Game Director from Hell

Chapter 70: Evaluation (1)

Spring has arrived.

It has been a year since Studio Rewind came to Pangyo, and roughly the same amount of time has been invested in the development of Hellic 3.

Despite seemingly having focused solely on development during this time, there have been quite a few changes when you look back.

There were small things like Jo Ayoon becoming a college student, Yang Gilsang’s receding hairline retreating by about 2 cm, and Myungkyu gaining a nickname like “Collarbone Measuring Device”. On a larger scale, there were milestones such as the success of Hellic 2’s console version and the completion of the demo version of Hellic 3.

During this process, there was even an incident where a mike stole my first kiss, but it was all for the sake of the game’s quality.

In any case, the Hellic 3’s demo was completed with a quality that exceeded expectations.

And today was the day.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other.”

“Yes, you’ve been quite busy during this time.”

Ayado Goro, came to visit Studio Rewind after nearly a year.

***

Ayado Goro had been in the gaming industry for over 20 years.

With that much experience, he had visited every major game company, and when he looked at Rewind, one evaluation came to mind.

“It’s quite universal.”

In other words, it had a more open and welcoming structure compared to a typical corporate office. It was unavoidable, really. Regardless of it being an IT company, the unique subculture smell of gaming was bound to permeate when there were references for games, the company’s products, and related merchandise like figures and posters scattered around, serving as part of the interior design.

Nothing to be concerned about.

In fact, Ayado didn’t come to tour their office in the first place.

His purpose was to inspect Hellic 3, a game that had garnered global expectations and could potentially become a flagship title for the PS4 in the future.

“It’s been a year already. Time certainly flies.”

“Yes, we’ve been working non-stop, and it’s already been a year of development.”

“Can we have high expectations for it?”

“I don’t want to say and make it a burden… it’s not the right time to make such statements.”

Ayado responded to Yeonho’s answer with a small smile.

“It means he’s confident.”

What was rising was his curiosity.

Despite the fact that it was not an event that warranted his personal visit, he still came all the way for areason.

Well, perhaps it’s because it’s a game that has caught the attention of one Aldred Russo.

Ayado had the opportunity to play the next title from Russo, which was scheduled for release in 14 years. The game was so extraordinary that it made one wonder if 14 years would pass quickly like a breeze.

Even though he had created such a game, Russo said, “That guy, Cheon Yeonho is

formidable. I have a feeling. He won’t create anything mediocre.”

Ayado wanted to know whether Russo’s feeling was right or wrong. That’s why he chose this visit.

“So, shall we start?”

Ayado asked, and Yeonho nodded in agreement.

Although Ayado didn’t know much about Yeonho yet, one thing that struck him was Yeonho’s casual demeanour.

The two of them entered a room with a massive monitor, a computer, and a PS game controller. They had already received documents regarding the development progress and the game’s concept. Today, Ayado’s task was to play the actual game in the director’s seat.

Ayado asked, “I remember the playtime was around 4 to 6 hours.”

“Yes, that’s the usual playtime.”

“The usual?”

Ayado’s eyes gleamed.

Yeonho replied with his characteristic nonchalant expression, “I don’t like games that force you into one way.”

“Is that so?”

Given that Hellic 1 and 2 seemed to have followed a fairly consistent narrative direction, Ayado was slightly puzzled.

Yeonho explained, “It’s a matter of money. Always.”

Could it be understood as taking a different approach to AAA games?

A smile crossed Ayado’s lips. “That’s good. My playstyle is quite unconventional.”

“I hope you can find it.”

“The hidden route?”

“Sub-routes or shortcuts. That’s about it.”

“Hmm…”

Would the final product truly reflect his confidence? Ayado had already received written material related to the game, but having been in the game industry for 20 years, he knew that you couldn’t understand a completed game from documents alone. He understood that all the elements in the design were merely components to get closer to the ultimate goal of “fun.”

To put it in food terms, no matter how many fun ingredients you mix, whether it’s a combination of ramen and mint chocolate or tsuyu (soy sauce) and tamago (egg), you won’t know until you try it. Ayado intended to examine this closely.

He wanted to understand what elements this game chose to achieve commercial success, what it excluded, what it emphasized, and what systems it had in place. He also wanted to understand how the balance of each element was adjusted to maintain the game’s equilibrium.

“If even one thing is off…”

The game won’t sell.

