The celebration for final fantasy had just ended, and Takuya Nakayama had already left the joy and clamor behind him.
He hurried through the corridors of Sega Headquarters, walking directly to the development team responsible for Mew.
Pushing open the door of the development room, a mixture of instant coffee and oppressive silence assailed him.
There was no bustling activity as he had expected. Dozens of development machine screens flickered with green code, but the sound of keyboards tapping was sparse and hesitant, sometimes a burst, then swallowed by long silences. One person was even repeatedly deleting the few lines he had just written.
Takuya's gaze swept across the room and quickly settled on a figure in a corner.
Yuji Naka was hunched over his workstation, both hands buried in his messy hair, looking like a plant wilted by the sun. The ashtray in front of him was piled high with cigarette butts, and a cup of coffee beside him had long gone cold, its surface even covered with a thin film.
As Takuya approached, he could clearly see the two heavy dark circles under his young eyes. His gaze was hollow, staring at the character design on the screen as if trying to see through the blueprint, yet nothing was reflected in his pupils.
"Naka-san."
Takuya's voice was not loud, but it sounded exceptionally clear in the silence.
Yuji Naka's shoulders trembled violently. He looked up, a flicker of panic in his bloodshot eyes, which then dimmed again.
"Executive Director Nakayama—"
He tried to stand up, but his body was stiff from sitting for too long, and his movements seemed a bit slow.
"Sit down."
Takuya pulled over a chair and sat down next to Yuji Naka.
He didn't rush to speak, but first observed the state of the other developers around him.
Everyone seemed to be trapped by invisible shackles, their faces filled with self-doubt.
"I heard that the development of Mew has run into some trouble."
Takuya's tone was calm.
Yuji Naka's lips moved, finally turning into a bitter smile.
"We played the demo of final fantasy."
He picked up a cartridge from the table, it was Square's astonishing masterpiece.
"Then when we looked at our own game, it felt like a clumsy imitation."
"The character development isn't as rich, the worldview isn't grand enough, even the combat system seems so—mediocre."
"Our proud 3D mazes, in front of its cinematic narrative, also seemed like child's play."
Yuji Naka's voice grew lower and lower, finally almost a murmur.
That sense of defeat, emanating from his very bones, made this genius programmer seem fragile.
Takuya listened in silence, knowing that any empty comfort at this moment would be meaningless.
This was the after-effect of final fantasy's success.
The game's brilliance was too dazzling, causing these developers, who were also striving in the RPG arena, to begin doubting their own path.
He recalled the evaluations of Yuji Naka in his previous life.
A top-tier programmer, a technical fanatic who could push hardware performance to its limits.
But in terms of overall game planning and creative conception, he indeed lacked the unbridled talent of Hironobu Sakaguchi.
His strength lay in implementation, not in creation from scratch.
The success of Sonic was based on a clear concept of speed.
The glory of phantasy star Online was in pioneering online RPGs for home consoles.
He needed a clear direction, a stage where he could fully utilize his technical advantages.
He absolutely could not let this future star of Sega fall before dawn.
"Show me your development documents and project records."
Takuya extended his hand.
Yuji Naka seemed not to have heard clearly, pausing for a moment before fumbling to retrieve a large stack of documents from the filing cabinet.
Takuya took the thick documents and began flipping through them page by page.
He read extremely fast, his fingers quickly moving across the papers, occasionally pausing to write and draw on a scratchpad beside him.
The development room was silent, with only the rustling sound of pages turning.
Everyone stopped their work, their gazes unconsciously converging on the young Managing Director.
He was like an experienced old doctor, conducting a consultation for a critically ill patient.
Time passed minute by minute.
Takuya finally closed the last document, letting out a soft breath.
He looked up at Yuji Naka, his eyes showing no disappointment, but rather a sense of understanding.
"Naka-san, your technical prowess is Sega's treasure."
"But you seem to have fallen into a misconception."
Yuji Naka nervously swallowed his saliva.
"Mew doesn't need to be another final fantasy."
"It needs to be a unique Mew."
Takuya picked up a pen and drew a simple outline of a female figure on the whiteboard.
"First, your heroine. The script needs to be optimized, the core is to make her 'live'. You need to investigate what kind of female characters Japanese and Western male players actually like? Extract the most popular traits, such as strength, gentleness, and mystery."
He paused, adding a few question marks next to the figure.
"Then, give her some harmless but sufficiently unique 'flaws'. Make her different from all templated characters, only then can she be remembered by players."
For the first time, a faint glimmer of light rekindled in Yuji Naka's eyes.
"Secondly, there are too few playable characters. The choices given to players are not enough."
"There's no need for complex job changes like in final fantasy, that would blur the uniqueness of each character. What we need to do is exactly the opposite: make the characteristics of each character extremely distinct. For example, one excels in physical attacks, one specializes in magic, and one is responsible for healing. Simple, direct, but irreplaceable."
"Third, mazes."
Takuya's pen drew a complex maze pattern on the whiteboard, then drew a big 'X' over it.
"Don't use high difficulty and high encounter rates to drag out time, that's the lowest level of design and will only wear down players' enthusiasm. final fantasy's random encounter rate is a bit too high, which partly destroys the fun of exploration. This is its weakness, not its strength."
"Our mazes must have memorable points. It can be a shocking cutscene, a cleverly designed puzzle, or even directly giving players a map item. Players should enjoy the process of exploration, not hate it."
Yuji Naka no longer cared about his previous dejection; he quickly picked up his notebook and began frantically jotting down everything he heard.
"Fourth, the combat system."
"Although it's first-person like dragon quest, we have the advantage of 16-bit console capabilities. Enemies can move, attacks can have more spectacular effects, and backgrounds can be more complex. We need to turn the advantage of our capabilities into the most intuitive visual impact, so that players can see at first glance that this is a Sega game, a next-generation RPG."
Takuya put down his pen, turned to look at Yuji Naka, his gaze burning.
"As for the areas where compromises must be made due to capacity and performance limitations, don't dwell on them too much. As long as you don't create things that players hate, and the core experience is good enough, players won't mind."
In the office, the stagnant air that had been like dead water was now stirred up.
Some developers began discussing in low voices, their eyes sparkling with excitement.
Takuya walked up to Yuji Naka and placed his hands on his shoulders.
"Naka-san, your talent is not in question; you've just been temporarily dazzled by others' brilliance."
"You possess the top programming ability in all of Japan, and that's enough."
"Use your talent where it counts, to realize these ideas, to create a fantasy legend that belongs to Sega."
"Don't doubt yourself. As long as you keep moving forward, you will only get better and better."
"Don't worry about the game development cycle being extended; I will explain it to the higher-ups for you. Don't have any pressure other than 'making a good game'."
Yuji Naka looked up, seeing Takuya's firm gaze, and a long-suppressed surge of warmth rushed into his chest.
The confusion and self-doubt that had tormented him day and night seemed to be scattered by a strong light at this moment.
He nodded heavily, the bloodshot in his eyes seemingly receding quite a bit due to excitement.
"I understand, Executive Director Nakayama!"
His voice was no longer hoarse, but filled with strength once more.
Seeing the rekindled fire in Yuji Naka's eyes and the renewed vitality of the entire development team, Takuya knew that the purpose of his trip had been achieved.
He turned to leave, and behind him came the sound of enthusiastic discussions and the crisp, rapid tapping of keyboards.
A brand new Mew was quietly taking shape in this small office.