Game Developer in the World of Anime

As Gamescom Cologne approached, gaming media outlets across the internet began leaking news about upcoming game announcements and demos from participating companies.

Naturally, there were also leaks related to Nintendo—one of the highlights being the delayed release of Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

The game was originally scheduled for release early in the year, but unexpectedly got delayed. At the time, many speculated it was due to poor optimization, making it practically unplayable, and thus had to be postponed.

Of course, those were all just guesses—no one had any insider information. Ichin speculated that the delay was likely due to development troubles and a slew of issues cropping up. Judging by the PV alone, it was clear the game was using an outdated engine, and coupled with backward development techniques, the visuals were far behind modern standards.

Even if the Nintendo Switch couldn't compete with next-gen consoles in terms of power, it shouldn't have looked that bad—this was clearly a matter of development quality.

Ichin didn't pay much attention to what other companies were doing. If they made good games, he'd be happy—after all, he was a gamer himself, and any good game that came out was something he'd definitely buy and play.

With four days left until Gamescom, Ichin posted a photo on Bilibili.

The photo showed a recording studio, with several voice actors holding scripts and actively working on voice recording.

Not long after, the comments section exploded.

> Damn, he's still alive?

> Fukuyama Jun, Mamoru Miyano, Nana Mizuki—holy crap, how many A-list voice actors did they hire?

> Are you really confirming a reveal at Gamescom? We've been waiting forever!

> So, what kind of game is it exactly?

There were comments discussing the voice actors, the game, and even some skeptical ones questioning whether the game existed at all. In short, a flood of speculation and chatter.

After posting that update in the morning, Ichin didn't respond to any of the comments.

Instead, the next day, he posted another photo—this time featuring more voice actors: Haruka Tomatsu, Ikue Ōtani, and Tomokazu Sugita.

Clearly, they had brought in a lot of voice talent!

> Don't tell me all the budget went to hiring voice actors—this isn't a mobile game, you know!

> Don't forget, they said before that the game would have full voice acting throughout!

Once again, Ichin didn't respond that day either.

On the third day, Ichin finally posted something more than just photos.

Alongside another image from the recording studio, he added a short message to his post:

> "Please look forward to Nintendo's Direct at Gamescom. The game will be released on the Nintendo Switch, Steam, and Epic Games platforms. Also, all 2D cutscenes in the game were animated by Kyoto Animation. KyoAni fans can look forward to it—it's guaranteed high-quality animation. Full game details will be revealed tomorrow night."

At last, a post with some real information—even though it still felt like he hadn't said much at all. But that didn't stop fans from flooding the comments and speculating wildly.

> Damn, even Kyoto Animation's involved? Do you have too much money or what?

> Did everyone forget? The first two games already sold over a million copies!

> And that was earlier this year—another six months have passed since then. Even if it hasn't reached 1.5 million, it's probably pretty close by now, right?

> Cutscenes made by Kyoto Animation? That's definitely something to look forward to!

> So besides working on The Metronome in Love this season, Kyoto Animation also contributed to in-game animations? Hopefully the quality holds up.

And just like that, amid immense anticipation, Gamescom Cologne finally opened.

Unlike last year, this time Nintendo wasn't the first to present at the event. But this year, the schedule was adjusted—Nintendo was taking the lead.

Inside the company, everyone hooked up a projector to the computer, gathered together, and waited for the Nintendo Direct to begin on a massive screen.

Even though it was already late at night, everyone was still full of energy.

Cradling Yukino's little kitten Sesame in her arms, Eriri took a big gulp of milk tea and asked, "Ichin-kun, do you really not know what games Nintendo will reveal today? What about Breath of the Wild 2?"

"I really don't," Ichin said, spreading his hands. "Of course I'd love to know ahead of time, but when I visited Nintendo headquarters and asked them, every single one of them kept their mouths shut. Said they wanted to preserve the mystery—I couldn't get anything out of them. But they did say they'd have new info on Arceus. That's official. And it looks like there might also be news on the new Kirby game."

Kirby, huh..." Yagami Kō rested her chin in her hands with a nostalgic look. "I used to play Kirby all the time. The new one on the Switch was okay, but I really want something more innovative."

As everyone chatted excitedly, the Nintendo Direct finally began.

After a brief welcome, Nintendo jumped straight into showing trailers.

The first logo that appeared instantly told everyone what game it was.

The music was almost identical to the last time Arceus was revealed, but when the visuals came up, everyone noticed the graphics had been refined—just slightly.

Yes, slightly. That's all. Nowhere near the visual standard Ichin had hoped for.

"Looks like Game Freak really has no intention of revamping their dev tools or improving their development techniques."

They were clearly coasting—making just enough "progress" to pass as new, with no real effort to catch up with modern standards.

After all, even with minimal effort, they could still sell millions. So what if they were slacking? It was easy money.

As for criticism from the public? Just play deaf.

After watching the disappointing Arceus trailer—which added only two new Pokémon and hardly any actual changes—everyone finally saw something worth getting excited about.

Bayonetta 3.

This game had been stuck in development limbo for ages, and it was finally coming out.

As Bayonetta made her grand return, the entire studio burst into cheers.

Even though the graphics were somewhat limited by the Switch's hardware, and Bayonetta's hairstyle had changed into two thick twin-tails, the vibe was still unmistakably classic. The character models were detailed, and the battle scenes shown in the PV were fluid and dynamic.

When you compared it side-by-side with Arceus, it made Game Freak's laziness all the more apparent.

After the Bayonetta PV ended, Hideki Kamiya from PlatinumGames appeared and personally introduced parts of the gameplay. He also officially announced the release date: Spring of next year.

Once his segment ended, the screen faded to black, and then—a new logo appeared.

Everyone's hearts jumped at once.

Their game... was finally about to be revealed!

...

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