Winter was gradually setting in, and 1989 was drawing to a close.
Counting the days, Japan's economy was also on the verge of collapse.
Kobayashi Tetsu breathed into his cupped hands, rubbing them repeatedly, and occasionally warming them by the small space heater at his feet.
The heating in the Mitsui Building was still subpar; after all, Japan had no tradition of centralized heating.
"When I build the Atlas Building in the future, the heating and cooling systems must be top-notch."
After listening to Kobayashi Tetsu's complaints, Takamine Aika, her curiosity piqued, pressed him with a question.
"So why isn't Atlas building its own headquarters now?"
Loans were so easy to get these days. With Atlas's standing, they could probably drain the vaults of every major bank in Tokyo if they wanted to.
Kobayashi Tetsu shrugged.
"I'm investing my limited time and money into the infinite pursuit of game creation. What's the point of building a skyscraper?"
At the very least, he'd wait until 1992 to start construction.
By then, if he decided to build the Atlas Building, it would support the employment of tens of thousands of people in the surrounding area, indirectly affecting over ten thousand families and preventing them from jumping off buildings.
It would be a truly divine act of salvation.
However, this did serve as a reminder to Kobayashi Tetsu.
"Once this batch of games developed with the Persona Engine is released, Atlas should prepare to go public. This will be majorly positive news!"
The burst of the bubble economy had indeed had a significant impact on Japan, but for the current game development and production industry—a capital-intensive sector combined with offline assets—the fluctuations in stock prices didn't actually matter much.
"We'll discuss it later," Kobayashi Tetsu said, shaking his head. For now, he needed to focus on the development of Persona.
He had already worked with the Megami Group to create the core parts of the game, including the school daily life, Social Link stories, and the various Social Link characters.
However, Kobayashi Tetsu was still pondering the game's core content.
The gameplay of the original Persona 3 involved repeatedly climbing a tower—the hundreds-of-stories-high Tartarus. This was quite innovative at the time, but in the modern era, it was a bit of a slog for players.
Later, Persona changed to the "Palace" format. Persona 4 and 5 both involved entering the different inner worlds of different people, corresponding to the dungeons in contemporary RPGs.
In terms of game experience, Kobayashi Tetsu actually wanted to change it to this Palace format. But considering the success Persona 3 had originally achieved, he was reluctant to alter the tower-climbing design.
After all, the Japanese love tower-climbing!
Kobayashi Tetsu paused, his hands going still as he looked at Takamine Aika.
"Aika, if we designed a game where you had to repeatedly clear a tall tower to win, would you like it?"
Takamine Aika thought for a moment and nodded. "I wouldn't mind that kind of setup, as long as we don't have to start from the same floor every time."
Kobayashi Tetsu asked, "What if the tower has 999 floors?"
Takamine Aika: ————??
That's absolutely horrifying!
After a long pause, she finally said gently, "It seems the President has been overthinking things lately and is mentally exhausted. Perhaps you should take a vacation?"
Kobayashi Tetsu said, "So you're actually saying my idea is foolish, aren't you?"
Takamine Aika tilted her head.
I never said that!
Even if this idea is pure, unadulterated idiocy.
Kobayashi Tetsu dropped his hands and sighed in relief.
Let's change it! He didn't like tower-climbing either, after all.
Though the original Tartarus wasn't as exaggerated as 999 floors, it was still enough to give players a hard time.
This kind of "tower-climbing" mechanic is common in Japanese games. For example, Onimusha has the Demon Realm that needs to be explored, and the ultimate artifact, the Bishamon Sword, can only be obtained there.
Then there's a certain title from Koei Tecmo—one they'd rather not name—called Nioh, which actually has a 999-floor Realm of Infinite Torment!
Back in the day, when Kobayashi Tetsu first unlocked the Realm of Infinite Torment, he seriously ground through dozens of floors. But when he heard it had 999 levels, he nearly flipped his damn table!
Let Tecmo eat that massive 900-plus floor serving themselves!
"I have some ideas regarding the game's dungeon design."
In the afternoon development meeting, Kobayashi Tetsu rapped his knuckles against the whiteboard.
Koji Okada and the others looked up at him.
"We can keep the Cerberus Tower currently under development, but we need to limit the number of floors. Delete all the originally planned levels. The dungeon will be randomly generated. The Persona Engine doesn't support random generation, so we'll need to write an extra plugin. I'll see if the Technical Development Department can handle it. As for the tower itself, let's go with ninety-nine floors—a nice, auspicious number."
Kobayashi Tetsu gestured casually.
"A school has so much material we can use," Kobayashi Tetsu explained enthusiastically. "The Tea Ceremony Club, the Kendo Club, even a Computer Club. According to our original setting, the Other World is named the Shadow Hour. Everything that happens within the Shadow Hour is a reflection of reality. So, we can use the materials from these different clubs to build different dungeons. For example, the Kendo Club could have scrolls like 'Lion's Fierce Advance' and 'Sword and Zen as One' hanging on the walls, while the Tea Ceremony Club could have special tea utensil-themed monsters—"
The members of the Megami Group exchanged glances. Finally, Koji Okada spoke up.
"But President, this will further delay the development schedule. We won't be able to release the game within this year at the very least."
Kobayashi Tetsu raised an eyebrow.
"The Persona Engine will be released in September. Even if we spend six months making a game, it will be March of next year. Is six months for a major RPG really that slow?"
Koji Okada fell silent and lowered his head.
In fact, for a massive game like an RPG, a six-month development period was incredibly short. If they had stuck to the original plan, they would have started printing the cartridges for release in January, meaning the production process would have taken only three months—an impossibly short timeframe.
With the team now using the Persona Engine, they shared project files, dividing tasks to create different storylines, dungeons, and item stats. This efficiency made Kobayashi Tetsu forget that developing a role-playing game used to take at least a year.
Drawing inspiration from Persona 5, Kobayashi Tetsu designed the "Tower" as a challenge level containing side quests and rewards. The main story, however, would unfold within the Academy, which would undergo strange transformations influenced by the Shadow Time.
While this approach would significantly increase both development time and cartridge space, Kobayashi Tetsu believed a slight delay was acceptable for a better gaming experience.
Although the original Persona 3 was a 3D game, switching to 2D was a viable option—as long as they could minimize the space used by the assets.
Kobayashi Tetsu's gaze swept down the hallway, where Takamine Aika was waiting, seemingly with something to report. He stood up, announced the end of the meeting, and walked out.
"President, there's a call from the Technical Development Department," Takamine Aika whispered, leaning in close. "They say they've made a breakthrough."
Kobayashi Tetsu gasped.
So soon?!
"Let's go see!"
He had to see what kind of surprise Matsuoka Satoshi had cooked up for him.
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