Chapter 702 - 702: Board Games + Action + Roguelike, Hand of Fate

The core gameplay designed by Nene and Umiko was already around eighty to ninety percent complete. As a result, during the presentation, Nene was able to answer almost every question the audience raised.

As for details they had not yet considered, they were gradually refined through everyone's discussions.

For example, should players be prevented from easily experiencing every event on the map? Perhaps some restrictions could be added, such as consuming resources every time the player moved one space.

There were also discussions regarding the duration of each run, rewards for clearing the game, and the different categories of events.

Out of the forty-minute session, Nene herself only spent fifteen minutes presenting. The remaining time was filled with lively discussions among everyone present, which was exactly what Ichin wanted to see.

After time was up, Ichin asked Nene to step down so the second presenter could take the stage.

As soon as she returned to her seat, Umiko, sitting beside her, whispered:

"I've already recorded all the points everyone discussed just now. I believe we can further improve our idea with them."

Nene happily nodded.

"Yeah. This feels really nice. And I didn't expect everyone to suggest adding some roguelike elements. That would make each playthrough feel even more unique."

Sitting behind them, Rin Toyama also leaned over and whispered:

"I think I can congratulate you two in advance. This game is basically guaranteed to become one of the company's future projects."

Both Umiko and Nene smiled happily.

After more than half an hour of discussion, even without the final evaluations from Ichin, Hazuki, and Kō, the enthusiasm from everyone alone had already made the result obvious.

Still, they didn't continue discussing it and instead focused on the next presentation.

Compared to Nene's first idea, the following three concepts were somewhat lacking. However, the fourth presenter's idea was still quite creative.

It combined roguelike gameplay with a first-person shooter. Players would obtain various weapons and enhancement buffs while progressing through stages, improving the character's performance and transforming the bullets into all kinds of bizarre forms.

The concept itself was quite good and worth trying.

It reminded Ichin of a game from his memories called Gunfire Reborn, which also combined roguelike mechanics with FPS gameplay.

As for Nene's project, Ichin had already decided very early on to turn it into an official proposal.

Later, both Hazuki and Yagami Kō shared the same opinion without any objections.

Although Nene and Umiko's concept still lacked many story settings, Ichin already had a development direction in mind.

That direction was the game he remembered:

Hand of Fate.

It was also one of Ichin's favorite games.

Just as Nene had described earlier, the board-game style allowed players to enjoy the experience without gathering multiple people offline. Single-player enthusiasts could sit alone and, under the narration of an NPC storyteller, experience a fascinating adventure.

Besides having certain roguelike elements, it also featured action combat, allowing players to directly control their character during battles.

With all the experience the company had accumulated in developing action games, the combat system they produced certainly wouldn't disappoint.

All the games they had developed in the past were now paying dividends in the development of new projects.

Whether it was map design, action design, or artistic style, everyone already possessed abundant experience. Designing new games no longer felt like starting completely from scratch.

After three hours of brainstorming, Ichin announced the results.

The first and fourth game concepts had been selected.

The other two, unfortunately, were eliminated.

Nobody objected to the outcome because everyone had participated throughout the process and clearly understood the strengths and weaknesses of each idea.

Those who failed weren't too discouraged either.

They had learned a great deal today, and Ichin believed they would definitely come up with even better gameplay concepts in the future.

After the event ended, everyone returned to their work.

Meanwhile, Ichin gathered the four members from the two selected teams and brought them to his office.

Although their ideas had stood out, immediate development was still impossible.

Once the development of Phasmophobia was completed, work on the second Garo game would begin immediately afterward.

Compared to the first title, the combat system was already largely complete, meaning they wouldn't need to build everything from scratch. However, some innovation would still be necessary.

As for these two new projects, development probably wouldn't begin until next year.

But that timing worked perfectly.

Over the next several months, they could continue polishing the proposals further. Both Ichin and Hazuki would personally participate, helping arrange the development schedule and selecting suitable team members.

After a brief thirty-minute discussion, Ichin sent them back to continue their current tasks.

Although having their concepts chosen by the company was important, their current work remained the top priority.

After they left, Hazuki and Utaha entered the office.

Hazuki smiled and said:

"Today's harvest was pretty good. I wonder how next week's entries will turn out. Have you already looked at them, Ichin?"

Ichin nodded.

"I have. They're about the same as today's. Some are excellent, while some still need work. But overall, all of them are good enough to present to everyone."

Utaha set down the coffee she had brought for him and asked:

"At this rate, the company is accumulating more and more future projects. Can we really manage them all?"

"Don't worry, of course we can. Large projects and medium-sized projects require different numbers of people. We can simply adjust our staffing accordingly."

"And besides, the company can continue hiring. We're still far from reaching our limit."

Indeed, the company had continuously been posting recruitment advertisements.

Whether it was artists, programmers, development staff, or non-development positions, they were hiring across the board.

However, aside from non-development positions, recruitment for development roles had not been progressing very smoothly.

The game industry only had so many professionals.

Although many computer science graduates entered the workforce every year, those with both talent and ability who truly fit the company were extremely rare.

On top of that, they had to compete with other companies for talent.

Compared to the previous two years, the number of new hires each quarter had decreased considerably.

There was no need to rush.

Ichin understood the importance of gradual progress.

The company's current development pace was already ideal, and there was no reason to expand too quickly.

Slow and steady was enough.

Hazuki walked over to the sofa and sat down with her arms crossed.

"Having lots of projects is a good thing. We can simply tackle them one by one."

"And there's really no need to rush recruitment. If necessary, we can always collaborate with Akane Kousaka."

Her words made Ichin laugh.

Indeed, Akane Kousaka's company possessed plenty of skilled professionals.

Although their recently released game had received overwhelming praise and sales were already approaching one million copies, they still accepted outsourcing projects.

Not to mention projects from Ichin's side.

Of course, there was no need for that right now.

For the moment, it was better to focus on finishing the projects already in progress.

...

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