Chapter 169: A Fresh Start - (1)
A month had passed since the conclusion of Laon's first-anniversary event. A new game shop, managed directly by Mantra, sprung up on the third floor of the terminal plaza connected to Yongsan Station.
Soyeon sent me pictures of the newly opened store through international mail. Among them, I spotted several Mantra employees; seeing them again in pictures brought a wave of nostalgia.
Similar to Japan's Pentagon Shop, the Mantra Shop here was styled similarly, and being its opening day, it was bustling with countless customers. Could the vibrant atmosphere of that day be felt vividly through just photos?
Due to the relatively small market size in Korea for a Laon-exclusive shop, Mantra operated a multi-shop dedicated to gaming titles, including PC games. (Though it primarily focused on officially released domestic titles)
As I flipped through the photos Soyeon sent, a smile naturally formed on my lips.
That's when Hayashi approached me. "Are these pictures from Korea? You seem in high spirits."
"With so many good encounters, I can't help it."
"They say there are many beauties in Korea, and Yuki's mother is Korean too. I thought I'd tag along with the President when he went to Korea, but now I regret not doing it."
At that moment, Morita, seated at the opposite desk, interjected with a smirk, asking Hayashi, "Is everything going well with Kaori from the design team?"
"Kaori feels more like a younger sister to me... Well..."
"I haven't had an older brother figure like our team leader before~"
Kawori, from the design team, barged into the room without a knock, ignoring Hayashi, and gave me a subtle smile. Then, Hayashi's voice followed from behind her.
"Are we in a scene from 'The Six-Hundred-Million-Dollar Man'? Is our office's soundproofing this weak?"
"I have pretty good hearing. Manager Kang Junhyuk, it's time for the meeting."
"Oh, has the time flown already? But why is Kaori here?"
"Well... President Kawaguchi included me and a few members of the Tamago Monster team for the new monster design in the upcoming project."
"Is that so?"
"It seems the new installment of the Final Frontier series that the President is planning might be somewhat special."
The anticipatory tone in Kaori's voice piqued the interest of the second development team members.
&
What she referred to as the new Final Frontier series wasn't about the upcoming 5th installment. In fact, the story revolves around the release of Final Frontier 4, which was launched simultaneously with Laon last year. During the planning phase of Final Frontier 4, there had been conflicting opinions within the first development team.
At that time, opinions clashed between maintaining the RPG format characteristic of Final Frontier and embracing a completely new approach to fit the new generation's release.
Director Kawaguchi intervened in the conventional JRPG gameplay of Final Frontier, birthing Final Frontier 4, which told the tale of the Knight of Courage.
But, considering they went to the extent of holding a meeting, it seemed that the new Final Frontier's planning might have been quite disappointing.
"Today's meeting concerns the derivative works of the Final Frontier series, as previously mentioned."
The attendees in the meeting room, including me from the first development team, were the initial employees who proposed the agenda.
Kawaguchi briefly met my gaze before switching on the projector, displaying the project plan on the blank screen.
"This agenda is based on the project proposal from last year for the new Final Frontier. At that time, Director Nomura, a member of the first development team, had presented an action RPG proposal where characters move and battle on the field. It was one of the works that garnered contrasting opinions due to supposedly undermining the atmosphere unique to Final Frontier. However, if we disregard the title Final Frontier, Nomura's game design presents a unique style of gameplay. It felt a bit regrettable to leave it as is."
I spread open the game's new proposal laid out on the table. Glancing at the title on the first page, I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Perhaps I suspected it, but was it really this?"
The series I thoroughly enjoyed in the past, alongside Final Frontier, was indeed the Legend of the Divine Sword.
"For now, since we can't continue using the tentative title Final Frontier, we've given it a separate title. The new project will be titled 'Legend of the Divine Sword 2 - Secret of Mana.'"
At that, Kaori, seated beside me, raised her hand, "Huh? 2? Then, what about the first one, sir?"
"Well, Kaori, we've actually developed an action RPG game at Pentagon."
"Really? Was it released through Laon?"
"You're referring to the Legend of the Divine Sword, designed for MinTendo's portable Game Boy."
"Yes, that's right. It was one of the moderately successful IPs in a portable Game Boy with a shortage of RPGs. Ironically, that work was also derived from the initial proposal of the first Final Frontier. So, there's a connection to this new game, and hence, we decided on the title 'Legend of the Divine Sword 2' for the new game."
The expressions of the people gathered in the meeting room froze simultaneously at Kawaguchi's detailed explanation.
Recently, there had been subtle shifts in Japan's RPG game market.
New RPG games integrating action, unlike the traditional RPGs such as Dragon Warrior or Final Frontier, had risen in the expectation rankings.
Among them, the foremost was a game called 'Tales of Illusion' developed by Triforce.
After an extraordinary response at NEGA's production announcement, this game, which was in development for the NEGA Drive platform, had recently announced its cancellation.
Officially, the reason for the cancellation was stated as NEGA Drive's insufficient performance to achieve additional graphic enhancements. However, it was clearly seen as a mere excuse by everyone.
Despite a significant increase in NEGA Drive's penetration into the console market since last Christmas, it didn't naturally translate into purchases of NEGA CDs.
Struggling due to NEGA CD's advancement beyond its time, NEGA was facing tough times despite briefly joining the profit-making console market.
However, this incident prompted MinTendo's President Kamauichi, a staunch advocate for cartridge systems, to assert that the cartridge system was the most suitable medium for home consoles.
Well, from MinTendo's perspective, there was no reason to give up cartridge production. The royalties they were receiving were immense.
Anyway, Triforce had departed from NEGA and had returned with the currently unreleased model codenamed 'Undecided'. Rumors had it that discussions were ongoing between MinTendo and Sony, considering the device's distribution rates and sales.
The current trend in RPG gaming was clear: 'An RPG with enjoyable combat.'
Amidst this flood of RPGs, PENTAGON couldn't afford to just sit and watch. But here was one curious thing:
'Why am I here?'
Since the new IP, Legend of the Divine Sword, wasn't something I was supposed to be involved with as the head of the second development team.
However, my curiosity was quickly quashed by a single statement from Kawaguchi.
"I wanted to attempt something a bit different with this new action RPG. And to do
that, I needed the strength of the second development team."
As if being entranced by the words, I stared at the project proposal in front of me.
Legend of the Divine Sword 2 - Secret of Mana was an action RPG adventure game, focusing on a journey to save the world from peril by seeking the lost power of Mana. The gameplay heavily emphasized cooperative multiplayer elements, where up to three players could join forces to tackle dungeons and bosses together.
It seemed they were aiming for a unique gameplay experience different from the popular action RPGs like Tales of Illusion.
However, in addition to the single-player campaign mode, they planned a cooperative mode allowing players to connect with others through MinTendo's then-upcoming networking service.
The unique mechanic allowed players to switch characters between the three heroes mid-battle, enabling strategic maneuvering and powerful combo attacks. The visuals and the story aimed for a modern and immersive experience, featuring stunning graphics and a captivating narrative.
With this game design, Kawaguchi intended to blend the excitement of real-time combat with the storytelling and world-building characteristic of the RPG genre.
It was a bit unusual for an action RPG to focus so heavily on cooperative multiplayer and character-switching mechanics, but if anyone could pull off something groundbreaking, it was President Kawaguchi and the team at PENTAGON.
The project briefing continued, outlining the tasks for both the first and second development teams. The meeting concluded with a sense of renewed enthusiasm and determination to create something extraordinary.
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