Thanks to the earlier success of Cyberpunk 2077, Takayuki realized that developing more cross-media tie-in works had significant advantages.
Tie-in projects could tell parts of a game's story that were difficult to fully express within the game itself, allowing players to gain a deeper understanding of the game'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 management at Square Enix ultimately chose to abandon Final Fantasy XV altogether.
At the time, they already regarded it as a failed project with no chance of recovery.
Capital rarely tries to salvage a failed investment. More often, it chooses to cut its losses and move on to the next gamble.
This kind of situation is extremely common in the gaming industry.
If a game 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 memory alone.
Anthem by EA.
Babylon's Fall by PlatinumGames.
Only a small number of developers still cling to the hope of reversing a game'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 games is an unfortunate but understandable decision.
After all, no one's money comes from thin air—and not everyone is an idealist.
Takayuki's rebirth, however, gave him the opportunity to mend some of the regrets left behind by games from his previous life.
Cyberpunk 2077.
And now, Final Fantasy XV.
Of course, in this world, the game is called Final Fantasy XIII Versus.
That was its original, intended name to begin with.
What Takayuki showed to Uesugi Yuki covered only the core game development 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 same 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 Development Division, Uesugi Yuki immediately began gathering staff to plan every aspect of development.
The Final Fantasy side-story game Uesugi Yuki had originally proposed could be developed in parallel.
The two projects didn't conflict with each other, and some 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 mechanics already included in Takayuki's proposal, his eyes lit up immediately.
He suddenly wondered how he had ever overlooked fishing as a gameplay feature before.
This mechanic 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 time, 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 somewhat surprised by how effortlessly Uesugi Yuki rattled off these details.
It reminded him of a former colleague from his previous life—another hardcore fishing fanatic.
Since this feature didn't negatively affect the game in any way, Takayuki simply agreed to let Uesugi Yuki go all out with the fishing mechanics.
Takayuki vaguely remembered that, in his previous life, some players had genuinely become 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 consume many resources anyway.
Once everything on this side was settled, Takayuki moved on to another development department to finalize the last installment of Metal Gear.
When the development 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 games. The genre had become too complex, and the audience that truly loved it was shrinking.
Still, even if this was the final installment, the series could always be revived someday—much like Need for Speed.
It wouldn't be permanently shelved, just waiting for the right moment 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 same scale as Final Fantasy VII Remake—would be far more appropriate for one of the world's greatest stealth franchises.
Job, the long-time voice actor for Metal Gear's protagonist, learned almost immediately that Metal Gear 5 would be the final chapter.
Along with his surprise came a touch of regret and reluctance.
In many ways, Metal Gear was what pulled him back from rock bottom and returned him to stardom.
Later, he also joined the film adaptations of Metal Gear, which had since gained a respectable reputation of their own—known for their hardcore realism, with meticulous attention to detail that even professional military enthusiasts struggled to criticize.
Within certain niche circles, the films were extremely 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 come to an end.
No story can go on forever.
Players and audiences alike have to accept that fact.