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[Game] Chapter 197: The Music Issue
🕑 Added 2025-04-10 16:15:41 +0000 UTCThat afternoon, back at the studio, Ichin gathered Hazuki and Kō Yagami to start sorting through the development tasks. Together, they reviewed the project and separated out the less critical modeling work, preparing to outsource it to Lily the following day.
Seeing a sizable chunk of dull but time-consuming work offloaded, Kō let out a sigh of relief. “With all those simpler, repetitive tasks off our plates, we can focus completely on the core parts of the game. The game’s pretty long—there are several large Palace maps, and each one needs its own unique flavor. Designing all of that is going to be complicated.”
Ichin copied the relevant files onto a portable hard drive and said, “Let’s take it slow. We don’t need to rush the Palaces right now. First, we need to get the core systems in place. What I want to see is how the combat plays and feels.”
The combat UI was already mostly complete. Once they had a full set of combat animations, a few monsters, and matching music, they’d be able to run their first test builds.
People often said that the most important elements in an RPG were the story, character design, and progression systems—followed by how well the maps and dungeons were laid out.
But with Persona, Ichin wanted to go further. In addition to the traditional must-haves, he aimed to break new ground in music and UI.
It was the 21st century now. Compared to the gaming industry of the ‘90s, today’s audiences were exposed to a flood of diverse, ever-changing content. In such an age of information overload, outdated models simply wouldn’t cut it anymore.
Since the core of a traditional RPG couldn’t be changed drastically, the only solution was to wrap that familiar core in a layer of modern, stylish elements—something that would breathe life into the turn-based systems and long narratives, making them feel dynamic and fresh.
There were no references or templates for this kind of vision. All Ichin had was his memory of Persona 5.
But if he could successfully pull this off, Ichin believed this project could serve as a strong reference—or even inspiration—for other companies aiming to create RPGs in this generation.
After finalizing what to outsource, Hazuki and Kō headed out. They planned to meet up with Rin Toyama and grab dinner together.
Ichin, meanwhile, returned home with Utaha. They were planning to eat dinner at her place that night.
With some time to spare before dinner, Ichin went to the bedroom, turned on his computer, and started searching for basic music theory resources.
He’d always just coasted through his music classes in school, so now he had no choice but to start from scratch.
Utaha returned to her room after checking in with her mom and found Ichin’s screen filled with music-related tutorials and notes.
“Ichin, what are you looking at? Music stuff?”
“Yeah.”
Ichin nodded as he downloaded the materials and started looking for beginner-friendly video courses on music theory.
“I haven’t found a good music production company yet, so I’m thinking I’ll at least study the basics for now. Tomorrow, when I visit Lily, I’ll ask Aunt Sayuri if she knows any composers or studios. Back when I worked on Hollow Knight, we outsourced the music too, but it was mostly basic tracks and sound effects. This time it’s differentPersona’s music is a core part of the experience. I need to treat it seriously.”
“You’re learning on your own? I didn’t expect that,” Utaha said, leaning in close to peek at the screen. “Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you sing. Everyone just coasted through music class in school. Are you planning to sing in the game yourself?”
“Definitely not.”
Ichin shut that down without hesitation. “I know my limits. I’ve got ideas, sure—and the DNA to create music is there—but actually singing? That’s not happening.”
Pulling Utaha into his lap with one arm around her waist, Ichin looked into her eyes. “I already have some melodies in mind that would fit the game perfectly. But I don’t have the knowledge to bring them to life. Whether I do it myself or outsource it, I need to understand music theory. I have to learn.”
“I see,” Utaha said, nodding in understanding. She kissed him lightly on the lips, then asked with a smile, “So, have you considered taking a class?”
“Let’s not go that far. I’m not trying to become a singer,” Ichin replied, catching her sly tone.
By now, he understood what she was really after—she just wanted an excuse to get him to sing for her.
Some things could be agreed to, but singing just wasn’t one of them. Ichin knew very well—his voice simply wasn’t suited for it.
Seeing that Ichin didn’t take the bait, Utaha wasn’t too disappointed. She knew he wasn’t good at singing, and there was no need to push him into something he wasn’t comfortable with.
Instead, the two of them just leaned into each other and enjoyed some quiet, affectionate time together.
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Monday morning arrived, and the whole team gathered at the studio. After everyone settled in, Hazuki began handing out the week’s assignments.
“As you all probably know by now,” she began, “we’ve signed an outsourcing agreement with Lily, the club run by Eriri’s mom, Sayuri. We’ve handed off some of the less critical work—like certain maps, monsters, and NPC modeling. That means our goals are now clearer than ever: we focus completely on the core content, and by the end of the year, we aim to have a playable battle system demo ready.”
“On the art side,” she continued, “we need to finish modeling the Phantom Thief outfits for the main cast. And Hafumi’s been working on the Personas for the protagonist group for a week now—this week’s about polishing and expanding on that. As for the programming team, I won’t say much. Ichin-kun’s already been checking in with you constantly, so just keep tracking your progress.”
Everyone nodded in unison and got to work as soon as they received their assignments.
Looking at her own task list, Momiji Mochizuki’s expression turned instantly serious. She even swallowed hard.
Noticing her reaction, Aoba leaned over curiously and whispered, “What’s wrong?”
Momiji didn’t hide it and showed her the assignment.
She was the newest member of the art team besides Eriri. Last week, her task was to model two of the main supporting characters: Sakura Sojiro and Mishima Yuuki.
Naturally, Momiji assumed she’d be handling more secondary characters this week too.
But what she got instead were two romanceable female characters: Chihaya Mifune and Tae Takemi
That was a whole new level of responsibility.
“W-Wow… that’s a big deal,” Aoba whispered.
Momiji nodded. “Yeah, it’s a good thing. I’m just… surprised.”
Right then, Hazuki walked over with a fresh cup of coffee, smiling as she joined them. “Momo-chan, everyone’s seen how much you’ve improved. Ichin and I discussed it and decided to give you this task. Make sure you do your best!”
Hearing that, Momiji nodded seriously, determination rising in her eyes.
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Comments
Mc54322
Sakura Javesan and Tojima Yuki? I think u mean Sakura Sojiro and Mishima Yuki?
