Video Game Designer

a week later...

In Shibuya District, Tokyo, the headquarters building of Square, Chu He, Taura Takahisa, Kamiya Hideki and others visited.

Hideki Kamiya and Takahisa Taura next to him couldn't help but feel emotional. You must know that they came here once a few weeks ago, but that time they came to discuss matters related to OEM.

But now, he brought banknotes to buy things, and suddenly changed from a wage earner to a big boss. This kind of identity change can't help but make people sigh with emotion, it's really cool.

Regarding the rider on the back of the dragon, and the acquisition of the rights of Nier went very smoothly.

This is not an explosive IP in itself, and SE itself has been losing money in the game industry in recent years. Last year, SE lost as much as 2 billion yen. Although SE is still producing 3A games.

But it plans to enter the mobile game industry in a big way, including a series of familiar IP series such as Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, and Final Fantasy, as well as the authorization of copyright authorization. The momentum of a sum of hot money.

Regarding the Cavalry on Dragonback and the Nier series, SE only intended to authorize the game at first, but in the subsequent price negotiations, Tianhe Network finally won the copyright of the series at a price of 4 million US dollars.

Of course, in addition to the issue of copyright, the current president of SE also talked to Chuhe about some possible cooperation aspects, such as mobile game authorization.

The two parties used SE's game copyrights, such as Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, to jointly develop a mobile game and launch it in the China and Neon markets.

Well, the current SE has been losing money on 3A single machines for several years, and even two consecutive Final Fantasy games have been canceled internally, and the Final Fantasy online game that was originally expected to fail in Waterloo, has all focused on turning around the loss Profit is above, and the mobile game project is obviously the main strategic focus of SE next.

Compared with these, the IP of Neil and the Cavalry on the Dragon's Back series is not worth nostalgia at all, especially although the Cavalry on the Dragon's Back has some fans, but most of them are black fans, because this game There are not a few people who hate SE and the main producer Taro Yoko.

………

"Chu, does Platinum Studio have an ideal candidate for the new work director of the Nier series? Maybe I can recommend someone." In the coffee shop of the SE building, Yosuke Saito and Chu He also asked Hideki Kamiya and Takahisa Taura Sitting together and talking about some things in the game world, Saito Yosuke said to Chuhe.

"It should be Mr. Yoko Taro, but I'm sorry, his game style may have a great conflict with our established one." Hearing Saito Yosuke's words, Chuhe rejected Saito Yosuke without thinking.

Invite Yoko Taro as Neil's director?

Chuhe never thought about this kind of thing. As a game producer, Yoko Taro is undoubtedly a weirdo. The DOD series he is in charge of is the cavalry on the back of the dragon. Almost all of them are dark side, similar to suicide, massacre, Cannibalism and even some taboo scenes are common.

At the same time, after the disbandment of the cavia department that produced the DOD series, Yoko Taro also left SE as a freelancer, but although he was a freelancer, he continued to work for SE because of Saito Yosuke's relationship.

I have to say that the rumors that Saito Yosuke and Yoko Taro are good friends are not groundless. In Neon, where the workplace hierarchy is strict, Yoko Taro can still play games according to his own ideas. There is no doubt that this is the same as Saito Yosuke's protection is inseparable.

Even in the production of the DOD series, due to the conflict between SE executives and Yoko Taro, as the chief producer of SE, Saito Yosuke threatened to resign from SE to protect Yoko Taro. If you say that the two are not good friends, you believe it what?

As a game producer, there is no doubt that Yoko Taro is a genius. His unbridled and unscrupulous ideas and various strange behaviors can almost be regarded as a strange thing among game producers.

At least Chuhe has not met any game producer who can publicly express his desire to make AV in media interviews.

Hearing what Chuhe said, Yosuke Saito showed a regretful expression. In his mind, it was obvious that this was the most suitable project for Yoko Taro. Started active operations in SE, after all almost all DOD and Nier series have Yoko Taro’s name on them.

