Soon after the release of the game, "reverse degree person," because Famitsu had previously reported on it as a "game also very suitable for girls," many girls began to try this game.
After experiencing it, the girls gave it extremely high praise.
"I, who originally had no hope for this type of game, have now fallen into the pit. I never thought a galgame could be so delicate. The Time reversal shown from the female protagonist's perspective, all the changes around her, and the love between her and the male protagonist... it's truly moving.
The ending, where the two couldn't be together due to Time, was truly heartbreaking.
However, at the same Time, I am also very grateful that in this Time and in this country, there can be such a conscientious Producer who can create a game from a girl's perspective.
Although I had heard before that Pokeni Co., Ltd. was known for its heart-wrenching and tear-inducing stories, it wasn't until I played "reverse degree person" that I could truly appreciate this.
A game that can truly make players cry must be one that the developers poured their heart and soul into.
It must first move themselves before it can move the players.
Pokeni Co., Ltd. is truly amazing."
"As a girl, I have always been very resistant to galgames because, basically, before Pokeni's game came out, most, if not all, of the galgame on the market were male-oriented, made primarily for boys.
In them, the dignity of girls was trampled upon, and girls would throw themselves at boys...
Such plots were everywhere.
But Pokeni Co., Ltd. is different. In the game "reverse degree person," what I felt was the development team's respect for girls.
I have experienced both the male protagonist's and female protagonist's perspectives, and I haven't found any unfairness. Both the male protagonist's perspective and the female protagonist's route can be said to be extremely well-made.
It allows us to truly feel a person's complete life and to sigh and cry for it.
To achieve this is already quite remarkable."
"A galgame that girls can also play? I was skeptical at first, after all, no game in the world has truly achieved this yet.
But "reverse degree person" truly subverted my worldview, in a positive sense.
One can experience the beauty of love in the game, and also sigh and cry in the midst of getting something back after losing it, and feel sad and heartbroken when losing something after gaining it.
A game with flesh and blood, that's my evaluation of "reverse degree person."
Thanks to Pokeni Co., Ltd. for creating such a beautiful and moving game, thanks to Furuhara Tsubaki-sensei, thanks to Gen Urobuchi."
""reverse degree person" can be considered my entry into galgame. I was truly moved by the game. Reading those beautiful words was truly a brand new experience.
I gained happiness, and I also gained sadness.
A reverse life is also a life.
Fortunately, in this lonely Time reversal, the male protagonist and female protagonist met each other.
I can feel the sincere emotions and appreciate the development team's painstaking efforts.
Whether it's the creativity or the plot, it's very satisfying.
However, I still have to say—
Go to hell!
Furuhara Tsubaki-sensei!"
"reverse degree person" is the only galgame that has received positive reviews from most girls.
Moreover, it expanded the female market, and after its reputation exploded, the game "reverse degree person" attracted a large wave of female fans.
Of course, the price was—
Now, not only male players curse Furuhara Tsubaki-sensei, but girls also curse Furuhara Tsubaki-sensei.
More people are sending razor blades.
To make two groups of players resentful at the same Time, this is truly unprecedented.
However, Aoki Haruhi remained unusually calm.
What Furuhara Tsubaki-sensei does, what does it have to do with me, Aoki Haruhi?
Gen Urobuchi was also very calm. Anyway, Furuhara Tsubaki-sensei was bearing the brunt, and besides—
What Gen Urobuchi does, what does it have to do with me, Urobuchi?
...
"reverse degree person" achieved exceptionally strong sales upon its release.
It directly surpassed 100,000 units in sales in the first week. At this rate, it is very likely to reach 500,000 units within this year.
Pokeni Co., Ltd.'s galgame can be said to have ushered in a new Time, and this company is continuously breaking through on this basis.
In the previous life, the 90s were originally a boom period for galgame.
Pokeni Co., Ltd. can be said to have conformed to the general trend of the Time.
Before this, most galgame were simple and crude, game types that didn't require any thought, and they were even criticized by the news for being too simple and crude, leading to continuous losses in the industry.
The emergence of Pokeni Co., Ltd. made people re-examine the galgame category, feeling that if a game could bring players the feeling of love and express pure and beautiful love, then it was also quite good.
Any game, as long as it possesses correct values and can guide players to feel happiness, then such a game is valuable.
By now, not only have people understood this principle, but Aoki Haruhi has also readily accepted it.
Galgame is not unforgivable; the key lies in how you create and apply it.
"Ah... Furuhara Tsubaki-sensei, is he a god? He even delivers his cuts so artistically?" In Elf Society, President Hiruta Masato couldn't help but exclaim after experiencing the game "reverse degree person."
The period from the 90s to around 2000 was a period of rapid development, even a golden age, for galgame. Many game that players still talk about fondly were born during this Time.
The beginning of the previous life was Elf Society's "Classmates," while the beginning of this life is Pokeni's "onmyoji."
"reverse degree person" can already be considered a masterpiece in the galgame field.
It is enough to define a new galgame type.
