Game Developer in the World of Anime

Once everyone had gathered, Ichin signaled for quiet and asked, "Quick question—how many of you have preordered Pokémon Legends: Arceus?"

In no time, over a dozen hands went up.

"All physical editions?"

Everyone nodded in unison.

"Good." Ichin smiled. "At 1:30 this afternoon, Nintendo will be sending over a batch of Arceus CD keys. One for each of you. You can start playing as soon as you get it—but you must not leak this info, got it?"

After a short silence, the office erupted.

"Pokémon?!"

"Wait—does that mean we get to play it early?!"

"Sounds like it, right?!"

Ichin raised his hands to calm the excited crowd and chuckled, "Yup, that's right. We're getting a batch of digital game keys for internal use only. That means just for us—don't post anything about it online, and definitely don't share it publicly. If word gets out, I'm the one who's screwed. Judging by everyone's reaction, you're all pretty curious about Arceus, huh? Alright then—once the keys arrive this afternoon, those of you with your consoles can go ahead and download the game. I'm giving you the rest of the day off—spend it here in the office and play. Just make sure after your session, send me a mini review. What impressed you, what disappointed you—just be honest. Sound good?"

"No problem!!!"

With everyone in agreement, Ichin sent them back to work—the morning still had a few hours left, and they needed to get through it first.

"Awesome, early access!"

"Gotta get as much done this morning as I can!"

"Let's gooo!"

Over in the art department, Rin Toyama looked over at Ichin, curiosity written on her face. "Ichin-kun, how on earth did you manage to get early access?"

"Let's just say it's one of those little perks of being in game development," he replied with a grin. "Developers who are genuinely interested can sometimes get early copies, kind of like gaming review media. Of course, unlike review outlets, we should give proper feedback from a developer's perspective. Rin, Kō—you two should write some notes too. Don't just praise the game because we got freebies. If there are flaws, write them down. If you spot bugs, let me know directly—I'll report them."

Eriri, who had been quiet until now, suddenly lit up and raised her hand, eyes sparkling. "Ichin-kun! So if we can get Arceus early, does that mean we might get Breath of the Wild 2 too? Or other games?"

"As long as Nintendo's willing to share, I think it's possible," Ichin replied with a nod and a smile. "And of course, when our own Persona game is ready, we'll send it over to some Nintendo-affiliated studios too. Exchange of experiences and all."

"Yay!!!"

"No 'yay'-ing allowed."

"Pfft." Eriri shot Ichin a playful look, then happily returned to her seat, humming a tune as she got back to work.

Noon, lunchtime.

Some people had brought bentos, but the rest bolted out the door the moment the clock hit lunch. Besides grabbing food, they planned to swing by home and bring back their Switches.

After all, it'd be pure torture to watch others play a yet-to-release game while you sit there empty-handed.

Ichin was no exception. After lunch with Utaha, the two of them went home to fetch their own Switch consoles.

At 1:30 PM sharp, as everyone eagerly waited, Ichin received a new email in his inbox—a batch of ready-to-use game keys.

After verifying the keys and successfully downloading the game on both his and Utaha's consoles, Ichin split the keys into batches and handed them off to each department lead to distribute.

Stepping out of the office, Ichin saw everyone already holding their Switches, successfully redeeming and downloading the game.

"Wahoo! Got ourselves a fun afternoon!"

Seeing the Pokémon Legends: Arceus icon pop up on her Switch, Eriri spun in her chair with glee.

Beside her, Yukino was also downloading the game on her NS.

As one of the company's shareholders, Yukino naturally enjoyed the same perks. What surprised Ichin was that she even brought a console—though hers was the compact NS Lite model.

Walking over to Eriri and Yukino, Ichin glanced at Yukino's screen and smiled. "Didn't expect this—Yukino, you've started getting into games under Eriri's influence, huh?"

On Yukino's home screen, he spotted Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart, and Capcom's Ace Attorney series.

Yukino put down her Switch and looked at him calmly. "Yes, I was influenced by Eriri. But as long as it doesn't interfere with daily studies, playing games can actually be quite enjoyable. Many games offer a unique narrative experience—different from books but still impactful."

Eriri chimed in just in time, "Of course, not every story is well-written. Plenty of games have terrible plots. Oh right, Ichin, the new Kirby game is coming soon, right? What do you think?"

The meaning behind her words couldn't be clearer—she wanted Ichin to somehow get early access to Kirby too.

After all, the release was just around the corner—somewhere near the end of March.

"Alright, I get it. I'll ask around later. But for now, focus on this game, okay? Don't forget you still owe me a review."

"No problem! Game reviews? I'm a pro at that!"

Eriri confidently patted her flat chest and agreed without hesitation.

About ten minutes later, everyone had finished downloading the game and couldn't wait to dive in.

Ichin and Utaha were no exception. Back in the office, they each picked up their Switches and joined the fun.

As the game opened, Utaha remarked, "Pokémon, huh… I only finished the main storyline in Sword and Shield. Didn't even touch the DLCs, and I skipped the Diamond and Pearl remakes too."

"I'm about the same, though I did play the DLCs," Ichin replied, already immersed in the game.

The opening scene immediately caught him off guard—the protagonist had actually traveled from the modern world to the ancient past.

Now that was an interesting setup. A person from the present dropped into a faraway historical period to participate in events of the past—it was a refreshing twist. The storytelling already seemed like it would surpass Sword and Shield.

Sure, the visuals were about what he expected—mediocre—and the framerate had its wobbles. But overall, it was still within an acceptable range.

Time to keep playing.

*

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