Traditional turn-based combat mostly followed a pattern of "you hit, then I hit." As time progressed, skill effects became flashier, but the monotonous nature of turn-based gameplay remained difficult to mask.
Out of all the turn-based RPGs Ichin had played, _Persona 5_ stood out as one of the most unique. The art style, UI, battle effects, and background music all blended together perfectly, turning what could have been tedious turn-based combat into something genuinely engaging.
This demonstrated that style was incredibly important—especially for outdated turn-based combat systems.
"Turn-based combat isn't inherently a flaw; what's lacking is making the turn-based experience enjoyable."
Ichin then displayed the UI of the battle interface, and everyone immediately understood what he meant.
In most turn-based combat systems, commands were usually arranged neatly in a row of menus—Attack, Skills, Items, and so on—waiting to be selected.
But what Ichin was showing now was completely different. It was something fresh and utterly distinctive, unlike anything seen in other games before.
Surrounding the protagonist, various battle commands floated around. Based on the hints shown, it was clear that players wouldn't have to scroll through the options manually; instead, they could simply press the corresponding button to activate a command.
"Apart from the combat UI, the UI design for other parts of the game will also follow this style. It's essential to create a unique aesthetic."
After displaying a few more UI design concepts, Ichin looked toward Rin Toyama. "Rin, you should try creating some designs based on this style. I'll compile a list of what needs to be done and send it over to you."
Rin nodded seriously, "No problem, I'll put some thought into how to make it work."
This was her first time encountering a style like this, and she could tell it was going to be a challenging yet exciting task.
Ichin then displayed the concept art for the game's main characters and briefly explained each character's personality.
"Hifumi, I have a task for you."
Ichin looked at Hifumi, who suddenly grew tense from being called out. He smiled and said, "During this preparation phase before we officially start development, you can try designing casual outfits for the main cast based on their character profiles. The game's story won't just take place within the school; a significant portion will occur outside of school. So, we need to create a variety of casual outfits. You have a good eye for fashion, so I'd like to entrust this task to you. Any issues?"
"No problem!"
Hifumi's eyes sparkled with excitement as she eagerly replied, "I've already sketched some designs before!"
"Really? Then show them to me later. I'll give you some suggestions and see if we need to add more types of outfits."
At this moment, Eriri raised her hand.
"Ichin, I want to help with the casual outfit designs too!" Eriri said with enthusiasm. "After all, you mentioned that we need a lot of them, right? Let me join in!"
"You want to join, too? Sure, that's not a problem."
Ichin nodded and then looked over at Kō Yagami, Aoba Suzukaze, and Momiji Mochizuki. "Kō, Aoba, Momiji, what about you two? If you're interested, you can join in as well. In the end, we'll pick the most suitable designs from what you all come up with to put into the game."
The three exchanged glances before all nodding in agreement.
Kō Yagami looked at the character concept art displayed on the screen and said thoughtfully, "The character designs I've drawn before were all fantasy-themed. This modern style is something I've never really tackled before. It's been a while since I've tried something like this, so it'll be quite the challenge for me."
"To be precise, it's not just about the art style. This will also be a challenge for the programming side of things."
Umiko, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up. "Ichin, when it comes to gameplay, the Personas of the characters should be one of the core elements, right? Can you explain more about that?"
"Of course, that's actually what I was about to discuss next."
Ichin then proceeded to explain the game's combat mechanics, character progression, and the system for developing and evolving Personas.
The game involved a lot of content, including the storyline, which he briefly touched upon. This impromptu meeting, which started at 2 p.m., went on until past 5 p.m.
By the time they realized how much time had passed, there wasn't enough time to make dinner, so they had to settle for ordering takeout to keep things simple.
Taking a bite of sushi, Aoba, her cheeks puffed with food, mumbled, "Mmph... It feels like developing _Persona_ is going to be a lot harder than _Hollow Knight_. I originally thought it was just going to be a bit more complicated."
Beside her, Yun Iijima commented, "This isn't just a bit more complicated. Just the amount of dialogue and text for the story alone far surpasses what most RPGs require. Ichin, can we really complete this with just the few of us?"
"Relax, I know what you're all worried about. So, aside from the music, I'm planning to hire two outsourcing companies to help us complete some of the non-core content."
Thinking about his bank account balance, Ichin added, "Yeah, the development funds are still sufficient, so you guys don't need to worry."
Outsourcing certain non-core development tasks was common even for major companies within the industry. It could significantly reduce the workload for the primary developers and shorten the development cycle.
Of course, it was essential to choose reliable outsourcing companies. If the final product came out with issues, the back-and-forth communication and revisions would consume massive amounts of time, making it counterproductive.
"Oh, right, speaking of music."
Hazuki looked at Ichin. "Ichin, are we going to use the same company that handled the _Hollow Knight_ sound effects?"
Ichin shook his head. "No, music will be handled differently. The soundtrack for _Persona_ also needs to have its own distinctive style. I need to give this more thought."
With his memory, Ichin could easily hum the tracks from _Persona 5_—whether it was the main theme, battle music, or the daily BGM.
The problem was, he had no professional knowledge of music composition whatsoever. Creating music from scratch was beyond him.
If he didn't want to leave all the music production to an external company, his only option would be to spend time learning basic music theory himself.
As they chatted about various aspects of the game and ate dinner, time continued to pass.
At 7:30 p.m., Ichin sat down in front of his computer and started adjusting the streaming software.
Since Hajime was going to appear on stream, she had already moved her chair to sit next to Ichin.
Watching his preparations, Hajime asked, "Ichin, are you going to showcase both versions of the game?"
"Yeah, I'll show the NS version first, followed by the PC version. We'll do a partial scene showcase and a boss fight for each version. That sound good? Oh, by the way, I just finished setting up the comment software. It can now translate Chinese comments into Japanese, so I only need to translate what you say."
"Wow! You can even do that? Then I feel much more at ease."
Now that the language barrier was mostly resolved, Hajime felt much more relaxed about the upcoming livestream and was even looking forward to it.
...
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