The celebrated director was at Gamestart 2019 to promote his latest project, Oninaki. IGN Southeast Asia had the chance to ask him about the past, present, and future of the JRPG genre.

Right off the bat, Tokita said the two biggest games he’s ever worked on are the Japanese-only Live Alive, and Oninaki. Besides mechanics that allowed players to switch jobs in real time, the concepts of rebirth and reincarnation were the biggest inspirations when he conceptualised Oninaki, said Tokita.

The 30-year Square Enix veteran also said the biggest change in the gaming industry came following the emergence of 3D graphics and the Internet, which transformed how people played games.

On the popularity of the JRPG genre, Tokita said it is popular because of the influence of manga and anime

“It is all thanks to Osamu Tezuka (widely regarded as the father of anime and creator of Astro Boy) who doesn’t make content just for children. This mindset has also influenced the creation processes of making JRPGs,” he said.