Saturday, 10 August 2001.
Right now, Apple's new game trailer for their console, iPlay, was airing everywhere at once. It was uploaded to YouTube, promoted heavily through gaming websites, and even broadcast on live television during prime advertising slots. Apple was clearly treating this game as more than just another software release. This was their redemption arc.
After iPlay's messy early months, the console needed something strong. Something polished. Something that could convince players that Apple had not entered the gaming industry only to embarrass itself. The advertisements kept repeating the same message in different ways: iPlay's next major title would prove what the console could really do.
Then, the trailer began.
The screen opened with darkness.
Not ordinary darkness, but a deep, suffocating black, like the world itself had fallen beneath the earth. Slowly, blue fire began flickering across a ruined battlefield. Broken weapons were scattered across cracked stone. Massive skeletons of unknown beasts lay half-buried in ash. In the distance, a ruined fortress stood beneath a red moon, surrounded by floating spirits and dead trees with branches shaped like claws.
Then the camera moved.
A knight stood alone in the middle of the underworld battlefield.
He had long flowing black hair, heavy black armor, a massive axe in one hand, and a shield in the other. His armor was scratched, dented, and covered in faint glowing runes. He did not look like a shining hero. He looked like someone who had already died once and returned only to keep fighting.
Behind him, three other warriors stepped forward.
One was a bald giant wearing thick iron armor, carrying a massive spear that looked almost too heavy for a normal man. Another had long red hair and dragged a huge greatsword across the ground, sparks flying as the blade scraped against the stone. The last warrior had one sharp lock of hair falling over his face and wielded a long black spear, moving with a colder, more graceful aura than the others.
Then the undead appeared.
Hundreds of them.
Skeleton soldiers, ghost knights, crawling spirits, winged demons, and corpse-like creatures rushed from the fog as the music exploded into heavy drums and choir-like chanting.
The black-haired knight raised his axe.
The screen cut sharply.
Gameplay began.
The game was called The Dark Guild.
At first glance, it looked like a 3D hack-and-slash action game, but within seconds, the trailer revealed that it was more than that. The camera pulled back into a third-person perspective as the four characters fought together through the underworld battlefield. Each character had a completely different fighting style, making the game feel closer to a fantasy beat 'em up mixed with action-adventure mechanics just like Diablo of ZAGE.
The black-haired knight was clearly the balanced leader character. He used his axe for heavy mid-range strikes, his shield for blocking, and could perform counterattacks after guarding at the right moment. The trailer showed him raising his shield against a giant undead knight's attack, blocking the blow with sparks flying everywhere, then answering with a brutal axe combo that ended with a spinning overhead slash.
The bald spear warrior played more like a tank. He was slower, but his reach was enormous. He could stab through multiple enemies in a straight line, slam his spear into the ground to create shockwaves, and hold enemies back while other players attacked from behind. In one scene, he planted his spear into the ground and stopped a charging demon with pure strength, while the other three characters rushed past him to attack the boss's exposed side.
The red-haired greatsword warrior was pure damage. His attacks were slow, wide, and destructive, but if timed properly, he could erase groups of enemies in seconds. The trailer showed him charging his sword with red flame, then releasing a huge horizontal slash that cut through six undead soldiers at once. He looked reckless, flashy, and clearly designed for players who wanted big damage and big risk.
The last spear wielder was faster and more technical. He could dash behind enemies, throw his spear, pull himself toward walls, and even perform aerial attacks after launching himself upward. During one platforming section, he used his spear like a hook to cross broken bridges floating above a bottomless abyss. His gameplay looked almost like a mixture of action combat and movement-based adventure.
Then the trailer shifted into exploration.
The Dark Guild was not only about clearing waves of enemies. It had adventure sections too. The four characters ran through ancient ruins, climbed broken towers, crossed collapsing bridges, pushed giant stone mechanisms, avoided swinging blade traps, and solved simple environmental puzzles together. Some doors needed two players to activate separate switches. Some bridges collapsed unless one player held back enemies while the others crossed. Some treasure rooms could only be reached by using a specific character's ability.
This was where the game began to look genuinely interesting.
The trailer showed that The Dark Guild could be played alone, but its main selling point was online co-op for up to four players. Each player could choose one of the four warriors and fight through the campaign together over iPlay's online service.
For 2001, that was impressive.
Online co-op action games were still not common, especially not with full 3D movement, platforming sections, and character-specific abilities. The trailer made sure to show players communicating through simple preset commands, shared objectives, and combo attacks.
One scene showed the black-haired knight shield-bashing an enemy into the air, the spear wielder jumping upward to strike it midair, the red-haired greatsword warrior charging a flame slash below, and the bald spear warrior finishing the sequence by impaling the enemy as it fell. The screen flashed with the text:
Guild Combo Activated.
