You mentioned to me before that this is your favorite game that you have worked on. Why is it so personal for you?

YK: One of the ones that you mentioned before was Chulip, but that was actually one of my favorite games as well, because of the originality. It's a really original piece. But at the same time, because I was still not experienced enough, the game design or the gameplay wasn't up to the expectations that I wanted.

But I still wanted to have that strange quirkiness, and that's what I implemented in Little King's Story -- but with the good gameplay and level design.

So this is the game that meets your personal expectations?

YK: In the very beginning, this was my goal, to make the game that I created. But as I was going along, I started setting more goals that I wanted to create, so I want to implement that into the next title.

What's next for you?

YK: [laughs] If possible, I want to go with Little King's Story 2. If I am to create another Little King's Story, I want to make it more adult-oriented, a little more artistic. But it is artistic as it is right now.

The last time we spoke, I asked if you could ever foresee doing a whole in the graphical style of the intro. Maybe something like that?

YK: It's just a vague idea that I have in my mind right now, but if that's possible, yes, I want to use that utilize that opening image and try to make a game.

But at the same time, I want to try and create a game doesn't really talk much -- not that much dialogue or text. And people might say that's just an action game, but my idea is something different.

One of Kimura's new ideas -- a game about a girl who's trapped in a prison, with a wolf for a guard.

I know what you mean. In fact, I really like games that communicate story by showing instead of telling. Like Ico, or something like that.

YK: I really think [Ico creator Fumito] Ueda-san games are really excellent. He's a genius.