Tribe Nine has had a fittingly turbulent time since its launch on February 19, 2025, with initial reviews mixed due to issues with gacha rates and currencies. However, Akatsuki Games has listened to players, worked hard to adapt, and managed to implement changes that allow this unique action RPG to shine as it was always meant to. As such, we were eager to seize the opportunity to have an interview with the game’s director, Yasutaka Soejima, to learn more about the team behind the game and what’s ahead.
As much as I had a million questions of my own, in true Trash Tribe fashion, I decided I couldn’t take this opportunity alone. As such, I headed over to the r/TribeNine subreddit to ask other players what they wanted to know. So grab a tension ball and get ready as we dive into all the details on this intriguing action RPG and what’s in store for Yo and the gang.
Pocket Tactics: Originally, many fans thought that Tribe Nine was from the developers of the Danganronpa games, and that Mr. Kazutaka Kodaka was heavily involved in the development. However, we’ve since heard that it’s mostly an Akatsuki Games project, and that Too Kyo Games had less involvement than we originally thought.
How much involvement did Too Kyo Games and Kodaka actually have in the process, and how did you go about encapsulating the spirit of both the Tribe Nine series and Kodaka’s works so perfectly through the story and world?
Yasutaka Soejima: When it comes to game development, Too Kyo Games is in charge of the original character design and the BGM.
As for Mr. Kodaka, his involvement differs slightly from his role in the anime adaptation. In the game’s development, he collaborated with Akatsuki Games to develop the main storyline’s initial plot. We then took that foundation and continued the development at Akatsuki Games.
A good example of this process is the reveal of the NUMBERS’ true identity in Chapter 2. This plot point was established early on during the initial plotting sessions with Mr. Kodaka and Akatsuki Games.
We’ve built upon such core concepts then shaped them to work effectively within a live service model, ensuring an engaging experience for our players.
The NUMBERS have been incredibly popular since release, with Ichinose quickly becoming a fan favorite. And, of course, a lot of players have been hoping that the Hologram system means that characters like Shun will join the roster one day.
Do you plan on making the NUMBERS and other villains or “defeated” characters playable in the future?
It’s difficult for me to say, but we don’t have any plans to make NUMBERS or Shun playable for now.
Our development philosophy centers on “respecting each character’s agency and their role within the story.” We want to avoid making characters playable solely for gameplay or business considerations.
While the gameplay is integral to Yo and his companions’ journey, Ichinose and Shun also have their own distinct narratives. We believe many players would prefer to experience their stories authentically, rather than seeing them altered simply to suit gameplay needs.
Just like the “hologram” system is designed to explain and ensure the timeline and spatial consistency when a character was obtained through the Synchro, at a point earlier than the timing he/she first appears in the story.
As Tribe Nine is a story-driven live service game, we aim to resolve common narrative inconsistencies found in similar titles. For instance, it can feel jarring when the player’s operating character is excluded from key dialogue scenes, with only Yo Kuronaka present. To counter this, we ensure that the player’s operating character is included in most dialogue scenes, provided it aligns with the story’s logic.
There are many small details like this throughout the game. For instance, with the hologram system mentioned earlier, if you acquire a character before their first story appearance, the dialogue is slightly altered. It might be a small change, like shifting from “Nice to meet you” to “Ah, let me reintroduce myself,” but it acknowledges the player’s familiarity with the character.
Ensuring that we don’t spoil the player’s understanding or perception of the game is what we care about the most.
A lot of gacha games recently have had pretty unbalanced gender ratios, with a lot more female characters than males. Players so far have been very excited about the varied range of characters in Tribe Nine.
Can we expect you to continue releasing both male and female characters to maintain the gender ratio balance? How do you go about designing the characters and their kits to keep the roster feeling fresh?
Of course. We would like to keep introducing both male and female characters in the future!
As Yo Kuronaka and his companions visit the new cities, brand new characters will be revealed, too. These characters will have their own unique relationships that are separate from the Trash Tribe members. And so, in the upcoming main story, we will show the players a combination of new characters and several existing Trash Tribe members. In the new city, both old and new characters will work together to tackle the XG strategy.
Additionally, the new characters will introduce fresh gameplay feels and mechanics, helping to address the current characters’ weaknesses or enhance their strengths.
