Shenmue Creator Yu Suzuki Explains The Giant Flying Swans Of Air Twister

gamespot.com:

Yu Suzuki, the creator of Shenmue, Space Harrier, and many other games, is releasing his latest, Air Twister, via Apple Arcade on June 24. Ahead of its release, we spent some time with the game and even had the chance to speak with Suzuki through a translator about the dream-like experience wherein you ride giant swans across alien landscapes. Suzuki confirmed some of the game's details--like protagonist Princess Arch’s size and what classic children’s novel served as the game’s main inspiration--and talked about how much he enjoyed one of GameSpot’s top 10 games of 2021, It Takes Two.

I've been playing Air Twister and it is bizarre. Is that how you thought people would react to it?

Yu Suzuki: I didn't really know what people would expect. I just made the game. That's normal for me.

Air Twister feels a bit like you're playing an interactive dream. Was that the intention?

Thank you very much. I appreciate your comment. Yeah, not particularly. I wasn't really thinking that it was an effort specifically to do that. I just wanted to put everything that I was really interested in or into as a kid and have it all put in one game.

One of the influences for me, in creating this fantastical landscape, was The Never Ending Story. Riding some big creature in the sky, and having things floating around in the air and existing in this fantastical work base--almost like anti-gravity. Like, kind of… controlling the world. So, having these floating things flying around. That was really interesting to me. I also really liked the fusion of mechanical and biological creatures together. That's always been part of this fantasy idea. So, yeah. When you put it all together, it definitely, I guess, seems like it would come out of a dream.

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