The idea was no longer abstract.
Curiously, that made it harder.
With the concept defined, the uncomfortable questions began. Not creative ones, but necessary ones.
–"How many locations?" – asked Sato.–"As many as we can do well," – replied Kisaragi.–"Not as many as sound good in a list."
I grabbed the marker again.–"Each zone is a module," – I said.–"Independent. With its own rhythm."
I wrote provisional names:–Volcanic Island–Wet Jungle–Rocky Coast–Desert Ruins
–"Not all have to be hostile," – I added.–"But all must demand attention."
Mori started sketching landscape silhouettes in his notebook. Not characters, terrain. Simple lines suggesting climate and wear.
–"Aoi no longer starts disoriented," – he said.–"She starts prepared."
That changed many things.
The HUD was further reduced. The player no longer needed to learn from scratch, but to read the environment. Footprints, sounds, changes in light. The engine allowed handling environmental states without reloading scenes.
–"Climate isn't decorative," – I said.–"It's a variable."
Rain that erased tracks.Wind that affected stability.Heat that accelerated fatigue.
Nothing extreme.Everything cumulative.
Combat was rethought.
–"She shouldn't seek it," – said Sato.–"Exactly," – I replied.–"It's still a last resort."
The original RPG system remained, but with changes: fewer enemies, more indirect dangers. Falls, collapses, human errors.
The engine absorbed everything without resistance. Where there were clear limits before, now there were only design decisions.
Kisaragi watched us load prototypes in minutes. Simple scenarios, no final art, but functional.
–"This would have been impossible for us before," – he said.
It didn't sound proud.It sounded relieved.
I focused on something else.
Aoi.Her movement animation was safer. Her posture different. Not heroic, but firm. Mori adjusted small details: how she looks around, how she stops before moving forward.
–"She already knows what can go wrong," – he said.
By the end of the day, the board was full. Not with loose ideas, but connected systems.
We didn't have a finished game.But we had structure.
I closed the engine and saved the project.
For the first time, I didn't feel like I was improvising.I felt like I was designing.
And that small but clear difference made me understand that the next game wasn't going to be an accident.It was going to be a decision.