How Minecraft Played a Role in Chuhou Joutai’s Development

WARNING: This article highlights important plot points from Chuhou Joutai. Like usual, spoilers will be present. We do not recommend you read this until you’ve beaten Arcade Mode at least once. Keep calm and hide the secrets!

Introduction

If you’ve played Chuhou Joutai and have seen any of its cutscenes, you might ask, “Did you make that in Minecraft?” The answer you may be looking for is yes. But you may also ask, “But how did you turn it retro?”

Background

Before I get into how I put that into Chuhou Joutai, I’ll tell you how Minecraft influenced the game. Minecraft was a game I got for Christmas when I was twelve and I was so excited for this game when it came out because I wanted to make 3D platforming games and this was the only thing that could get close to what I was actually trying to do. I still play platforming games, though the only one I play regularly is Super Mario Maker. I was playing Super Mario 3D Land at around the same time Minecraft came out and I finished the game in under a week.

To tell you the truth, I have played every main series Mario game from the original Super Mario Bros. up until Super Mario 3D World. I sort of lost track after that! I have also played every installment of Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart, and Final Fantasy. I can be considered a champion at Mario Kart and I actually won some tournament when I was in my freshman year of college.

Back to Minecraft, if you were a gamer at the time of Minecraft‘s release, this game was a huge deal because of its very large creative freedom. I still play the game to this very day occasionally. The reason it kept me playing was the large majority of videos on YouTube, the updates that kept adding new stuff, and the endless possibilities to mod the game, in terms of texture packs and new functions. It was even possible to make an entire game within Minecraft!

I was one of those players and I couldn’t get enough of it. Minecraft was the only game my then 12-14-year-old self could experience Team Fortress 2 and Grand Theft Auto. This was the only alternative if you are or were too young to play the mainstream games since they both old Mature ratings from the ESRB. I had the official handbooks from Mojang and I read them cover to cover numerous times. I made my home, my high school, and even a majestic castle for the Kozanese Royal Family to live in. But where did I get the inspiration for it? From probably the happiest place on earth.

The Minecraft fanbase is nearly as creative as Touhou Project even is. I remember downloading and playing other players’ mods and texture packs to enjoy them. Minecraft was even what got me into the modding community. Some of my favorite mods include the TooManyItems mod and Optifine.