Tokyo.
Ginza.
Pokeni Co., Ltd.
In the morning, President Aoki called Shinji Mikami into his office.
After they sat down, President Aoki poured him a cup of tea, and they started chatting while drinking.
"princess mononoke has come to an end, and it's Time to make a new game."
President Aoki asked, "Shinji Mikami, you are a Director now. Do you have any ideas?"
After the development of princess mononoke was completed, it meant that Shinji Mikami and Gen Urobuchi's manpower was freed up, and they should continue to move forward. The company was in an expansion phase, and should be more ambitious.
That's why President Aoki approached Shinji Mikami first to discuss this matter today.
"It should be about 'Border'," Shinji Mikami replied.
Hey, President, wasn't this project proposed by you?
Why are you asking me about it now?
Since Nvidia delivered new discrete graphics cards in the first half of this year, this project has been put on the agenda.
Next spring, Nvidia's discrete graphics cards will be released.
At that Time, if such a game that heavily relies on 3D performance suddenly appears, it would just help Nvidia hold its ground.
"What else?" President Aoki continued to ask.
"We only have so many people," Shinji Mikami complained.
Currently, besides the Pokémon project team, which has around 200 people, other studios are quite tight on resources.
Although Pokeni doesn't restrict employees to stay in the same project team, and instead uses a flat, fluid management system, there will still be a division in the end.
For example, the brothers who originally worked with Lisa Asano on Pokémon would definitely be more inclined to continue working on Pokémon later.
Of course, all of this depends on the company's needs.
It's an easy task for President Aoki to allocate personnel.
But currently, although there are many people on the Pokémon side, there are also many projects being developed simultaneously, so personnel are still scarce, and the projects are in a saturated state.
As for Shinji Mikami, although he holds the title of Director, he actually does a lot of work.
He had been busy with the princess mononoke project, and at the same Time, he had to take Time to check on the status of the witcher 2 on Miyazaki Hidetaka's side.
Now that princess mononoke is concluding, there are only so many available personnel, at most enough to support the development of one new shooting game.
"Shooting games are quite complex," Shinji Mikami said, "We are still having Akanishi-san's team help develop gun calibration tools and a basic shooting simulation system."
Shooting games are a completely new field, and everything has to be explored from scratch.
It's not an easy task.
Take the shooting system, for example: projectile flight, ballistics, gun weight, recoil... all of these need to be designed and adjusted.
The programmers, last year, stopped following up on development because there was no hardware support.
Now that Nvidia's graphics cards are out, the programming department is constantly complaining. Akanishi Ken is worried every day. He was already a bald middle-aged man, and now he's so tormented that his beard has turned white.
In a while, Akanishi Ken will be following Toshio Suzuki's path.
After listening to Shinji Mikami's complaints, President Aoki was amused.
Oh, these silly guys.
"People can always be recruited," President Aoki comforted, "You don't have to worry about manpower. If you need any kind of person, go find Ayase, she will definitely solve it.
If Ayase can't solve it..."
"Nani?!" Shinji Mikami looked eagerly at President Aoki.
Could it be that the President is going to personally step in?
"If she can't solve it, then Ayase won't have a job," President Aoki said.
After the economic bubble burst, people were not so scarce, but talents like Shinji Mikami were still lacking.
It is difficult now to recruit people who can serve as Producers and lead teams independently to make games.
Isn't it easy to recruit people to do work?
"Okay, President," Shinji Mikami nodded.
"What I mean is..."
President Aoki pondered for a moment and said, "Look, princess mononoke has been developed, hasn't it? The industry's response has been very good, right?"
"Mm," Shinji Mikami nodded obediently.
"But Famitsu deducted 4 points from us, giving us only 36 points," President Aoki said angrily.
"That's because..." Shinji Mikami quickly said, "That's because the plot wasn't our original work, and I genuinely feel that the game we made is already good enough."
"Right?"
"Mm-hmm, right."
"So, we've done so much work, and princess mononoke is such a good thing. If we don't reuse it, I feel it's a bit of a waste," President Aoki mused.
"Eh?" Shinji Mikami blinked, as if he had heard something incredible.
"Resource reuse," President Aoki said, "Our animation rendering is so amazing. The scenes in princess mononoke, the forests, the fields, even Tatara City, are all dreamlike."
That is true.
Shinji Mikami nodded. Although it felt a bit strange to hear his President praise his own game, he had to admit that what President Aoki said was the truth.
"It seems a bit wasteful that the game resources couldn't be reused."
"So, do you have any new ideas?" President Aoki looked at Shinji Mikami with burning eyes, full of expectation.
Under that gaze, cold sweat trickled down Shinji Mikami's back.
"President, it's not that we don't want to, but..." Shinji Mikami said hesitantly, "Whether or not there can be a sequel to princess mononoke, doesn't that depend on Ghibli?
