The development plans from the three girls were actually quite unexpected for Takayuki.
Because the multiple answers they gave were quite good.
Some of the suggestions regarding gameplay were also very reasonable.
Having received Takayuki's praise, the three girls felt a huge weight lifted off their shoulders.
Aiko, unable to contain herself, asked, "So, Takayuki-sensei, can we develop the game based on this model? And will we definitely succeed?"
"No, it's not guaranteed. Player preferences are very unpredictable. You can never be sure whether a game will succeed after its release."
There's no such thing as a certainty in this world. Even a formulaic sandbox game that is guaranteed not to lose money can still flop.
In the field of cultural creation, it's always been hard to find a path that will absolutely lead to success.
...
...
Before Aiko could say anything more, Takayuki spoke again, "But you don't have to rush. Game development works like this. Success can never be 100% guaranteed. Now, our collaboration is to minimize the risk of failure in game creation. Let's explore the making of this new game together."
Some of the game ideas from the three girls were quite good, but some content wasn't suitable for this game.
For example, farming — this was Hamemi's standard move; she liked to add farming mechanics to any game.
But not all games are suited to this, especially a game like Dead Cells which leans more toward instant feedback.
For a skilled player, finishing a run in Dead Cells might only take a few minutes.
Adding long farming mechanics to such a game could feel a bit out of place and wouldn't bring much positive effect to the game.
Oniko, however, was more inclined to add a satisfying musical experience. This was something worth considering. For example, she thought of having different sound effects for various battle scenarios, and matching music when characters face different crisis situations.
This idea was indeed excellent, and Takayuki was planning to incorporate it.
Enhancing immersion through sound design is always effective.
As for Aiko, her idea was to focus on randomness in the maps, filling each run with uncertainty to keep it fresh.
"I define this game not only by a few key concepts, but also by a few other important elements, including random weapon combinations in every run, and the fact that if a character fails, most of the collected resources will be lost, leaving only a small portion for upgrades."
"Huh? If you fail, you lose everything? Won't that make the game too difficult? Didn't Monster Hunter turn a lot of people away because it was too hard?"
Takayuki said, "Trust me, players' tolerance for difficulty is much stronger than you think. It's just that it hasn't been fully unleashed yet."
The three girls looked at each other, somewhat doubtful. However, since Takayuki had said it himself, they were inclined to believe him. The only thing they could trust was what Takayuki said.
"Actually, Monster Hunter has already proven this. Haven't you noticed that more and more players are talking about Monster Hunter lately? Players are no longer opposed to the difficulty of the game."
"Really? I didn't feel that way." Hamemi thought seriously.
Oniko, without hesitation, teased, "Of course, you wouldn't notice. You always just farm and mine in Monster Hunter, only playing with us when it's monster hunting. I'm on the Monster Hunter forums every day. I can really feel that the number of posts about Monster Hunter is increasing."
Takayuki then said, "High difficulty isn't the problem with games. The real issue is that there's no corresponding reward for the difficulty. Imagine this: if you spend a lot of effort exploring a game's difficult dungeon, and the reward for defeating the final boss is a 'server-wide mocking horn,' how would you feel?"
"What's a server-wide mocking horn?"
"Cough, cough, maybe that example wasn't the best. Let me try again. You go through all that trouble to defeat a big boss, and your reward is just a useless crafting material. How would you feel?"
"I'd probably give up the game right then." Aiko immediately answered.
She felt like she had found the core element.
"Exactly. In society today, many people say life is hard enough. Why make games even harder? But the feeling of hardship in life comes from putting in effort without receiving adequate returns. In games, however, the challenges and their rewards are perfectly aligned. Sometimes, the rewards even exceed expectations. In such cases, the difficulty becomes not a barrier, but a joy."
Takayuki picked up a pen and paper, writing as he spoke. "So, here's how I'm setting it up. The game will have sufficient difficulty, but the rewards for overcoming that difficulty will be satisfying enough. That way, the players will feel fulfilled."
The satisfaction from Dead Cells is very diverse.
Apart from the random permanent rewards from constantly completing runs, the interesting gameplay that comes with different gear combinations and the exhilarating feeling of killing any monster with a cool combination are also very important.
Repeated deaths can be demoralizing, but even death can lead to growth.
This continuous growth is the effort put in to succeed the next time.
All these aspects are interconnected and indispensable.
Now Aiko had grasped the key points. After Takayuki's explanation, she couldn't wait to go back and officially start developing the game.
"Thank you so much for your guidance, Takayuki-sensei. Now, we'll go back and prepare for game development. We'll work hard to bring Dead Cells to life."
Listening to Takayuki's explanation, Hamemi now felt that the game didn't seem as scary. Although high-difficulty games weren't really her style, she was willing to contribute her artistic creativity to this game.
Takayuki saw the three girls getting ready to leave and quickly called out, "Wait a minute, don't forget, this is our collaborative project, so I'm definitely going to be involved. From now on, you need to report the progress of the game development to me every week. I'll be keeping an eye on your progress to make sure you're on the right track."
"I understand!"
Aiko responded with the loudest voice, now full of determination.