“Customers don’t tolerate imperfections in the product,”

The same applied to what Yeonho called hidden routes or shortcuts.

If it disrupted the gameplay, Aya would boldly request their removal.

He subtly hinted at this fact.

“I believe I didn’t come here just for a simple demonstration.”

“An evaluation, indeed. I’ve heard quite a bit about stories related to the director.”

“You’re talking about me?”

“Rumors have been circulating. They say you overturned a nearly finished game.”

Ayado concealed his surprise and chuckled softly.

“That’s an old story.”

In his younger days, he was more energetic.

During the early days of Sony,he was more vigorous and had his fair share of conflicts.

The games he got involved with now held a significant position as flagship titles for Sony.

Though he currently managed them as the head of the business department, Ayado was originally involved in development.

Especially when dealing with it from a business perspective.

“In that case, I won’t hold back.”

It would be more comfortable if he knew.

Ayado suddenly felt a sense of longing and picked up the pad.

It had been about seven years.

Back when he was active in the field, Ayado Goro was a name that resonated among developers in the industry.

“Please don’t mind my blunt language. I tend to have difficulty choosing words when my blood starts boiling.”

Ayado Goro the language assassin.

He was transported back to the past for a moment.

It took him about ten minutes.

Tick-tock!

For Ayado to operate the pad absentmindedly.

***

I quietly stepped outside when the conversation ceased.

Inside the booth, Ayado was playing a game, and the key members of Rewind crowded around me as I stepped outside.

First to ask with greater sensitivity to evaluations than anyone else was Han Seorim.

“Sunbae, is everything okay?I’m a bit anxious…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Look at that director; his expression is too blank.”

“Isn’t he usually like that? When playing games, everyone has blank faces. You’re no different…”

“Quiet.”

“…”

Suddenly, Han Seorim tried to bite her fingernails, but I stopped her.

But there was chaos from another direction this time.

“Ah, if you go in there by mistake, there might be a bug…”

Myungkyu was trembling nervously.

Indeed, the demo version of Hellic 3 was an unfinished product with bugs popping up here and there. If there were any gameplay variables, problems would start leaking from there.

But that wasn’t a significant issue to consider.

“It’s not the customer, so don’t worry. Besides, the game is still three months away from public release, so bugs won’t be a major factor for scoring.”

Ayado’s main focus for this evaluation was the game’s marketability, assuming that the game ran smoothly. In other words, he was wassessing how fun the game was and how well it would sell.

From that perspective, Ayado’s reaction was somewhat positive.

The prologue chapter, demonstrating each character’s weapons and cinematic scenes right now, was combining the characters into a single body, wielding various weapons in the air, clearly showing an interest in the game system.

The reason for his confidence was one thing.

It was an email from Ruso that had arrived a while ago.

“One of the famous rumours about that guy is that he threw away a game the development team had been working on for two years, calling it garbage in just ten minutes. I hope something like that doesn’t happen to you.”

It was a decisive moment that led to investigating Ayado Goro.

“The language assassin, Ayado Goro…”

I didn’t know who gave him that name, but it was quite eerie.

That person was now absorbed in the game on the other side of the booth.

At least, it seemed that he hadn’t received a 10-minute trash game judgment, right?

It was at that moment.

“Yeonho, Yeonho! Director, Exchange parts tab!”

“Joan of Arc!”

It was a noisy duo.

They spoke to me but hit Myunggyu’s arm.

Myunggyu’s arm trembled.

Ignoring that spectacle, I looked at Ayado Goro.

For the first time, he stopped playing.

What he was looking at was the part exchange tab.

Suddenly, my heart started beating.

“Is the system confusing?”

Such a thought came to mind.

It wasn’t that it wasn’t clear; it was just that Ayado, who had been playing smoothly so far, had been staring at that tab for over two minutes and had it opened. It wasn’t just looking; his brows were furrowed.

That moment.

The game comprehension of the creator and the consumer was naturally different.

He had paid attention to it, but since the parts exchange system was being introduced for the first time in the Hellic series, it might be unfamiliar.

“Is it a mistake?” He thought with suspicion.

Click.

Ayado moved his hand.

At that moment, Jo Ayoon said, “Oh, it’s a transgender…”

Silence hung in the air.

Click, click.

A smile was playing on Ayado’s lips as he tapped the pad.

