Chapter 481: Has Mr. Chen Turned Dark? (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

Facing the curious crowd, Chen Xu smiled. This time, he wasn't going to keep them in the dark anymore.

Most of the preliminary preparations were essentially complete, and subsequent development was about to begin. So, it was finally time for them to understand what kind of game this would be.

"For this game, we're returning to tradition," Chen Xu said with a smile. "We're no longer thinking about open-world concepts. Instead, we're focusing on level and map design, and the attack methods of BOSS skills."

"Huh?"

Hearing Chen Xu's words, everyone was momentarily stunned, still trying to process what he'd said.

"We're presenting a New Year's gift to the players," Chen Xu stated, then pulled out his phone and sent a simple stored file to a few people. "You can take a look on your phones first."

Bloodborne?

The title left everyone a bit confused.

Qin Yi scratched his head. "Bloodborne? Could it be another horror game like Resident Evil?"

After all, it was very similar to the Cthulhu Mythos they had previously learned about, yet something felt slightly off.

Although some of the assets produced by the Art Team were indeed quite disgusting, they weren't exactly scary. At most, they were dark and oppressive.

"Mr. Chen... this couldn't be a Souls-like game, could it?" Meng Zuo, next to him, looked at the concept drafts on his phone, and upon seeing some keywords, he suddenly shivered.

Hearing Meng Zuo's words, everyone paused, then looked surprised.

In fact, none of them had initially considered it to be a Souls-like game.

Why? Because when Dark Souls was being developed, Chen Xu had already clearly stated internally that the story of Dark Souls had concluded.

But now?

"Souls-like games don't just refer to Dark Souls. They represent a spirit, a spirit of constantly challenging oneself. You can call it a Souls-like game, I can call it a Souls-like game, and they can all call it a Souls-like game."

"The game genre and theme can change, but the core essence remains the same, as does our initial intention. In this game, we must let players feel that purest joy and fully experience our fiery passion."

As if seeing through everyone's confusion, Chen Xu smiled and spoke with emotion.

Their perspective was still too narrow!

After hearing Chen Xu's words, everyone present was astonished.

Although, upon closer thought, a Souls-like game actually seemed very fitting.

Clever map design, BOSS design, and a jigsaw-puzzle-like storyline.

It perfectly matched the characteristics Chen Xu had described.

But the crucial point was, what the heck about "purest joy" and "fiery passion"?

Wasn't this supposed to be a New Year's present for the players?

Is this a gift?

"Here, I'll also tell you a bit about the game's features. I'll explain the details during the project meeting. Bloodborne is quite different compared to Dark Souls."

"The most direct difference is in its gameplay style."

"Besides that, the game will feature new distinctive systems such as Visceral Attacks, Rally, and Gun Parries."

Chen Xu briefly introduced the game's features.

For example, Visceral Attacks, which replace backstabs and can only be performed after inflicting a flinch/stun.

The Rally mechanism encourages players to constantly attack, specifically to make them get greedy and regain health.

Although players could obtain more blood vials, the bonfire-like checkpoints would no longer provide healing. Instead, players would have to farm Blood Echoes to purchase them.

As developers who had worked on Souls-like games, and being veteran players themselves, they listened to Chen Xu's words.

Even though they didn't know the game's numerical values or exact details.

Just these settings alone made Qin Yi and the others involuntarily swallow.

Because terrifying scenes were already forming in their minds.

A player faces a powerful monster, gets hit by a punch, and loses half their health, but this lost health is Rally health.

At this point, the player doesn't have many blood vials left, and they might have to face even stronger enemies. The player also doesn't want to return to the Hunter's Dream to buy blood vials because then all the monsters on the way would respawn. Directly drinking blood vials, however, seemed too wasteful.

So, to save some blood vials, the player goes in, wanting to attack and rally back health. But accidentally, they get hit again while trying to rally, their health bar is instantly emptied, and all their Blood Echoes drop.

Another thing worth mentioning is that, according to Chen Xu, to showcase Nebula Games' powerful AI technical capabilities, the mobs would become smarter and more intelligent. The in-game feedback would be that Blood Echoes dropped by players might be picked up by monsters.

So, after respawning, the player quickly wants to go back and retrieve their Blood Echoes, only to find that their previously dropped Blood Echoes have been picked up by the very monster that killed them.

To reclaim them, they must fight the monster. Then, the player makes another mistake in combat and dies again.

The Blood Echoes truly become something only for the player to recollect.

It's well-known that in Souls-like games, the early game is the most difficult part.

If you can make it to the late game, who isn't a veteran player?

The concept of 10 million Souls in the late game is completely different from 10,000 Souls in the early game!

Just thinking about these potential scenarios gave Qin Yi and the others a bit of a headache.

This was simply too malicious! They hadn't thought much about it before, but now, recalling some aspects of the Cthulhu Mythos, one could only say this game was a double blow to both players' minds and bodies!

So, this was really a New Year's gift for players?

Mr. Chen, are you sure players won't excitedly grab knives and charge into Nebula Games on Chinese New Year's Eve?!

Everyone shivered, and Yang Xin and Ruan Ningxue, sitting on the sofa, exchanged bewildered glances. Had Mr. Chen turned dark?

With one Resident Evil and one Bloodborne, he was determined to make players understand just how profound this love truly was.

Although Bloodborne hadn't officially entered the development phase yet, it was clear that Mr. Chen had been planning this ever since Assassin's Creed concluded!

Of course, players were completely unaware of Nebula Games' plans.

At this time, players—or rather, Nebula Games players on the Huanyu VR Platform—were more surprised by the updated Nebula Games Platform.

Because after this update, the Nebula Games Platform had been transformed into a scene resembling a VR theme park.

It was like the islands in Animal Forest, but players didn't have to build houses themselves, as the system provided one automatically.

Nebula Games had actually released an announcement during the previous Double Eleven.

But many players hadn't taken it seriously, thinking it was just a platform update.

However, upon downloading and updating, all players who entered were astonished.

This wasn't a platform; it had become a new game!

(End of Chapter) <>