Shinichi Kameoka On Egglia Rebirth, The Mana Series’ Legacy, And Accepting Change

thegamer.com:

“I think it’s interesting because there are both people who want things to change and those who want things to stay the same,” Brownies president and CEO Shinichi Kameoka tells me about The Mana remakes and remasters.

“However, there are always going to be some people who feel negatively about change. If you set out to remake a game while being fearful of this kind of critique, I believe you’ve failed before you’ve even begun. I believe that if you remake a game with a strong sense of knowing what needs to be preserved and what needs to be changed for the modern era, you’ll be able to succeed.”

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Kameoka is a legendary figure in the JRPG community. While his name doesn’t turn the same number of heads as Hironobu Sakaguchi or Tetsuya Nomura, his creative vision behind the Mana franchise spawned a beefy list of classic adventures that hold a special place in the hearts of many. It was never going to be Final Fantasy, but the unique aesthetic of Kameoka’s characters and the worlds he helped create over the last few decades are quite remarkable.

To celebrate the recent launch of Egglia Rebirth on Nintendo Switch, I caught up with Kameoka to talk about his career, the Mana series’ legacy, and bringing a mobile experience to Nintendo Switch for the first time. He’s been making games since before I was born, so to begin I wanted to ask how it feels about The Secret of Mana and its impressive staying power. One that has spawned a love for the original that has endured since 1993.

“It makes me very happy!” Kameoka tells me. “I never got into development with the goal to create something that will be talked about for decades to come.”

Square Enix released a Secrets of Mana