In Tribe Nine, new characters are designed along two categories: one that brings a new perspective when directly operated by the player, and another that significantly impacts strategy when included in the AI-controlled team.
Tsuruko, for example, fits into the first category, while Kazuki leans more towards the latter (Kazuki is a particularly significant character in Tribe Nine, so we’ve designed him to meet both categories). In the future, we’ll introduce characters focused on providing new gameplay experiences or supporting roles, so please look forward to that!
On launch, the standard banner features four incredibly unique three-star characters, but a much larger range of three-star tension cards. Do you plan on adding more characters to the standard pool in the future?
Since this topic is still under discussion, I’m afraid that I’m unable to share concrete details. As you may already know, we’ve made a significant adjustment in the synchro rates, and since then, we need to adjust our plans flexibly from the original plan and proceed in a way that leads to the best results. Besides, in order to provide a long-term live-service, it’s important for us to evaluate the balance of the standard pool and other related designs.
Many gacha games have been operated for a long time, with some of them being quite advanced in the global market. Among them, the approach of “increasing the standard pool” has faced various issues over time. Such as the initial characters becoming underpowered, or being forced to introduce premium/limited-time characters separate from the standard pool. In any case, it’s clear that monetization no longer remains as simple as it was.
From a business perspective, as we gain more and more insights from sales trends and operation experiences, there might be new possibilities that arise. However, at least for now, adding new characters to the standard pool seems difficult.
So far, players have really grown to love each of the Tribe Nine characters and want to know more about them individually. Do you intend to bring out any character-specific stories or quests in the future (like Danganronpa’s free time events or Genshin Impact’s hangouts)?
The development team has always been highly motivated to work on features like this. The Friendship Level system was introduced with the aim of offering experiences that players will enjoy, based on this very concept.
At the moment, the team focus is on improving gameplay elements that have been causing stress, as well as adding new chapters and planned content, which has kept us quite busy. However, we’ve been pleasantly surprised by how much players are enjoying the “NINE” feature on a daily basis. With this in mind, we hope to raise the priority of developing this kind of feature.
Currently, there’s no ‘focused’ way to farm EXP materials to level up characters, which may present a problem as the game’s life continues and players pick up new characters further down the line. Additionally, some players (myself included) have found that farming rifts can get pretty tedious after a while.
Do you plan on introducing a more focused way to grind to level up characters or farm for EXP materials? And do you plan on adding a quick sweep feature or a modifier that allows players to consume more boosters to claim more rewards and EXP per rift?
We recognize that one of the major issues players are facing is a persistent lack of Kane. A significant amount is required even just to use EXP materials, yet there are no effective ways for players to obtain Kane or TP.
One of Tribe Nine’s defining features is that there’s no stamina system. However, this has likely led to players spending far more time per session than we originally anticipated, causing an imbalance in the amount of currency and items obtained daily. As a result, some players have expressed frustration.
To address these concerns, we plan to introduce several major changes in an upcoming large update, including improvements to Rifts.
Are there any plans to improve or change how existing characters play, and do you plan to make any adjustments to the AI or provide players with the option to tweak how the AI-controlled characters perform in battle?
(For example, would you consider altering Q’s Berserker state to do auto-parries instead of auto-dodges to improve his breaking ability, altering AI-controls for specific characters like Semba or Enoki to make them more flexible, allowing players to change a character’s specific focus while on-field, etc.)
We recognize that there are issues with the AI-controlled mode of certain characters, and we plan to address this through improvements to both character performance and AI behavior.
This is a delicate issue, as there is a gap between the development team’s perceptions and the players’ expectations of certain characters’ strengths. To effectively address this, we believe it’s crucial to first adjust characters to better align with player expectations, followed by refining their AI accordingly.
As part of these improvements, we will introduce a macro-level option that allows AI-controlled characters to target the same enemy as the player. This adjustment is planned to be implemented in the upcoming major update.
However, we do not plan to introduce highly detailed AI controls, as this would overly complicate gameplay. The primary goal of AI companions in Tribe Nine is to ensure that all players – especially those less experienced with action games – can enjoy the game with ease.
Therefore, we are not aiming to overly emphasize high-level strategy or technical gameplay. Instead, we aim to maintain a reasonably hard difficulty while allowing different players to enjoy the game in their own way.
