Koganei, Tokyo.
Studio Ghibli.
Goro Miyazaki was organizing storyboards when he passed Hayao Miyazaki's studio and saw a strange sight:
There was a television set in the studio.
In front of the television, Suzuki P and Hayao Miyazaki sat on two chairs.
The two old men seemed exceptionally excited.
Goro Miyazaki was startled.
He glanced over and saw the game screen of "princess mononoke" on the television.
He relaxed slightly.
"Ah! Go right, go right, yes, yes, don't go that way, we'll encounter a Boar God there, and we can't beat it," Hayao Miyazaki directed.
Toshio Suzuki's brows furrowed deeply, "Then who can we beat?"
"Uh, this…"
Hayao Miyazaki fell silent.
"How about we go back to the beginning and fight some samurai? I think archery is quite interesting," Hayao Miyazaki said.
"Alright," Toshio Suzuki said, frowning, and made a compromise.
Before long, the two started arguing again.
"No, no, you have to dodge, or you'll be cut down!"
"Yes, yes, go left, hit him!"
"Hit his butt!!"
Hayao Miyazaki was exceptionally agitated, his old face flushed red.
"Or how about I play for you?" Toshio Suzuki said, displeased.
"That…" Hayao Miyazaki smiled sheepishly, about to say something, but Toshio Suzuki cut him off:
"You're going to say your hands are dirty, aren't you? You were just drawing, right?"
Toshio Suzuki said without lifting his head.
"Hehe," Hayao Miyazaki chuckled, scratching his head.
"You know that too."
"Of course, you only have this one excuse. Could it be that you can't play game because your hand is injured?" Toshio Suzuki said dismissively.
"Eh? That's not impossible either."
"Ah~ Miyazaki, can't you face your own problems?"
Goro Miyazaki laughed from behind.
Goodness, do these two old men have nothing to do? Playing game here first thing in the morning.
And arguing so fiercely.
But, Hayao Miyazaki, what are you doing?
Supervising?
Is watching Suzuki P play game that enjoyable?
Goro Miyazaki felt extremely confused. He had never seen Old Miyazaki sit by and watch him play game at home.
Not only not, but for a long time, he couldn't even see Hayao Miyazaki.
It's been a bit better recently, but that's also because he joined Studio Ghibli.
"Hey, grandpas, is it really alright to play game during work hours in broad daylight?" Goro said jokingly.
Hearing Goro's voice from behind, Hayao Miyazaki himself was startled.
He quickly stood up, somewhat flustered, and adjusted his clothes and hair.
He put a cigarette in his mouth but didn't light it, just holding it there, awkwardly wiping his hands on his apron.
"That, that…"
Ah… Yabai.
Being caught slacking off by his son, this situation was simply too terrible.
Goro must be very disappointed to see his father like this, right?
How will he strictly demand Goro in the future, how will he educate his child?
I really am an irresponsible fellow…
"So… I'll…"
Hayao Miyazaki was about to leave to prepare for a new work, but he had no intention of leaving in his mind.
He was even still thinking about the humanoid BOSS at the beginning of the game.
At this moment, Toshio Suzuki smiled at Goro Miyazaki.
Seeing Hayao Miyazaki's troubled expression, he was particularly happy, even a little amused.
It had been a long time since he saw Miyazaki in such a predicament. He didn't expect him to be quite reserved in front of his son.
"This is also part of the work," Toshio Suzuki told Goro, "We are experiencing the 'princess mononoke' game, you know."
"That's right, that's right!"
Hayao Miyazaki's eyes suddenly lit up, and he slammed his fist, saying, "This is work for us too. 'princess mononoke' is a derivative of our movie. I have to see what the game content is like, right?"
"The movie has already been released, and the next step is to make some merchandise. Suzuki-san and I are researching the game content."
"Actually, adapting animation into a game is really not an easy task."
Hayao Miyazaki said, feigning composure.
In reality, the two old men had just completed the tutorial part. Just defeating the few samurai in front and running to the mountaintop had already exhausted their lifelong energy.
Not to mention the later experience content.
"Hmm, Goro, do you want to come and play together?" Toshio Suzuki invited, "You also participated in the animation production, so it would be a pity if you didn't try the game."
"Hmm… I'll try it later. I'm going to work first."
Goro Miyazaki nodded slightly to the two old men and politely excused himself.
Seeing Goro leave, Hayao Miyazaki finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ah~ how scary, being seen playing game by my son is such a terrifying thing."
"We're working, working."
"Yes, yes, working, this is very important work," Hayao Miyazaki followed with a mischievous smile.
This guy…
Suzuki squinted, silently watching Miyazaki.
He really is thick-skinned.
He didn't feel any remorse and just went with the flow.
...
So the two old men continued to sit in front of the television and play game.
