Chapter 183: Brachio- Saurus~
What, what is it!? Is that really a Dragon Emblem!!
The atmosphere among the executives, previously calm due to the sudden announcement of the Dragon Emblem sequel amid the opera event and the empty streets without me, soared in an instant.
Fans of Pentagon Soft began cheering loudly toward the screen, sending an immense cheer.
Amid the thunderous cheers that seemed to shake one's eardrums, Kawaguchi and I briefly covered our ears and exchanged smiles. In the midst of the explosive reaction from the users, Kawaguchi and I exchanged whispers.
Indeed, the popularity of Dragon Emblem overseas is impressive.
This upcoming Final Frontier 6 seems poised to be a major hit judging by the gamers' response.
Gradually, as the promotional video depicted a thin woman playing a flute on a cliff, and a red-haired man holding a shattered sword on the ground, fitting the broken blade into his weapon and flashing a fanged grin, the serene melody of the flute faded.
He, lifting the sword he held, with broken edges fitted back, revealing fangs as he smirked.
As a typical cheerful guy, he swung his red cloak, mounted his horse, and grabbed the reins. Together with Turejil, the enormous black horse, he galloped across the plains where the sun was setting.
A moment later, as the camera angle that had been focusing on him switched to a first-person perspective, revealing the crimson sunset to be a burning battlefield, the short opening video of the Dragon Emblem tomb of the dragon user came to an end.
Following this, as the gameplay footage continued, people gazed with bewildered expressions at the introduction of a completely new genre.
What's this? The first Dragon Emblem introduced a simulation RPG genre.
Dragon Emblem 2 introduced a new element of tactics SRPG with character development and multiplayer. The era of the broken holy sword and darkness.
And finally, after a long time, the genre of the second episode, Tomb of the Dragon User, was revealed to be 'turn-based strategy simulation'.
Comparing it to a similar genre...
So, is it similar to 'Warriors of Might and Magic'?
Players could become knights in the world of Dragon Emblem, prosper their territory, and roam the continent to collect hidden artifacts. Every time players passed through undeveloped areas marked in black, beautifully drawn 2D maps were revealed.
This time, you can freely roam the world map...
Upgrading territories seems like something out of the Three Kingdoms system?
Having traversed numerous genres until now, gamers seemed to grasp the new systems of Dragon Emblem merely by observing the gameplay screen.
Players who had initially defeated the two dragons guarding the towers in the previous installment were expected to appear as powerful heroes in this episode. However, the red-haired male seen in the opening was not a hero but the leader of the Berserker Guild, the player who chose the path of the demon king, 'Dark King Osiris.'
Thanks to the Berserker Guild leader's eccentric naming sense, the demon king's name nearly became 'Osiri (butt),' but due to a dramatic consensus, it ended up being used as the name of Osiris, the god of the dead worshiped in ancient Egypt.
Even in jest, no one would have known that the character name created would rise to become a hero character in the next work...
Originally, the next installment of Dragon Emblem was intended to be made for a portable Laon, but the expanded world compared to the previous installment made the capacity far too limited.
My dream was far too ambitious, not considering the current situation...
While developing the Tomb of the Dragon User, I felt the current cartridge capacity used in Laon was painfully inadequate to portray the world of Dragon Emblem in more detail and expansively.
The current cartridge capacity used in Laon is barely 64 megabytes...
Of course, this is double the capacity of the Super Family's ROM cartridge, but the game I had planned far exceeded that capacity.
Unable to split the second episode once again, I ultimately decided to release the second episode for the next generation console.
The development speed, which had been faltering due to capacity and performance issues from the beginning, began to expand freely like a sailboat catching a favorable wind after lifting those constraints.
While the base of Tomb of the Dragon User had similarities to 'Might and Magic's' turn-based simulation, in cases of encounters with enemies or other heroes while roaming the continent, we maintained the gameplay of Dragon Emblem using a 3D tactical combat system.
The polygonal representation of the three-dimensional battle terrain, unlike the previous installment, allowed map rotation of 360 degrees, enabling the exploration of hidden treasures or traps. This brought quite a fresh shock to the users.
The battle map is 3D, but the characters are 2D... surprisingly, they blend together without much discomfort?
The combat scenes of characters fighting on the 3D field, akin to 'Final Frontier Tactics,' which would be released later, left a deep impression on the users.
"Wow, can a game change so much with just one 3D effect?"
