Kobayashi Tetsu returned to Atlus Studio after his vacation.
The two-week break had given his employees ample time to rest and recharge. Unfortunately, his plans to expand the staff were temporarily on hold, as Capcom had essentially put a hold on his current team. He'd have to wait a little longer.
Back in the office, Kobayashi Tetsu was brimming with energy, showing no signs of fatigue from his overnight trip from Osaka to Tokyo.
As the saying goes, power is the best aphrodisiac for men, and Tetsu relished the feeling of being in command.
"It's been two weeks, and everyone looks refreshed. Let me briefly outline our development plans going forward."
"Naka Yuji, Masanobu Endo, you two will collaborate to lead Development Division 1's experienced staff in mentoring new members. Your project is an arcade fighting game, requiring diverse character designs and combat animations. I recommend studying Hong Kong films for inspiration—it should prove quite helpful."
"Iwata-kun, your assignment is unique. From now on, Development Division 2 will stop working on games entirely. All of you, immediately start reading novels—manga is fine too—but they must include romantic elements, the more tragic and beautiful, the better."
Iwata Satoru listened in bewilderment.
Stop making games and read novels? What kind of concept is this?!
But Kobayashi Tetsu immediately answered his unspoken question.
"Because what I need you to create next is a role-playing game in the style of Demon Tower, filled with fantastical monsters and a story centered around a male and female protagonist. We'll call it... Project FF!"
Final Fantasy, abbreviated as FF.
Kobayashi Tetsu didn't care if Final Fantasy's story matched the original timeline. In fact, it didn't need to. As long as they captured the essence of an RPG, they'd be fine.
At its core, an RPG is about telling a story and allowing players to inhabit characters and experience their journeys. If they got that right, the game would be a success.
The Witcher series had become so popular in China that the Polish developers publicly thanked Chinese players. But how many Chinese readers had actually read the original Witcher novels and could truly identify with Geralt and Yennefer, stereotypical Eastern European characters?
Ultimately, it was because The Witcher series told a compelling, well-crafted story, complete with a melodramatic love triangle between Yennefer, Triss, Geralt, and Ciri.
Who could have imagined that when Iwata Satoru first played The Witcher 3, he thought he could romance Ciri too?
Characters and story—these are the heart and soul of an RPG.
And Iwata Satoru was precisely one of Nintendo's developers most deeply rooted in humanistic values.
These RPGs, packed with text and graphics, consumed vast amounts of space. In the early days of the FC cartridge era, they were among the most expensive games to produce.
While other games still fit into 128K cartridges, RPGs required massive 1M cartridges, dubbed "premium cartridges," which cost more than twice as much as standard ones.
Today, both Sega and Nintendo cartridges have risen in value, typically hovering around 4,000 yen.
But RPG cartridges? They often fetch over 10,000 yen.
That's enough to buy a whole gaming console with a little extra to spare!
If an RPG fails to tell a compelling story, it can't be considered a proper RPG.
As the work was delegated and organized, Kobayashi Tetsu sat in his office, hands folded, his mind racing.
Since we're directly competing with the Dragon Quest series, we obviously need someone influential to design the series' characters.
One of the defining features of the Dragon Quest series was its use of character designs directly created by Akira Toriyama. While Toriyama had already become famous by the 1980s, Kobayashi Tetsu couldn't approach him now; Toriyama was already collaborating on Dragon Quest.
From the very first Dragon Quest game, Toriyama had been providing the series with its iconic character designs. Despite being an adult, Toriyama possessed a childlike purity of heart, which resulted in the Dragon Quest Slimes being the most distinctive Slimes in the entire RPG genre.
Without exception.
This unique style gave the Dragon Quest series its unmistakable charm, making it a truly family-friendly RPG that appealed to all ages.
And this distinctive quality was something no one else could have brought to the game except Akira Toriyama.
Kobayashi Tetsu couldn't approach Toriyama now, nor could he find anyone comparable to replace him.
Among Japan's current renowned manga artists, Masami Kurumada had sufficient influence—the famous Masami Kurumada Building was built thanks to the popularity of Saint Seiya. But when it came to Kurumada's art skills—
It was a complicated story.
It wouldn't be fair to say Masami Kurumada's art was terrible, but it certainly wasn't exceptional.
Even if Kobayashi Tetsu were drawing the art himself, he wouldn't hire Masami Kurumada.
"If I want to use a similar marketing approach, who could I possibly approach among the manga artists of the '80s?" Kobayashi Tetsu pondered.
For artistic skill, Tetsuo Hara was the obvious choice. Hara was at the pinnacle of manga artistry in Japan, and he was already collaborating with Buronson on Fist of the North Star, which was wildly popular.
But Hara's hard-boiled style was simply unsuitable for the character design of Final Fantasy.
"Speaking of which, what's Naoko Takeuchi up to these days? Just starting out, right? So—"
Kobayashi Tetsu's eyes lit up as he thought of someone.
This person was a female manga artist like Naoko Takeuchi, known for bold and distinctive work. Her male characters could be both handsome and comical, while her female characters were all beautiful, strong, and tragic.
Ranma, Inuyasha—Rumiko Takahashi!
Rumiko Takahashi's art couldn't compare to Akira Toriyama's. Toriyama's artistry was among the finest in all of Japan.
Even the three "Big Three" manga series that would later have the greatest influence—Dragon Quest, Dragon Quest II, and Dragon Quest III—fell short in visual storytelling compared to Toriyama.
It's not that she's inferior; she's far inferior.
But in the 80s and 90s, Rumiko Takahashi's status, reputation, and influence were no less than Akira Toriyama's.
And most importantly...
As an RPG, harem dynamics are an essential element. Even if we don't count the number of female leads in the final ending, the interactions between them must be meticulously crafted.
In this regard, few romance manga artists in Japan can match Rumiko Takahashi, a creator of comedy manga.
Even today, people still debate whether Kikyo or Kagome is the true protagonist of Inuyasha, and which girl Two-Dog truly favors more.
This skill is absolutely crucial for the Final Fantasy series.
"You have to choose between Aerith and Tifa! If you're really stuck, Yuffie's an option too! You can't just open a harem without going through the proper trials! Go home and grind your controller!"
Kobayashi Tetsu immediately slapped his forehead.
We need to approach Rumiko Takahashi! We must ask her to design the characters for Final Fantasy!
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