Played some more of this and I really like it so far.
The similarities to Game Dev Story are undeniable, but there are some tweaks and new features to differentiate it.
The biggest difference is that there's much more focus on developing the game engines that power your games. You can start off making basic games with no engine, but eventually you'll save up enough funds to build your own engine. Through a combination of research and money, you build an engine, and can include in that engine any features you've researched (and have the money to pay for) up to that point (for example "2D graphics level 2", "Stereo sound", "branching dialogues" etc.
You can then use this engine in your future games (or stick with a basic game using no engine if you wish, but I think this makes it more difficult (impossible?) to get top scores as time progresses). The really nice feature is that you only unlock the ability to research things at certain points, so for example I couldn't research "3D graphics level 1" until later on in the game. So this means of course that eventually you'll have unlocked features that your game engine doesn't feature - so you build a successor. You can only include most features in your game if the engine you're building it with supports them.
It's a constant balancing act between spending money on making a new, more advanced engine, and having the money to make a good game once the engine is ready. It does seem more difficult than Game Dev Story, especially once you move offices. I failed on my first try as I hired too many people and my games weren't selling enough to keep up with the monthly costs of running the company and the salaries. This time I'm staying as a one man team for as long as is viable, as you don't have to pay yourself a salary. If you do have extra employees, they may get low on energy and demotivated, at which point you can send them on holiday to recuperate. Obviously during this time they won't contribute anything to any games in development, but they should contribute more than they were previously once they've rested and returned to work.
Developing the games themselves is very similar to Game Dev Story, with one big difference. You can alter the time spent on each area of the game as you see fit, and as a result more time will be spent on that aspect of development. For example, if you're developing an RTS you might decide that more time should be spent on AI than branching dialogues, and each aspect can be controlled with a slider to focus time as a percentage of that stage of development.
You also appear to be able to develop sequels to any past game, rather than just high-rated games like in Game Dev Story. I guess this more closely resembles real life, as we've seen games such as Two Worlds, which didn't exactly get brilliant review scores as far as I know, get a sequel.
Another differing aspect, as has been covered above, is the ability to sign publisher deals. This gives you an up-front payment and better marketing in exchange for only getting a percentage of each game's sale (say 10%) instead of the full amount. You also have to meet a minimum Metacritic score from reviewers (lol) and may have to develop the game in a certain genre if the contract stipulates it (although there are some contracts that give you the freedom to choose and just depend on metascore).
All in all, I'd say if you liked Game Dev Story, at least play the demo, until the end if possible (the first 3 years). This should give you a good idea if you'd like the game as things like publisher contracts and more research open as the game progresses. Personally I think there's enough improvement and differentiation here to make this worth a purchase, and I've enjoyed what I've played so far.
