After several years and much anticipation, Earth Defense Force 6 is finally available worldwide on PlayStation and Steam. The series is famous for its cooperative third-person shooting, unique B-movie atmosphere, and vast assortment of missions. We jumped at the chance to interview Nobuyuki Okajima, who is a Producer at D3 PUBLISHER Inc. about this latest game and the EDF series as a whole.
Co-Optimus: Thanks for taking the time to communicate with us for this interview. First, could you tell us a little about your experience in game development and some of your favorite games?
Okajima: I started working in the game industry as a graphic designer in the mid-1990s (the hardware at the time included the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and PC Engine). After working as a sales assistant and director, I switched careers and worked in public relations. In 1999, I joined D3 Publisher at its inception and worked in advertising and public relations before becoming a producer.
I have a long list of games I like; for RPGs, I like the Dragon Quest series. On smartphone, I've been playing Clash of Clans for the last 10 years. And of course, for third-person shooters, I love the EDF series the most.
Noboyuki Okajima of D3 PUBLISHER, INC.
Co-Optimus: Earth Defense Force and Dragon Quest are my two all-time favorite series as well! The EDF series has been around since 2003 in Japan, although the first North American release was Earth Defense Force 2017, the third game in the series. How long have you been personally involved with the series, and what has your contribution been as the series producer?
Okajima: I have been working on this series since the first title "SIMPLE 2000 Series Vol. 31 THE Earth Defense Force" (the title in [Europe] was "Monster Attack"). I had no idea at the time that this series would last 20 years.
My job is Production Producer for all the titles. My job is mainly a coordinating role. As a production producer, my priority is to strike a good balance between investment and returns. Then, I give the creators the financial environment and time to do their work with as much confidence as possible. Lastly, I communicate the contents to as many users as possible while sharing the best and most important details.
Co-Optimus: I’d like to ask a few questions about the story and writing of the EDF series. Earth Defense Force 2017 began a storyline that concluded with EDF 4.1. Earth Defense Force 5 reset/rebooted the story, beginning a new arc that continues in Earth Defense Force 6. How would you compare these story arcs?
Okajima: The mainline EDF series is connected in pairs respectively; 1 and 2, 3 and 4, and 5 and 6. (The titles for these in the western market were in order: Monster Attack, Global Defense Force, Earth Defense Force 2017, Earth Defense Force 2025, Earth Defense Force 5 and Earth Defense Force 6.
The worlds are reset for each pair, and a new and different Earth story begins. Therefore, EDF1, EDF3, and EDF5 always depict humanity's first encounter with invaders from outer space and the world being in a state of panic. In EDF2 and EDF4, the invaders, once repelled and driven back, are always depicted as reappearing several years later on a restored Earth.
EDF6 is a major change in these terms. While the same world is depicted several years after EDF5, the situation on Earth is very different from that of the previous titles. Although the invaders have been repelled, the aliens and monsters remaining on Earth continue to multiply. The devastated earth is unable to recover, and a distressed and suffering human race is depicted.
Co-Optimus: Thinking of the tone of the English writing and dialog of the EDF games, the stories themselves tend to be serious and even grim (large portions of humanity get wiped out by the aliens), but the in-game radio chatter is sometimes humorous (such as the soldier exclaiming, “They look just like us!” about the frog-like Colonists). Do the Japanese versions of the games have the same balance of serious storylines with occasionally silly dialog?
Okajima: I think people do silly things when they are going through hard times. It is somewhat upsetting for these things to be called "silly," but I am glad that you are enjoying it. The Japanese version was completed first, and then translated into English, so the dialogue is the same.
Co-Optimus: Many of the enemies in the EDF series resemble gigantic insects, such as ants, spiders, and hornets. In the world of EDF, do insects such as ants and spiders naturally exist on Earth like they do in the real world?
Okajima: In EDF3, the giant creature that the EDF team encountered for the first time is described as a "large insect," so at least in the world of EDF3 and EDF4, I think they recognize that they resemble [Earth] insects. In EDF5, the giant creatures are referred to as monsters, so maybe in the worlds of EDF5 and EDF6, they are not recognized as resembling insects.
Co-Optimus: Vehicles are a fun part of the EDF series. In the games with helicopters, however, I’ve always found the helicopters to be difficult to control. Are they intended to be challenging vehicles to pilot?
Okajima: The movement maneuvers of EDF infantrymen need to be easy to operate because they are basic movements, such as walking and running. A helicopter is a vehicle that requires special training and a license to operate. It is natural that it is more difficult to operate than walking or running.
Earth Defense Force 2025 combo co-op
Co-Optimus: Earth Defense Force 2025 on Xbox 360 had the unique feature of allowing split-screen players to join online games, a feature we call “combo co-op.” Is there any particular reason that the combo co-op feature hasn’t returned in subsequent games?
Okajima: That was in 2006. Now that online game play has become commonplace, there is no need to go to the trouble of splitting the screen for online play. It is commonplace for one person to use one monitor, so users probably don't want to do that.