Interview with Arc System Works’ Maho Taguchi and Taisuke Kanasaki on Dear Me, I Was…

At Gamescom 2025, Cubed3 had the opportunity to sit down with Arc System Works’ Game Director, Maho Taguchi, and Art Director, Taisuke Kanasaki, to discuss the recently released Dear Me, I Was…, an interactive story released exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2. Maho Taguchi has done previous work as Narrative Designer for the Guilty Gear series and was Game Design Manger on 2024’s Another Code: Recollection. Taisuke Kanasaki is well-known for leading the art direction on both the Another Code and Kyle Hyde series of games, Hotel Dusk: Room 215 and Last Window: The Secret of Cape West.

In this interview, Cubed3 asked Taguchi-san and Kanasaki-san about the inspiration for Dear Me, I Was…, and what led to its design decisions, as well as looked over concept art and production footage. Cubed3 would like to thank Arc System Works for setting up this interview opportunity at gamescom.

Joshua Goldie, Writer at Cubed3: To start with, can you talk about how the development of Dear Me, I Was… started?

Maho Taguchi, Director: The premise of this project was to make a wordless adventure game for adult women. Videogames are made for a wide demographic, but I don’t find the range to be as varied as with books or films. In particular, I felt like there weren’t enough games aimed at adult women and so I wanted to make one. What kind of game it would be and the way it looked didn’t come about immediately, though. I played a game called Florence (see image below) and it left a very strong impression on me. I was impressed by the art style and the story and decided that I wanted to make a game with this kind of atmosphere. Of course, we couldn’t just copy Florence. I didn’t believe that I could make a game in that style that was of such high quality, so instead we used it as inspiration and a starting point. The result was Dear Me, I Was…

Taisuke Kanasaki, Art Director: The art style of Florence is really soft and adds to the atmosphere, and this was something we wanted to capture.

Maho Taguchi: I felt that Kanasaki-san’s art style was perfect for capturing a similar atmosphere and really fit the story we wanted to tell.

Florence, Mountains (2020) – Florence is an interactive story and videogame developed by Mountains and published by Annapurna Interactive. It was released on 14th February, 2018 for mobile phones and later on PC and consoles.

Joshua Goldie: Taguchi-san directed and wrote this short story. It was quite an emotional tale, but what inspired it?

Maho Taguchi: I’ve been reading a lot of books and I find that books are quite varied in what they can express. Just like a video game, some books are big epics while others exist to make the reader reflect and get them thinking about their own life. I wanted to make a game that leant towards the latter.

It was important for us that the main character was also old. The focus of the story was to show the evolution of a woman throughout her entire life and most of a person’s life takes place as an adult, so that is where the majority of the game’s story needed to take place as well.

Joshua Goldie: This is also your first time directing a videogame. Previously, you’ve been working as a Game and Narrative Designer for titles like Another Code: Recollection and Guilty Gear Strive. How was it taking the lead on this project, and were you able to bring feedback from your previous games into the development of Dear Me, I Was…?

Maho Taguchi: Yes, that’s correct. I pulled from all of my previous experience when directing Dear Me, I Was… In particular, when I was working on Another Code: Recollection, I was having daily conversations with Kanasaki-san, who was in charge of the art for that game. We really connected throughout the development of that title and it ultimately helped with the decision-making in Dear Me, I Was…

NB: Another Code: Recollection is a 2024 puzzle adventure game developed by Arc System Works and published by Nintendo for Nintendo Switch. It is a remake of 2005’s Another Code: Two Memories and 2009’s Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories, both games that Taisuke Kanasaki worked on.

Joshua Goldie: One of the unique aspects of the game is the complete lack of dialogue. The entire story is told through the visuals and audio. What was the reason for, and what are some of the main challenges for taking such an approach?

Maho Taguchi: We wanted to have an expression similar to Florence, and I was convinced that Kanasaki-san’s artwork was strong enough to tell the story in the way we wanted. We also felt like rotoscoping technology was ideal because it reflected the way we wanted to tell this story.

Taisuke Kanasaki: I was heavily involved in the way this game was presented, working closely with Taguchi-san and the rest of the team on every aspect of the presentation. First, Taguchi-san would share with me her written story and I would create a storyboard based on that. When that storyboard was approved, I would then go to attend the film shoots and help direct the actors. The way the visuals of Dear Me, I Was… were achieved was through filming each scene with real life actors and then I would redraw over the footage in my art style. I would hand draw the line art over the poses, frame-by-frame, and then apply the block colours. We used layering to later include the backgrounds and the watercolour shading, so that we could check and make edits to each frame. The facial expressions of the characters were of particular importance for telling the story without words. At filming, I made sure all the facial expressions of the actors and actresses were exactly what we needed to tell this story, and then I would revise them during the art process, going back and forth with Taguchi-san to ensure it matched her vision, as well.

