Chapter 487: No Shields? (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

It wasn't just Song Ren who fell silent.

All players who saw the unlocked easter egg content were plunged into deep silence.

This included the players who had been ecstatic earlier when Chen Xu mentioned that the game would be released on PC; now, they no longer felt that delirious joy.

They wondered why Chen Xu was so kind as to tell them that the new game would be launched on both PC and VR platforms.

Turns out he was waiting for them with this!

This love was just too damn intense!

Although Chen Xu hadn't spoken, and hadn't even revealed the game's name.

But from the style of the promotional video, many veteran Nebula Games players recognized it instantly—it felt incredibly familiar!

A violently themed promotional video, blood, monsters, that familiar dark style, and the suspenseful plot content.

It immediately reminded these players of a famous game series Nebula Games had once developed: Dark Souls.

The nature of this easter egg promotion, wasn't it exactly that Dark Souls feeling?

It even felt more extreme.

Judging by the visuals and background in the game's promotional video, this story felt even darker and more insane.

The only constant was some of the combat scenes in the game.

In the initial battles, the hunter brutalized monsters, but in later battles, many hunters were killed by monsters, until only one hunter named Ludwig remained.

Although it was unclear what the story was exactly, whether these scenes were intentional or part of the game's plot, it gave many players who had played Dark Souls a strong sense of déjà vu.

It had actually been many years since Dark Souls was launched.

During this period, Nebula Games had released numerous major titles, including masterpieces like Red Dead Redemption and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which received perfect scores.

But Dark Souls still had many loyal players who loved it.

N playthroughs, constantly challenging to see if they could speedrun faster, and various playstyles in PVP battles.

It could be said that Souls-like players had almost worn out the game.

This was about gameplay, and also about the plot.

Souls scholars specialized in researching the Dark Souls storyline.

Videos lasting tens of hours, specifically explaining the plot content to players.

Even to this day, players were still arguing about the exact nature of the Dark Souls plot.

And now, this easter egg promotion for the new title made countless Souls series fans feel that familiar sensation again.

The dark art style, the inscrutable plot, and the constant hunting of characters by monsters—countless players recognized the shadow of Dark Souls.

The story of Linking the Fire had ended, but now it seemed the story of hunting had begun!

This immediately excited many players with masochistic tendencies.

After many years, Chen Xu was making a Souls-like game again!

Even though it was just an easter egg promotion, and even the game's name was unknown.

Yet, various community forums were already abuzz with topics about Chen Xu's new game.

“It’s here, it’s here, it’s finally here! Mr. Chen finally brought his Christmas or New Year’s gift!”

“Though a bit startling, I have to say, it’s absolutely fantastic!”

“Did everyone notice? The new game seems even darker than the old Dark Souls!”

“Looking at the architecture, it feels a bit like the Renaissance period? Especially the bell towers and churches.”

“Renaissance my foot! This is clearly Victorian style. Look at the costumes in the trailer, ruffles, lace, and ribbon sashes—all from that era.”

“Exactly, and the hunter’s attire also clearly has an English style.”

“Dark Souls felt like medieval European knights, but this new game is explosively cool! Firearms, great axes, saw cleavers—it’s just too cool!”

“Stop being cool, have you forgotten what kind of game this is? It’s a Souls-like game! It's cool, but how many hits can a hunter’s attire withstand from a monster?”

“Holy crap, I didn’t even think of that until you said it!”

“And did you notice? Not a single hunter in the promotional video is carrying a shield!”

“You’re right, how the heck are we supposed to play without shields?!”

“Could it be that there are no shields in the new game?”

It was like a cannonball dropped into a lake, stirring up a wave of commotion.

Players were initially incredibly excited, discussing all sorts of content from the promotional video.

But as they discussed, they suddenly came to their senses, took a closer look, and realized something was off.

The hunters were cool, but the crucial point was that this was a Souls-like game!

Wearing that hunter attire, could it offer the same sense of security as Havel's Set from Dark Souls?

And what about the shields from the Souls series?

How could they block without shields?

Many Firelinkers knew that their success in clearing the game wasn't due to anything else, but rather their reliance on a greatshield.

Bearing a greatshield, they would slowly wear down the BOSS.

The greatshield, one could say, was their lifeline!

So why were there no shields visible in the promotional video?

Could it be that there were no shields in this new game?

………………

While players were engaged in heated discussions,

Chen Xu and his team had already begun development work on Bloodborne.

A large amount of art had already been created, so they only needed to establish the complete framework.

As for the game's content itself, Chen Xu integrated the Old Hunter DLC with the main game. Of course, the content of the Old Hunter would have in-game prompts for players later.

After all, if players were to challenge Ludwig and the Orphan of Kos without any psychological preparation during their playthrough, Chen Xu was very concerned that these BOSSes might utterly break the players' mindset.

As for Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower, Chen Xu wasn't worried about her; perhaps players would even hope to die at her hands a few more times.

Additionally, there was the Chalice Dungeons content in Bloodborne. In its previous life, many players had complained about the Chalice Dungeons.

But upon actually playing it, one would realize that the design concept behind the Chalice Dungeons was perfectly sound: to increase player stickiness through a grind-heavy format, a concept that has essentially existed in the Dark Souls series as well.

At the same time, the origin of the Bloodborne story itself was also hidden within the Chalice Dungeons.

Of course, it also had a more important point: to turn players into gem hunters.

As for a portion of players in its previous life who claimed that the heavily modded mazes ruined the game experience, Chen Xu believed this was not an issue at all.

Just like using a Trainer, the decision is ultimately in your own hands. Moreover, player-made heavily modded Chalice Dungeons were primarily meant to help alt characters level up quickly, and they also added more gameplay to the game by forming strategies through various gem combinations to maximize damage.

The Chalice Dungeons' design, to some extent, was also the development team's mercy. As for why it wasn't the Old Geezer's mercy, it's because the dungeons weren't made by the Old Geezer.

It can be said that the Chalice Dungeons' design certainly deserves a share of the credit for Bloodborne's enduring popularity.

If there had to be a drawback, it was that after playing for a few hours, one would realize that while seemingly random, the terrains were largely fixed, creating a strong sense of déjà vu. Beyond gacha-like gem hunting, there wasn't much random fun in map exploration. (End of Chapter) <>