R-Type Final 2

[Nester the Lark]

So, now that the second stage pass is complete, I thought I would write an update on where the game is at right now.

Stages

With the completion of the second stage pass, there are now more DLC homage stages than there are original stages in the main game (14 vs 11). While it hasn't been officially announced yet, it seems that there will be a third stage pass.

Personally, I don't think the second stage pass was quite as good as the first. My favorites were the remakes of stage 3 from Image Fight and stage 4.0 from the first R-Type Final. Other stages felt a little dull and made me wonder why they were chosen to be included. There are also two stages based on R-Type Tactics II. The first is OK, but the second just feels redundant and unnecessary. Also, two of the stages include Easter eggs that only happen if you're playing on R-Typer difficulty or higher, and it's irritating that they gated them like that.

Ships

There are currently 97 ships included out of the first Final's 101. The only ships missing are the three Ultimate ships and Ragnarok II (which I guess they're treating as a de facto Ultimate ship). It seems that there will be more ships added after that. Data miners have found evidence of a ship based on the submarine from In the Hunt, which James Mielke jokingly asked about in that early interview from 2019, however it could also just be an enemy if a stage from In the Hunt in included in the third stage pass.

Other Updates

The various other updates that were delayed from last year, including online leaderboards, branching stages in the main game, "R-Type Final 3," and other stuff, are apparently still on the way. Granzella's latest live stream from a couple of weeks ago did not include a new roadmap, but there's already a new stream scheduled for the end of March, so I assume there will be some significant announcements then. My guess is that they're planning something for the game's first anniversary on April 29.

So, yeah, I'm still playing this game fairly regularly. I think I am getting a little burned out, and I keep telling myself I'll take a break, but then I keep coming back to it anyway. I may need an intervention.

[Nester the Lark]

The latest Granzella stream didn't seem to reveal much new about the Final 3 update. However, they did officially announce remakes of R-Type Tactics I & II:

Both Tactics games were originally released on PSP, and only the first one was officially localized into English as R-Type Command. I think there's a fan translation of the second one. It's likely these will be released in English, as well, since they had an English version of the slide.

I'm definitely interested in this.

[Nester the Lark]

So, there's been some significant news for R-Type during my absence.

The last homage stage pass (which I haven't gotten yet, but still plan to) is, unfortunately, the last homage stage pass. However, the R-Type Final 3 update is still coming, and is due either later this month or in January.

They also announced R-Type Final 3 Evolved exclusively for PS5. It will include all of the content from the current R-Type Final 2/3, with enhancements, plus seven entirely new stages, a VR mode, and some kind of online community based on the old Irem space in PlayStation Home. They explained that they wanted to do things that were not technically possible on the other platforms. (I'm guessing it was the Switch, specifically, that was holding things back.) They also emphasized that the other platforms would still continue to be updated with new content.

The R-Type Tactics remakes are now officially titled "R-Type Tactics I·II Cosmos," and it's planned to be out in Summer 2023. Confirmed platforms are Switch, PS4, PS5, XBox Series X/S and PC. They also held a Kickstarter campaign, not for the remakes, themselves, but for additional, original content. (Kazuma Kujo said that some players were dissatisfied with the ending of Tactics II, so they basically wanted to add a full sequel campaign to address this.)

Since I was offline, I completely missed it, but the Kickstarter raised about five-and-a-half times its goal, so yeah, new content incoming. It will include 24 new missions, and new units not available in the previous games. The new content will be available as post-launch DLC.

[Nester the Lark]

So, I discovered something interesting recently, and I wanted to document it here. It's not about the game R-Type Final 2/3, but rather, the game's lead designer and director, Kazuma Kujo.

As you might be aware, Granzella was founded in 2011 by former Irem Software Engineering staff, including Kujo. If you look at the Granzella Games website, it lists Kujo as Chief Creator, while the President & CEO is Takeshi Nagura. However, it seems that Kujo and Nagura are, in fact, the same person.

In the '80s and '90s, it was common for the staff of Japanese game developers to use pseudonyms, usually due to company policy. Over the years, most companies began to allow them use their real names, and so their real identities have been revealed. However, some of them have continued to keep their identities a secret, or have left the game industry and never revealed their real names. Irem, in particular, seems to be infamous for its mysterious development staff. (This thread on X/Twitter attempts to identify many of the staff at Irem in the '80s.)

Kujo has been one of the more well known, due to him having a more public presence and (seemingly) using his real name.

Except that it isn't his real name.

Last January, the website Time Extension published an interview with seven former Irem and SNK staff members. I went back to look at it recently, because I thought I remembered it mentioning what Kujo's real name was. However, looking over it, I couldn't find that info. I thought maybe I got it confused with some other article, but I still couldn't find anything after checking possible alternatives.

To make sure I didn't imagine it, I checked snapshots of the article at the Internet Archive, and sure enough, this snapshot from when the article was first published includes an extra, short paragraph:

After this interview, we corroborated with a third party that "Kazuma Kujo" is also a nickname, and his real name is actually Takeshi Nagura (hence several nicknames ending in NAG). It's nicknames all the way down!

This paragraph had been removed from the article by the end of January with no mention of any correction or alteration. I'm guessing that this was not meant to be public information, and that Time Extension was asked to remove it.

I did my own brief search on the name Takeshi Nagura, and that's how I found his name on the Granella website as the President and CEO. Also, the couple of photos I found of him are, well, Kazuma Kujo without his signature sunglasses.

Now we know the real reason he always wears sunglasses. In an interview in the R-Type Final 2 art book included in the physical edition of the game, he said he wore them because he was uncomfortable in front of people, but more likely, it's an attempt to keep his real identity a secret.

All of this amounts to... well, nothing really. I just thought it was kind of funny and interesting.

I wonder why he feels the need to have two identities. Perhaps he just wants to keep his different roles in the company separate?