Fairy Tail 2 Interview With Producer Hiroshi Kataoka – Discussing the Series, New Combat System, Additional Content

In many ways, the announcement of Fairy Tail 2 was an unexpected but welcome surprise. While there's no denying the popularity of the series by Hiro Mashima, Koei Tecmo and Gust gave no indication that the franchise would continue to bring a close to the original manga's storyline.

During Gamescom 2024, I had the chance to try out the game before its December release and speak with Producer Hiroshi Kataoka, discussing the setting, characters, battle system, future content, and more. Enjoy!

The interview was conducted via an interpreter and has been edited for clarity.

The original Fairy Tail was almost universally praised for being a very good adaptation of the manga by Hiro Mashima, but many found it difficult to keep up with the story and characters without any prior knowledge. Is there anything in the new game that addresses this issue?

We have a few systems in place to address this issue. For starters, at the beginning of the game, there's an event that is specifically focused on looking back at the past story. We also implemented a glossary in the main menu, which allows players to check terminology as well as learn more about characters and their past, so it's easy to learn what happened before the Alvarez Empire Arc. During dialogues, there are also words highlighted in yellow, which can take the player straight to the glossary, even during gameplay. So, to enjoy Fairy Tail 2, it's not necessary to play the original.

Fairy Tail 2 features an all-new original story called Key to the Unknown, set after the events of the Alvarez Empire Arc and the original story. Is there more original story besides this new epilogue?

There is more original story, but it's not a lot, and it's mostly found in sidequests and optional content. Fairy Tail 2 is all about respecting the original IP, and we didn't want to break the flow of the original narrative. When it comes to the original story we added, including the epilogue, Mashima-sensei checked everything, so players and fans