Among those mesmerized by the Dragon Emblem's battle scenes were Mintendo's Shigeru and NEGA's Suzuki.
Even they, the current top directors who had showcased the cartoon rendering style in the remake version without me and faithfully reproduced the original game system in the Dragon Emblem, seemed to be fully immersed in the promotional video.
Just as the audience's reactions soared with the new world map and combat style...
A solitary priest kneeling in the darkness was revealed.
Seeing the serene figure of the priestess praying to the deity, Shigeru was the first to react.
"High Priestess Katrina?"
"To save this world engulfed in war... O Lord. Please grant him one more chance..."
As a tear fell from her closed eyes, a young man wearing a gauntlet was revealed amidst a metallic click within the darkness.
"What...? Could it be? The young days of the Holy King Croel?"
"Oh, really... This is incredible.."
In an unexpected turn of events, the users watched the screen in silence, trembling with anticipation.
As Katrina finished her prayer, King Croel lifted his head slowly, a smile playing on his lips as he addressed her, "It's been a while, Katrina."
"Your Highness..." she replied.
"Wowwww!"
The conference attendees were moved by the video announcing King Croel's return, each murmuring a few words in response.
"I knew this would happen. Somehow, they killed off the protagonist of the previous game too easily..."
"Ah, so does that mean the heroes from part one will be added in Episode 2?"
"Oh, this gives me goosebumps. The fact that The Empty Streets and Dragon Emblem are coming out as next-gen consoles is worth every penny..."
After two videos ended, I stepped into the spotlight at the center of the stage.
"With this, we conclude the promotion for the two upcoming projects, alongside the next-generation console and a brief introduction to 'Complete Raon,' a 32-bit console project."
While NEGA and Sensoni previously introduced their devices before discussing games, Pentagon's conference, similar to Mintendo's approach, showcased the new system's capabilities first before detailing the upcoming release.
Stepping forward on stage, I locked eyes with the audience before continuing the explanation about the next-gen console.
"As you might have felt, this year's CES could mark a significant conference in gaming history. Mintendo, NEGA, Sensoni, and our Pentagon, all four companies simultaneously announcing new consoles."
"Starting with NEGA's Real Fighter, which broke ground in 3D gaming, the gaming industry has evolved, employing entirely new graphics. And within that, Pentagon chose the fusion of 2D and 3D."
"Last year's 'Jurassic Park' in theaters showcased the pinnacle of computer graphics. It amazed not only the gaming industry but also graphic designers and programmers. However, truthfully, representing graphics similar to 'Jurassic Park' on consoles is currently unrealistic."
A user listening to me interjected, "But Sensoni's Gear Station showed graphics almost identical to those in Jurassic Park, didn't it?"
Smiling calmly, I replied, "So, did that T-Rex in Sensoni's station move like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park?"
He sighed softly, shaking his head in disagreement.
"The graphics used in games differ a bit from what movies present in computer graphics. There's a significant difference in creating visuals based on a director's intent versus responding to your actions in a game. To put it simply."
As I finished speaking, a giant T-Rex appeared on the screen behind me.
"Wow!! The same T-Rex from the Pentagon conference!"
The detailed 3D graphics of the polygon and textures showed no major differences compared to what Sensoni had displayed.
"Coincidentally, our prepared material overlapped with Sensoni's. This could be attributed to the ripple effect caused by last year's 'Jurassic Park.'"
The ripple effect. While everyone here might think so, in truth, Sensoni's Kurakagi had foreseen the modeling of the T-Rex and had asked Rob for separate materials before coming to CES.
"Similar to Sensoni, Raon's next-gen model can achieve this level of graphical representation. However, making a model of this quality move intuitively demands significant CPU specifications. This is also why Sensoni couldn't make the T-Rex move in reality."
The audience nodded slowly in response to my explanation, glancing at Sensoni's booth.
Suddenly, the screen, previously displaying the 3D T-Rex, switched to a demo screen of a 3D fighting game.
"Right. At present, graphics of this level would fit within Gear Station's capabilities for actual responsive user control."
Then another user countered my statement, "Then how do you explain the moving 3D Marigi shown by Mintendo?"
For a moment, I looked at the audience in silence, then slowly lifted the mic to speak.
"I never said the T-Rex we created lacked the capability to move due to insufficient performance, did I?"
Simultaneously, as if alive, the T-Rex on the screen roared loudly, stomping its feet towards the audience.
"Rooooar!!!"
>
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