Since release, players have had some issues with the tension system, highlighting that it’s only really useful for break-focused characters. Due to this, most battles tend to end before reaching EX tension, which has led to many players avoiding EX tension cards, as well as cards that consume tension.
Do you plan to make any changes or adjustments to the tension system to address these issues? Are there any other quality of life changes on the way?
We have no plans for significant changes to the Tension System.
This also ties into the above AI topic. Originally, characters with low break ability were meant to rely on teamwork to break enemies. However, since the AI prioritizes fighting separate enemies, players often end up breaking enemies alone, which wasn’t the intended experience.
Nonetheless, with the upcoming AI improvements I’ve mentioned, allies will better follow the player’s actions, providing a more friendly gameplay experience.
We also recognize that currently the low enemy HP leads to minimal Tension fluctuations, making EX underwhelming. However, as we introduce higher difficulty levels and new build options, this balance will shift. We hope you look forward to these new battles!
Do you plan to add any minigames or life-sim elements to the game? (For example, giving players their own room to decorate, fishing or bowling minigames, opportunities to hang out with characters to increase their friendship level, etc.)
We are actively planning to enrich the sub-content, starting with minigames.
In the Tsuruko event that started at the end of March, we received some harsh feedback, such as “There’s no need for rhythm games, add more battle content!” However, we also found that there are many types of players in Tribe Nine, and it’s very challenging for them to push through high-difficulty battles such as the boss battle against S.H.A.R.K.
That is to say, our goal is to provide more options for players who have already cleared the current story yet may not be as focused on battle content, allowing them to continue enjoying the world of Tribe Nine.
At the same time, we understand that we haven’t been able to offer enough content for players who are highly motivated by battle. Therefore, we are preparing additional battle-focused content as well.
What inspired the Patimon system, and do you intend to further expand it with more skill boosts and sets, or even an interactive element such as Patimon battling or a Tamagochi-esque minigame?
Initially, the goal was to be in line with current trends that create endgame content focused on character progression. At the same time, however, we wanted to provide the joy of ‘buying new equipment from shops or finding it in dungeons,’ similar to classic JRPGs, and adapt this experience to a more modern style. This is why we incorporated the current art style and system.
The concept of “toys empowering their owners” is deeply ingrained in Japanese culture, thanks to the popularity of anime and comics targeting children. We drew inspiration from this for Tribe Nine, striving to show how things like Tension Cards and Patimon can be sources of ‘excitement’ and empower young people.
Additionally, the Patimon in the game are designed to offer a light, casual hack-and-slash experience. To further enhance this experience, we’re planning more exciting updates in an upcoming major update. But don’t worry – these changes won’t make the items you’ve already acquired obsolete!
Have you considered adding a higher difficulty mode to cater to players who want more of a challenge? (For example, a toggle that boosts all enemies in the overworld to max level, a challenge mode that increases boss tension/HP/stats, etc.)
To begin with the conclusion, we have ambitious plans in place, but these updates will be rolled out gradually.
As mentioned earlier, player motivations for playing Tribe Nine vary, and our goal is to create a game that appeals to a wide range of players. That said, we recognize that battles are one of the most important and highly anticipated aspects of the game.
Currently, after completing the story, all players are left with no choice but to challenge the Red Limit Series, which we see as an issue. Additionally, the Fractal Vice system is still quite complex. To address this, we will be implementing significant improvements to Fractal in the upcoming major update.
For Chapter 3, we also plan to refine and clarify the level design compared to previous cities, as we believe the game’s overall difficulty gradient needs to be more varied. First, we will focus on making the current content more accessible and enjoyable. Next, we’ll introduce more challenging content.
Naturally, we can see that Neo Tokyo is separated into multiple sub-cities, each with its own version of XG. How many chapters or sub-cities do you plan on releasing, and what inspired each of the locations, NUMBERS, and XG?
Of course, we are continuously planning to add new chapters. Since Tribe Nine is a live service game, you can expect new chapters/stories to be added as long as the service continues.
However, Tribe Nine is a story full of mysteries, and we believe that the most anticipated part is the journey to uncover those mysteries. While not everything will be perfectly resolved at the climax, there will be a battle where many of the unanswered questions will be properly revealed at a certain point. If we compare it to a drama series, it could be seen as the season’s conclusion (and a cliffhanger).
