Source: https://www.platinumgames.com/official-blog/article/10228
Bonus content! ;)
Really loving Platinum's deep dives into their process on this game. It shows how much work this one is getting put into it. And it is definitely shaping up to be something special.
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
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…
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.
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!
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!
Really loving Platinum's deep dives into their process on this game. It shows how much work this one is getting put into it. And it is definitely shaping up to be something special.