On our recent expedition to the Tokyo Game Show, one of the most intriguing games we came across was AKIBA Lost. This adventure game is set to revitalise the FMV genre, with over 20 hours of live-action footage and more than 100,000 images designed to build up a branching narrative where you take control. We were able to catch up with director Shinsuke Umeda as well as members of the cast, and we got to talk through this remarkable project.
AKIBA Lost is undoubtedly a post-modern production, a video game about video game development. Focusing on ‘genius creator’ Daiki Shinjo, he announces that he will produce a game based on a mysterious incident from the past where six girls went missing in Tokyo shopping district, Akihabara.
The cast of the game includes Aoi Shinjo (portrayed by Sayuri Matsumura) as a maid, Yukimi Kurahashi (portrayed by Momoko Tanabe), who appears as a game streamer, Moe Kurosu (portrayed by Misato Ugaki) who’s a gourmet writer, Kokone Nagato (portrayed by Yui Oguri of AKB48) an underground idol, Chihiro Jimbo (portrayed by Azusa Ohara) a Shrine maiden and Wakana Yusa (portrayed by MINA) who takes on the role of a cosplayer. Umeda states, “The characters that you meet in this game represent different aspects of Japanese culture. So the people who play, not only get to know more about Japan, but I’m certain that they will also grow to love it.”
The mystery begins when Aoi disappears, and a phone call brings a terrifying warning, telling Shinjo to stop the production, or else the tragedy will repeat itself. It’s immediately a compelling mystery, and one that feels as though it will really resonate with gamers, especially as the team at IzanagiGames are targeting production values far higher than we’ve seen for this type of game before. That’s helped by the involvement of Nippon Television Network Corporation and Nippon Television AX-ON Inc., whose expertise in TV production is set to make this one of the best-looking live footage games we’ve ever seen.
Narrative choices – Yukimi Kurahashi portrayed by Momoko Tanabe
One of the most interesting aspects of the game is the fact that it has a branching narrative. Players will be able to make their own choices, and through a single run, you’ll likely experience a very different story to someone else. The team hoped that players would want to complete multiple runs through the game to see everything, and explore each character’s full arc too, especially as there is the potential for unexpected outcomes. Umeda said, “There are possibilities that some choices you make with one character affects their timeline but there is also a possibility that a choice you made with another character has an influence on somebody else. So you could end up stopping a timeline because of a choice.”
Players will ‘zap’ between the seven central characters, allowing them to build up a wider understanding of the events as they unfold, by seeing it from multiple perspectives. It sounds thoroughly intriguing, and with the TV-like framing for the live-action, there’s every chance that Akiba Lost will feel utterly unique.
When asked how much of his own experiences as a developer were being brought into the game, director Shinsuke Umeda stated,”100%”, continuing, “That’s because the circumstances are special, it’s a game about a game creator, making a game. As a game director, I don’t think that there would be circumstances that could relate to your own self so much!”
The cast were similarly forthcoming about their involvement in the game, and in its choice-based systems, with Yui Oguri saying, “It’s difficult to imagine how it feels to be a virtual character, and someone else controlling you, because it’s not something that’s normally done.” Azusa Ohara continued, “There are patterns to things that can happen, so it’s fun to see which person does what and how their character reacts accordingly.”
Moe Kurosu (portrayed by Misato Ugaki)
Misato Ugaki said, “I’ve grown up seeing games, Pokémon, Zelda, a variety of games, but it’s the first time I’ve been asked to be in one. It was definitely an exhilarating request, but, at the same time, new. It’s something I’ve grown up watching, and now I get to be in it!”
It was interesting to discover that the majority of the cast were also gamers themselves, giving them an insight and affection for the format and subject matter of AKIBA Lost that other actors may not have. It’s an eclectic mix too, from MINA, who plays Fortnite, to Misato Ugaki who cited Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom as her favourite. Azusa Ohara loved Hogwarts Legacy, but perhaps the person most in tune with the direction of AKIBA Lost will be Sayuri Matsumura, whose love for the classic Super Nintendo Visual Novel, Banshee’s Last Cry, seems like an ideal person to test out the game she’s starring in.
One of the clearest things from our time with the cast and director was how much fun everyone seemed to be having. While they’ve all worked on various projects, none of the cast have ever done anything like this before, and while some of the technical details made filming harder – the camera captured both the live action footage and the still images at the same time – it seemed that everyone was fully invested in the opportunity, and the possibilities that this format could bring.
AKIBA Lost is clearly an ambitious project, but after talking to the cast and team behind it, they’re clearly putting everything they have into it, from both a technical standpoint, and a personal one. If you’re a fan of visual novels, this might be a refreshing alternative, and a potential first step into a new and revitalised FMV genre.
