From working as a background artist at Capcom and Vanillaware to going independent in rural Japan, Yoshio Nishimura has spent more than three decades creating games. Veritas Tales: Witch of the Dark Castle might be his most personal project yet.
Cubed3 sits down with the Digitalis Publishing founder to discuss the origins of Veritas Tales, his lifelong love of gamebooks and tabletop-inspired adventures, and how his years working at Vanillaware helped shape its distinctive hand-drawn presentation.
Sandy Kirchner-Wilson, Social Media and Community Manager at Cubed3: Hi Yoshio Nishimura, tell us a little about yourself.
Yoshio Nishimura, developer and founder of Digitalis Publishing: My name is Yoshio Nishimura, and I live in Soni Village, Nara Prefecture, Japan. I’ve been making games for 32 years now. I worked as a background artist at Capcom and then at Vanillaware, and these days I create digital gamebooks under my own label, Digitalis Publishing.
On Veritas Tales: Witch of the Dark Castle, our upcoming release, I handled the direction, planning, scenario, and graphics.
Sandy Kirchner-Wilson: Tell us the story behind the creation of your game, Veritas Tales: Witch of the Dark Castle
Yoshio Nishimura: When COVID-19 hit, Vanillaware let us work remotely, so I left Osaka, where the studio is, and moved out to the countryside. Later on, as more people started heading back to the office, I realized I just couldn’t bring myself to leave Soni Village. Vanillaware was moving toward having everyone back in the office as a rule, so I left the company and had to start supporting myself.
There was also the fact that Vanillaware’s president, Mr. Kamitani, always hoped his staff would eventually grow, gain experience, and go independent. All of that is how Veritas Tales came to be.
Sandy Kirchner-Wilson: How did the idea for Veritas Tales develop from the initial concept into the reading/DnD adjacent style game it is today?
Yoshio Nishimura: Given my circumstances, I couldn’t afford to take big risks with the project, so I set myself a few easy, low-risk conditions: something I loved, something I could make almost entirely on my own, and something I already had experience making. I built the concept for Veritas Tales from there.
The reading-focused, TRPG-like style is my homage to gamebooks, which I adore (these were hugely popular in the 1980s – books where the story branches based on the reader’s choices). So in that sense, the game didn’t really “evolve” into what it is. It was already complete from the very start.
Sandy Kirchner-Wilson: Was it always intended to be a pen & paper type RPG and do you have a history with the genre?
Yoshio Nishimura: Yes, I had a clear picture of it from day one. I have actually made something very similar before: a Japan-exclusive pre-order bonus DLC for Dragon’s Crown Pro , which is the digital gamebook called Akuryōtō no Hihō. It went over really well, and that success is what inspired this game. I was even making gamebooks back when I was 12, and my friends loved those too! I guess I haven’t changed much in 40 years. (laughs)
Akuryōtō no Hihō, literally transated as “The Treasure of the Demon Island” is a gamebook created as a bonus for Dragon’s Crown Pro.
Sandy Kirchner-Wilson: What is your favourite thing in Veritas Tales: Witch of the Dark Castle that players should look out for?
Yoshio Nishimura: I’d love for players to pay attention to the story, the way it unfolds through the characters and the choices players make. It’s my favorite part of the whole game.
What’s really going on inside the dark castle? Why have all these characters gathered there? I hope you’ll find out for yourself!
Sandy Kirchner-Wilson: Did those years of experience with Vanillaware help guide the design of Veritas Tales and what are the key differences in your title from those Vanillaware games?
Yoshio Nishimura: Definitely. I think you can see what I learned from my time at Vanillaware throughout this game. I tried to make this with as few compromises as I could, work as carefully as I could, and make everything as beautiful as I could. As for differences from Vanillaware’s games, I’d say it’s the lack of lavish animation.
Animation takes a lot of people to make. If I’d had more budget, maybe the monsters in the event art would’ve come to life! (laughs)
Sandy Kirchner-Wilson: Your trailer and marketing highlights the hand drawn art and the 0% AI generation. It’s nice to see a developer putting this front and centre in the current AI minefield that is gaming. Was this a conscious choice or did you happen to see the negative feedback from the gaming public?
Yoshio Nishimura: Thank you, that’s very kind! Putting “0% AI generation” front and centre was actually the idea of the person helping me with marketing. Considering the current climate, simply not using generative AI could be a selling point in itself.
Personally, I want to enjoy the act of drawing with my own hands, so using generative AI just doesn’t appeal to me. That said, times are changing, and personally, I’m not going to pass judgment on the use of generative AI itself.
Sandy Kirchner-Wilson: Is the hand crafted element of the title applied to all facets or is it just the art? For example the music?
Yoshio Nishimura: You could call more than just the art “handmade.” The music was composed by Mr. Sakimoto of Basiscape, and of course, that’s his own handiwork. I don’t just love drawing; I love writing stories and coming up with game ideas too, so it feels like a waste to hand any of that off to anything but human hands.
Sandy Kirchner-Wilson: I notice Veritas Tales is set up like a title and subtitle, is the idea to see if you can expand the world you’ve created with a sequel?
Yoshio Nishimura: Yes, if I can, I’d love to make a sequel and expand this world further. But that all comes down to how well this game sells! So I’m counting on everyone’s support!
Sandy Kirchner-Wilson: Does Veritas Tales make use of any accessibility options for a larger playerbase or is it more rooted in gaming tradition? For example, difficulty levels?
Yoshio Nishimura: From the beginning, my goal was to make an easy game that as many people as possible could enjoy, so there aren’t any accessibility options.
I doubt many people replay a game like this over and over, but the difficulty actually drops sharply each time you play, which is why I didn’t add difficulty settings either. Once you dive in and give it a few tries, the game gets easier and easier to play.
Sandy Kirchner-Wilson: We hope this interview helped provide our readers with a bit more of an idea of what Veritas is about. Do you have anything you’d like to say to them directly?
Yoshio Nishimura: I’m grateful to Cubed3 for this opportunity. If the word “gamebook” caught your interest, I’d really love for you to give it a try.
And if you think reading isn’t your thing, playing this game, with all its music and illustrations, just might change your mind. Give it a shot! And thank you for reading my interview!