Will they agree to let us develop a sequel?"
According to general game tradition, if a game reaches the blockbuster level of princess mononoke, then a sequel would definitely be developed.
However, princess mononoke has its own unique characteristics.
This game is based on Hayao Miyazaki's princess mononoke film.
The copyrights are all in Ghibli's hands. If they have no intention of developing a follow-up film, then Pokeni is helpless no matter what.
And from Shinji Mikami's understanding of Hayao Miyazaki, if that old man were willing to develop princess mononoke 2, it would truly be seeing a ghost.
After all, this movie has already expressed itself very completely here.
The conflict between humans and nature, unresolved, everything recurring, this is also the philosophical proposition Hayao Miyazaki wanted to express and leave for future generations to ponder.
Developing a second part would be a bit like gilding the lily.
Nor is it certain that Hayao Miyazaki could do it better.
Shinji Mikami felt bitter, indicating that the President was making things difficult for him.
President Aoki, however, smiled lightly.
"I didn't say I wanted to make princess mononoke 2."
"Then what do you mean, President?"
"Reuse the resources, and then we'll make our own story," President Aoki said.
"Hmm... that seems possible," Shinji Mikami said, crossing his arms and thinking.
princess mononoke is actually very impressive to have reached this level. A large number of resources within it, including the game combat mechanics and so on, could become a powerful game product just by changing the skin.
Just like when the onmyoji series was made back then, under the same Time background, many art resources could be reused.
Doing this not only saves costs but also saves Time.
"Then we just need Urobuchi to come up with a good script," Shinji Mikami said.
"Hmm... let me think."
President Aoki crossed his arms and also fell into contemplation.
"If there's anything that can be well-matched with princess mononoke's resources," President Aoki frowned, "then forests, villages... these all need to be used."
What kind of game would have such beautiful, animated scenery?
"Ah!"
Just then, a flash of lightning lit up in President Aoki's mind.
He thought of something very interesting that could perfectly inherit the current art resources of princess mononoke.
"Shinji Mikami, can you call Lisa Asano over?"
"Hmm? Asano? Lisa Asano?"
"Yes," President Aoki nodded... A few minutes later, Shinji Mikami brought Lisa Asano and knocked on the President's office door.
"President."
Lisa Asano bowed slightly.
"Have a seat."
President Aoki smiled, inviting the two of them to sit down.
Shinji Mikami was very puzzled. Isn't Lisa Asano working on Pokémon? Why call her over?
"It's like this," President Aoki recounted the discussion he just had with Shinji Mikami to Lisa Asano, "The original intention is to reuse the resources from princess mononoke."
"Okay, President, but do you need me to do anything?" Lisa Asano asked curiously.
Her first instinct was that if the President called her over, he must have his own intentions.
So, could it be that he wants to combine Pokémon with princess mononoke?
So, in princess mononoke, are the beasts like Pokémon?
Forest Spirit, Okkoto, Kodama... thinking about it, it's actually quite interesting.
"That's what I'm thinking," President Aoki said, "I want to make two game."
"Mm."
The two of them nodded slightly, listening carefully to his next words.
"The first game," President Aoki held up a finger, "is called 'Mushishi'."
"Mushishi?" Shinji Mikami and Lisa Asano asked in unison, puzzled.
Mushishi was an anime that President Aoki loved very much in his previous life.
The original Author was Yuki Urushibara.
"Mushishi" focuses on describing the myriad "Mushi" in the world and the "Mushishi" who undertake the work of coordinating with them.
Compared to mainstream Japanese anime themes, it is clearly different from the constant fighting of shonen manga and the dramatic romance of shojo manga.
In this anime, "Mushi" are neither animals nor microorganisms, but a ubiquitous force in nature, possessing unique life forms that occasionally interact with humans.
Mushishi tells of strange events that occur after these interactions, and then the people, things, and "Mushi" that the protagonist Ginko encounters while resolving these events.
Each episode is a standalone short story.
Warm, healing, and touching.
President Aoki loved the fantastical world and setting of Mushishi, and also deeply cherished each warm little story within it.
He held up his palm and explained to the two of them:
"In the world of Mushishi, there live creatures completely different from common animals and plants.
Since ancient Time, people have respectfully called them 'Mushi'."
"You can understand them as creatures with their own forms and living habits, but also possessing powers beyond common sense; they don't necessarily look like insects."
President Aoki extended his palm, and as described in Mushishi, he said to the two, "If our world is a palm, then on it there are people, animals, plants..."
With each mention, he bent a finger.
"These things constitute our world."
"Then, the 'Mushi' are the things at a deeper level, the roots."
President Aoki pointed to his wrist.
The two of them seemed to understand, yet not quite.
"When the world of Mushi and the world of humans overlap, the Mushishi Ginko appears.
These Mushi are clearly not the fleshy, wriggling little things they appear to be, but rather a type of creature closest to the essence of life, similar to spirits.
