At Tokyo Game Show 2017, we sat down with Grasshopper Manufacture’s Goichi “Suda 51” Suda and Nobutaka Ichiki to discuss the recently announced remastered version of The Silver Case sequel The 25th Ward.

Get the full interview below.

Since you announced the remake of The 25th Ward: The Silver Case at A 5th of BitSummit, there hasn’t been a ton of information. Can you talk about how you’re remaking the game?

Goichi Suda: “The game was originally for old Japanese cell phones, and it’s at a point where no one can really play on those anymore. So for this one, the story and the art was already there. However, this a chance for them to go in and do a lot more with everything else.”

Nobutaka Ichiki: “Aside from additional new bits at the beginning, the story is not greatly changed. For the last 20 years I’ve thought ‘If I can do a remake, I could do this and this.’ All these ideas I’ve been building up inside me these years can finally be realized, especially since we were able to remake The Silver Case. I thought, ‘This is the chance; we can finally approach The 25th Ward as well.'”

Since the announcement there’s been some talk of a new episode. Is that new bit at the beginning what they’ve been referring to?

Nobutaka Ichiki: “Yes. Right now I’m waiting on Suda-san to finish the new scenario, and there’s also one more writer—Mr. Oka—who wrote the ‘Placebo’ side from the first game. So I guess there’s going to be two new scenarios from both of the writers from the original.”

The original release of The 25th Ward: The Silver Case was split into five episodes. It recently came out that a sixth episode was planned, but never happened. Is that going to be one of the new scenarios?

Goichi Suda: “We had originally planned for there to be six episodes, since the game was released episodically, but we were able to finish everything in five. So it’s not that anything was cut then, just that we were able to fit the story we wanted to tell into five episodes. However, yesterday we did find three illustrations that have never been used that I didn’t even know existed. So we thought maybe we can do something with this.”

In Japan, you’re releasing The Silver 2425, which includes both The Silver Case and The 25th Ward: The Silver Case. Are you releasing The 25th Ward as a bundle in the west, or is it a standalone release?

Goichi Suda: “The reason we’re releasing The Silver 2425 over here in Japan is because The Silver Case remaster never released here outside of Steam. But in America, we already released The Silver Case on PlayStation 4. So yes, in America you can buy them separately on PlayStation 4 and Steam, but in Japan they’re coming as one pack.”

OK, so the original writers are working on the new scenarios. Are there any other returning staff?

Goichi Suda: “Takashi Miyamoto, who did the illustrations for the original, is working on this too. The sound creator, Jun Fukuda, is also back at Grasshopper to work on sound effects. Then there’s a famous designer named (Yoshi Kasano? – inaudible name) who is working on the design. He is from the original as well.”

Your recently announced Travis Strikes Back: No More Heroes has some collaborations with indie games, but would you consider any collaborations with your own games, namely The Silver Case or The 25th Ward?

Suda: “There will probably be something, just not really sure what right now.”

Now that the you’ve remastered and localized both The Silver Case or The 25th Ward, do you have any ideas about potentially remaking the last game set in the same universe—Flower, Sun, and Rain—since it only released on DS in the west while it was originally a PlayStation 2 title in Japan?

Suda: “The idea is definitely there. We’re working with Active Gaming Media, who is doing the programming and development of The Silver Case and The 25th Ward, as well as NIS America who publishes things. If there is a way we can all get together and make it work I definitely want to do it. It is a fully open-world game, so it’s all about money at that point (laughs).”

That’s all from me. Anything to add or last message?

Nobutaka Ichiki: “Even though it’s been announced as a remake, we’re going to consider it a new game. It’s not necessary for you to have played The Silver Case beforehand to play The 25th Ward, so you can jump in right there. Old fans and new fans alike should play the game. It’s a different experience than anything else out there so I hope everyone gives it a chance.”

Thank you for your time, guys!