Hi there! I’m PlatinumGames sculptor extraordinaire Yoshikaze Matsushita, here to ask you a question: So, you’ve seen the latest ASTRAL CHAIN trailer, right? Right? Pretty sweet, huh?!
Taking an extradimensional invader and turning it into a weapon to save humankind! How romantic! That’s the idea behind the Legions in ASTRAL CHAIN: fearsome enemy chimeras, harnessed to become the ultimate weapons. And I was lucky enough to get to make the 3D models for these amazing alien characters!
I’ll warn you beforehand that this devblog is gonna get long. I’ll divide into two parts – one for the Legions and one for the chimeras – so I can tell you all about these models that I put so much time, effort, and love into creating.
Without further ado, on to the Legions!
This is where it all started. This is the original Legion design, straight from famed manga artist Masakazu Katsura himself. Those complex surfaces! Those flowing curves! That distinctive face mask! There’s no doubt about it, this is a Katsura original! If you’re familiar with his work on ZETMAN or Tiger and Bunny, his touch here is unmistakable.
With this design in hand, I sat down with ASTRAL CHAIN art director Hajime Kimura – a longtime coworker and personal friend – to work out how to capture as much of that Katsura charm as possible in the 3D in-game model.
I started off by making a rough, chunky “sketch” of the Legion in a 3D modeling program called ZBrush. Making this sketch gave me a better sense of the volume the character needs. After that, I added more polygon edges to define the various parts of the model in another sculpting program called Maya. I finished up my work in Maya by converting the model to a smooth mesh, then sent it back to ZBrush for final adjustments.
Maybe it sounds like I doubled up and did a lot of redundant work. But Katsura’s Legion design presents a special challenge to a modeler, in that it feels like a living thing, but also like a sleek, manmade machine. When I tried only using ZBrush, or only using one other digital modeling tool, I found I couldn’t quite capture both those aspects of the original design. So I decided to use two! It took more time and effort, but it was worth it. I’m satisfied with how the Legion turned out, and how distinct it is from the chimera enemies!
Here’s the completed high-poly model! I tried to distill the composition and charm of the original design into a solid, three-dimensional model suitable for an action game.
The Legion’s legs called for special attention. You see, the Legion typically floats in midair, but sometimes it has to stand strong and anchor itself on the ground. If the legs were too bulky, the Legion would look strange hovering around. But if they were too thin, it wouldn’t look believable holding its own on the ground. This was a tricky point to nail, and I had to check the model in-game and readjust it over and over again before I felt like I’d finally gotten it right! Another challenge was making sure the faceplate had that perfect Masakazu Katsura look to it. This was a good excuse to buy a bunch of Tiger and Bunny action figures. You know… As reference materials…
Once the ultra-detailed high-poly model was finished, I converted it to the lower-poly model that actually appears in-game and applied textures.
Now you’ll notice some details that aren’t in the original design; a few POLICE decals here, some extra trim there. Partway through development, someone wisely pointed out that the Legions aren’t just alien creatures – they’re also official police equipment! Their final models capture this duality, I think. (Positioning those decals juuuust right was harder than you’d think!)
Okay, so the model looked pretty good, but that wasn’t enough. This is a Platinum title, after all, so it has to move – sometimes quite dramatically. Getting the model ready to take anything our animators dished out took so much work, I’m tearing up a bit just thinking about it! Making sure it looks good in any pose called for some creative adjustments…
For example, watch closely and you’ll see that the armor itself changes shape around the Legion’s movements. This keeps the thigh armor from intersecting with the calf armor, which would definitely not look cool.
The armor also changes shape with the movement of the Legion’s wrists. Thanks to little tweaks and tricks like this, the Legion’s overall shape doesn’t break down, no matter what wild poses it makes! Or at least it probably doesn’t! Either way, it shouldn’t!
As you can see, I could go on and on about the Legion for a while. That’s because the Legions are very important to ASTRAL CHAIN – they’re practically the game’s mascots! So there was a whole lot of pressure to get them just right. It took Kimura and me several discussions, arguments, out-and-out fights, and a whole lot of trial and error to arrive at the final models. But considering how cool they ended up, I’d say it was all worth it in the end!
I hope you enjoy wrecking chimera after chimera with these Legions! I worked really hard to make them for you, after all. And if, while you’re playing, you ever feel the need to stop and think, “wow, these Legions are so cool,” well… I agree with you!