"The new console's controller is pretty good," Toshio Suzuki said, "Have you noticed that my operations have become smoother too?"
Hayao Miyazaki froze for a moment, then shook his head, "No."
"But, I just cut down a samurai."
"I think we shouldn't get too close. Isn't it better to shoot arrows from a distance?" Hayao Miyazaki said.
"But they'll come looking for us too," Suzuki retorted, "If they catch up, how do we fight with just a bow and arrow?"
The two stopped talking and focused on playing game.
After completing the tutorial, they chased the merchants up the hillside.
The Boar God, transformed into a demon, rushed out, trampled over one of the samurai's bodies, and charged down the hillside.
Then another was entangled by a curse worm, and its body began to swell, transforming into the first BOSS in the game—
[Cursed Humanoid Monster]
"Hmm… a little scary."
Hayao Miyazaki gasped. This transformation effect was more visually impactful than he had imagined.
He himself didn't really understand game, but he could clearly feel the impact and immersion the game brought to players, which was truly powerful, not at all inferior to a movie.
He could even learn something from it.
Toshio Suzuki was even so startled that he almost dropped the controller.
"Eh? Not bad, this change in this part."
Hayao Miyazaki folded his arms and praised softly.
There were some changes in the game content, and these had to be communicated to Ghibli.
So Hayao Miyazaki actually already knew about these additional contents.
For him, as long as the main storyline didn't change, the character relationships, character settings, and the ultimate theme didn't change, everything else was fine.
(It seems there isn't much else that can be changed.)
This is called dancing with shackles.
How could Old Miyazaki possibly agree if Aoki Haruhi wanted to make major changes to the plot?!
So he had to put effort into the gameplay and presentation.
...
Regarding this early part, although Pokeni added some content, Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki felt it was just right when they experienced it.
It even had a foreshadowing effect.
At the beginning of the game, through the invasion of outsiders, hunting, and then merchants profiting from it, selling animal skins and rare animal heads…
This series of conflicts was already quite obvious.
Basically, it was a microcosm of the entire "princess mononoke" story.
It revealed human greed and nature's backlash from the start, while also bringing out the conflicts.
Actually, Hayao Miyazaki was quite satisfied with this.
game is different from animation. Animated movies need to consider length and rhythm. A two-hour movie definitely has limited information, so choices must be made.
The sense of rhythm also needs to be controlled, needing to be interconnected and balanced, so that audiences can be firmly held in their seats.
But game is different. game itself is a kind of experience that can be played and paused at will, saved, and restarted. It's very fragmented and has no time limit.
So there are not so many restrictions. Not only are there no restrictions on plot length and information, but it even needs to be filled with a lot of things to give players a better experience.
For example, the dialogue of each NPC, and the information from items collected in game rooms and fields, can be used to piece together more of the story and side quests…
These are all things that the game needs to accomplish.
Therefore, Hayao Miyazaki was very supportive of Pokeni's changes, and even gained a lot of inspiration from them.
Some things he had never imagined.
But when he played it, his eyes lit up.
"Eh? Is that how I designed it?"
"Eh? There's even this kind of operation?"
"Eh? This way of expression is also acceptable?"
...
The opening part of the game, from the beginner tutorial all the way to the first boss battle, left Hayao Miyazaki full of praise.
This added portion instantly created a sense of beginning and end.
Later, players comparing it will likely dig out more details, such as the greed of human nature, merchants' betrayal for profit, and the indifference of powerful figures to the lives of the lower class…
Draining the pond to catch all the fish, being extremely shortsighted, wars between people, plunder…
And so on, all of these are actually condensed here, hinted at in small details.
Aoki Haruhi's ability to understand his own work to such an extent, and to deepen and transform it, made Hayao Miyazaki exceptionally pleased.
Moreover, the game's visual presentation, movement, combat content…
All of these left Hayao Miyazaki full of praise.
"I never expected that game could reach such a level now."
"Isn't that right?" Toshio Suzuki said, gritting his teeth while fighting the boss, "Pokeni's technology should be considered world-class, so achieving this level should be a simple matter."
Although he said it was simple, Suzuki P himself was not confident.
The visuals and experience in the game were simply too smooth; it felt as if Aoki Haruhi and his team had created an animated world.
"This is the world of princess mononoke as I imagined it," Hayao Miyazaki said, lighting a cigarette beside him, taking a deep puff, and sighing, "We present the game to the audience in a linear fashion.
They allow the audience to explore and discover within the game.
This is a more difficult kind of work."
Hayao Miyazaki said seriously.
This was also the most genuine and profound feeling he had after watching for a long time.
In animation, drawing storyboards based on the storyline, then creating visuals based on the storyboards, and finally processing them into a film, is actually relatively simpler.
For example, in the beginning, Ashitaka discovers the Boar God attacking the village, which is only a few short minutes in the animation.
