The creator of Kirby and Super Smash Bros Masahiro Sakurai recently participated in 4Gamer’s end-year interview for the first time. He revealed his top picks for 2021: the horror deck-builder Inscryption, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Hidetaka Miyazaki. Sakurai explained that he had been invited to 4Gamer’s end-year interview every year, but he had to decline all of them until now. Now that the development of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is finally over, he decided to participate in this year’s interview. However, he is not sure whether he will participate in next year’s interview.

When asked which game was the most impactful game of 2021, Sakurai named Inscryption: “I played a large number of games this year, but I will go with a more recent game. That would be Inscryption. This card game has a lot of meta elements, and it goes beyond the boundaries in ordinary games. Many players may say the same thing, but it’s best to go into the game without any prior knowledge of it. Please give it a shot.”

The second question was about which entertainment content left the deepest impression to Sakurai, he replied: “It’s remarkable how active the Marvel Cinematic Universe is. If you include the original work on Disney+, it’s hard to imagine just how many titles they are working on and how many people are working on those titles. What makes them stand out the most is that they all have high quality, even during the pandemic!”

The last question goes to the person that Sakurai respects the most. Sakurai answered: “I respect all creators. If I had to pick one, I would go with Hidetaka Miyazaki (Director of Dark Souls). He has continuously brought a great influence on the global game industry. I think he is one of the top game directors with a good sense of balance. It might sound weird to say his games are “well-balanced.” That’s because directing is all about making choices.”