INTERVIEW: Ryuichi Nishizawa Talks Milano’s Odd Job Collection (XSEED)

Publisher(s): XSEED Games
Platform(s): PC (Steam, GOG), PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One & Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch
Release Date: December 9, 2025

Originally released in 1999 for the PlayStation One, Milano’s Odd Job Collection (ミラノのアルバイトこれくしょん) was a Japan-exclusive title from the mind of Ryuichi Nishizawa, who would later be known for the Wonder Boy series.

Milano’s Odd Job Collection stars 11-year-old Milano as she is sent to go live with her uncle for the summer while her mom is in the hospital. Unfortunately, her uncle is on vacation, and so she has to spend the next 40 days doing a variety of part-time jobs ranging from milking flying cows to delivering pizzas while also decorating her uncle’s home and taking care of a cat!

With the North American debut of Milano’s Odd Job Collection coming on December 9, 2025, XSEED Games was kind enough to arrange an e-mail interview for us with Nishizawa-san to talk about the game, a look behind-the-scenes at what went into developing it, and his own part-time job history!

You can find out more about Milano’s Odd Job Adventures on the official website.

Operation Rainfall: Could you please introduce yourself, tell us briefly what Milano’s Odd Job Collection is about, and explain some about why this game was initially chosen to be developed at Westone?

Ryuichi Nishizawa: I am a Japanese game creator, and I have been developing games since the early days of arcade gaming in the 1980s. My career in game development spans roughly 40 years, and recently I’ve even started getting used to the idea of some people referring to me as a “legend.”

Milano’s Odd Job Collection is a heartwarming slow-life game about an 11-year-old girl who spends her 40-day summer vacation living on her own and doing various part-time jobs. There are no monsters or battles, just everyday life presented in a gentle and peaceful way.

This project began thanks to my relationship with producer Mr. Shimada from Victor Interactive Software. We were talking about creating a game together, and coincidentally, both of us had daughters of a similar age who loved games. When we realized that, we immediately said, “Then let’s make a game our daughters would enjoy!” That became the starting point of this project.

OR: You have everything from being a cashier at a burger shop to harvesting fruit as an odd job to do in this game. How did you decide which minigames to include, what odd jobs (if any) did you reject while designing this game, and why did you reject them?

RN: To decide which minigames to include, we first gathered our in-house planners and generated many ideas. What we valued most was whether the job looked charming and whether it was something a young girl might naturally admire. Since Milano is the protagonist, we focused on themes that fit her age and the overall gentle tone of the world.

Some ideas looked good on paper but weren’t fun when we tried them, or their rules ended up too complicated. Those ideas were removed. Because the minigames are designed to be played repeatedly in short sessions, intuitive controls and a good feel were essential.

The early development phase was full of trial and error prototyping ideas, adjusting them, and gradually shaping a lineup of part-time jobs that make the 40-day experience enjoyable.

“Game development was in a true pioneering stage back then. Nobody could teach you how to make a game; you just studied existing titles, analyzed them thoroughly, and experimented.”

OR: The credits sequence for Milano’s Odd Job Collection is unique in video games because it feels like an anime credits sequence when you watch it. Can you talk about how it was inspired and made?

RN: At that time in Japan, transmedia projects were very popular, and Milano was conceived with that trend in mind. We envisioned not only a game, but also possible expansion into comics or even animation. Because of that, both the opening and ending were intentionally designed as if an anime adaptation existed.

The character designer, Ms. Maki Ohzora, came from an animation background, so we wanted to fully bring out her strengths. The staff roll with its anime-like cuts and emotional tone is very much a result of embracing her style.

When we created Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World in 2021, the ending sequence was deliberately made to resemble Milano’s ending, as a sort of homage. I believe we poured our hearts into Milano’s ending sequence, so it makes sense that it influenced later work.

OR: Anyone can mechanically make a series of minigames that are loosely tied together. But, how did you make Milano’s Odd Job Collection interesting to play so that it entices the player into wanting to play through the full 40-day cycle?

RN: To be honest, I’ve never been very fond of “minigame collections.” While short, casual games have their purpose, from a creator’s perspective a bundle of minigames often feels like something added later to compensate for a weak core design. Of course, games like Mario Party — designed from the start around minigames — are exceptions, but adding minigames as a patchwork solution never feels right.

That is why with Milano I wanted to create a game that, while composed of minigames, still had solid game mechanics underneath. The 40-day flow of time, the money earned from part-time jobs, the daily rhythm of living, and Milano’s growing independence — these mechanics support the whole experience. (And by the way, 40 days is the standard length of summer vacation for Japanese elementary and junior high school students.)

Because the minigames are tied to these broader systems, players naturally feel like returning each day creating the desire to play through the entire 40-day cycle.

OR: You have part time job experience yourself: you started working for Tehkan (テーカン) as a part timer at the behest of Naoya Harano while you were still in high school. Can you talk about what that part time experience was like at the infancy of the video game industry, and also how you balanced going to school with working for Tehkan? What year(s) was that?