Another scene showed all four players fighting a giant boss called the Grave Bishop. The boss floated above a ruined cathedral, summoning ghost hands from the floor while chanting curses. One player distracted the boss with shield blocks, another destroyed cursed pillars around the arena, the fast spear wielder climbed broken walls to reach floating platforms, and the greatsword warrior waited for the boss to fall before unleashing massive damage.
It was not revolutionary in every way, but it looked polished.
The animation was smooth. The enemy variety looked good. The dark fantasy atmosphere was strong. The music had a heavy, dramatic feeling. The online co-op looked fun. The platforming looked simple, but enough to make the game feel less repetitive than a normal beat 'em up.
The trailer even showed RPG-like progression.
Characters gained new skills, unlocked stronger weapons, equipped armor pieces, and had different upgrade paths. The black-haired knight could become more defensive or more aggressive. The spear tank could improve crowd control. The red-haired swordsman could focus on fire damage. The fast spear wielder could increase mobility and critical attacks.
Then came the final part of the trailer.
The four warriors stood before a massive gate made of bones and black iron. Behind it, something enormous moved in the darkness. A voice whispered:
"The Guild was not formed to save the world."
The black-haired knight tightened his grip on his axe.
The voice continued.
"It was formed to kill what the world was too afraid to name."
The gate opened.
A gigantic hand reached out from the darkness.
The screen cut to black.
Then the title appeared.
The Dark Guild.
Release Date: Monday, 12 August 2001.
From the trailer alone, it was honestly not bad at all. In fact, it looked good. It looked like exactly the kind of game iPlay needed: dark, stylish, cooperative, and technically impressive enough to make people talk.
A couple of hours after the trailer release, Zaboru finally watched it inside his office.
At first, he leaned back casually, expecting something decent but not too shocking. However, as the trailer continued, his expression slowly changed. His eyes sharpened with interest. Then, when the online co-op gameplay appeared, he actually grinned.
"Whoa," Zaboru said, genuinely surprised. "They made an online co-op beat 'em up adventure game… and they're using dark fantasy knights too?"
He leaned closer to the screen.
"There are four characters, each with different roles… a shield knight, spear tank, greatsword damage dealer, and mobility spear user. Heheheh… that's actually interesting."
Zaboru chuckled.
He could admit it.
The game looked fun.
As a player, he wanted to try it. The idea of clearing dark fantasy dungeons with three friends online sounded enjoyable, especially with different character roles and combo attacks. If the netcode was stable and the controls were responsive, The Dark Guild might actually become iPlay's first real breakthrough title.
But as the founder of ZAGE…
Zaboru's grin slowly became sharper.
"Sorry, Apple…"
He moved his mouse toward the scheduled upload page.
"I have to do this."
Then he clicked.
Post.
Within the next hour, a new video began uploading to ZAGE's official YouTube channel. The title was simple, direct, and dangerous.
AKAI New Phone Announcement + ZAGE August Games Preview.
Meanwhile, on Apple's side, Zanki and Steve Jobs were smiling.
It had already been around four hours since The Dark Guild trailer had been released, and the response was strong. Zanki's paid online squad had helped create hype around the game, spreading excitement through forums, comment sections, and gaming communities. However, even without the artificial push, the game itself looked good enough to support the momentum.
That was important.
Fake hype could start a fire, but only a decent product could keep it burning.
Steve Jobs looked at the early reaction reports with a satisfied expression.
"So far, this is quite satisfactory," Steve said. "Wouldn't you agree, Zanki?"
Zanki chuckled and nodded. "Clearly, Mr. Jobs. The trailer is working. People are talking about the online co-op, the dark fantasy setting, and the four-character system. The fact that the game actually looks polished makes everything easier."
Steve's eyes remained on the monitor. "And ZAGE?"
Zanki leaned back with a confident grin. "I don't think ZAGE will retaliate this quickly. Their usual pattern is to build up toward bigger announcements, not suddenly throw something out within hours."
Steve glanced at him. "And even if they do?"
Zanki's grin widened.
"Even if they do, what can they do?" he said. "We already planted the seed. The Dark Guild now has attention. Once players begin imagining themselves playing online co-op with friends, that excitement will not disappear easily."
Steve nodded slowly.
He wanted to believe that.
For the first time in a while, Apple's gaming division had something that felt like momentum.
But then, suddenly, one of the engineers at the nearby computer stiffened.
His eyes widened.
"Boss!"
Steve and Zanki both turned toward him.
The engineer's voice became tense.
"There's an update from ZAGE's YouTube channel! You have to see this!"
Steve frowned.
Zanki's smile faded slightly.
The two of them quickly walked toward the engineer's computer to see what video ZAGE had posted.
To be continued.
Please give me your power stone and if you want to support me and get minimum 50+ advance chapter and additional 1 chapter a week for 4$ considering subscribe to my patreon patreon.com/Zaborn_1997
Or buymecoffee https://buymeacoffee.com/Zaborn_1997 which same with patreon
current Patreon/buymecoffe chap 1308
Also Join my discord if you want https://discord.gg/jB8x6TUByc