While there are many iconic scenes in the classic Samurai movies that inspired many of the decisions we made in terms of shot choice, I’m especially proud of the way the main town was built. Orochi had some scenes that made me think “I need to make this happen interactively, that would be insane!”
Buster Keaton and movies from the 1920s-1930s were a big inspiration because they’re reminiscent of 2.5D sidescrollers, which made me want to make this game really badly. Some of the movies that inspired me to do this were actually not even Japanese. Some aspects where detail was key were the rain, the fire, the look that everything had when you see it in black and white. So, how did this discovery end up inspiring a video game all these years later? Initially, the gameplay I had in mind was the main reason I wanted to make Trek to Yomi, but with that aspect eventually taken care of by Flying Wild Hog, my attention turned to the atmosphere and overall visual direction, as well as ensuring that the game was as authentic as possible not only to the cinematic references we were using, but also to the Edo period and Japanese Samurai culture. Of course, after watching Hidden Fortress it was also very clear to me where George Lucas and Steven Spielberg got a lot of inspiration from, and for good reason. The realism and direct, raw, representation of how life used to be, the care for composition, and performances that connect on a human level rather than being culturally-dependent, were all fascinating to me. That’s how I fell in love with Kurosawa – probably through Seven Samurai, specifically – during my first year at college. Of course once I knew that those westerns were heavily influenced by Japanese samurai cinema from the 50s and 60s, I had to experience them for myself. Being originally from Italy, I experienced Sergio Leone’s westerns before I had any idea about Akira Kurosawa’s movies.
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