Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 441 The Girl Picking Mushrooms

Reimu Hakurei, the Shrine Maiden of Paradise
Completely Elegant Maid - Sakuya Izayoi

Forever Young Red Moon - Remilia Scarlet
Komeiji Satoru, the underground girl who knows people's hearts
Yuuka Kazami, the queen of flowers in all four seasons
No background setting is needed; these titles and names alone are enough to instantly conjure up the corresponding images in the minds of Touhou fans.

However, everything has two sides.

These background settings are a "pleasure" for veteran players, but for a large number of new players, or those who only know the name Touhou Gensokyo.

These things cannot be directly translated into the emotion of "spending money on in-game purchases".

why?
The answer is simple: the Touhou Project IP seems very popular, and many people seem to know a lot about it. If you randomly click on any Touhou video, you can see a lot of players saying things like, "I have no regrets entering Touhou in this life, and I wish to be reborn in Touhou in the next."

But in reality
Many so-called "Touhou fans" only know the names of these characters, have seen some fan-made artwork, and have some general knowledge of their backstories.

But there's nothing deeper, because the original work itself doesn't contain those elements.

Players' love for the characters comes entirely from the accumulation of the original work and fan creations.

A character you like based solely on their character design is rather superficial. Character design only becomes interesting when it's supported by a compelling story. Without a story...

Such love cannot sustain long-term commercial expenditures.

The reason why there were so many mobile games featuring Bao Si in the previous generation of "Touhou Gensokyo" was because the developers misjudged the commercial value of "Touhou Gensokyo".

This isn't a game where you can just randomly put characters into the gacha pool and expect them to sell like hotcakes.

Therefore, when developing the project proposal, Chu Chen shifted the core of the game's storyline from "combat" to "life" and "communication."

It's not that we shouldn't fight.

In fact, in Chu Chen's plan, the main storyline of the game, which is the process of resolving the mutation, involves a lot of battles, and there can also be elements of combat, leveling up, and growth within the game world.

However, this battle sequence is somewhat similar to the "hot-blooded" parts of gag manga, such as *Gintama*.

In the original Touhou Gensokyo, Reimu Hakurei's motivation to resolve the incident was to return to her daily life. The player is the same; they participate in the main storyline to protect their own "daily life."

The two are not in conflict.

In the daily routine section, Chu Chen presented Ishii Akira with a complete gameplay loop diagram.

Let me elaborate a bit here. The so-called gameplay loop diagram is actually a relatively core thing when a game is being validated, and it is also a refinement of Chu Chen's whetstone theory.

For example, in Tarkov, if a gameplay loop diagram were to be created, it would be: warehouse preparation → entering the game with chips (equipment) → battlefield looting/combat → successful withdrawal/loss of resources → asset accumulation/consumption, and so on.

For example, in most anime-style games, the gameplay cycle is: acquire gacha resources (spend real money) → gacha team building → battle → rewards → character development.

Compared to the whetstone theory, gameplay loop diagrams are more helpful for game development.

The gameplay loop doesn't consider the storyline or the presentation.

This is simply an argument about the gameplay. The reason why the second game in the previous life was able to make money was because this loop could be run, and there were very clear options for spending money in the loop.

Even "Final Battlefront" essentially just builds upon this foundation, adding PVP auto-chess and PVE roguelike gameplay to the gacha resource acquisition aspect. There's a cyclical relationship between these two elements, but I won't go into detail here.

In short, for a game to be enjoyable in the long run, its core gameplay loop must be able to withstand the test of time. As long as your core loop works, your game won't be too bad.

Chu Chen's daily gameplay in "Touhou Fantasy Land" includes the following character rotation.

[Contact the character → Collect requests → Complete requests → Unlock affinity → Submit resources → New requests generated → Unlock higher affinity]

This loop is better than the second one.

It's actually more like a visual novel or a simulation game with deep social elements. At the end of this loop, there's also a small image that briefly describes the invitation system.

Basically, after players reach a certain level of affinity with a character, they can unlock an invitation system, inviting the character to their home, or to farm or fish together, etc.
Now, this cycle has appeared in the demo in a concrete form, which means that Ishii Akira and his team have completed the verification of the gameplay cycle.

As expected, Ishii Akira nodded.

"Yes, but not entirely, Mr. Chen. You'll find out as you continue playing."

With a slightly mysterious smile, Ishii Akira gestured for Chu Chen to continue playing.

Chu Chen also became interested. Compared to playing games he already knew from his previous life, sometimes Chu Chen felt a stronger sense of novelty when playing these demos.

Having accepted the mission, they headed down the mountain towards the magical forest.

The world map of Touhou Gensokyo is only "half" of a world. It is called "half" because in the horizontal world, players can reach all parts of Gensokyo without loading, simply by moving left, right, up, and down.

The reason it's only half is because these places are connected by roads, so players can't actually run around like in a real open world.

However, this is not actually a bad thing for Touhou Gensokyo.

To reiterate, only when the environment is fixed will the development team have more energy to optimize the scenery along the player's path. While open worlds are indeed "scenery everywhere,"...

However, this "scenery" is actually different from the scenery the development team had envisioned.

Descending from Reimu Hakurei's room and crossing a long staircase, the scene suddenly opens up the moment you enter the Enchanted Forest.

In the foreground are tall, clear pixelated trees, their trunks covered with vines.

The mid-ground is a slightly blurred thicket of trees, with sunlight filtering through the leaves and casting beams of light, while luminous dust particles float in the air.

In the distance, the outline of a hazy, colorful forest stretches out. The whole scene is vibrant and alive, as if it could breathe.

Chu Chen was controlling his character as he walked along a forest path when suddenly, a dark shadow darted past him in a flash.

“da-ze!”

A black-and-white witch riding a broomstick slammed on the brakes a short distance away, nearly crashing into a tree. She adjusted her pointed hat and waved casually at Chu Chen.

[Marisa Kirisame]: "Yo! It's you, newbie! Coming to the forest so early, are you here to pick mushrooms too? Let me tell you, the best time to pick mushrooms is when the Human Village starts posting notices saying mushroom picking is prohibited!!!"

(End of this chapter)