Let’s begin by talking about your responsibilities. 

Miura: Of course, Itoi-san is the one in charge of the scenario. So please think of me as the link between Itoi-san and the programmers.

It’s your job to turn Itoi-san’s words into text on screen.

Miura: That’s right. But I’m also responsible for many of the ideas and stories in the game. It’s my job to make sure all the ideas and stories Itoi-san tells me are communicated to the other staff members. 

How do you communicate with Itoi-san?

Miura: It’s basically like playing catch. I throw a ball to Itoi-san, and he throws it back at me saying, “Maybe throw it like this?” But sometimes it’s not like that at all, and I actually hit it back with a bat. So, in some ways it’s more like batting practice rather than catching a ball (laughs).

Is the dialogue faithful to Itoi-san’s own words?

Miura: Yes, it is. There’s a lot of dialogue to go through. So, I draft and organize it all, and sometimes fill the blanks in with temporary dialogue. But, Itoi-san makes sure to review everything at the end of the day.

For example, even supporting characters in the village have their own dialogue?

Miura: Yes, I ask him to look through everything. Every line of text in the game was written by Itoi-san. 

That’s a ton of work.

Miura: Yeah, it is. Itoi-san is extremely fast at it though. But even then, it takes months. Even if it’s just a small line of dialogue like, “You’re carrying a lot of stuff!”, all of it is written by Itoi-san himself. 

So, Itoi-san is doing something akin to scripting a play.

Miura: Yes, he writes the original story and script himself. I’m like an assistant to the director.

Is the scenario for MOTHER 3 almost finished?

Miura: We’ve finished making the story, but still have a lot of work to do, like filling in all the dialogue.

Did you think about the concept for MOTHER 3 while working on MOTHER 2?

Miura: We had a lot of ideas we wanted to implement towards the end of MOTHER 2’s development, but we couldn’t fit them in anywhere. So we said, “Let’s save it for the next one.” But now I turn around and it’s all come to life. I think that’s where the concept for MOTHER 3 came from.

Does it continue from the end of MOTHER 2?

Miura: Yes, it does. It’s not like it’s completely unrelated. After all, we’ve envisioned this as a series. 

I’m looking forward to it. What’s your favourite line of dialogue?

Miura: In MOTHER 1 there is a dog that says, “Look me in the eye!”  I really like that one…

“Look me in the eye?”

Miura: I really like how the dog accuses the player of stealing the key to Duncan’s Factory and says, “Look me in the eye!”  I’m sure this line will also appear in MOTHER 3.