Speaking with Polygon shortly after Comcept celebrated its fifth anniversary, CEO Keiji Inafune addressed the poor critical and commercial reception of 2014’s Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, saying it was partly due to the new console generation:
There are a lot of reasons why that game didn’t become successful, but I think the timing was a big part of it. That game came out right as the console transition was happening, and people were moving from PlayStation 3 to PlayStation 4, for example. I think that was one of the biggest reasons the game didn’t do too well. But as a game, gameplay-wise, I think it’s pretty damn good.
He then talked about the confusing media reviews where some were good and some were bad. “So it gets kind of confusing, because we see good reviews and then we see bad reviews, and we really can’t come to a consensus,” he added. “Some of the user reviews were bad, so that could be what people thought in the end. But I don’t usually look at reviews too much, because they can confuse you.”
As for Comcept as a whole after five years, Inafune thinks they’re doing alright:
I can’t say we can give Comcept [a perfect score], but I think we’re doing alright as a five-year-old company. We haven’t had to take any work-for-hire jobs, and we’re actually making our own IP in this day and age. I think that’s kind of rare in the industry.
Comcept’s next game, Mighty No 9, is now scheduled for release in spring 2016 after being delayed last month.
Did you ever play Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z? What did you think of it?
