ISZAC
_{Producer, Writer, Illustrator}

Iszac is a Japanese-Filipino American freelance artist with experience as a Media Producer, Writer, and Illustrator based in northern California.

Clients: The Completionist, Contemporary Asian Theater Scene

Game Development

J-Town: A Visual Novel
^{Narrative driven game giving players a vertical slice of Japanese American history, culture, and community}

- Coordinated a team of 7 developers and 13 voice actors
- Successfully raised over $10,000 USD on Kickstarter
- Developed and pitched initial Game Concept
- Worked with co-director, writer, composer, and additional artists to create a cohesive experience
- Developed overal Presentation of the Game
- Designed all original characters
- Created all backgrounds and background characters

Film

Silicon Valley Asian Pacific Film Fest
^{non-profit film festival dedicated to platforming Asian American stories and connecting our local community}

- Technical Lead since 2017
- In-person and online event producer
- General IT for events
- Organized over 300 film for festival showings
- On-site technical director/operator

Game Reviews

Writer for The Completionist

Design Analysis Essays

All Star Town video essays [ This sample is not to be reposted, duplicated or edited.Thank you! Enjoy.]


As many of y’all know Kingdom Hearts came into existence because two nerds walked into an elevator and started writing fan fiction combining their OCs.
[cue fictionalized flashback] “A soft bell chimed at the entrance of the boho chic cafe. Cloud Strife looked up from the glass he was polishing. His mako green eyes met the gentle gaze of his customer, and from across the room his customer spoke, “Say fellas, did Somebody mention the Door to Darkness?”
[end of flashback]
For anyone unfamiliar with the plot, this is 100% canon to the game. Anyways, this premise is the foundation for the entire series. Sure the original characters of this world have developed into a dumpster fire hot mess of lore all their own, but hanging out with these two jarringly different intellectual properties was a massive draw to the series. Kingdom Hearts 1 is one of my favorites because I think it did this fusion so well. In hindsight, I can admit that the controls are totally jank, but busted as a lot of them were, I found the environments to be incredibly fun to explore.
Climbing through a jungle and sliding down trees, uncovering every nook and cranny of the Bizarre room, plundering the streets of Agrabah and the Cave of Wonders. I really liked adventuring in every world and also Monstro was there. The experiences they offer are pretty unique. Wonderland and Halloweentown both task you with fetch quests, and they both offer weird ways to explore the map, but their approaches to exploration are informed by their source material and as a result they feel very different. And sure with this greater variety it meant a lot of these maps are kinda tough to fully figure out.
And sure, having a map would’ve made the whole experience a little bit smoother. Atlantica definitely would’ve been a lot less confusing. But hey, you wanna know where a map is completely unnecessary? The entirety of Kingdom Hearts 2.
Fu**. This game is just a bunch of flat rooms in a straight line. The Cave of Wonders isn’t a mysterious labyrinth of treasures and goodies; it’s a line of four rooms where you slap some dudes, do some minigame that I still don’t fully understand, slap some dudes with a time stipulation, and then slap some dudes in a dark-ISH room. Kingdom Hearts gets to work with these iconic worlds that have been influential to an entire generation’s childhood. And ooh they just bumble fumble the execution..
This game is just a bunch of boring hallways. In some instances like Beast's Castle, that’s perfectly fine. In an engaging gauntlet like this one instance in Land of Dragons, it’s fine. But every world is just a bunch of linear corridors. Pirates of the Caribbean is just a bunch of rooms in a line. And sure technically this isn’t flat, but it certainly isn’t all that interesting either. There is so little verticality to this game. Obviously I would love the stuff I mentioned earlier like dense jungles and sublevels of wonder to my Cave of Wonder, but apparently that bar is too high in Kingdom Hearts 2.

Narrative Designer

Full narrative design catalogue at itch.io

[ This sample is not to be reposted, duplicated or edited.Thank you! Enjoy.]


A fancy car with tinted windows pulls into a quiet neighborhood. You are sitting in the back across from eccentric businessman, Dan Domadime. A stoic assistant sits by his side.Dan: Well boy howdy, we’ve just arrived in J-Town. This neighborhood is what we call free real estate. Tiny little community that is rife with profitable potential. I heard that Kpop and Anime are all the rage with kids. So this here little Asian town is perfect for us to move in on.
Dan: Chinese neighborhood or something.
Dan: Doesn’t really matter. Point is, I want to open up a shop that sells bento boxes with Samurais and them BTS fellers on them. Unfortunately for me, the folks living here are kinda… stubborn. But that's where you come in.
Dan : ...
Dan: What was your name again?
[Player inputs their name]
Dan: Right right, [name]. Anyways, your job is to convince these folk that giving some land to Domadime corp for the Domadime Anime Extravaganza will be good for their little neighborhood.Dan: Any questions?
[option 1] "None. Let's get this bread."
        - Dan: That's what I like to hear!
[option 2] "How am I supposed to convince them Domadime corp. is good for them?"
         - Dan: "Domadime Corporation operates a national pop culture paraphernalia chain. Surely, you can find a sob story in the crowd and convince them that we’ll be good for them."
[option 3] "Wait but if it’s your Anime Extravaganza, doesn't that make them Japanese?"
        - Dan: "What's the difference?"Dan: "I’ll check in around lunch and at end of day. Now get out there and make that capitalistic dystopia a reality!"Dan Domadime's assistant shoves you out of the car and they speed off. Dan Domadime definitely ran that red light. As you lay on the curb, you turn your focus to the town in front of you.