Chapter 145: Music Matters

Kojima stared at Ethan in shock as he made arrangements over the phone.

This development model was simply unbelievable. In Kojima's understanding, game development was supposed to be about making the best possible use of limited resources to achieve the greatest results.

Ethan's actions proved that this kind of "making do" mentality was completely unnecessary. If they lacked a composer with the right musical style, then they could simply hire one. It was really that simple.

"We need an official game music composition team, Satoshi."

After thinking it over, Ethan realized that Game Freak already had several outstanding composers. As audio chips continued to evolve, larger storage capacities would inevitably allow them to incorporate increasingly sophisticated sound effects.

GAMENOVA's music team would only continue to grow stronger in the future, so rather than waiting, they might as well take this opportunity to spin them off into an independent studio.

History had repeatedly proven that every outstanding game development team was accompanied by an equally outstanding music team.

As the ultimate artistic medium capable of integrating every form of art, music had never been a disposable element in video games. More often than not, music and gameplay complemented one another.

The moment C418's soundtrack began to play, it captured everything that made Minecraft feel so unique… the loneliness, the quiet, and the sense of wonder that pulled players deeper into its world.

As soon as that unmistakable talk box tremolo kicked in during the opening theme, you knew exactly what time it was: time to return to San Andreas and once again do your part to uphold morality, justice, and the rule of law.

The strange blend of digital futurism and emotional depth that Low Roar's music created in Death Stranding.

The unparalleled jazz composed by Shoji Meguro for the Persona series. The highly distinctive synthesizer-driven music created by Masafumi Takada for Danganronpa.

Music had always been an inseparable part of a video game's soul.

"For now, let Koshiro join the creative team."

"The studio will be called NovaMusic."

"..."

"Understood."

"Ethan, Koshiro's musical style could still serve as a useful reference."

Only after Ethan hung up did Kojima finally voice his thoughts.

"Gothic and punk aren't mutually exclusive styles. We could try making Gothic rock the primary musical theme for the background soundtrack."

This was the conclusion Kojima had reached after reading through the design proposal.

"Mm, I'll leave that to you. You'll be responsible for overseeing the soundtrack selection and coordinating the rest of the artistic elements."

With Kojima handling the other aspects of development, Ethan could now focus entirely on developing the game's mechanics.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"Oh, right."

"Why are you still here? It's already so late."

"...I don't have anywhere to stay."

Kojima had rushed all the way from Japan to California and had barely caught his breath before being thrown straight into work.

"Seriously? Just stay at my place tonight. Tomorrow, I'll have Sam help you find a place of your own."

For Ethan, developing the gameplay systems for Castlevania was actually one of the simplest tasks he had dealt with recently. In some ways, it was even easier to design than Momotaro Dentetsu. Because at its core it was a straightforward action RPG.

There weren't any of the complicated hidden algorithms lurking beneath the surface like there were in Monopoly style games. However, outside of the programming itself, considerably more effort had to be invested in the game's overall design.

Castlevania wasn't exactly a mainstream title. Like Fire Emblem, it appealed more to dedicated hardcore players.

Its punishing difficulty and deliberate, rigid controls had always been defining traits of the series. In many ways, the Souls series could be seen as a 3D spiritual successor to Castlevania.

Not because they both shared extreme difficulty, but because of the striking similarities in their core design philosophy.

Intricate topological labyrinths.

The map appeared to connect in every direction, yet every path was blocked by seemingly impassable obstacles.

As players gradually uncovered more of the world through exploration, they would eventually loop back to familiar locations, unlocking entirely new shortcuts.

This unusual map design combined with fragmented storytelling was what truly connected the two franchises.

If one had to describe it using a more academic term, Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi referred to this design philosophy as nonlinear map loop exploration.

Ethan wasn't a supercomputer, so expecting him to perfectly recreate Castlevania's original maps from memory was obviously unrealistic.

But he could follow Castlevania's design philosophy to create maps of the same caliber.

The labyrinth itself could be seen as one massive tutorial, with every item placement and monster encounter designed to teach the player something.

Just like the map design in the classic Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow.

As players gradually unlocked new abilities and acquired better equipment, enemies that had once been impossible to defeat and routes that had once been inaccessible would slowly become manageable.

At the same time, the player's own skills naturally improved alongside the character's growth.

Using this theory as a foundation, Ethan could gradually construct the game's entire world around the player's growth curve.

All he had to do was place a ledge just out of reach of a normal jump. Later, once players gained a gliding ability, they would naturally understand that the area they once couldn't reach was now accessible.

"Jumping..."

The pen in Ethan's hand suddenly stopped moving. Although Castlevania was fundamentally a platforming game. Its platforming mechanics were astonishingly poor.

Its stiff jumping, fixed jump arcs, and complete lack of aerial control were all long-standing criticisms of the series.

Those issues made it feel less like an exploration-focused action RPG and more like an uncompromising hardcore action game.

It wasn't until Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, after Koji Igarashi took over as the series' true creative leader, that this ultra-hardcore design philosophy was finally abandoned.

It was difficult for Ethan to objectively judge whether Igarashi's changes to Castlevania amounted to a Ship of Theseus.

For players who genuinely loved the original Castlevania's brutally hardcore action style, Koji Igarashi was nothing more than an outsider who had changed everything they cherished.

But one thing was undeniable, without the improvements introduced by Symphony of the Night, Castlevania would never have achieved its later glory. Nor would the term Metroidvania ever have existed.

"So..."

"Which path should I choose?"

Once again, the question landed squarely on Ethan's shoulders.

To find the answer, perhaps there was a better approach than focusing solely on Castlevania itself.

Just as he was wondering if he was looking in the wrong place, Ethan suddenly remembered a legendary 2D action game from the future.

Dead Cells.

Its designer, Sebastien Benard, had once discussed this exact topic during a Game Developers Conference presentation, where he described the concept as "Control Tricks."

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