But who knew that Cheng Yaojin suddenly came out halfway, Tianhe Network not only bought Platinum Studio, but also directly approached SE to buy Neil's copyright, which was far beyond Saito Yosuke's expectation.

I originally planned to see if I could find a new job for Taro Yoko. After all, the world view and plot of DOD and Neil can be said to be shaped by Taro Yoko.

But who knows, the other party refused decisively just after opening his mouth.

…………

Chuhe originally didn't plan to stay in Nihong for a long time, but in Platinum Studio, after purchasing the relevant copyrights, the whole studio started to work efficiently after the relevant funds arrived in the account, which made Chuhe feel There were some surprises.

"About the Nier series, Taro Yoko is actually the one who knows the most and is the most suitable producer for the plot of this series." Takahisa Taura, who is a loyal fan of Nier, suggested to Chuhe in Platinum Gold Studio.

Of course, this is back to Platinum Studio. When he was in SE, Chuhe had already expressed his opinion. Of course, he couldn't raise the opposite opinion in front of outsiders.

"I don't like the narrative style that is too dark, as if the whole world is hopeless." Chu He waved his hand and said.

There is no Yoko Taro's style that doesn't suit Neil, it's just that he doesn't like Yoko Taro's extremely dark style, there are not so many excuses and he is very honest.

"If you were to be Neil, what would you do? Would you continue to make traditional ACT games like Bayonetta?" Chu He looked at Hideki Kamiya and Atsushi Inaba asked.

"No, we need to change the style, open, no... To be precise, it should be ARPG mode." Hideki Kamiya said seriously.

The failure of several games in succession has already made him see the current trend.

There is no doubt that ACT elements flow in the blood of PlatinumGame Studios.

Especially the combination of ACT and TPS, just like Devil May Cry and the Bayonetta that started on its own.

After two failures of hunting angel witches, Hideki Kamiya clearly saw the development trend of ACT games today.

Purely linear, the ACT of the level has gradually declined. There is no doubt about it. After two or three years of delay, Capcom released a Devil May Cry, and it was as popular as Bayonetta, and even sold well. Only one-third of the previous work.

Then Sony’s God of War, which took the ARPG route and achieved great success, and Tianhe Network’s massacre prototype not long ago, all proved that ACT-type games need to be reformed.

And with today's technology, it is completely possible to put the style of ACT in a semi-open map.

"The name of a person, the shadow of a tree, Platinum Games is famous for its excellent creation of action games, the free matching of skills and fighting, and the combination of equipment and skills. This is the biggest feature of Platinum Games, and the plot is honestly excellent. The plot can indeed add points to a game, and it can even be regarded as a masterpiece, but the real success of a game depends on sales." Chu He said very positively.

For example, Hideki Kamiya, Atsushi Inaba and others are big names in the industry, even older than Chuhe, they are naturally very clear about these things, but as game producers, there will always be some private goods that want to be mixed in In the game, these private goods are the styles of all kinds of gamers.

"Of course, in addition to the change in style, character design is undoubtedly very important to the game. Although the sales volume of Bayonetta is not high, if the character design is a little worse, maybe his sales will be lower." Chuhe looked at Hideki Kamiya and said.

Hideki Kamiya and the others looked slightly embarrassed, but this is also true. If the witch Beijie is replaced by the rough guy Zhang Fei, what will be the final sales?

"In Nier, there will be a sexy female robot as the protagonist."

Taura Takahisa, who understood the essence of Chuhe's words, immediately added.

Neil's words have always been praised as the god of the plot, as if the entire game plot is the biggest highlight.

But here I think music\u003epersonal design\u003egameplay (action and level design elements)\u003eplot\u003egraphics.

And the ending of the game is still Yoko Taro's strong malice as before. This kind of expression is present in Nier's previous work and in the DOD series, but it is restrained a little here in 2B.

One last point~ If 2B is replaced by Zhang Fei who is 1.8 meters tall with stubble all over his face, or an ordinary Japanese boy, I think the sales will drop by at least one-third. I am honest. For the sake of Miss 2B~ I want to replace 2B with Zhang Fei, I won’t buy it even if the plot is godlike~