Pulling in Square
Square?!
Rieko Kodama suddenly raised her head, her face full of apprehension.
This name carries immense weight in the industry! It's based on the Final Fantasy series and Enix's Dragon Quest.
These giants, standing shoulder to shoulder, jointly dominate the RPG market!
"Sakaguchi Hironobu will be waiting for us." Takuya dropped another bombshell.
Rieko Kodama paused for a moment.
Sakaguchi Hironobu, the father of Final Fantasy?
The executive director took me to meet their star producer?
What exactly is this supposed to be?
"This project is quite large. I hope that after you finish Golden Sun 3, you will join this project and work with Square."
"You'll be in charge of the development work at Sega." Takuya's words were like a reassurance, but also like an incredibly heavy responsibility.
It landed on her shoulder.
"Keep this a secret from everyone on the development team until everything is completely finalized."
Rieko Kodama looked down at the manuscript in her hand, then looked up at Takuya.
She understood.
The executive director is going to team up with the king of the RPG genre to pull off a big heist!
And I will become one of the key figures in this unprecedented project.
An indescribable excitement rose from the bottom of her heart.
She gripped the manuscript tightly in her hand, nodded solemnly, her voice not loud, but exceptionally clear.
"I understand, Executive Director."
Takuya smiled with satisfaction, then turned and left.
Watching Takuya's figure disappear through the doorway, Rieko Kodama took a deep breath and sat back down in her seat.
Instead of immediately continuing to test the game, she opened the manuscript titled "ChronoTrigger"—
Friday, in front of the Square headquarters building.
The two cars came to a stop, one in front of the other.
Nakayama Takuya got out of his sports car, carrying a bulging briefcase.
On the other side, Rieko Kodama also got out of her car, dressed in a smart business suit.
At the building entrance, a figure had been waiting for a long time, pacing anxiously back and forth, glancing at his watch every now and then.
It was Sakaguchi Hironobu.
His eyes lit up the moment he saw Nakayama Takuya, and he took a few steps forward to greet him, extending his hand to shake it firmly.
"Executive Director Nakayama! I've been waiting for you!" Sakaguchi Hironobu's voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement.
"What you said on the phone has been buzzing in my head these past few days, making it impossible for me to even focus on the bugs in Final Fantasy IV!"
Nakayama Takuya laughed and patted his arm, "Sakaguchi-san, don't rush, good things come to those who wait."
As he spoke, he turned to the side and introduced Rieko Kodama behind him to Sakaguchi Hironobu.
"This lady, I probably don't need to introduce her much, right? The only RPG on the Mega Drive that can rival your Final Fantasy, the creator of the Golden Sun series, our Sega's ace producer, Ms. Rieko Kodama."
Sakaguchi Hironobu's gaze instantly shifted from the manuscript in Rieko Kodama's arms to her face.
His smile faded slightly, replaced by a scrutiny and respect typical of colleagues.
"Kodama Tama, I've heard so much about you!" Sakaguchi Hironobu solemnly extended his hand. "To be honest, in order to study <Golden Sun>, I played the first two installments countless times. That unique art style and amazing psychic system, even with the limitations of cartridge capacity, created an unforgettable experience. I admire you, I truly admire you!"
The weight of these words was clear to everyone present.
This is almost the highest praise that a current king of the RPG genre can bestow upon another rising star.
Rieko Kodama was clearly taken aback by the other party's directness. She gave a slight bow, then quickly returned the gesture, grasping Sakaguchi Hironobu's hand. "Mr. Sakaguchi, you flatter me. In the realm of the Final Fantasy series, I am merely a junior still learning."
"Hahaha, the gaming industry doesn't care about seniority; it only judges by the work!" Sakaguchi Hironobu laughed heartily. He glanced at Takuya's briefcase and gestured for him to proceed.
As soon as the door closed, Sakaguchi Hironobu could no longer contain himself; his impatient manner resembled that of a cat eyeing dried fish.
"Special Secretary Nakayama, hurry! Stop hiding it, where's that thing you mentioned on the phone?"
Seeing his expression, Takuya calmed down and slowly placed his briefcase on the conference table.
He smiled and looked at Sakaguchi Hironobu: "Sakaguchi-san, you sounded so excited on the phone, I'm afraid your heart won't be able to handle it if I take the thing out."
"My heart is perfectly fine!" Sakaguchi Hironobu patted his chest, but his eyes were fixed on the briefcase.
Takuya then took out a stack of not-too-thick documents from his bag and gently pushed them over.
Sega-CD, Technical Specifications.
Sakaguchi Hironobu practically snatched it, his eyes gleaming as he turned the pages.
The only sound in the meeting room was the rustling of papers turning.
"CD-ROM drive...650MB capacity..."
"Dedicated graphics processor, supports rotation and scaling---"
"PCM audio source chip... This... This can directly play studio audio sources?!"
When he saw the last line of data, Sakaguchi Hironobu suddenly looked up, his eyes wide with shock and regret, which finally turned into a surge of resentment. He slammed his hand on the data.
"Lord Nakayama! This is a crime! Do you know that? It's a crime!"
He pointed at Takuya, his fingers trembling slightly. "Why not six months earlier! Why not have this thing been brought out six months earlier!"
My Final Fantasy IV! Do you know how much hair we lost trying to cram all that music and visuals into the cartridge? Our music director, Nobuo Uematsu, spent countless nights searching for the perfect sounds! And now you're telling me you already had this?!
This accusation is less about anger and more about a creator's lament for their work, realizing that it missed the opportunity to be more perfect.
Takuya laughed, having anticipated this. "Sakaguchi-san, a groundbreaking product always takes time from research and development to finalization."
Let bygones be bygones. What matters is that Square won't miss the next stage.
As he spoke, he took out another, much thicker copy of the manuscript from his briefcase, the very version he had shown to Rieko Kodama before.
He pushed the manuscript in front of Sakaguchi Hironobu.
Sakaguchi Hironobu paused, his gaze shifting from the technical documents to the two words on the manuscript cover: "ChronoTrigger".
He picked up the manuscript with suspicion and turned to the first page.
After watching for only a few minutes, the resentment on his face disappeared, replaced by a deep fascination.
He was unconsciously muttering to himself, "A time-traveling robot, a primitive man, a frog swordsman with multiple endings?"
When he was halfway through reading it, he suddenly slammed the manuscript shut, slammed his hand on the table again, and this time his face was full of painful struggle.