Furthermore, the character he was controlling had Joan of Arc’s body and Napoleon’s head (double chin) and the furry arms and legs of a barbarian.

A thought passed through my mind.

“It’s good. My playing style is quite unusual.”

Could it be?

***

Ayado did not forget the purpose.

This is not leisure but work, and playing the game is for evaluation.

As such, for the first round of play, a basic playstyle without tricks was chosen.

In other words, most common way to approach this game.

For example, it was like this.

I didn’t skip the cinematics.

If there were a main road and a side road in front of me, I took the main road, and I hunted monsters head-on.

While playing like that, there was an assessment made.

“It’s intuitive.”

The system, story, and gameplay were quite intuitive.

The brief cinematic at the beginning of the game showed the characteristics of the four pilgrims, and the tutorial battles afterward hammered their characteristics, gameplay mechanics, and how to use each weapon into the player’s body in the form of combat.

In other words, it didn’t require a forced understanding of the game’s systems.

It continued like that.

Combining four characters into one body was achieved through quickslot-style stance switching.

Information about their goals and backgrounds was conveyed through voice subtitles rather than cinematic sequences.

“They minimized the time allocated to the narrative. They melted it into the gameplay.”

All these elements were integrated into the “play.”

At this point, Ayado realized one thing.

The idea of combining four individuals into one body was, in fact, an explanation of the world through natural dialogue insertion.

Explanations through item tooltips and in-game objects were seamlessly connected.

This was what Russo had praised.

“Very skilful.”

Cheon Yeonho, at a young age, was an unusually calculated and skilful creator.

Somewhere within that, an obsession with perfection that could be felt as almost pathological was present.

From the perspective of a player who didn’t analyse the elements, this would lead to immersion.

However, Ayado’s admiration was short-lived as he began looting Joan of Arc’s corpse.

It was at that moment.

Ayado became a gamer, not an evaluator.

“…It’s big.”

It was too explicit to say what was big, so he just said it was big.

And with that, something came to mind.

It was a past favourite comic character.

“Hey, life isn’t supposed to be that easy, you know.”

“So, wouldn’t that make it more fun?”

What is strength?

Not bowing to any worldly values and following your own path is what makes one strong.

In that sense, that comic character was a perfect match for what Ayado thought of as a “really strong character.”

Ayado also had romance.

His young romanticism was directed at a pair of neutral characters.

It was about fragrance, and he had forgotten to move the pad because of the emotions.

It didn’t take long.

Ayado quickly regained his reason and checked the options for the parts.

“Where…”

『The Body of Joan of Arc

The chosen heart of God burns with faith and justice.

Special Trait: Gains faith.

Faith: Converts attacks into magic damage.』

The moment he saw it, the build was naturally created.

“Napoleon’s head was a critical hit adjustment.”

Among the things he had obtained earlier, Napoleon’s head was a part that adjusted the critical hit probability for each weapon. By combining it with this body, he could go in the direction of “long-range magic shooting” when using a gun. In Ayado’s view, it was an immediate efficient choice.

He immediately ran with that build, holding a gun.

He didn’t bother to change the appearance of the parts.

Ayado liked this state, so he didn’t need to change it.

That was the moment he left the swamp of Chapter 1.

BGM started.

A low orchestra with a sticky kiss sound setting the beat.

Ayado felt a chill down his spine.

What was drawn next was the background.

Under a dark blue sky, blue candles shone.

The ground was covered with skulls, and tombstones sparsely protruded above them.

“Hehehe…”

Laughter could be heard.

What was revealed was the enchanting silhouette of brides guarded by skeleton soldiers.

They shone their pale skin and danced alone quietly on top of the tomb where darkness had descended.

It was that moment.

“Wow!”

Ayado admired something outside the game system for the first time.

It was as if he had come to the streets of the old times.

The bride were eductive woman, and the kiss sounds mixed with the BGM were their seduction.

And with laughter mixed in, Ayado felt a shiver.

What stimulated him was his imagination.

“If I had those legs, arms, and torso…”

Wouldn’t Napoleon’s double chin stand out even more?

I want to defeat monsters.

In other words, Ayado’s interest in customization was boiling.

That’s when it happened.

“Brother!”

Ayado Goro (53 years old, married for 21 years).

He felt the presence of his dormant doppelgänger within him all along.

It was a reunion after 10 years.