The cities in Neo Tokyo are inspired by the “23 wards” of real Tokyo. So, we’ll be focusing on creating the 23 cities for now. When building the episodes for each chapter, we first create a city inspired by these wards, and then we think about the “theme = culture” of that city. There’s no intention to include satire or irony; the focus is solely on how to make the game feel relatable to players.
Based on that, the personalities of the NUMBERS are derived from the theme of that city. For example, for Ichinose, it’s “overwork,” and for #9, it’s “inferiority complex.”
As for XG, we are constantly brainstorming and doing our best to come up with it and it doesn’t come easily. To begin with, we focus on how to surprise players and make sure they feel a sense of satisfaction. And then, we discuss it with the writers within Akatsuki Games and decide together. Especially in Chapters 1 and 2, it was challenging because players had to progress through the story without a clear understanding of the world of Tribe Nine.
From Chapter 3, the true tactics with the NUMBERS will start to unfold, so communication during the XG will play an important role. Please look forward to it!
What type of new content do you plan to bring to the game in the future, and how frequently can we expect new versions, synchro banners, events, and story expansions? Do you have a roadmap or timeline for future patches that you can share with us?
We’ll be adding a chapter and a new city to Tribe Nine around every three months. During this period, we plan to implement synchro, events, and quality of life (QoL) improvements on a regular basis (including adjustments for characters that are no longer performing well in the current environment).
The update schedule had to be changed due to development reasons, but starting from Chapter 3, we plan to provide updates on a more stable, predictable cycle.
Additionally, we’re planning to release a roadmap for future patches in the near future, so please stay tuned.
One of the main things that makes Tribe Nine unique is how it consistently feels like an action RPG first and a gacha game second. Due to its solid status as a standalone experience, do you plan on releasing it as a premium offline game if it ever reaches EOS, so players can still experience the story and gameplay?
It’s truly unfortunate that the fear of EOS has become so pervasive among gamers, influencing their very choice of games. We, as developers, acknowledge our responsibility in contributing to this culture.
For this reason, we’re constantly exploring ways to address this uneasy climate through Tribe Nine, which also faced scrutiny regarding this very trend.
With that in mind, we believe that discussing ‘what-if’ scenarios concerning EOS, regardless of any potential positive outcomes, is not our focus right now. Our priority is to make Tribe Nine a game that will be loved for the long term, rather than preparing an escape plan for when EOS occurs.
In other words, what we should focus on is finding ways to ensure that the thought of EOS never crosses players’ minds. As Akatsuki Games, we are fully prepared with the time and expertise required to think through and implement these changes. We will do everything in our power to provide the best solutions for our players, and we want them to feel confident in supporting us.
Last but not least, who’s your favorite Tribe Nine character?
In Tribe Nine, characters like Mita and Todoroki are absolutely essential, and while I love them all, Enoki and Saigo hold a special place for me.
Enoki, in particular, has been with us since the early development stages. I personally created her core mechanics and motion concepts, so she feels like a real labor of love. Gameplay-wise, Enoki and Saigo might seem like they clash – Saigo tends to steal targets from Enoki. However, Saigo’s abilities and his themed Tension Card actually complement and protect Enoki, reflecting their complex relationship.
We extend this approach beyond just Enoki and Saigo. Throughout Tribe Nine, we prioritize designing abilities that genuinely align with each character’s individual personality.
Thank you so much for your time. I’m a huge fan of Tribe Nine and have been following it since the anime, so I very much appreciate this opportunity, and I’m sure the Tribe Nine community will be eager to see your answers.
Thank you as well!! Especially to our overseas fans – you’ve shared both praise and criticism with great passion, which constantly motivates our development team.
We will continue working to make Tribe Nine an even better game in response to everyone’s feedback. We appreciate your continued support!
And that’s everything we had time for in our Tribe Nine interview with Yasutaka Soejima. I’d like to once again thank the lovely people over on r/TribeNine for their contributions to this discussion – I hope it answers some of your questions! Now, while we wait for the next Tribe Nine update, be sure to keep an eye on our Tribe Nine codes list in case any freebies pop up.