Thanks to the earlier success of Cyberpunk 2077, Takayuki realized that developing more cross-dia tie-in works had significant advantages.
Tie-in projects could tell parts of a ga’s story that were difficult to fully express within the ga itself, allowing players to gain a deeper understanding of the ga’s world and lore.
Back when Final Fantasy XV initially received poor reviews, there had once been plans to release seven DLC expansions to make up for its shortcomings.
Unfortunately, the upper managent at Square Enix ultimately chose to abandon Final Fantasy XV altogether.
At the ti, they already regarded it as a failed project with no chance of recovery.
Capital rarely tries to salvage a failed investnt. More often, it chooses to cut its losses and move on to the next gamble.
This kind of situation is extrely common in the gaming industry.
If a ga performs poorly at launch, many companies will simply abandon it and shift resources toward developing a new title.
Takayuki could recall many such examples from mory alone.
Anthem by EA.
Babylon’s Fall by PlatinumGas.
Only a small number of developers still cling to the hope of reversing a ga’s reputation, unwilling to give up on the results of years of hard work.
But even when developers truly want to turn things around, success is far from guaranteed. From that perspective, most companies abandoning poorly received gas is an unfortunate but understandable decision.
After all, no one’s money cos from thin air—and not everyone is an idealist.
Takayuki’s rebirth, however, gave him the opportunity to nd so of the regrets left behind by gas from his previous life.
Cyberpunk 2077.
And now, Final Fantasy XV.
Of course, in this world, the ga is called Final Fantasy XIII Versus.
That was its original, intended na to begin with.
What Takayuki showed to Uesugi Yuki covered only the core ga developnt plan and a single tie-in 3D animated film.
Beyond that, Takayuki also planned to produce a linked novel and a 2D animated series.
The 2D animation could once again be handled by Shinji Asami, the sa director who worked on Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
His animation skills spoke for themselves—Takayuki only needed to provide the outline of the world setting, and Asami would deliver results of exceptional quality.
Then there were stage plays and other adaptations.
In short, Takayuki intended to fully flesh out every derivative work related to Final Fantasy XIII Versus.
This would also serve as a proper conclusion to the New Crystal Mythology arc of Final Fantasy XIII.
After Takayuki left the Fifth Developnt Division, Uesugi Yuki imdiately began gathering staff to plan every aspect of developnt.
The Final Fantasy side-story ga Uesugi Yuki had originally proposed could be developed in parallel.
The two projects didn’t conflict with each other, and so of their systems and code could even overlap.
At Uesugi Yuki’s suggestion, Takayuki also agreed to add more fishing options to Final Fantasy XIII Versus.
Originally, Takayuki had considered fishing nothing more than a minor side feature.
But Uesugi Yuki himself was a seasoned fishing enthusiast.
When he saw the detailed fishing chanics already included in Takayuki’s proposal, his eyes lit up imdiately.
He suddenly wondered how he had ever overlooked fishing as a gaplay feature before.
This chanic clearly had the potential to be far more elaborate.
In Takayuki’s original plan, fishing was already divided into different bait types and fishing rods. Different regions would yield different species, and over ti, the types of fish in each area would gradually change.
That level of detail was already impressive—so much so that even Uesugi Yuki, an avid angler, found it highly appealing.
But he wasn’t satisfied yet.
He wanted to push the fishing system even further.
For example, adding more detailed fishing statistics.
Even fishing at different latitudes would result in different fish species.
There would be distinctions between juvenile fish and adult fish, along with comprehensive data for each species.
Takayuki was sowhat surprised by how effortlessly Uesugi Yuki rattled off these details.
It reminded him of a forr colleague from his previous life—another hardcore fishing fanatic.
Since this feature didn’t negatively affect the ga in any way, Takayuki simply agreed to let Uesugi Yuki go all out with the fishing chanics.
Takayuki vaguely rembered that, in his previous life, so players had genuinely beco obsessed with fishing in Final Fantasy XV.
He himself wasn’t a fishing enthusiast and couldn’t fully grasp the appeal, but adding more depth to the system certainly wouldn’t hurt—and it wouldn’t consu many resources anyway.
Once everything on this side was settled, Takayuki moved on to another developnt departnt to finalize the last installnt of tal Gear.
When the developnt team learned that this would be the final entry, they were shocked—and a little saddened.
They genuinely liked this series.
But just as Takayuki had said, players were gradually growing tired of pure stealth-focused gas. The genre had beco too complex, and the audience that truly loved it was shrinking.
Still, even if this was the final installnt, the series could always be revived soday—much like Need for Speed.
It wouldn’t be permanently shelved, just waiting for the right mont to return, offering nostalgic players a place to belong once more.
For example, through high-quality remakes.
The story itself was already complete. Forcing additional sequels might only cheapen it.
Re-releasing earlier titles with top-tier remakes—on the sa scale as Final Fantasy VII Remake—would be far more appropriate for one of the world’s greatest stealth franchises.
Job, the long-ti voice actor for tal Gear’s protagonist, learned almost imdiately that tal Gear 5 would be the final Chapter.
Along with his surprise ca a touch of regret and reluctance.
In many ways, tal Gear was what pulled him back from rock bottom and returned him to stardom.
Later, he also joined the film adaptations of tal Gear, which had since gained a respectable reputation of their own—known for their hardcore realism, with ticulous attention to detail that even professional military enthusiasts struggled to criticize.
Within certain niche circles, the films were extrely popular.
Job himself was later voted "Top Agent of the Year."
Before long, however, he adjusted his mindset and began looking forward to Snake’s final Chapter.
After all, every story must eventually co to an end.
No story can go on forever.
Players and audiences alike have to accept that fact.
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