As Gascom Cologne approached, gaming dia outlets across the internet began leaking news about upcoming ga announcents and demos from participating companies.
Naturally, there were also leaks related to Nintendo—one of the highlights being the delayed release of Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
The ga was originally scheduled for release early in the year, but unexpectedly got delayed. At the ti, many speculated it was due to poor optimization, making it practically unplayable, and thus had to be postponed.
Of course, those were all just guesses—no one had any insider information. Ichin speculated that the delay was likely due to developnt troubles and a slew of issues cropping up. Judging by the PV alone, it was clear the ga was using an outdated engine, and coupled with backward developnt techniques, the visuals were far behind modern standards.
Even if the Nintendo Switch couldn't compete with next-gen consoles in terms of power, it shouldn't have looked that bad—this was clearly a matter of developnt quality.
Ichin didn't pay much attention to what other companies were doing. If they made good gas, he'd be happy—after all, he was a gar himself, and any good ga that ca out was sothing he'd definitely buy and play.
With four days left until Gascom, Ichin posted a photo on Bilibili.
The photo showed a recording studio, with several voice actors holding scripts and actively working on voice recording.
Not long after, the comnts section exploded.
> Damn, he's still alive?
> Fukuyama Jun, Mamoru Miyano, Nana Mizuki—holy crap, how many A-list voice actors did they hire?
> Are you really confirming a reveal at Gascom? We've been waiting forever!
> So, what kind of ga is it exactly?
There were comnts discussing the voice actors, the ga, and even so skeptical ones questioning whether the ga existed at all. In short, a flood of speculation and chatter.
After posting that update in the morning, Ichin didn't respond to any of the comnts.
Instead, the next day, he posted another photo—this ti featuring more voice actors: Haruka Tomatsu, Ikue Ōtani, and Tomokazu Sugita.
Clearly, they had brought in a lot of voice talent!
> Don't tell all the budget went to hiring voice actors—this isn't a mobile ga, you know!
> Don't forget, they said before that the ga would have full voice acting throughout!
Once again, Ichin didn't respond that day either.
On the third day, Ichin finally posted sothing more than just photos.
Alongside another image from the recording studio, he added a short ssage to his post:
> "Please look forward to Nintendo's Direct at Gascom. The ga will be released on the Nintendo Switch, Steam, and Epic Gas platforms. Also, all 2D cutscenes in the ga were animated by Kyoto Animation. KyoAni fans can look forward to it—it's guaranteed high-quality animation. Full ga details will be revealed tomorrow night."
At last, a post with so real information—even though it still felt like he hadn't said much at all. But that didn't stop fans from flooding the comnts and speculating wildly.
> Damn, even Kyoto Animation's involved? Do you have too much money or what?
> Did everyone forget? The first two gas already sold over a million copies!
> And that was earlier this year—another six months have passed since then. Even if it hasn't reached 1.5 million, it's probably pretty close by now, right?
> Cutscenes made by Kyoto Animation? That's definitely sothing to look forward to!
> So besides working on The trono in Love this season, Kyoto Animation also contributed to in-ga animations? Hopefully the quality holds up.
And just like that, amid imnse anticipation, Gascom Cologne finally opened.
Unlike last year, this ti Nintendo wasn't the first to present at the event. But this year, the schedule was adjusted—Nintendo was taking the lead.
Inside the company, everyone hooked up a projector to the computer, gathered together, and waited for the Nintendo Direct to begin on a massive screen.
Even though it was already late at night, everyone was still full of energy.
Cradling Yukino's little kitten Sesa in her arms, Eriri took a big gulp of milk tea and asked, "Ichin-kun, do you really not know what gas Nintendo will reveal today? What about Breath of the Wild 2?"
"I really don't," Ichin said, spreading his hands. "Of course I'd love to know ahead of ti, but when I visited Nintendo headquarters and asked them, every single one of them kept their mouths shut. Said they wanted to preserve the mystery—I couldn't get anything out of them. But they did say they'd have new info on Arceus. That's official. And it looks like there might also be news on the new Kirby ga."
Kirby, huh..." Yagami Kō rested her chin in her hands with a nostalgic look. "I used to play Kirby all the ti. The new one on the Switch was okay, but I really want sothing more innovative."
As everyone chatted excitedly, the Nintendo Direct finally began.
After a brief welco, Nintendo jumped straight into showing trailers.
The first logo that appeared instantly told everyone what ga it was.
The music was almost identical to the last ti Arceus was revealed, but when the visuals ca up, everyone noticed the graphics had been refined—just slightly.
Yes, slightly. That's all. Nowhere near the visual standard Ichin had hoped for.
"Looks like Ga Freak really has no intention of revamping their dev tools or improving their developnt techniques."
They were clearly coasting—making just enough "progress" to pass as new, with no real effort to catch up with modern standards.
After all, even with minimal effort, they could still sell millions. So what if they were slacking? It was easy money.
As for criticism from the public? Just play deaf.
After watching the disappointing Arceus trailer—which added only two new Pokémon and hardly any actual changes—everyone finally saw sothing worth getting excited about.
Bayonetta 3.
This ga had been stuck in developnt limbo for ages, and it was finally coming out.
As Bayonetta made her grand return, the entire studio burst into cheers.
Even though the graphics were sowhat limited by the Switch's hardware, and Bayonetta's hairstyle had changed into two thick twin-tails, the vibe was still unmistakably classic. The character models were detailed, and the battle scenes shown in the PV were fluid and dynamic.
When you compared it side-by-side with Arceus, it made Ga Freak's laziness all the more apparent.
After the Bayonetta PV ended, Hideki Kamiya from PlatinumGas appeared and personally introduced parts of the gaplay. He also officially announced the release date: Spring of next year.
Once his segnt ended, the screen faded to black, and then—a new logo appeared.
Everyone's hearts jumped at once.
Their ga... was finally about to be revealed!
...
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