Joshua Goldie: Likewise, although the game is labelled as an interactive story, the interactive element is minimal. What was the reason behind having such minor player interaction, and has anything been included to encourage a second playthrough?

Maho Taguchi: The game was designed this way from the start. Dear Me, I Was… has one story and one ending – it cannot be changed by the player. We felt that if we provided a lot of interactivity to the player then it would leave the impression that there was a ‘right answer’. Players will naturally always go for the right answer in a story and push for the best ending. The message we wanted to share with our game is that there is no right answer in life.

Joshua Goldie: Kanasaki-san, it’s fair to say that your artwork is what drew a lot of attention when the trailer first released. The use of your watercolours, alongside the rotoscoping is a marvellous technical showcase. How was it making art with this technology in mind?

Taisuke Kanasaki: Thank you for the compliment. One of the most difficult challenges from rotoscoping to the final product was to find my own expression. The actors were there to give guidance but the characters are all my own and needed to show my own expressions. This required a lot of work, with plenty of revisions until I felt it was perfect.

Dear Me, I Was… is quite the small project. Could we see this kind of art and technology used for a much larger game in the future, or do you think that might be too much work to be feasible?

Taisuke Kanasaki: This is actually the second time I’ve made a game using rotoscoping and drawing over the art. This same technology was previously used in the Kyle Hyde games[3] on Nintendo DS, both of which were much larger games. So it is certainly doable, but I’m not sure we will use it again in the near future. If we overuse this style of presentation then I’m worried that a lot of players might get bored of it.

Instead, I am trying to search for new ways of expression that we could put forward in future games. I think it would be far more interesting to make a game with an innovative new style or presentation than falling back on a style we’ve previously done.

Maho Taguchi: It’s also worth saying that the game is not short in-length because of the visuals used. We made it short on purpose because we wanted as many people to play it as possible. A lot of adults are very busy people and don’t always have time to devote to video games. By making a short game we hoped to appeal to players who can only fit in a few minutes of gaming at a time.

NB: The Kyle Hyde duology of Nintendo DS games consists of 2007’s Hotel Dusk: Room 215 and 2010’s Last Window: The Secret of Cape West. Both were published, and are owned by, Nintendo. Both are games that Taisuke Kanasaki worked on at the now-defunct CiNG.

Joshua Goldie: One aspect of the visuals that really impressed is the use of colour to showcase emotions. In particular, the scene where the main character sees an elderly man in the park and they are washed in a single navy colour, while the rest of the world around them is vibrant. When making the art, what planning and steps did you take in order to ensure you were telling the game’s story as effectively as possible?

Taisuke Kanasaki: Taguchi-san had a very strong vision of what she wanted to express with Dear Me, I Was…, so after receiving the storyboards from me, she would read through them all and come back to me with her own ideas, including colour choices and cinematography. It was a very collaborative project between the two of us to ensure we were telling the best story we could.

Joshua Goldie: Currently, Dear Me, I Was… is an exclusive for Switch 2. What was the reason behind this exclusivity?

Maho Taguchi: The main reason for it being a Nintendo Switch 2 title is that we wanted a new challenge internally, as a development team, and the timing was perfect. We learnt about Nintendo’s new hardware and saw it as a good opportunity to challenge ourselves by making a game specifically for it. With that said, we are aware that there are many people out there who want to play Dear Me, I Was… but don’t own a Nintendo Switch 2, so we are currently looking at if it is possible to bring the game to a wider audience.

Joshua Goldie: There was a huge positive reception to Another Code: Recollection from fans, who are now eagerly awaiting the same treatment for Hotel Dusk/Last Window. Is this a series you would be interested in revisiting if given the opportunity?

Taisuke Kanasaki: This is a bit of a difficult question for us to answer given that it is not an Arc System Works IP. Of course, I would love to work on a Kyle Hyde adventure again if the opportunity arises, but that is up to Nintendo and not us.

Joshua Goldie: If the response is positive enough, are you hoping to expand Dear Me into more of a series, with new stories to tell? Or alternatively, a similar style of short-story telling but in the world of Another Code, Kyle Hyde or even Chase?

Maho Taguchi: Of course, if we have a lot of positive feedback from fans, then as a company we would want to make similar games. If we did, though, I would like to challenge ourselves by doing something new and not falling back onto an existing property or format. I’m not sure if Kanasaki-san can do it all the time, though. 

Taisuke Kanasaki: It was a lot of work (ha-ha)!

Make sure to read Cubed3’s detailed review of Dear Me, I Was… on Nintendo Switch 2, right at the link here.