Takuya Nakayama's fingertips lightly traced the edge of a stack of sales reports.
The clearly weakening sales curve of "phantasy star" was like a thorn, pricking his thoughts.
Technical victories and market strategy damage control could not hide the most fundamental flaw.
An RPG without a moving story was like a body with strong bones but no soul.
He needed someone who could inject a soul into this body.
He recalled the previous life's "phantasy star"; it truly began to take off with "phantasy star IV: The End of the Millennium," and it was in this installment that Sega brought in a female producer.
Rieko Kodama.
The legendary woman who led the development of "7th Dragon" and produced the DC's strongest RPG, "Skies of Arcadia."
He hardly hesitated, immediately picked up the black internal phone on his desk, and dialed the extension for the Arcade Development Department.
The call connected quickly.
"This is Suzuki."
It was Yu Suzuki.
"Suzuki-san, this is Takuya Nakayama. I'd like to ask you about someone from the Arcade Development Team."
"Oh? Managing Director Takayama himself calling, is it to poach someone?" Yu Suzuki's voice held a hint of teasing, but no displeasure.
"It's a secondment, and it's also for Sega's future." Takuya went straight to the point, "Rieko Kodama, is her current work schedule full?"
There was a moment of silence on the other end, as if he was recalling.
"Kodama..." Yu Suzuki's voice revealed an obvious appreciation, "The core art for 'Altered Beast' has just wrapped up. She truly is a rare and exceptionally talented artist. She's currently in a project lull. What, does your new project, Managing Director, need her?"
Takuya's heart completely settled.
"Yes, a very important project."
After hanging up, Takuya dialed another internal line.
"Please have Yuji Naka and the core production members of 'phantasy star' come to my office."
A moment later, Yuji Naka and several core programmers and planners behind him arrived at Takuya Nakayama's office, sitting upright like soldiers who had lost a battle but still held their heads high.
Especially Yuji Naka, the father of "phantasy star," he kept his head down, staring intently at his hands resting on his lap.
"The technical achievements you all have made are evident to the entire industry." Takuya's voice was gentle, breaking the silence.
He didn't address the problems first, but instead offered the most sincere affirmation.
"You have demonstrated the powerful capabilities of the MD with excellent combat effects, which is an undeniable huge success."
Yuji Naka's shoulders moved slightly, but he still didn't look up.
Takuya stood up and walked over to them.
"A team can have the best forwards and the best defenders in the world, but if it lacks a midfield maestro who can connect the entire field and deliver passes, it will be very difficult to win a championship."
He looked at these genius engineers in front of him.
"You are Sega's sharpest spear and strongest shield. But we also need a top-tier tactical designer. This isn't one person's problem, but a team configuration problem."
Just then, there was a soft knock on the office door.
Knock, knock.
The assistant opened the door, and a woman in a smart business suit with long, flowing hair walked in.
It was Rieko Kodama.
"Managing Director Takayama, you sent for me."
Yuji Naka and his team members looked up, expressions of surprise on their faces.
They, of course, recognized this talented art designer who was somewhat famous in the arcade department, but they completely didn't understand why she would be invited to a console RPG team's review meeting.
"Ms. Kodama, please sit." Takuya smiled, pointing to the empty seat beside him, then turned to everyone, "Allow me to introduce Ms. Rieko Kodama. I believe you all have heard her name."
He didn't rush to explain his intention, but instead turned his gaze back to Rieko Kodama, his eyes filled with admiration.
"Ms. Kodama, in 'Altered Beast,' I saw your ability to construct a complete, unique, and highly captivating world view within extremely limited creative space."
"That talent for'storytelling' through art is precisely what we need most right now."
He turned around, his expression becoming incredibly serious.
"I formally propose that Ms. Rieko Kodama be added to Sega's First RPG Development Team."
When his words fell, the entire office was dead silent.
Yuji Naka abruptly looked up, his eyes filled with shock and bewilderment.
Rieko Kodama herself was stunned. She opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to say something, but didn't know where to begin.
Under everyone's astonished gaze, Takuya slowly walked to the safe in the corner of the office.
He entered the password, turned the handle, and the heavy safe door emitted a low thud.
He took out a thick manuscript from inside, meticulously bound in a professional folder.
He gently placed the manuscript in the center of the conference table.
On the cover, written in Takuya's own strong and vigorous hand, were several large characters: "golden sun."
In Takuya's office, you could hear a pin drop.
Yuji Naka, Rieko Kodama, and the original core members of "phantasy star" each held a copy of the "golden sun" planning document, and each person was completely engrossed.
Time passed minute by minute, and apart from the occasional sound of pages turning, there was no other sound.
Takuya sat quietly in the main seat, observing everyone's expressions.
He regarded this plan, which he called "a secret weapon prepared for the MD," as the touchstone for the new team.
This was the first project designed to help the two geniuses work together and build team chemistry.
It was not just a game plan; it was a brand new world.
An exquisitely designed interactive system, centered around Psynergy, capable of affecting environments and solving puzzles.
An unheard-of "Djinn" gameplay mechanic, where you could collect, possess, and combine them to change professions and abilities.
And a grand, profound, suspenseful, and epic world setting, built upon the foundation of alchemy.
In Yuji Naka's eyes, there was the fanatical gleam that only a tech enthusiast experiences when facing the ultimate challenge. He seemed to already see countless complex algorithms and data structures rapidly running in his mind.
As for Rieko Kodama, her fair fingers were gently tracing the settings for the two villages, "Vale" and "Vault," on the paper. Her bright eyes were already completely ignited by the immense narrative potential contained within the planning document.
Everyone was shaken by the exquisitely intricate and interconnected fantasy world in the proposal.
Takuya chuckled inwardly.
This was a monster-level work that pushed the GBA's capabilities to the limit, so directly porting it to the MD was naturally a pipe dream.
But he believed that by grasping the core appeal and implementing clever "down-dimensional" design, it would be entirely possible to recreate its soul on the MD.
The magnificent 3D summon animations could be changed to powerful 2D full-page illustrations.
Complex 2.5D maps could be simplified into 2D scenes with corresponding details.
Such a good game absolutely could not be left for the future Nintendo.
Takuya cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention.
"This project will be a challenge for all of us."
He first looked at Rieko Kodama.
"Ms. Kodama."
Rieko Kodama immediately sat up straight.
"I need you, I need you and your team, to be responsible for refining the core storyline of this proposal, making it more delicate and easier for players to understand. This is a relatively traditional RPG-style story, so the story can be a bit childish, but the logic must be self-consistent."
"At the same time, establish a completely new art style. I hope for 2 to 3 head-body Q-version characters, which should both embody a fantasy style and not occupy too many MD display resources, maintaining extremely high character recognition and emotional expressiveness."
"Yes!" Rieko Kodama nodded vigorously, her eyes filled with fighting spirit.
Then, his gaze turned to Yuji Naka, who was already eager to start, "Naka-san, your task is to lead your technical team to perfectly realize all of Ms. Kodama's artistic concepts, and the vast game content and core systems in this proposal, within the limited cartridge capacity of the MD. We need extreme optimization algorithms; we need to squeeze every bit of power out of the MD."
"Also, you should have noticed that this entire story is a 'trilogy'-style story, meaning it will be three games. You must plan the plot and corresponding numerical design well."
Upon hearing that this was also a "trilogy," the previous gloom that had permeated due to "phantasy star" was now completely swept away.
In its place was a burning fighting spirit, ignited by both the immense challenge and the bright prospects.