An Idea for a Metroidvania

"Outdated?" Takuya's smile faded. "Don't be so quick to judge yourself."

Uchida Makoto opened his mouth, wanting to say something in his defense, but his brothers behind him also tried to take the blame, saying discouraging things like "out of touch with the times" and "rigid thinking," which were so tiresome that they were tired of hearing it.

"Alright," Takuya raised his hand to interrupt the apology session, gesturing to the sofa, "Sit down first."

He pressed the intercom in front of him and asked his assistant to bring in several cups of espresso.

"Since you think you can't do 3D, then don't do it." Takuya leaned back in his chair, looking at the group of men who had created a hardcore classic like <Golden Axe>. "Who says next-gen consoles have to be all polygons? 2D can be perfected and still get gamers willingly opening their wallets."

Uchida Makoto froze, holding the freshly served hot coffee, his hands trembling slightly, unsure whether it was because the coffee was too hot or the words were too hot.

Takuya and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, quickly reviewing the current development list in his mind.

Fighting games have Virtua Fighter 2, racing games have Tetsuya Mizuguchi's projects, RPGs have Phantasy Star III, and 3D games aimed at beginners and children have Paper Pokémon Adventure.

One piece of the puzzle is missing.

A puzzle piece that satisfies the needs of hardcore action gamers while also offering enough depth for exploration.

This is what is commonly known as the "Castlevania" type.

Although Symphony of the Night hasn't been released yet, and Konami status, this is a perfect opportunity to steal the show.

If we're going to do it, we can't just follow someone else's path.

Konami plays with Western vampires and gothic themes, so Sega has to do something different.

Japan domestic themes.

Countless images flashed through Takuya's mind in an instant.

The Sengoku period half-demon created by Rumiko Takahashi, the demon hand in the unserialized "Hell Teacher Nube," Koei undeveloped "Onimusha" by Koei Tecmo, and even the breathtakingly beautiful "Muramasa: The Demon Blade: The Demon Blade" by Vanillaware.

A hundred demons parade at night; a demon sword; slaying demons.

This is the true romance of Eastern action games.

He strode back to his desk, grabbed his pen, and began writing rapidly on the letter paper.

The pen tip scratched across the paper, making a soft, scratching sound. The office was so quiet that only the breathing of the people and the occasional sound of someone swallowing coffee could be heard.

Uchida Makoto and the others exchanged glances, not daring to breathe too loudly, for fear of interrupting the executive director's train of thought. Rieko Kodama, on the other hand, remained calm, flipping through a magazine on her own, only occasionally glancing at Takuya with a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

Ten minutes later, Takuya stopped writing, looked at the densely packed keywords on the paper, and snapped his fingers in satisfaction.

"Push that whiteboard over here," he said to his assistant, who had just entered and was about to refill his drink.

The assistant laboriously pushed a wheeled double-sided whiteboard to the center of the office, making the already cramped space feel even smaller.

Uchida Makoto and the others instinctively shrank their legs, much like elementary school students waiting for their teacher to start class.

Takuya pulled off the cap of the Mark, and the pungent smell of alcohol filled the air.

He wrote three large words at the top of the whiteboard: Castlevania.

"You guys are definitely familiar with this Konami series." Takuya turned to look at the group. "Since you think 3D can't be done well, then don't force yourself to do it. 2D action games aren't dead, they just need to evolve."

Uchida Makoto stared at those three words, his Adam's apple bobbing. "But the executive director, the current market—"

"The market doesn't lack 2D games, it lacks high-quality ones." Takuya interrupted him, his pen flying across the whiteboard. "Simple left-to-right navigation is indeed outdated. What we need to do is bring the map to life."

"You can follow the Castlevania route, but you have to create Sega -esque feel."

Takuya turned to face the whiteboard, the pen tip striking the ground with a harsh scraping sound. "Let's not be vampires, let's make our own things."

He wrote eight large characters in the center of the whiteboard: Heian Period, hyacinths parade at night.

"The protagonist is a samurai with spiritual powers who can see demons that ordinary people cannot," Takuya said as he wrote. "The core gameplay isn't just simple hack-and-slash, but rather 'possession'."

"Possession?" Uchida Makoto repeated subconsciously.

"Possession?" Uchida Makoto repeated subconsciously, finally opening the notebook in his hand.

"That's right. After defeating a monster, the protagonist can seal it and carry it with them, resulting in two effects." Takuya explained while drawing a flowchart, "The first effect is sealing. It completely absorbs the monster's basic power and turns it into permanent movement abilities like double jump, diving, and dashing. This is called ability locking. Without the Kappa's ability, you can't go underwater; without the Tengu's ability, you can't fly. Paths that were previously impassable can be revisited after acquiring the new ability; this is called map reuse."

Several veteran planners listened with wide eyes. This design broke away from traditional linear levels, turning the entire map into a giant three-dimensional maze.

"The second effect is possession." Takuya emphasized, tapping his pen on the whiteboard. "This is the core of the battle. You can temporarily borrow the power of a yokai. When you're in possession mode, your attack power skyrockets, and your attack methods will become the yokai's claws or sorcery."

"That sounds impressive," one of the planners behind Uchida Makoto couldn't help but interject, his voice brimming with barely concealed excitement.

"But this power is poisonous. Strength always comes at a price." Takuya sneered, heavily writing the three words "Rationality" next to "Possession." "The demonic energy of a yokai will erode a samurai's will. Activating possession grants explosive combat power, but rationality and life force will continuously decline. Once rationality reaches zero, the protagonist will either go berserk and hack and slash wildly, or have their life force depleted, suffering a backlash death from the yokai. Furthermore, once both health and rationality fall below a certain level, illusions of powerful yokai will appear, and these illusions can also harm the samurai."

A collective gasp filled the conference room.

This high-risk, high-reward gambler's mechanism is practically a stimulant tailor-made for hardcore gamers.

Nakayama Takuya continued to sketch the map structure on the whiteboard.

"It's no longer the linear progression where you just complete one level and move on."

"We're going to turn the entire Heian-kyo and its surroundings into a huge, interconnected maze." He drew Wired connecting several circles. "Mount Hiei, the Kamo River, and the Demon-Haunted Plain —these areas are initially locked. Players must first obtain the Kappa's 'Water Ability' to dive into the underwater dungeon, and obtain the Great Tengu's 'Flying Ability' to climb the tower."

"Exploration—using the abilities gained from the seals to revisit old maps and unlock new paths, allowing us to explore even wider areas." Takuya tossed his pen aside, turning to look at the group. "Let the players discover their own path, instead of being led by the nose by us."