Arnold really wanted to make this game.
It was exactly the kind of game he loved.
A first-person shooter with a sci-fi futuristic backdrop—these were perfect for his tastes.
Moreover, just looking at the unique level designs in the proposal that Takayuki had written, he thought it was incredibly interesting.
The most fascinating, of course, were the time-traveling levels, where players could progress by constantly shifting through time and interact with enemies from different timelines. It was super cool.
Truly, as expected of a game genius—his creative ideas just kept coming one after another, like inspiration and creativity would never run out.
In addition to these time-travel levels, there were other very interesting gameplay mechanics.
The weapon attachment system, along with the ability to slide and run across walls, were small innovations that, when combined, created an amazing new concept.
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Seeing that Arnold was very interested, Takayuki felt comfortable handing over the responsibilities of the game's development to him.
Interest is the greatest driving force.
When you take an interest in something, the work becomes much smoother.
This way, Takayuki could also relax a bit.
At the same time, like with the Metal Gear development, they would need experts to provide support, along with the best concept artists.
This game wasn't just innovative in terms of gameplay; its visual design was top-notch as well.
The rugged yet intricately detailed Titan mechs.
Humans also wore incredibly cool battle suits.
The design of the environments was carefully thought out, and each level was closely tied to the game's theme. These would all be the game's defining characteristics.
Of course, performance was also crucial, and the advantages learned from Metal Gear couldn't be discarded.
With the new task in hand, the development team quickly got to work on the game.
At the same time, other games were being released.
As a new game console, it would be hard to attract players without a strong lineup of new-generation games.
However, Takayuki only ever had one major flagship game, and the others were supplementary.
These supplementary games were now gradually being handed off to different development teams, without strict limits on gameplay and genre. Takayuki hoped to see some games that surprised him—after all, as a gamer himself, he still enjoyed surprises rather than just revisiting successful formulas.
Now that Gamestar was financially strong, even if every team's development failed, Takayuki could still afford it.
Moreover, after years of nurturing and polishing, even if the teams made mistakes, they could still guarantee at least a three-and-a-half-star rating for their games, which was above passing.
And that was more than enough.
These development teams were also actively seeking ways to enhance their strengths.
They worked with large corporations to develop entirely new online games.
Learning from successful competitors, they began exploring MMORPGs, with a game called Lost Dragon Treasure already becoming quite popular. They were also trying to develop similar games.
Had it not been for Takayuki's clear development direction, they were considering creating a Dragon Quest-themed MMORPG.
Truth be told, using the Dragon Quest IP to develop an MMORPG was a great idea.
The game's setting and foundation were already very solid.
However, in Takayuki's previous world, the Dragon Quest MMORPG didn't make much of an impact. Takayuki wasn't too excited about it, so he didn't let them go ahead with it.
Of course, if they finished their current game and still wanted to create a Dragon Quest MMORPG, Takayuki wouldn't stop them. He believed they should walk their own path and not always be constrained by him.
Among the teams allowed to create freely, there was actually one game that looked quite promising.
It was a top-down adventure game developed by the third development group, which was very similar to Diablo—a standard hack-and-slash game.
This team had previously worked on some of the Metroid titles, so they were very skilled at creating Metroidvania-style adventure games.
This time, however, they brought the traditionally side-scrolling Metroidvania gameplay into a top-down perspective.
Takayuki felt that if they added some randomized gameplay mechanics, it would almost be a perfect fit for a later successful indie game, Hades.
If they really managed to develop something like Hades, Takayuki would be a little excited.
However, this world couldn't all be about games. After dealing with the company's matters, Takayuki was planning to head home and relax, spending time with Ayano Yatsuno, enjoying some private time together.
"Boss, your fan account is blowing up. They're leaving messages, asking if you're done resting, and they want your latest indie game," Takayuki's phone rang as soon as he got back to Japan to relax.
The person who had been managing Takayuki's fan account couldn't resist calling him anymore.
Recently, Takayuki's fan account, which was also under the handle World Ruler on Nintendo's platform, had been flooded with messages.
Stardew Valley had achieved an amazing success.
The game had sold over five million copies, even though it was only released on the PC Battle.net platform.
In terms of sales, it was already one of the most famous games.
Later, Takayuki also released a game called Loop Hero on this account. The game's design was simple, but its mechanics were incredibly diverse, making it very enjoyable. Fans loved it, and those who didn't like it didn't leave negative reviews. Overall, it received great feedback.
After that, Takayuki created The Witch's House.
However, because of the slightly depressing storyline, the reviews were split, with some praising it, while others wanted Takayuki to make happier games, like Stardew Valley.
"Look, we're all enjoying '627' here. Six days a week, sleeping at two, and starting work at seven," some fans joked.