Murakami Ichiro hadn't slept all night.
He started by reading through all the positive reviews on the game's page one by one.
The negative reviews were all the same, but the positive ones were diverse, and as a game reviewer, he found these comments very helpful.
While reading the reviews, he also began thinking about his own review for the game.
He already had a rough outline in mind.
At the same time, Murakami Ichiro occasionally played Dead Cells a few more rounds. This game really had a way of keeping players motivated to keep challenging themselves.
Though the scenery in each level looked similar, each playthrough felt fresh.
The layout of each completed map was mostly the same, but the details of the map changed every time, making the potentially monotonous challenge much more enjoyable.
Exploring the maps seemed to become interesting each time.
...
...
Is this really what a 400MB game can deliver?
He couldn't help but doubt it.
Old FC games used to have very small file sizes.
But that was because compromises were made in graphics and other areas.
Dead Cells has strong performance in terms of graphics and action feedback.
As a game reviewer, he was among the closest to game developers and understood many of the intricate details of game development.
For a game like this to offer so much content, it would usually require at least 1–2GB of space.
He must have underestimated the Triangular Game Studio, founded by three girls.
But there was another independent game developer involved, someone quite impressive. He likely had a significant role in this game's development.
This made Murakami Ichiro even more curious about the identity of the mysterious benefactor.
Since Murakami Ichiro's rise to fame, this person had stopped contacting him and later set up their own independent game development studio. They had single-handedly spearheaded the indie game industry.
Without this mysterious benefactor leading small-scale developers, many individuals interested in game development would have had no place to showcase their talents.
At this point, Murakami Ichiro had a better sense of how to write his game review.
Before writing his professional review, he decided to leave a positive comment on the game's review page first.
In his review, he wrote: "This is a game worth playing. Unique equipment combinations and each fight feels like a gamble, with both gains and losses. I recommend a great combo: Balanced Blade plus Shield Spear. The perfect counter and attack combo with the Spear, combined with the explosive damage of the Balanced Blade, lets you experience extreme damage and the thrill of dancing on the edge of a blade!"
After finishing the review, Murakami Ichiro was satisfied and closed the review page. But just two seconds later, he received a new comment notification on his Battle.net platform.
He opened the notification again.
It was a new comment on his review.
He was surprised that someone had commented so quickly.
"Good person, may you have peace! I'm going to try this new gear combo right now!!"
This person had probably been waiting in the review section.
However, it was still nice to receive such praise.
Murakami Ichiro felt a bit lighter in mood.
Taking advantage of his good mood, he decided to start writing the game's review content.
It was already 2 AM, but he thought, "It's fine. I'll take a few hours for this. Youth gives me the energy."
The next day, Murakami Ichiro woke up from his desk, already late into the afternoon. He had stayed up all night writing the review and published it on the review website's homepage, then collapsed into sleep, not realizing how late it had gotten.
Groggily, he went to get some food. When he walked out of the office, he noticed that the whole office building was quieter than usual.
Normally, most people would be busy with their tasks or playing games.
But today, it was unusually quiet.
He looked around at the office area and noticed that there were only a few people in the company.
"Boss, when did you get here?"
A voice called out as an employee holding a cup of hot coffee looked at him in surprise.
Murakami Ichiro turned and asked, "Where is everyone today?"
The company usually wasn't strict about management, as long as people finished their assigned tasks, but this felt a bit too loose.
"Ah, you mean because of the game you played yesterday, boss."
"My game?"
"Yeah, Dead Cells—you seemed pretty upset while playing it yesterday, so we were all curious. A lot of people tried it, and a lot of them didn't come in today."
Murakami Ichiro blinked.
So it could have that effect?
But thinking about it, it made sense.
This game was one of those games you either played casually or got totally hooked into.
Just experimenting with different equipment combinations could keep someone occupied for hours.
Half of his mind was still thinking about the gear combos.
"Well, I guess they're on leave today. You should head home too," Murakami Ichiro waved his hand, still feeling hungry and not concerned with office matters.
After eating, he planned to go home and continue playing.
...
"Aiko! Aiko! The reviews are getting better!"
That night, Kanemi ran excitedly into Aiko's room with the latest good news.
At first, she was devastated by the bad reviews, feeling almost defeated.
But Aiko had insisted they stick to their guns and not panic, and Oto-chan and Kanemi had to suppress their anxiety for now.
But the good news came soon after.
By the second day, the reviews had started to improve.
In just one day, the ratio of good reviews went from 10% to 23%, with fewer negative reviews.
The refund rate for the game had also been gradually decreasing. Although the results weren't perfect, everything was moving in a better direction.
By the second evening, when the positive reviews reached 25%, Kanemi couldn't wait to share the good news with Aiko.
When she entered the room, Aiko was busy typing on her computer.
"Aiko, what are you doing?"
Aiko didn't look back and replied, "I'm working on improving the Dead Cells experience."
"Improving the experience? How could we improve it? Didn't we already do a great job?"
Aiko shook her head. "Of course it's not enough. Do you remember what Takayuki-sensei said about the future DLC ideas for this game? I want to start working on them right away. By the way, once you two have rested, we need to get back to work. Our job isn't finished yet."