Yoko Taro’s new game reimagines Virtua Fighter and other Sega series as cute girls in a world where the company controls everything
Yoko Taro is heralded as one of the most unique video game creators in the industry, trying to push the boundaries of the medium in unexpected ways, and his latest project certainly looks different.
Sega and Taro recently unveiled their new collaborative title 404 Game Re:set (pronounced Error Game Reset), which reimagines the company’s franchises and transforms them into cute anime girls in a world where Sega controls everything.
One of the first characters revealed was an anthropomorphic version of Virtua Fighter, who I think we’ll call VF-chan for now, along with other classic Sega arcade series like Virtua Cop, Outrun and After Burner.
VF-chan looks to be made from her design motifs of Akira Yuki with some blocky arm and shin guards likely hearkening back to Virtua Fighter’s early 3D polygonal roots
These Sega entities are referred to as “Cast”, and will mostly exist within a digital world within the game, although apparently they can also appear in the “real world” via holograms.
404 Game Re:set takes place in an alternate universe where Sega has become the most powerful company and basically takes control of everything – as seen by the trailers Sonic and Dr. Eggman traffic signs.
Although the developers are still tight-lipped about how the game will actually play, the title is confirmed to be a mobile RPG with some sort of shooting game element.
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It appears that players will collect the Cast via gacha mechanics as they progress through the game’s story with Yoko Taro writing the scenario.
While it’s a little surprising to see Sega label itself as basically the evil villains, it’s not too shocking a direction for someone like Taro to take.
“It’s a game that features Sega’s IP, so I thought Sega should be in the game, but I didn’t think Sega would want to see a game that portrayed it well, so I portrayed it negatively,” says Taro in the trailer according to VG Chronicle’s translation. “It’s a world that thinks that if things are going well with Sega, but then get out of control, that’s how it could end.”
However, since this is Yoko Taro we’re talking about, of course there are some ideas that were probably a few steps too far to make it into the title.
“There were parts that went too far and had to be revised from the point of view of ethical expression (laughs),” producer Gosuke Nakamura told 4Gamer. “After repeated trial and error, we got the OK from the company, but the hurdles were quite high.”
Now look at Taro’s big twist this time is that the player will have to kill the cast when he returns to the “real world”, just like Sega already did themselves – too much?
404 Game Re:set is currently in development as a mobile RPG with a Japanese release date scheduled for spring 2023, although a western launch has not yet been confirmed.
You can watch the trailer for the Sega X Yoko Taro collaboration below.
