About an hour later, when Goro returned to the room, he found that the two old men were still stuck on the Boar God.
What are they doing?
Have they been arguing for over an hour?
They reached this point an hour ago, and they're still here an hour later?
No progress at all?
Or are they not even playing game?
Goro Miyazaki stood by and watched silently for a while, finally understanding—
The old men's reactions were indeed poor, too weak.
It was frustrating to watch.
He really couldn't bear to watch anymore.
"Um… if possible, please let me try this game too." Goro Miyazaki bowed slightly from the side and said earnestly.
"Otherwise, let me do it."
Saying something like that would be too hurtful.
Old Miyazaki was one thing, but there was no need to discourage Suzuki-san, who was such a good person.
Huh?
The two old men looked up, staring with wide eyes at the young man behind them.
Then they exchanged glances.
Oh, right!
Why didn't they think of it sooner?
A young man like Goro must be better at playing game than them!
Toshio Suzuki blinked: Didn't Goro always play Nintendo game when he was little? He should have been allowed to play this a long Time ago.
Why torment an old man like me?
Hayao Miyazaki, on the other hand, wondered: Is it really okay to let Goro play game?
Toshio Suzuki raised an eyebrow: It's fine, it'll definitely work. He's young, has quick reactions, and loves playing game.
It's a good chance for you two, father and son, to bond.
It sounded like that made sense.
The two old men stood up at the same Time.
"Alright, you give it a try. After all, it's the first animated game adapted by our Studio Ghibli. You're sure to have a lot of insights and ideas."
Toshio Suzuki handed the controller to Goro.
"Okay, thank you, Suzuki-san."
Goro Miyazaki sat down in Suzuki's seat.
Then Uncle Suzuki pulled a chair over from the side, and he and Hayao Miyazaki sat on either side, sandwiching Goro in the middle.
Hmm?!
Goro Miyazaki frowned. Were they going to watch too?
The psychological pressure was too great.
Hayao Miyazaki said with a dismissive yet concerned tone, "Goro, are you really alright? This game is very difficult."
The two old men had no idea how difficult the game actually was.
Mainly, when your skill isn't high enough, you can't even gauge the difficulty ceiling of the game.
In short, from Toshio Suzuki's performance just now, Hayao Miyazaki believed that princess mononoke game was very difficult.
At least much more difficult than game like patema inverted and LL that they had played before.
"It's much harder than a galgame," Hayao Miyazaki said, "This is a 3D action game."
Toshio Suzuki indicated: Isn't that obvious?
They aren't even the same type of game. One is a game where choice matters more than effort, and the other is a game where even with effort, you might not be able to continue playing.
There's no comparison at all.
"Don't worry, Goro will definitely be fine."
Toshio Suzuki said with a smile from the side.
This Miyazaki fellow, he's just not honest at all. Saying things like "it's difficult, it's difficult," seems like he's trying to dampen Goro's confidence, but in reality, he's just concerned about his son, afraid he'll make a fool of himself in front of others.
But—
Goro might not understand these little thoughts.
Sure enough, the more Hayao Miyazaki spoke like that, the more Goro Miyazaki was provoked into a rage, "You old geezer, don't you dare underestimate me!"
"Old geezer" wasn't actually an insult from Goro; he usually addressed Hayao Miyazaki that way, and it was more of an affectionate term.
After completing From Up on Poppy Hill in his previous life, when he finally received praise from Hayao Miyazaki, Goro also said to the camera:
"Old geezer, you'd better live well for me!"
Although Hayao Miyazaki was very strict with him, Goro's actions showed that he still sincerely respected and loved his father.
It's just that both father and son were like stubborn, stinky dung in a latrine—stubborn and not honest.
Hayao Miyazaki's mouth twitched twice. Good heavens, you completely misunderstood what I meant, didn't you?
Toshio Suzuki watched, amused, and quickly smoothed things over:
"Don't worry, Goro is so young, and his reactions are quick. Didn't he love playing game since he was little? He'll definitely be fine." Toshio Suzuki added, "And young people have flexible minds; their acceptance of new things is much higher than us old folks.
