Interview With Pixel Art Masterpiece “Goodbye World” Creator Yo Fujii

Goodbye World is an incredible looking video game for the Nintendo Switch and PC, and it is available as of today!

That’s November 17th 2022 for anyone reading in the future!

I had previously shared my excitement for Goodbye World in my article about the 10 Best Upcoming Indie Games Of 2022.

The game features some of the most beautiful pixel art since Eastward, my favorite game of the last few years.

And it tells a story of two game developers working on their own Game Boy game.

Yeah, that sounds like something I’d be quite interested in!

All of this coming from a solo game developer from Nagoya, Japan: Yo Fujii.

I’ve been following the progress of the game since I first discovered Yo Fujii’s work on Twitter, and it’s so cool to finally see it come to fruition.

Seems like more often than not we watch games in development and never actually get to play them.

And it initially seemed like the game may only come to PC (not even MacOS). A barrier that would keep me from experiencing it.

So I was pretty excited to find out that I would actually be able to play this on my Nintendo Switch.

And I wouldn’t even have to wait that long, as the game is set to release today!

Discover More About Goodbye World!

As we can see in the game’s trailer, we should expect to be playing two different game styles…

The main game play is a narrative driven top-down style game experience telling the story of the two main characters and their journey as struggling game developers.

And the secondary game play takes place within the character’s game project, which is a puzzle platformer.

We will bounce between the two play styles, and there’s likely going to be unique storytelling through the “development” of the game we play within the… well… game.

Sounds a bit Inception-esque. Awesome.

Oh, and there’s a cat.

Goodbye World Game Length And Price

On the Steam listing for the game, they indicate 12 stages for the puzzle platformer and 13 chapters for the main story.

If we estimate 2-3 minutes per stage for the mini-game and about ten minutes for the main game chapters, that could be around 2.5 hours of game play. About what I would have guessed.

From what I can tell you as a solo developer: it can take literally years to create a game play experience that lasts a couple of hours.

My own game, The Mayor of Sanctuary, has taken over two years for about two hours worth of game play.

But whether Goodbye World is a 2 hour game or a 20 hour game, I am confident it will be a beautiful experience.

And in recent years, game developers and players have come to understand that even short game play experiences can be great ones.

I’m Sold!

Needless to say, I will be purchasing and playing Goodbye World.

And I have my fingers crossed for an addition to my personal “best ever” list.

I might wait until my own game is complete so I can play it in Nara, Japan this December.

Picture me, a solo game dev, sitting in a park in Nara with deer at my side, playing through the experience of Goodbye World.

Sounds absolutely perfect.

Interview With Goodbye World’s Creator, Yo Fujii

I was lucky enough to speak with Goodbye World’s creator, Yo Fujii, and ask them a few questions about the game.

I would like to extend my thanks to them for sharing details about Goodbye World and dropping some wisdom about being a solo game developer.

Yo Fujii on Twitter

[Yo Fujii lives in Japan and has limited English. They shared their answers in Japanese, and we translated it to the best of our ability.]

1. Could you start by telling our readers a little bit about yourself and your experience with game development? Any fun facts about you as a person, unrelated to gaming, that might be interesting to know?

【①自己紹介】

YO FUJIIと申します。 ゲーム制作を最初に行ったのは、イギリス在住中だった2013年頃です。 趣味で行っていたAndroid用アプリを制作を経て、ゲーム制作の面白さを知り、 帰国後にゲーム系の専門学校に入学しました。 卒業後は、CyberConnect2に就職し、2021年に退職、今に至ります。

My name is YO FUJII. I started making games around 2013 when I was living in England. After working on Android apps as a hobby, I learned about the fun of creating games. After graduating, I got a job at CyberConnect2 and retired in 2021.

2. The pixel art in Goodbye World is absolutely gorgeous. Can you tell me about the creation of the art? Did you create them yourself? Did you have any help? What were some of your inspirations for the pixel art?

【②ドット絵について】

「GOODBYE WORLD」は音楽や翻訳以外、一人で制作した作品ですので もちろんドット絵も全編通して私が一人で作成しました。 ドット絵を描き始めたのは、MOTHER3等のGBA作品の影響です。 これまでの作品もすべてドット絵で制作していたのですが、今作に関しては “EastWard”が多大なる影響を与えたといっても過言ではありません。

“GOODBYE WORLD” is a work that I made alone, except for the music and translation, so of course I made the pixel art all by myself. I started drawing pixel art because of the influence of GBA works such as MOTHER3. All my previous works have been created with pixel art, but it is no exaggeration to say that “EastWard” has had a great influence on this work.

3. The puzzle platformer within Goodbye World looks pretty fun to play. What were some of your inspirations for creating that game? Will there be the option to replay that game from the main menu?

【③ゲーム内ゲームについて】

ゲーム内ゲームは実は専門学校時代に作ったゲームです。 当時は、GameBoyで実際に発売されていたといっても 遜色ないレトロゲーム風ゲームを作ろうと考えていました。 ゲームクリア後にゲーム内ゲームのみを遊べるモードが 追加されますのでそちらでじっくり楽しんでいただければと思います。

The in-game game is actually a game I made when I was in vocational school. At the time, I was thinking of making a retro-style game that would be as good as if it had actually been released on GameBoy. After clearing the game, we will add a mode where you can only play the game within the game, so I hope you will enjoy it in that mode.

4. I am a solo game developer myself, so your story is something I can relate to. Do you have any advice for solo/independent game developers who want to create the best game possible?

【④他のクリエイターたちへ助言】

ゲーム開発をするうえで、”売れるものを作ること”や “評価されるものを作ること”を第一に考えてしまう方は少なくないと思います。 それでもインディーゲームとして開発するのであれば、 “自分がやりたいこと”や”自分が楽しいと思うこと”が なんだったのかを忘れないでいて欲しいなと思っています。

When developing a game, I think that there are many people who put the first priority on “making something that sells” or “making something that will be appreciated”. Still, if you’re going to develop an indie game, I hope you don’t forget what you “want to do” and “what you find fun”.

5. Now that Goodbye World is complete and available to the public, what are your future plans in game development? Do you plan to continue building the story of Goodbye World in any way? Any other projects you can tell us about?

【⑤次回作の予定】

今後作りたいゲームのアイディアなどはありますが、 そもそもゲーム開発を続けられる資金がないので 今のところ、制作の予定はありません… 次回作が作れる目途が立った時にまた考えようと思っています。

I have ideas for games that I want to make in the future, but I don’t have any plans to continue developing games, so I don’t have any plans at the moment… I’ll think about it again when I’m ready to make the next game.

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* This article was originally published here