Advice for Mercury

Hisao Oguchi paused, then added, "And Yang Jian's line after he uses his dog form—'I feel like I've forgotten something'—was originally meant to show the memory loss brought on by the transformation, but the Japanese translation's wording is too plain. It doesn't convey that fated, desolate sorrow. The bonus points didn't get full marks."

Nakayama Takuya took the sticky-note pad and wrote down several comments.

"Tell Fu Zan not to think about the December slot. That period is reserved for the big companies to beat each other bloody. For Mercury's first work, I suggest arranging its release on the eve of next year's spring break."

On the eve of spring break, the student crowd had plenty of leisure time, while the market's major titles, consumed through the year-end season, were right in that awkward window when the old crop had withered and the new one had yet to ripen.

An ARPG with a fresh theme and a solid system could often gain more attention than expected at this point.

Avoiding the clash of immortals and drawing enough players to give it a try—this was the safest release strategy.

Nakayama Takuya gave his instructions. "Have the writers who worked on polishing the text for the Phantasy Star series assist them in doing this properly. There doesn't need to be much dialogue, but it must be precise. Every time the player presses the transformation button, they must be able to feel the price the character is paying. Express the flavor of classical Chinese in the lines in a way that fits Japanese players' reading habits."

Nakayama Takuya paused, then added one key requirement.

"Keep the Traditional Chinese language pack on the disc and make it switchable on the same disc. After the game goes on sale, distribute it simultaneously to Hong Kong,