Maybe he can even see something in this game that we couldn't find.
Perhaps he'll even uncover a treasure trove of inspiration."
A large part of this was Toshio Suzuki's genuine feelings.
If the person in this world who most hoped for Goro to succeed was Hayao Miyazaki, then the next in line was Toshio Suzuki.
How he yearned for another young Hayao Miyazaki to emerge from Studio Ghibli.
Especially with how similar the father and son were in temperament, it was hard not to place hopes on Goro.
Young people have a drive, and they are good at discovering new things. Perhaps Goro really could learn something.
According to Suzuki's thinking, if Aoki Haruhi were from Studio Ghibli, that would be great.
But that was completely impossible.
So, being able to cultivate Goro was also good.
...
After Goro took over and experienced it for a while, he was infinitely shocked:
"Oh, have game nowadays reached this level?"
The two old men looked at each other, "You just noticed?"
The visual impact of the entire game was quite strong. To Goro, the game's visual presentation felt like a 2D animated film, but it offered a 3D experience.
This feeling was too wonderful.
When he first started, Goro thought it was a 2D game, but when he was riding Yakul to encircle and attack the Boar God, he realized it wasn't like that at all.
If it were a 2D game, the rotation, running, and all aspects wouldn't be so smooth and fluid.
It was like stepping into the world of princess mononoke.
The last Time Goro played game, he remembered it was over three years ago, and action game were still in the era of side-scrolling fighting game.
He hadn't even played Pokeni's Diablo and The Witcher series.
The only recent game he had contact with was Pokeni's LL, but that was as an original artist.
In fact, Goro Miyazaki had no contact with Pokeni's staff even after the entire game was completed.
He hadn't expected Time to develop so rapidly, and for game to reach such a terrifying level in such a short period of Time.
"It's terrifying, game nowadays can actually reach this level."
Goro Miyazaki said.
"How long has it been since you played game?" Hayao Miyazaki asked with a frown from the side.
Toshio Suzuki looked up, somewhat amused and startled, at Goro Miyazaki and then at Hayao Miyazaki.
This question, Miyazaki, shouldn't you know the answer best?
But on second thought, it was understandable that Hayao Miyazaki didn't know. This fellow was completely engrossed in his work, and he spent very little Time at home.
Moreover, Goro had moved out of the house ever since he got a job.
...
Goro had never played PS, so Toshio Suzuki even taught him hand-by-hand:
"This left joystick can be used to move. See, if you want to turn, use this right joystick…"
"As long as you stop, the game system will automatically help adjust the camera position."
"Oh, oh." Goro Miyazaki nodded seriously, indicating that he had learned.
It turned out that in this world, not only had game undergone earth-shattering changes, but even controllers had changed so much…
What have I experienced these past few years?
While marveling at the novelty, Goro Miyazaki also grew excited.
This new Time was truly too interesting.
Hayao Miyazaki, with wide eyes, had been full of confidence just now, but upon seeing that Goro knew nothing and even needed Toshio Suzuki to teach him, he felt a tiny bit of disappointment and doubt.
Is this child alright?
He hadn't even touched a PS controller. Could he really be capable of defeating the powerful BOSS?
Hayao Miyazaki impatiently lit a cigarette from the side, wanting to scold Goro but also afraid to, and finally could only sigh and obediently shut his mouth.
...
After a while, Goro began to doubt life.
"Dodge this way, dodge, the BOSS is about to use a skill!"
"Yes, yes, run, run quickly, circle around, get behind its butt, yes, yes!"
The two old men were very excited, directing him the whole Time.
"Stop, stop! Run quickly, oh no!!!…"
A big "DEAD" appeared on the screen.
Why am I even playing this game?
Do I really have to listen to these two old geezers chattering in my ear…
My head is going to explode.
In short, Goro Miyazaki was extremely regretful.
It was all his fault for being so talkative. Suzuki-san was playing perfectly fine, why did he have to take matters into his own hands and snatch the controller from his hand?