There are two kinds of people in the world: men and women.
The market for men is large, but the market for women is even larger. Being able to attract girls to play game is already surprising enough, and to also receive widespread praise from female players is even more of a miracle.
Perhaps Pokeni will become a holy land for girls' game production in the future.
Thinking of this, Hiruta Masato admired him even more.
What impressed him even more was Pokeni Co., Ltd.'s transcendence of the limitations of the Time, its vision, and its creativity beyond the Time.
"It turns out Furuhara Tsubaki-sensei has already reached the realm of no blade being better than having a blade."
According to Elf Society's previous deconstruction of Pokeni's game, they felt there were several key elements—
Love, death, creativity.
This is very similar to the concept of the future sci-fi drama "Love," "Death," and "Robots."
Love represents human emotion, beautiful things.
Death is a symbol of destruction, devastation, and violence.
Robots, on the other hand, represent fantasy, the future, and human creativity.
In this Time, it was already quite difficult for Hiruta Masato to comprehend these from Pokeni's game.
But now, he found that he hadn't comprehended enough.
In "reverse degree person," both the male protagonist and female protagonist are alive and well, both having their own beautiful lives. If it weren't for the Time reversal, they might never have been together.
Like two parallel lines, never intersecting.
However, after removing the concept of "death," the game became even more vivid and moving.
Thinking of this, Hiruta Masato felt that he was still a student and had so much to learn from Furuhara Tsubaki-sensei.
And this scriptwriter named Gen Urobuchi, to grow to such an extent after joining Pokeni, truly made people fearful.
"When can we create such a high-level galgame?"
...
At Nintendo, as the future successor and backbone, Miyamoto Shigeru was greatly shocked after seeing reports about "reverse degree person" and secretly experiencing it himself.
Because before this, influenced by President Hiroshi Yamauchi, the philosophy he had accepted was to create game that would bring joy to children.
game for all ages.
But he never expected that a game like "reverse degree person," which seemed more adult-oriented, yet could express emotions so deeply, could also be so moving.
"Should the design philosophy be updated?"
What can make players feel good is not necessarily pleasure; it could also be sadness?
...
Although Pokeni Co., Ltd. is still a junior in the entire game field, not even ranking, it is practically a god-like existence in the galgame field.
It has now been elevated to a new height.
Furuhara Tsubaki-sensei has also ascended to the pantheon of galgame.
Countless galgame manufacturers regard Pokeni's game as classics, essential works to study in game development.
...
At the same Time, Famitsu was denounced by players for giving "reverse degree person" an extremely low score of 22 points.
"Is Famitsu out of their minds? This is such a good game, such a moving game. Are all of you editors people without empathy? You can only give a garbage score of 22 points, which is completely unfair!"
"Although this is my first Time playing a galgame, I have to say that 'reverse degree person' exceeded my expectations too much. Shouldn't a work that can move people and make them emotional like this become a classic and be inducted into the platinum hall of fame?
Even if not, an ultra-low score of only 22 points is indefensible, right?"
"What were the people at Famitsu thinking, only being able to give a score of 22 points?"
"I'm not convinced. I need to see Famitsu change. Such a good work as 'reverse degree person' shouldn't be wronged because of some old scoring mechanisms."
"You're actually telling me that a game that can break 100,000 sales in a week is only worth 22 points?"
...
Famitsu was also under immense pressure.
The editors felt extremely wronged.
In terms of storytelling and emotional impact, "reverse degree person" is undoubtedly a very great work. Inducting it into the platinum hall of fame would even be an understatement, as it managed to gain widespread player recognition and also evoke so many tears.
In the game, the narrative techniques and story settings used in "reverse degree person" were unprecedented, and the visuals were also impeccable.
However, in the scoring, the most important item was—
Gameplay.
In this aspect, "reverse degree person" was unqualified.
At least the editors couldn't go against their conscience and give high scores for gameplay. A game that can only be expressed through text and images, allowing players to progress through dialogue choices, could never gain recognition for its gameplay.
Creativity would also naturally take a hit.
After all, before this, Pokeni Co., Ltd.'s "Mermaid Heart" had already pioneered the category of electronic visual novels.
So, when it came to "reverse degree person," some points would inevitably be deducted.
No matter how it was calculated, it could only be given 22 points.
But this was already a perfect score given for the plot, visuals, and quality.
The editors expressed their helplessness, and even felt a bit innocent.
"Editor-in-chief, can you find a way to talk to the President of Pokeni Co., Ltd. and ask them if they can improve the gameplay when making galgames in the future, or—
Simply use such a good script to make other types of games.
Even if it's a turn-based game, wouldn't it be great, like the onmyoji before?
Otherwise, if it's always an electronic novel, we can't bear the scoring either.
It always gives people the impression that—
Famitsu's editors have no standard and don't understand the essence of game at all. Despite such high sales, they insist on giving low scores.
In the long run, it won't be good for Famitsu's reputation, right?"
High sales but low scores, this was also a strange phenomenon in the game circle, and even some of the editors who scored for Famitsu couldn't stand it anymore.
