Chapter 41: Focus

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Temporarily handing over the Samoyed to several staff members in Miracle Entertainment, John was led by the other party to a music room.

"Should the rhythm of this place be faster?" Waltz sat in a chair wearing headphones, staring at the words and images on the computer screen while talking to himself.

That was the plot of Octopath Traveler and some character concept art. After about ten minutes, Waltz took off his headphones and noticed John.

"When did Mr. John arrive? Sorry, I was revising the music and didn't notice," Waltz stood up and apologized to John.

"I haven't been here long," John smiled and shook hands with Waltz.

The other party was the music producer of Octopath Traveler, and also a well-known soundtrack producer, responsible for many well-known RPGs music.

"Mr. John, do you think some of the music is not suitable for the game?" Waltz quickly got to the point, even more concerned about it than John.

"Yes, there are many places that do not achieve the effect I want. For example, the theme song of the character should be able to convey the details of the character through the music, including their personality, growth experience, and reasons for traveling. This is the main core content of the game."

"For instance, the soundtrack in the game might be better presented as a symphony. Octopath Traveler is not a traditional JRPG; it can be considered innovative. It doesn't need the traditional RPG music style. Using orchestral music to renovate the soundtrack can help it break away from the traditional atmosphere," John explained to Waltz in detail, having prepared in advance.

John turned on the laptop he carried with him and opened the demo of Octopath Traveler that had been completed, including the game's soundtrack and character voiceovers.

Although the character's concept art and plot had been handed over to Waltz, John felt it might be better to show the game's content to him.

Listening to John's comments, Waltz also played the demo game. When John entered the console code, Waltz could experience any plot at will. The expression on Waltz's face gradually became serious.

"Yes, there are indeed a lot of problems, and Mr. John's suggestions are very good. I think I already have a general idea. Perhaps I can tailor a theme song for each character, using a different musical instrument for each. For example, the character of a priest, her theme should convey femininity but still be holy."

"Everyone's life story is a different journey. They seem unconnected, but in reality, they are intertwined."

Looking at the game's plot again, now shown through images rather than words, Waltz began to understand. He became very excited.

"In addition, the battle song needs to change, seamlessly extending from the character songs. This requires very important adjustments," Waltz whispered to himself as he listened to the music from the computer.

***

Two hours later, after signing a confidentiality agreement, John took home the Samoyed.

John wasn't too worried about whether Waltz could make the soundtrack he wanted. As a well-known RPG music producer in the industry, with his team, John believed they could produce a satisfactory soundtrack.

Not to mention, the money John offered was substantial. Although it might be a bit lower than the industry's top prices, it wasn't much worse. For Miracle Entertainment, the project Octopath Traveler was definitely among their top three priorities.

When John returned home from Miracle Entertainment, Martel's new work Time and Space had been officially launched on all platforms.

***

On August 10th, three days after the release of Time and Space, the hype skyrocketed.

The final chapter of Martel's famous time and space series, coupled with the switch from a turn-based RPG to an ARPG, and the incidental rivalry with John, this year's dark horse in the independent game circle, generated a lot of interest.

This, along with Gemtechs' significant investment in Time and Space, much larger than in previous projects, helped Time and Space achieve 500,000 sales on the day of its launch, with total sales exceeding 800,000 by the third day. Although sales seemed gratifying, online players had mixed feelings about the game.

"The gameplay is interesting, can't stop grinding for equipment, random items, every boss is a surprise!"

"The action elements are great, smooth combat, but it feels like it lost the RPG essence, the fun is mostly in grinding for equipment."

"Disappointed, the plot is grand, but too much focus on grinding, most of the game time is spent getting gear."

"The game is great! And it has online co-op for four players, grinding with friends is fun."

John paid close attention to Martel and Mercury Studio's game.

While Luna was teasing the Samoyed, John noticed she had secretly placed peeled longan, only the black seeds remaining.

"It is indeed a bit polarized. They wanted to focus on RPG story elements but added random elements similar to Isaac's style, making players grind for equipment to extend gameplay," John thought after trying it out.

This gameplay reminded John of a type of dark-themed grind game. Compared to the plot, the main fun of the game was grinding. Unlike many games that imitated the random elements in Binding of Isaac, Martel had mastered the core point. The game didn't just randomize for randomness but used a core function to generate fixed random numbers, determining the game layout.

This made equipment attributes seem random but arranged according to the function in a large database. The biggest advantage was avoiding broken or invalid entries, ensuring balanced gameplay.

"However, combining these elements feels very interesting," John thought, imagining a mage wearing heavy armor and wielding a large sword and shield.

Thinking of this, John couldn't help but laugh.

"It depends on how Mercury Studio chooses to proceed, focusing on grinding elements or returning to telling the story," John closed the game, then logged into his official game maker account to check industry news.

As John entered his password, a small plastic bowl was placed on the keyboard in front of him. He turned to see Luna, smiling, holding the Samoyed and looking straight at John.

"Tired of playing? It's okay, I'll go with the Samoyed," John said, confused, reaching out and hugging the Samoyed.

"You don't even know to leave me a little," Luna said, glaring playfully. She then took out a bag of fruits from the refrigerator and handed it to John.

"Peel it for you, peel it for you," John smiled at the fruits, poured the thing from the plastic bowl into the trash can, and started peeling.

He took out two fruits at once, peeled one into the plastic bowl, and ate the other.

"Ah-! You still eat it-! There's just a little left-! I haven't eaten one yet-!" Luna couldn't bear it anymore, lay the Samoyed on the floor, and reached over to grab the remaining fruit.

"Bark, bark..." The Samoyed, seeing the two playing on the bed, barked twice from the floor.