Thanks for sticking with me this long! Hold tight for now, and I’ll be back to fill you in on the chimeras soon! Please look forward to that!
Bonus content!
I was hoping I’d get to do this! (Okay, so all I did was hand the raw materials over to Kimura and he put the characters together like this for me…) You recognize the handsome fellow on the right, don’t you? That’s Platinum Man (or as some may call him, Chief Executive Omni-Weapon KEN-ICHI)!
Disclaimer: Sorry to disappoint you, but Platinum Man will not be appearing in ASTRAL CHAIN. Thanks for your understanding!
ASTRAL CHAIN
The Ark: A massive, prosperous, multicultural city. But disaster strikes when mysterious dimensional gates appear, bringing dangerous alien creatures to the Ark to attack the people and corrupt the land. The Ark police form a special task force, known as Neuron, to face the alien threat head-on.
Humanity’s last chance against invasion is a special living weapon called the Legion. As a rookie Neuron officer, you and your Legion will work together to solve cases and save humankind.
ASTRAL CHAIN gives you full control over two characters at once for thrilling Synergetic Action, courtesy of PlatinumGames. Switch between several Legion types and skills to save the world your way.
ASTRAL CHAIN features character designs by the acclaimed mangaka Masakazu Katsura (ZETMAN, Video Girl Ai), and marks the directorial debut of PlatinumGames’ Takahisa Taura (designer of NieR:Automata). Hideki Kamiya, director of Bayonetta and writer/supervisor of Bayonetta 2, provides supervision.
Work together with the Legion – the ultimate living weapon!
Humanity’s last hope against the extradimensional invasion is the Legion – a living weapon, tethered to a human controller. You and your Legion will work together to fight off alien monsters – and crack police cases, while you’re at it. Synergetic Action is all in a day’s work at Neuron! Team up with your Legion for coordinated attacks on one enemy…… or take on multiple foes at once!
ASTRAL CHAIN™, un nuovo gioco d’azione di PlatinumGames, sarà disponibile in esclusiva su Nintendo Switch! Nei panni di un membro di una speciale unità di polizia, dovrai combattere misteriose creature dall’aspetto alieno.
Ad Ark, una città multiculturale di un futuro non molto lontano, sono improvvisamente apparsi dei portali verso un’altra dimensione. Da essi sono emerse delle creature pericolose, che attaccano gli abitanti e inquinano il terreno. Le normali forze di polizia sono impotenti: toccherà a un’unità speciale, chiamata Neuron, affrontare la minaccia.
Nel gioco troverai due personaggi giocabili: un ragazzo e una ragazza. Dovrai scegliere tra uno di loro e l’altro, il tuo gemello più giovane, ti accompagnerà nella tua avventura come membro della Neuron.
Per opporsi alle misteriose creature, l’umanità ha sviluppato un’arma speciale: Legion. Legion ti fa da compagno e ti aiuta nelle indagini. Tuttavia, è nei combattimenti che dimostra tutta la usa utilità…
Unisci le forze con Legion contro i nemici. Potete attaccare lo stesso bersaglio contemporaneamente o selezionare nemici diversi. Se preferisci, puoi anche mandare Legion all’attacco mentre tu lo assisti con vari strumenti dalle retrovie. Usa questo sistema di azione sinergico per combattere ed esplorare con Legion!
Del concept e della pianificazione di ASTRAL CHAIN si è occupato Takahisa Taura, il game designer di Nier:Automata, che fa il suo debutto come director. Hideki Kamiya, il creatore della serie Bayonetta, è a capo della supervisione del progetto. Il design dei personaggi è invece affidato all’artista di manga Masakazu Katsura, creatore di ZETMAN e Video Girl Ai.
Il video qui sopra è stato mostrato nel Nintendo Direct del 13/02/2019. Visita la pagina di Nintendo Direct per altri video e informazioni su tanti altri titoli.
I was hoping I’d get to do this! (Okay, so all I did was hand the raw materials over to Kimura and he put the characters together like this for me…) You recognize the handsome fellow on the right, don’t you? That’s Platinum Man (or as some may call him, Chief Executive Omni-Weapon KEN-ICHI)!
Team up with your Legion for coordinated attacks on one enemy…
… or take on multiple foes at once!