"Yes, Famitsu's original aim was to speak for the players, to evaluate the quality of games from the players' perspective, but now because Pokeni Co., Ltd.'s games are simply too bizarre.
Their strengths, well, they can be described as reaching the pinnacle, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to place them on a pedestal.
Their weaknesses, however, are truly astonishing, even making one wonder if this can even be called a game.
Something like this, honestly, for us to judge it is simply killing us."
"Yes, yes, Pokeni's approach is tantamount to putting us on the fire. Are our scores not fair? But then again, can fair scores truly win people's hearts?"
Before this, Famitsu's editors had never encountered such a difficult problem, nor had they even considered such a question.
A game that can receive high praise from players and also achieve great commercial success, yet such a game has fatal flaws, does it truly exist?
Or is Pokeni Co., Ltd. playing tricks, able to develop such a game and at the same Time present a huge challenge to Famitsu's editors?
Editor-in-chief Hamamura Hirokazu furrowed his brow twice.
Pokeni Co., Ltd.'s approach was simply unheard of.
The editors' feedback was also very real, they were truly hit where it hurt by Pokeni. Who would have thought that in the development of the Time, Pokeni, this rebellious son, would emerge and create works with such bizarre and clear pros and cons.
This is like a monster appearing in the NBA that scores an astonishing number of 3-pointers, can rack up over 50 points in a game, but is a 0-point monster on defense.
Does such a monster have value?
So far, Hamamura Hirokazu cannot judge, but from the reactions of players and the market—
Either Famitsu's scoring standards or Pokeni must die.
Or rather, one of them must make a change and compromise.
"Hmm... I understand. I will consider reporting it to the President," Hamamura Hirokazu said seriously.
...
So Aoki Haruhi was soon invited to dinner by the President of Famitsu.
During the meal, the other party earnestly persuaded Aoki Haruhi to consider making more games with gameplay. It was rare to have such an amazing script; it would be a pity if it were only used for viewing.
Aoki Haruhi said, "We will consider it."
After returning to Pokeni Co., Ltd., Aoki Haruhi called Gen Urobuchi to the President's office.
He earnestly persuaded him, "Urobuchi Gen, in the future, when making games, can you consider more gameplay issues in the script? Think about it, if a game is only for reading and appreciating, it always feels like something is missing in terms of immersion.
Why don't we make a game that excels in both script and gameplay?
If we continue like this, if it's always in the form of a visual novel, players will eventually get tired of it, right?"
"Or are you incapable of writing beautiful scripts even in an environment with strong gameplay?"
Gen Urobuchi was stimulated and his eyes turned red.
What Aoki Haruhi said was not unreasonable.
To put it bluntly, a visual novel essentially sacrifices other things, specifically to showcase the script.
"A game that completely serves the script, and a script that serves the game, these are two different things," Aoki Haruhi said somewhat sternly.
Gen Urobuchi clenched his fists, tighter and tighter.
"Hmm. I think the President is very right. I will pay attention to it in the future."
"Good." Aoki Haruhi nodded, hoping this guy wouldn't lose his fighting spirit from being stimulated.
However, the next second, Gen Urobuchi grinned mischievously.
"President, you don't have to worry about this at all. Shinji Mikami and I have already started preparing the proposal for the next game."
What the hell.
"Please don't lead Shinji Mikami astray, okay?!"
"diablo ii still needs him," Aoki Haruhi said.
Gen Urobuchi took half a step back, looking at Aoki Haruhi in disbelief, his little heart taking 10,000 points of damage.
"President, what you said is too much, isn't it?"
"Uh, it's what the project needs, okay?" Aoki Haruhi explained, "Different projects have different needs for planners. Where does Shinji Mikami have Time to make new games?"
"Anyway, Shinji Mikami and I were drinking before, and we once talked about a very interesting topic, and then we thought, could this be a game?" Gen Urobuchi said with a smile, "So the prototype of this game was born. You'll know when I show it to you in a few days.
It will definitely be a good game."
Aoki Haruhi furrowed his brow twice.
This guy, sometimes, is he acting so recklessly because I spoil him too much?
I finally managed to train Shinji Mikami, and I was counting on him to take over as the Producer of diablo ii, and later become a Director of a certain department. Now he's been led astray by Gen Urobuchi?
However, to be honest, Aoki Haruhi was quite looking forward to seeing what kind of new work he and Shinji Mikami would create together.
But even so, where would we get the manpower?
"Alright, but let's be clear first. If your proposal doesn't get my approval, then you'll obediently follow my arrangements," Aoki Haruhi said.
"Hmm, definitely." Gen Urobuchi nodded, smiling happily.
He looked quite confident.
After Gen Urobuchi left the President's office.
"Eh~ Urobuchi Gen really admires you, President," Ayase Akane exclaimed from the side.
"Please don't say such strange things, okay?!" Aoki Haruhi frowned heavily.
"It's the kind of admiration between a master and disciple, master and disciple!"
"Then make it clear, baka!"
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