Although I’m a fan of nearly every video game genre, I would be lying if I didn’t state that the Japanese bishoujo/visual novel wasn’t my favorite. Not only does the genre excel in the story department, which is a huge plus for any game in my book, but I’m a huge fan of anything that’s bittersweet; and the genre has nakiges (crying games) in droves. As a fan of bishoujo games and dating sims, I was ecstatic when I discovered that an American-based video game development studio was going to try and create a full commercial dating sim. Not only was the project extremely ambitious, but if they were able to actually execute the darn thing properly, then it could very well open the doors up to even more of these types of games in the West. I recently traveled down to Hayward, California to catch up with the founders of Okashi Studios, Andrew and Colleen Chew, to talk about their upcoming game and recently-released demo.

First thing’s first though – I needed to ask them something that has been on my mind ever since the demo; what the deal was with the penguins! Their answer? The penguins from the opening cinematic in the demo represent the flightless struggles that the main character is experiencing… Eh, who are we kidding? They’re adorable and that’s all that matters!

Okashi Studios features a team of roughly eight core members including artists, composers, writers and the two CEOs. The company’s first project, Shira Oka, has been in production for the past five years due to a wide variety of reasons; mostly that the game is a by-product of love for the genre; much like a lot of other heavy independent game developers. “I was inspired by Princess Maker and to a lesser extent, Tokimeki Memorial,” exclaimed Andrew after I asked him about how the concept for the game came about. “I was looking for an English translation of the series, and when I couldn’t find one I decided to make something that would be better than the dating sims that could be found on sites like Newgrounds.”

Not only were the two paying out-of-pocket for much of the development phase, but due to the nature of the beast, the two game designers wanted to give their team as much creative freedom as possible. This not only gave their team a satisfying creative outlook, but attracted outside attention as well. Prolific American voice actress Stephanie Sheh approached the two at GDC in 2007 to chat about the project, among others. Much to the surprise of the two developers, their game has also gained support by people in Japan who are interested to see how a foreign company would create a dating sim; especially after the mega-disaster known as Brooktown High (49.11% aggregate on GameRankings.)

Coded in C++, with the engine created from scratch by Andrew Chew, the game currently runs in a 1024 x 640 resolution with the ability to downscale to 640 x 480 for both PCs and Macs. Although this is your standard visual novel/bishoujo fair, Andrew has promised to his fans that the game’s complex storytelling will be something that’s not only innovative, but entertaining as well; and based on things that the two shared with me, I can guarantee you that the game’s premise is extremely fresh and organic. In other words, if you’re a fan of dating sims or strong storylines in general… buy it.

What do the two have to say to the people who have supported the project for the past several years? “Thank you for your support and being patient.” With the recently released demo, and most of the artwork close to completion, Okashi is currently shopping out their product to find a producer. We at AX wish them the best of luck in their pursuit.

Tags: interview, Okashi Studios, Shira Oka