RN: You’ve done your research! (laughs) It’s true – I started working in game development as a high-school student. I was playing at an arcade when someone asked, “Want to try working here?” That led me to a summer-only part-time job at Tehkan’s brand-new development department. Since it was only during summer vacation, my studies were unaffected.

Game development was in a true pioneering stage back then. Nobody could teach you how to make a game; you just studied existing titles, analyzed them thoroughly, and experimented. Hardware and software engineers could be hired from other industries, but for game design, graphics, and sound creation, there were no suitable specialists anywhere.

So companies naturally turned to kids like me – game-loving teenagers who spent time in arcades – and said, “Let’s see what they can do.” It really was that kind of era.

OR: In a lengthy interview you did back in July 2021 with NicoVideo, you said:

[OR Note: Nishizawa-san is explaining how entertainment loses its appeal if the same thing is done over and over again, and so there must be fresh ideas — but that freshness will go away if you listen to everyone’s opinions. He then ties it into his development of Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World and how he would be asked why he would include something, only for him to respond that it was because he thinks it is interesting.]

What aspects of Milano’s Odd Job Collection did you decide must be included in the game for your own artistic tastes, even if others were pushing back against it?

RN: In the milking minigame, the cow floats gently in the air to make the game easier to play. Nobody objected to this at the time – it was simply accepted as a fun idea. But in today’s development environment, someone might say, “A floating cow is unrealistic!”

Similarly, the basic premise of an 11-year-old girl living alone and working part-time might now be criticized as inappropriate. As development teams and approval processes grow larger, various parties raise concerns, and creators are expected to respond to them.

Back then, things were far more free. Producer Shimada trusted us and allowed us a broad creative range. Milano may have been one of the last projects where such small bits of playful creativity could be added without resistance.

“Among the countless pieces of content available today, the fact that Milano was found and brought back is incredibly fortunate.”

OR: To follow up, when/how do you decide to acquiesce to other’s opinions instead of following your own artistic decisions? How do you balance your artistic tastes against others, if at all?

RN: This might sound like a trade secret (laughs), but to put it simply, I balance my artistic vision with others’ opinions through negotiation. I typically present three “strong-willed, creator-driven” ideas. I expect two of them to be rejected – and that’s fine. But the third one is the one I absolutely want to keep. By prioritizing from the beginning, I can ensure that the most important idea survives while still respecting the team’s feedback.

It’s a kind of craftsmanship maintaining the project’s direction while collaborating smoothly with everyone.

OR: You’ve talked in multiple interviews about how you were a kid who loved movies, and you mentioned in a 2012 interview with hardcoregaming101 about how your “production activity is always influenced by movies, from Hollywood in particular.” Did any movies influence Milano’s Odd Job Collection, and if so: how did they do so?

RN: For Milano, I don’t think any specific films influenced the development. We focused primarily on bringing out the strengths of character designer Maki Ohzora, so my main concern was whether her style appeared naturally on screen.

Because the target audience was 11-year-old girls, the influences probably came more from the games that age group played at the time. It was the height of the Game Boy Pokémon boom, so adorable little creatures were very popular. That trend inspired us to include cute, friendly creatures in the minigames.

OR: In the past few years, you’ve had multiple older games of yours come out: first, Clockwork Aquario [(時計じかけのアクワリオ], which started development in 1991 as an arcade game and was released in 2021 on home consoles, and then Milano’s Odd Job Collection being released for Western audiences for the first time in December 2025 on PC, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch/Switch 2, and PlayStation 4/5 after first coming out in Japan in 1999 on PlayStation One.

What is it like for you to have decades-old projects come back for a new generation of players in a different part of the world on different platforms than you initially envisioned?

RN: When I first entered the game industry, games had a reputation as “something bad kids play.” There was even a sense that good children shouldn’t play games. Now games are fully recognized as a legitimate medium, and just as my generation learned from manga and anime, today’s children learn many things through games.

The global spread of gaming and the rise of social media have made it easy for anyone to access information. New games, old games – if someone wants to find them, they can. I believe this environment has enabled older games to be rediscovered and revived.

Among the countless pieces of content available today, the fact that Milano was found and brought back is incredibly fortunate. As a creator, it’s a wonderful experience to see a small project from decades ago reach new players around the world. 

OR: To people who have never heard of Milano’s Odd Job Collection before and are considering picking it up for the first time, do you have any words you would like to say to them?

RN: I consider Milano’s Odd Job Collection to be one of the ultimate pixel-art animation works. If you love pixel art, I hope you’ll give it a try.

And if you know of any game with even denser or more expressive pixel animation than this one, please tell me. Personally, I feel Milano represents one of the peaks of pixel-art-driven games, and I would be delighted if first-time players can feel the warmth and handcrafted charm within it.

I want to thank XSEED Games for setting this interview up.

Are you planning on picking up Milano’s Odd Job Collection when it is released on December 9, 2025?

What kind of parttime jobs did you have growing up?

Let us know in the comments below!