After a brief vacation, Takuya Nakayama once again sat down in the Executive Director of Operations' office.
The first document his assistant brought in was exactly the briefing he cared about most.
Golden Sun 3: Dark Dawn had officially launched last week.
Takuya tapped the glossy page lightly, his eyes settling on a particularly delightful number.
In just ten days, sales in Japan had surpassed 1.7 million copies.
In the current game market, such results were enough to make anyone turn their head.
The solid foundation laid by the first two entries, combined with the exceptional quality of this one, had created yet another commercial and critical legend on the MD platform.
The media and players flooded in with praise, unanimously calling it "a perfect finale to the Golden Sun series."
Takuya's lips curved.
Rieko Kodama had not let him down.
He picked up the phone and dialed the contact number she left before going on her vacation.
After a few rings, the call connected. The background carried the sound of waves and wind.
"Executive Director?" Kodama's voice held the relaxed air of someone on holiday.
"Miss Kodama, sorry to interrupt your break." Takuya's tone was easy. "Congratulations—another legend has been born on the MD."
There was a moment of silence, followed by her usual modest response.
"It was the team's effort—and thanks to your support."
"You all earned it."
Takuya chuckled. "Enjoy your vacation. But I do have a small suggestion—might make your trip even more interesting."
"Please go ahead, sir."
"You should have already seen the proposal for Chrono Trigger."
Leaning back in his chair, he tapped the desk lightly with his fingers.
"I've approved two extra weeks of field research for your team. Plenty of budget. No need to rush back to the company. Take your core members, go around the world, and experience what different eras might have looked like."
He paused, a sly hint entering his tone.
"And while you're at it, bring back some reference material for Sakaguchi-san and the Square team too. Photos, footage, environmental audio—anything. They're buried in late-stage testing for Final Fantasy IV right now; they won't have time for on-site research. You can help them out."
A soft laugh came from across the line—Kodama instantly understood his intention.
This was both a break for her team and a subtle way of syncing inspiration with future partners.
"I understand, Executive Director. I'll contact Sakaguchi-san directly for the specifics."
"Good. Then enjoy your trip."
After he hung up, Takuya's mood grew even lighter.
And sure enough, a few days later, his office phone rang urgently.
He glanced at the caller ID, then picked up at a leisurely pace.
"Good afternoon, Sakaguchi-san."
"Nakayama Takuya!!"
Sakaguchi Hironobu's roar nearly burst out of the receiver.
"What the hell are you trying to pull?! Do you think Final Fantasy IV doesn't have enough bugs already?!"
"How is that my fault? I haven't touched your testing process."
Takuya replied calmly.
"Oh, spare me!" Sakaguchi shot back, talking as fast as machine-gun fire.
"Kodama-san called yesterday asking me what kind of ambient audio we need for the prehistoric era, and what architectural style our medieval castles require! My staff are tearing their hair out over code while reading the Chrono Trigger script, debating setting details—they're mixing the two projects up!"
Takuya could practically see Sakaguchi losing his mind on the other end.
"And then Uematsu!" Sakaguchi continued his tirade.
"He came in this morning with dark circles under his eyes saying he dreamed of the melody of the world's end, and asked me whether the Sega-CD's audio hardware can express the desolation of an apocalypse!
Has he forgotten Love's Theme still has one last track unmixed?!"
He sounded like he was complaining—but beneath the complaints was an excitement he couldn't hide.
Takuya leaned back in his chair, smiling silently.
"Sakaguchi-san," he said slowly, "sounds like you're looking forward to the new project quite a bit."
Silence.
After a long moment, Sakaguchi let out a deep, defeated sigh.
A sigh that drained away all his fury.
"…I give up."
No more anger—just helplessness at being thoroughly seen through, and a barely contained enthusiasm for the grand project ahead.
"Anyway—we'll hurry up! Just wait!"
Sakaguchi barked one last empty threat, then slammed down the phone.
Listening to the busy tone, Takuya's smile only deepened.
He stood, turned, and headed toward Yu Suzuki's development group.
Deep in the dev room, a small group was gathered around a strange-looking arcade prototype. The atmosphere was tense and focused.
Takuya approached quietly—and the moment he saw the screen, his gaze locked in place.
A polygonal human model—its shape rough but clearly three-dimensional—was unleashing a fluid combo of punches.
Each movement was broad, powerful, forceful.
The model was angular, crude by any technical measure, but in an era ruled by 2D pixel sprites, a character with real volume moving freely in 3D space was downright revolutionary.
"Here already?"
Yu Suzuki had somehow appeared beside him, holding what must have been his umpteenth cup of coffee.
"Yeah."
Takuya didn't take his eyes off the screen.
"You've already gotten it running this smoothly?"
"More or less." Yu shrugged.
"The raw motion-capture data was massive. Even the custom Fujitsu chip was choking on it. We spent three weeks cutting out over eighty percent of the polygons and optimizing keyframes just to hit the target framerate."
On-screen, the model executed a clean, sharp side kick, slicing through the air.
"Impressive," Takuya said sincerely.
"If we cut any more, the visuals will fall apart."
Yu took a sip of coffee, exhaustion in his tone—but more importantly, unmistakable pride.
"Hardware engineering practically drove the Fujitsu guys insane. They rewrote the driver three times in two days just to squeeze out a sliver more performance."
He pointed at two models now undergoing collision testing.
"Now it's the most mind-numbing phase. Importing every motion curve, simplifying, debugging, and setting attack and damage hitboxes for each move. It's brutal. Like recreating a human skeleton and muscle system out of building blocks—mess up even slightly and a punch goes straight through the opponent."
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