Following Eternal DArkness' release in Japan, NCL interviewed Denis Dyack and Yamada-san about the game. We bring you part 2 of the interview. Thanks to PGC for the translation.

You can see part 1 of the interview here .

NOM: We think that the sanity system is an important element in the game. How did you come up with this idea?

Denis: Since it's a horror game, of course it was necessary to have fear and surprise. However, we are not going to produce a game where only monsters come out; we wanted to produce a new type of fear. In the end, we thought up of the sanity system. With this system, it can fool and shake the hearts of the players. A player plays alone in a dark place, and suddenly the screen can turn black. It freezes him making him exclaim, "What is this?!" It can be that interesting.

Yamada: By using this new system and cinematic touches, you can experience a fear that is more on a mental level. As a result, we decided to make the game genre psycho-adventure instead of horror.

NOM: Have you ever experienced this kind of fear before?

Denis: When I was a kid watching horror movies in the middle of the night, I was surprised when a noise popped out from somewhere in the house. I would then go to where the noise came from and make sure. That kind of experience became inspiration for the game.

NOM: What was difficult during development?

Denis: There are 12 main characters in the game. We wanted to make each of them very different. However, if the character designs were too extreme, players would have to learn new control schemes for every stage. That would become troublesome, right? Bringing out the differences without letting the players feel frustrated was very difficult.

Yamada: No matter which character you use, the basic control is the same. However, the movements and weapons of each character are varied.

NOM: We heard that you were planning to make the game for N64 initially. Were there any big differences when you ported the game to GC?

Denis: Beginning with graphics, we remade everything. On the N64, although it looked 3D, it was actually not running in a 3D environment. We ported the game to GC, made it real 3D, and positioned the cameras to be the most effective. The base engine running the game was completely different for the N64 and GC. As a result, the game's expression improved sharply.

Yamada: The staff that worked on the game really felt this way.

NOM: What is the total playing time?

Denis: For casual gamers, it might take more than 40 hours. You can choose between three paths in this game. You can choose from three types of enemies.

Yamada: Basically the story is the same, but depending on the enemies, the cinematic sequences and what characters say will change.

Denis: That is correct.

NOM: Then we must play through all three paths. Lastly, please say something to the gamers in Japan.

Denis: Eternal Darkness is a unique horror game with a deep story line. With the game developed by Nintendo and Silicon Knights, I believe it has reached the quality of Nintendo. It is a game that has a different taste than other existing Nintendo games. Please look forward to the game.

Source: Planet GameCube