic camera angles. My favorite character is Levi! In a slightly different genre, "Spider-Man : Spider-Verse" is also good. I think the animation has evolved so much. The pursuit of style is showing in the form.

─ ─ I also love "The Progressive Titans". Back to the topic at hand, "Borderlands 3 " features over a billion different weapons. Do you have a favorite weapon?

Nicholson: I guess the pistol from Jacobs (the weapon manufacturer in the game). It's a classic revolver-type pistol, but I'm from Texas myself, so I feel a kind of cowboy spirit in me (laughs)... It's also cool that it ricochets when it hits an enemy.

Kester Hmmm, I don't know! It's hard because there are so many crazy things. I like weapons that are highly accurate, like the P90, and in games, I like the Dahl (weapons manufacturer) submachine gun. They hit the target with pinpoint accuracy, so I can fight with a lot of strategy.

Anyway, I have such a wide variety of weapons that I can say I have everything. There's the cowboy thing that Anthony mentioned, or the rocket launcher. We also have weapons like bullets that grow legs and walk around on their own, and ridiculous weapons that shoot cheeseburgers (laughs), so I think anyone can find a weapon they like.

─ ─ Can a weapon that can shoot cheeseburgers defeat the enemy?

Kester: You can't beat them! (Laughs) I made that weapon as a joke.

─ ─ Like feeding it to Frack's pets? (Laughs)

Kester: Ha-ha-ha! (laughs) I didn't know you had it in you! (Laughs)

───There are many more weapons, but there are also many new systems implemented. One of them is the pin system. How does this benefit multiplayer?

Nicholson: There are many ways to use the pin system. For example, if you are playing cooperatively online and cannot use the microphone, you can use the pin system to tell your partner that an item is here, just like pointing.

Even if the cooperative player is in a completely different location on the map, you can tell them where the item is and which direction to go. The purpose of this feature is to support communication between players in cooperative play. For us, cooperative play is a very important element of the game, and we are trying to make it more enjoyable for the players.

─ Were there many requests from fans for the implementation of root instances (*)?

*The loot for defeating enemies in cooperative play was, until the previous game, won by the fastest. The route instance is to make this equal rather than the fastest winner.

Nicholson: We had this in the feedback from fans, and as the creator, we thought it would be nice to have a system like the root instance. The traditional system where loot is won by the fastest in cooperative play is fine, but I think that always leads to people missing out on loot, so I think implementing root instances made it fairer. Of course, for those who prefer the traditional system of fighting for loot, we also allow them to choose that option.

─ Is this also to make cooperative play more fun?

Nicholson: Yes, that's right. The loot sharing and level adjustment (a new system that adjusts enemy strength and loot according to the player's level) are all part of our desire to make it easy for anyone to play at any time. We want to remove as many barriers as possible.

───The setting of this work has been changed from the previous Pandora to a different planet, and even to multiple planets. Was it difficult to design other planets while preserving the worldview of Pandora?

Kester: Until now, "Borderlands" has been associated with the desert-like image of Pandora. Since the setting for this game is moving to a different planet, we wanted to create a place with a different atmosphere from Pandora, but it took a lot of trial and error within the team to decide how much to change from Pandora.

We felt that we needed to maintain a certain degree of consistency, rather than stray too far from the original Pandora. However, in the idea stage, we were a little too "clean" in some areas. A clean city is not like "Borderlands. I wanted a city that was more developed than Pandora, but with a shadowy, deserted, and unsettled atmosphere. This was the final stylistic point. Based on this, even if we went to a completely different planet that was not Pandora, it would still look like "Borderlands.

I see. I can't tell you yet, but when do you think cross-platform support will be available?

Anthony: It couldn't happen at this launch, but the concept is very appealing. As I mentioned, we place great importance on cooperative play. So we would like to make it happen in the future. We would like to try it post-launch.

─ Are you thinking about a Nintendo Switch version of Borderlands 3?

Anthony I love Nintendo (laughs).

Kester I love them too (laughs).

Anthony: The possibilities are endless. At this time, we have no plans to release "Borderlands 3 " on the Nintendo DS, but we are always willing to respond to feedback from our fans. If enough people speak up, maybe we can get to marketing.

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Anthony Nicholson

Senior Producer for Borderlands 3, Anthony Nicholson has been with Gearbox since 2012, working as a QA Analyst on previous titles "Borderlands 2 " and "Borderlands Pre-Sequel" and as a Producer on "Battleborn". He played football in college and holds degrees in games, simulation, and animation design.

Scott Kester

Scott Kester joined Gearbox in2007and is currently the Art Director for Borderlands 3. Prior to that, he worked on concept art for "Borderlands" and "Borderlands 2 " and was the art director for "Battleborn". He lives with his family in McKinney, Texas.

[Product Information

Borderlands 3

Release date: September 13 (Friday)

Genre: Shooter RPG

Developer: Gearbox Software

・ Distributor: 2K

Package version: PlayStation®4 only

CERO: To be reviewed

Game Mode: Single player / Cooperative play (online & offline)

Price: Normal Edition ¥7,400 + tax / Deluxe Edition ¥9,500 + tax / Ultra Deluxe Edition ¥12,800 + tax

© 2019 IPerion, LLC. Published and distributed by 2K. Gearbox and Borderlands, and the Gearbox Software and Borderlands logos, are registered trademarks, all used courtesy of Gearbox Software, LLC. 2K and the 2K logo are trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. All rights reserved.