When drawing, only key frames need to be shown; as for how the Boar God arrived, what was around it, and how it moved, many continuous action frames do not need to be fully drawn.
But it's different in a game; a game must put everything into the scene, where it happens in reality.
Even if you turn your camera away and are not looking at the Boar God, it is still attacking the village.
Therefore, Hayao Miyazaki especially admired Aoki Haruhi, feeling that they had accomplished something remarkable.
Especially since the game enriched the worldview of princess mononoke, placing many small details within it for players to discover and explore, and also achieving good Yugiplay, rather than just having players watch a movie.
More importantly, players have a very intuitive and good experience within it.
Removing the entire plot section, then battles with monsters, riding Yakul through the mountains, exploring the world, searching for information…
These are inherently very interesting.
Hayao Miyazaki even felt he could play with the bow and arrow for a year himself.
No, he could watch Toshio Suzuki play with the bow and arrow for a year.
The Yugiplay was already quite remarkable.
Even more remarkable was that such a game could produce animation effects similar to a movie.
Hayao Miyazaki could feel this at all times, as if the world of princess mononoke from his own pen had come to life.
Ashitaka lived.
San lived.
The forest of divine beasts lived, and even the Kodama lived.
That's the feeling.
Hayao Miyazaki wasn't really clear on how much time, manpower, and resources it would take to achieve this level, or how difficult it was.
But, he was sincerely proud of Aoki Haruhi, and proud that Pokeni could bring his work to such a level.
It was truly remarkable.
...
This collaboration effectively laid a solid foundation for the future of Studio Ghibli and Pokeni, fostering a strong sense of trust between them.
Whether it was the quality of Hayao Miyazaki's own animation, Joe Hisaishi's music, or the game itself, they all reached a new height.
Such a collaboration was perfect.
Hayao Miyazaki even thought to himself—
It seems many future works can follow this path.
But as for what the next animation project should be, Hayao Miyazaki currently had no clue.
After completing princess mononoke, he decided to take a long vacation, travel extensively, and gather some inspiration along the way.
Of course, before his trip, he still had to fully experience the princess mononoke game with Toshio Suzuki.
After all, this was princess mononoke!
It was the adapted game of princess mononoke, which he had poured countless efforts into creating.
Hayao Miyazaki watched Toshio Suzuki play the game, enjoying himself throughout and feeling very excited.
This feeling was like watching his own child perform.
Of course, the child referred to here was not Suzuki-san, but the princess mononoke game.
It was very satisfying.
Truly very satisfying; just watching from the side was enough to feel proud.
Especially when he saw Toshio Suzuki being tormented to death by the game, Hayao Miyazaki became exceptionally excited and happy.
He secretly covered his mouth and chuckled.
At this moment, he seemed to somewhat experience the feelings of a game developer—
If the game I worked so hard to create were that easy for players to complete, how unsatisfying would that be?
This time, observing princess mononoke was truly a unique experience.
Previously, when playing Pokeni's game, Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki were on the same side, always wishing the game were a bit simpler, as long as they could complete it.
But when princess mononoke was his "child," he always hoped his "child" would work harder and defeat these players.
Whenever he saw Toshio Suzuki being killed by monsters, Hayao Miyazaki would laugh exceptionally happily.
...
Clack~
With a crisp sound of bones, Toshio Suzuki was hit again by the humanoid demon, letting out a miserable cry.
Ashitaka fell to the ground accordingly.
A large [DEAD] character appeared on the screen.
"Ah~ Is this game a bit too difficult?" Toshio Suzuki sighed silently.
He had already died 3 times at the hands of this boss.
Tears were even brought out.
Toshio Suzuki pushed his glasses up onto his forehead, then wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
He wasn't actually crying from being beaten, but as he got older, staring at the TV for a long time caused some visual fatigue.
Hayao Miyazaki gloated beside him, "Is it possible, Suzuki, that you're just not good enough?"
"Then you do it? If you can do it, you do it, okay?" Toshio Suzuki was displeased now.
"Hmm… Look at these hands of mine…"
Hayao Miyazaki spread his hands, showing him the watercolors on them.
They were colorful, and both hands were quite messy.
This guy…
Toshio Suzuki rolled his eyes.
...
The two old men sat in the room, playing the game and complaining.
Hayao Miyazaki's commanding voice was loud.
Before long, Toshio Suzuki died again.
He had barely managed to defeat the first boss, only to be tormented to death again at the Boar God.
"Miyazaki-san, when you were drawing, did you ever think the Boar God would be this powerful?" Toshio Suzuki teased.
"Well… that's definitely the case."
Hayao Miyazaki stubbornly insisted, "You know, this is the mountain lord who protects the mountain. If it didn't have this much ability, how could it protect it?"
Damn it, this guy sounded so serious and even made sense.
But in reality, it was all nonsense.
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