Game Developer in the World of Anime

Chapter 638: Demo Playtest

Since it was a Japanese RPG, there was naturally an opening animation as soon as the game started.

As he listened to the gentle music and watched the 2D animated cutscene, Ichin immediately recognized the art style.

"You had J.C.STAFF make the animated cutscenes?"

Akane smiled and nodded. "You could tell? That's right. I know someone over there, so I asked whether they had any openings in their schedule recently. Since they did, we worked together to produce some of the game's cutscenes. What do you think, Ichin-kun?"

"It's pretty good."

Ichin spoke with approval. "I can tell your friends over there didn't let you down. A lot of care went into the production."

"Well, of course. We've been good friends for years. And when it comes to working with me, I'm known for never delaying payments. I pay quickly, so collaborations are always pleasant."

After the cutscene ended, Ichin officially began trying the demo.

At the start of the game, the story was told from the male protagonist's perspective. Even though it was only a demo, all the voice acting that should have been there was already fully recorded, and the voice was one Ichin knew very well.

"Oh! Gin-san, when did your hair turn black, Gin-san?"

That's right, the voice actor was Tomokazu Sugita. Even without checking the cast list, Ichin could recognize it immediately just by hearing him. After all, he hadn't watched all those episodes of Gintama over and over for nothing.

But once Ichin actually got into the game, he realized there was quite a lot packed into the opening. There was plenty of story, along with a fair amount of combat. Since it was still the beginning of the game, though, the battles were fairly simple.

The combat system was turn-based, but not in the traditional sense. It felt a bit like Atelier, except the battle pace was faster, which made it quite fun to play.

After about an hour of gameplay, Ichin had fully experienced the game's early story and finally set down the controller with satisfaction.

"Not bad at all. If the rest of the game keeps up the same level of quality as the prologue, I'd be more than happy to buy a copy when it comes out."

Utaha finished around the same time as well.

"It really is quite good. Even though I already know the story, actually playing it myself still made for a very enjoyable experience. The story presentation was done wonderfully."

Hearing the two of them praise it, Akane, who had stayed with them the entire time, finally let out a sigh of relief.

"There's nothing better than receiving this kind of evaluation from professionals. Then, Ichin-kun, is there anything in this demo that still needs improvement?"

"Of course there is. First of all, the music in the game. There are several places where the background tracks don't quite fit. Those definitely need to be adjusted."

After that, Ichin went over a number of areas in the game that needed improvement.

Aside from the music, the protagonist's combat animations also needed some revision, and so did the camera movement.

They were all relatively minor problems, but after hearing them, Akane considered it for a moment and said, "Understood. Thank you for your suggestions. I'll have the development team work harder to fix all of these issues. Even if it's just a demo for release, I still want every part of this game to be as close to perfect as possible. This will be the beginning of our company's next step forward."

Ichin smiled. "Then I wish your game huge sales next year."

"Thanks, but there's still no way we can compare to you, Ichin-kun. Tales of Berseria is still climbing in sales even now." Akane said happily, then added, "By the way, have you already started another new project?"

"That's right. A new project."

Ichin stood up and nodded. "Right now, aside from the ongoing live service for Fall Guys and Apex, and Monster Train, which has already been announced, we've also started development on two more games. On top of that, several more are still in the planning stage. So Miss Kosaka, do your best to catch up with me. Otherwise, one of these days, I really might come over and acquire your company."

To be honest, Ichin had long been eyeing the strength of Akane's development team. Their cohesion was strong, and everyone seemed full of energy while working.

In that regard, they were quite similar, and that was one of the reasons Ichin had considered acquiring them before.

Akane didn't get angry. Even if she were truly acquired in the future, it certainly would not be a bad thing. But being bought out before she had failed? That was impossible. She had not fallen that far yet.

With the game demo finished, the purpose of today's visit was over. Ichin did not stay long and soon said goodbye to Akane, planning to return to his company.

"Ichin-kun, Utaha, let's have dinner together tonight. Let me thank you properly."

Faced with Akane's invitation, Ichin and Utaha exchanged a glance. Then Utaha smiled and said, "Not today. There are people waiting for us at home, so we need to go back and cook. Next time. Once the demo is released and gets a good response, we can all get together properly then."

Akane did not insist and simply nodded. "Alright, it's a deal."

After personally seeing the two of them out of the office building, Akane immediately returned to the company and called the development team together for a meeting.

There were only about fifteen days left until the demo's release, and they did not have much time to make improvements. They had to hurry.

Back at the company, just as expected, Ichin was immediately surrounded by Hajime and the others, who curiously started asking about the new game.

As for Utaha, she was very clever about it. Instead of going with Ichin to the development floor, she took the elevator straight to the top floor and returned to Ichin's office to continue writing.

With no other choice, Ichin gave everyone a simple rundown of his experience playing the game, along with some of its systems.

As for the story, though, he did not talk about it. That was something everyone should experience for themselves.

"Overall, the game has a very solid foundation, and a lot has clearly been invested into it. Utaha's script is absolutely reliable as well. As long as the later systems and balance don't go wrong, and the story presentation is handled properly, it will definitely be a good game."

That was undoubtedly very high praise coming from Ichin, and it made Hajime, Nene, and the others all the more excited.

Nene said eagerly, "Looks like next month we can download the demo and see what this game is really made of!"

Aoba also chimed in, "Yeah, an RPG. There really haven't been many fun ones these past few years. Among all the RPGs after DQ11, it still feels like our own Persona is the most enjoyable."

"RPGs aren't easy to make, especially in the industry these days," Ichin said with a smile, leaning back in his chair. "The demands are high across the board: script, presentation, graphics, and everything else. And among the Japanese studios famous for making RPGs, there really aren't many willing to spend big money developing true next-generation RPGs anymore."

A whole bunch of them were not even releasing new titles, and quite a few had already given up trying. There was no counting on those Japanese studios anymore.

...

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