They have their own ways of survival, and these ways may go against human common sense, or even endanger human survival.
Thus, the profession of 'Mushishi' emerged; they travel far and wide, studying the life forms and survival methods of Mushi, and accepting commissions from people to resolve strange events that may be caused by Mushi.
The protagonist, Ginko, is one of them."
President Aoki spent nearly two hours explaining the setting of Mushishi and some of its classic stories to them.
This transition was incredibly smooth.
The art assets from princess mononoke could be fully absorbed and utilized by Mushishi; the scenes only needed some reordering, minor changes, and additions to become a fresh new world for Mushishi.
Then, the remaining task was to create those bizarre and wondrous "Mushi."
Oh, and the people living there.
Of course, modifying the character models based on "princess mononoke" was also feasible.
The styles of the two were actually quite compatible.
After listening, Shinji Mikami and Lisa Asano were both extremely shocked.
The two exchanged glances, a look of confusion in each other's eyes.
The President's imagination... it's simply too amazing.
It felt like his mind was brimming with endless ideas.
Even more expansive, profound, and wondrous than Urobuchi and Maeda Jun... After hearing the story of Mushishi, Lisa Asano was deeply captivated by it.
"But how will this game be played?"
"The game itself tells of the intersection and survival of humans and Mushi, each following their own path, a more natural course of events," President Aoki said, "I don't want to make this game a combat-type."
"Eh?"
Shinji Mikami was startled.
Isn't this theme perfect for a combat-type game?
Think about it, with so many bizarre "Mushi," how brilliant could we make the combat?
"Then what kind of game will it be?" Lisa Asano silently swallowed, she also didn't quite understand the President's idea anymore.
"That's why I brought Lisa Asano here," President Aoki said, "I want to make a game that has no combat, but allows you to collect, capture, repel, eliminate, and nurture 'Mushi'."
The two nodded, seemingly understanding, then shook their heads again.
"You've played rock-paper-scissors, right?"
"Mm."
"There's a food chain in nature," President Aoki said, "Tigers eat deer, deer eat grass, grass draws nutrients from the soil, and then animal waste and decaying carcasses enrich the soil."
"Without combat, the fun of the game lies in collecting Mushi, understanding their habits, and thus finding ways to counter them."
"For example, there's a type of Mushi that burrows into human skin, but it's afraid of low-frequency sounds.
There's another type of Mushi that sings with these low frequencies, but only at a specific Time each day.
In this way, the singing Mushi can repel the Mushi that burrow into human skin, healing humans."
"Oh, I get it." The two nodded, feeling a sudden enlightenment.
Lisa Asano smiled, "It really does seem somewhat similar to Pokémon."
But there were also significant differences.
How to describe this feeling?
It was magical, just as magical as the President's depiction of the "Mushishi" worldview.
The gameplay was interesting, and it also served the game.
"The large map can be divided into many modules, and then we'll put different events into them, planting them there," President Aoki said, "But we won't force players to experience the game along a fixed route.
We'll create a completely free and open world, letting them explore and find ways to solve events.
Then, within these events, they can experience stories and comprehend life."
This was Mushishi.
The two sat motionless, carefully savoring the game world and gameplay described by President Aoki.
This game was truly different from every other game they had encountered before.
If they had to say, perhaps the closest was Patema.
But Patema only had a portion of its puzzle elements that shared common features with this.
The overall structure of the grand world, 3D operation... it was an entirely new game.
It was as if such a world of Mushi truly existed, and you genuinely played the role of a Mushishi, traveling across the world, solely to resolve the troubles that Mushi inadvertently brought to humans.
And during your journey, you would witness all sorts of people and events.
People's lives, the stories between people, became a part of the journey.
Such a game really was interesting.
Interesting doesn't mean there has to be intense combat and conflict; perhaps it's just as Pokeni Co., Ltd.'s motto says: "game is life."
To create such a wonderful life, that should be enough.
"It's wonderful, such a story, such a setting, such a game." Lisa Asano's lips curved into a smile.
"Mm, if we can make it, it should be quite meaningful," Shinji Mikami said.
But he wasn't sure if a game without combat could be successful.
And it was also using resources from princess mononoke.
Whether players could immerse themselves in "Mushishi" was also an unknown.
However, Shinji Mikami himself liked it quite a bit, as it meant the company would have a new type of game gameplay.
"I'll write the script when the Time comes," President Aoki said with a smile, "For this game, you two just need to assign people to cooperate with me. I plan to act as Producer under the name Furuhara Tsubaki."
Nani?!
Was Furuhara Tsubaki actually making a comeback?
..."And the second game?"
President Aoki looked at Lisa Asano, then shifted his gaze to Shinji Mikami.
"I want you two to collaborate on a project. The game's name will be 'Monster Hunter'."
"Monster Hunter?"
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