The worst part was—
Originally, there were only two old men in this room. No matter how badly Suzuki-san played, he only had to listen to one old man, Hayao Miyazaki, nagging.
But now, Goro alone had to listen to the nagging and commands of two old men.
One on the left, one on the right.
It was truly too difficult.
The agony was so intense that it made one want to open the window and jump out.
However, even if one jumped, it was unlikely they would die.
Because Studio Ghibli was only two stories high.
...
Fortunately, Goro Miyazaki was still young, and his learning ability was beyond question. He already had experience playing game, so he picked it up exceptionally quickly.
After dying for not too long, Goro had already pretty much familiarized himself with the game's mechanics and could fight very smoothly and confidently.
The moment the Boar God fell, successfully defeated by them.
The three of them simultaneously jumped out of their chairs, overwhelmed with excitement.
They shouted loudly, "This is great! We finally defeated it!!!"
Just then, a staff member, Miss Honda, Hayao Miyazaki's assistant, passed by outside the door.
Seeing three grown men shouting and jumping with excitement in the room, she couldn't help but question reality—
Miss Honda frowned, her lips spread wide.
What on earth was happening?
Why did they all seem to have gone mad?
...
When it was Time to leave work in the evening, everyone stood up to bid farewell to the Miyazaki father and son and Suzuki-san. After saying their goodbyes, the three men were still engrossed in the game.
That's why they say men are boys until they die.
To some extent, the three men hadn't changed much in this regard; they would still get excited, thrilled, and gesticulate wildly when playing game.
Even those watching had strong feelings.
Sometimes, they even forgot that princess mononoke was an animated film we produced.
By evening, Goro Miyazaki had completely mastered this game.
If one were to say something, it would probably be that the previous Ashitaka was a novice just learning martial arts, while the current Ashitaka had been refined to perfection, becoming a grandmaster.
While playing game, the three of them were also commenting:
"Pokeni is amazing," Hayao Miyazaki mumbled, crossing his legs, "It's added a lot of dramatic conflict, hasn't it?"
When Ashitaka encountered samurai robbers, he fought them and defeated the mounted guys...
Hayao Miyazaki's eyes sparkled, "So there's this kind of operation! Let's apply it to animation in the future. Horseback chase scenes are very interesting too."
When Ashitaka first met San and the White Wolves, princess mononoke and they left from the other side of the river.
Hayao Miyazaki quickly waved his hand, excitedly saying, "Quick, go and see! What happens if we catch up to San at this moment?"
What interesting things would happen?
These were all things beyond Hayao Miyazaki's original imagination—
What if something had happened back then.
In linear animation, this 'what if' doesn't exist. Audiences are driven forward by the plot, and they don't think about this question. The scenes Hayao Miyazaki envisioned are played out according to Time, and there's no second possibility.
But game is different.
Here, Hayao Miyazaki felt a strong desire and curiosity.
It was like meeting real people in a real world.
A princess mononoke beyond his control, with her own life trajectory and behavioral logic. If you met such a person, what would you do?
What would happen after doing those things was what Hayao Miyazaki really wanted to see.
Of course, Aoki Haruhi also had his own thoughts—
You think this is the future era of artificial intelligence? In the current game, all the NPC dialogues and behaviors you see are manually filled in by us. If you want them to be like real people, wait another twenty years.
So when Goro Miyazaki followed his father's command and went around to the other side of the river, he actually couldn't find anything.
From a programming logic perspective, this part was just a cutscene; not even models were loaded into the game. Once the animation finished playing, the other side of the river was empty.
How could they possibly let you find princess mononoke there?
So the few of them returned disappointed, feeling a great sense of regret.
"Ah, it's such a pity! It would be great if Yakul could cross the river," Hayao Miyazaki said sadly, "If I were designing it, I would make Yakul swim, and there should even be some stones in the middle of the river that they could cross on, that would be more realistic, wouldn't it?"
"Yakul can swim anyway, right?"
Miyazaki turned his head, asking for their opinions.
"Mm-hmm," Toshio Suzuki and Goro Miyazaki nodded in agreement.
However, in reality, it wasn't that Aoki Haruhi and his team didn't want to do it, but rather—
They couldn't do it.
With the current hardware level and software development, it's simply impossible to achieve decent water effects, let alone have Yakul and people swim in the middle of the river.
In 3D game, water is the most difficult to represent. Unreal Engine also went through several iterations, and it wasn't until Unreal Engine 4 that there was a somewhat decent water effect.
At this point in Time, if Aoki Haruhi knew Old Miyazaki's idea of making water surfaces and swimming, he would only say, 'You're making things difficult for me.'
...
It was almost late at night when the hungry group finally stopped.
Checking the Time, it was already 9 PM.
"Don't go back to cook tonight, Suzuki-san. I'll treat you all to dinner at a restaurant," Hayao Miyazaki said seriously.
It must be said that although today seemed a bit excessive, not only neglecting work but also leading the charge in playing game at the company, the few of them were inexplicably in a good mood.
Even now, recalling the game content, they still found it delicious, chewing and savoring it in their mouths.
...
The few of them found a grilled meat restaurant, ordered a few portions of beef, paired with two bottles of sake, and sat down to chat.
This was only the second Time Goro had eaten out with the two old guys since his return to Ghibli.
The first Time was on his very first day back at Ghibli, when Suzuki-san, to celebrate his arrival, specially gathered all of Ghibli's employees for a celebratory banquet.
But, in a true sense, this was the first Time they had sat together in such a small group, like now.
It felt like a family.
Of course, Suzuki-san played more than just the role of a mother.
During the meal, Goro Miyazaki poured a cup of sake for each of the elders, and they ate and chatted.
"By the way, Goro, after your experience with the Pokeni game today, do you have any insights?"
"If I had to say what insights..."
Goro stroked his chin and mused, "Perhaps the development of Time and technology is truly astonishing."
"Mm-hmm," Toshio Suzuki nodded in agreement, "It has indeed developed quite rapidly."
Who would have thought that in just a few years, game would enter the 3D Time, and that Pokeni could make 3D game to such an extent?
If they hadn't experienced it firsthand, it would have been completely unconvincing.
"So I'm also thinking..."
Goro Miyazaki folded his arms, thinking seriously, "Since game can be made to this extent, can we also try to make 3D animation?"
"Eh?"
Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki were both greatly surprised at the same Time, looking at Goro in disbelief.
"The principles are similar, right? If game consoles can do it, then animation can do it too, right?"
"3D game? 3D animation?"
The two old men frowned, truly unable to imagine what it would be like.
If Pokeni's game expressed 3D effects, wouldn't that be very similar to the general animation we make?
However, on closer thought, it didn't seem to be the case.
3D gave a very three-dimensional feeling.
"And, I'm also thinking," Goro Miyazaki continued, "Pokeni's game, its art resources must be several Times ours, because the content to be filled far exceeds the volume of an animated film.
But they spent less Time than we did.
Ghibli took over 2 years to produce, while their game only took about a year to produce, so does that mean—
A more industrialized process, and more advanced technology, such as computer drawing, represents the future direction of animation?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Hearing Goro's words, Hayao Miyazaki became very angry and flared up on the spot.
Such a disobedient son.
"Look at the paintings of Da Vinci from over a thousand years ago. Are they outdated today?"
"Many things, very classic things, not only will not become outdated, but will also become more brilliant with the passage of Time."
"Some things cannot be replaced by machines!"
"Do you understand?"
"As a painter, you need to have reverence for your artwork! Without this reverence, you cannot grow into a master!"
Toshio Suzuki quickly pulled him back, "What's wrong? Why are you so angry? We're still outside. Goro is still a child, and isn't it a good thing for young people to have ideas?"
Goro's face was ashen, and he sat silently with his arms crossed.
Darn old man.
His good mood for the day suddenly vanished.
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