Chapter 488: If Players Can't Suffer, Can We Be Worthy of Our Own Conscience? (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

Inside Nebula Games' project office, Chen Xu was guiding Qin Yi and his team in the development of Bloodborne.

Despite being a Souls-like game, Bloodborne is quite different compared to Dark Souls.

For example, in terms of combat mode, Bloodborne is undoubtedly much faster than the combat pace of Dark Souls. Don't be fooled by the 20 blood vials; you'll die much faster than in Dark Souls.

Considering the different platforms of PC and VR, the game's development, especially regarding camera work, was also a relatively cumbersome task, and the game's art assets needed to be created separately for both platforms.

"Hmm... this trap design is too obvious. Players aren't rookies who are new to Souls-like games. It looks like there are no monsters in this corner, but we placed a white light there. How could players easily fall for it?" Chen Xu rejected a collection point designed by Qin Yi.

If players hadn't experienced Souls-like games before, they might have been tricked. But now? Such a simple trick clearly wouldn't fool players.

Upon seeing this kind of scene, players' first thought would probably be: How could Mr. Chen be so kind? So, they would inevitably collect items cautiously, and by then, the hidden monster would be immediately discovered by the players. How would that deliver an unexpected sense of surprise to the players then? Without that sense of surprise, how disappointed would players be?

"In the game, we need to create a mixture of truth and falsehood. For example, with these two collectibles, don't design lurking monsters or mechanisms. Only add mechanisms and monsters for the third or fourth one. Don't aim for quantity; aim for quality!"

"Also, where we previously set up two traps to trick players, for the third and fourth, we can choose not to add any. Players will cautiously pick up items, only to realize they've been fighting with thin air. This is also a type of trap."

"At the same time, there are some more basic consecutive traps, one in plain sight and one hidden, to draw players' attention to the obvious trap, while the real killing blow comes from the hidden one."

Watching Qin Yi, Meng Zuo, and others, Chen Xu sat there at the development machine, sketching out designs for several trap locations.

"Understood, Mr. Chen," Qin Yi and the others silently swallowed, pulling a tissue from the table to wipe the sweat from their palms.

"We must always give players a sense of surprise and unexpectedness, after all, players are heroes who have experienced Linking the Fire," Chen Xu reminded them again.

As for suffering? Isn't that why everyone plays this game? If players can't suffer in the game, how can they be worthy of their own conscience?

It should be known that Nebula Games' corporate culture, 'everything for the players,' must never be forgotten, both in the past and now!

Leaving his seat, Chen Xu stretched and walked towards the reception room. He still had an interview regarding the game there.

The main purpose was to reveal some news and content to players through media channels. After all, besides the previous easter egg, players didn't even know the name of this game, and there was a lot of confusion online that Chen Xu couldn't address one by one on the official Weibo account. In addition, many media outlets hoped to interview him, so Chen Xu agreed to two this time. One was the international media GameSpot, and the other was the domestic Game Timespace.

"Mr. Chen!" Seeing Chen Xu enter the reception room, reporters from Game Timespace and GameSpot both stood up to greet him.

"Hello," Chen Xu smiled.

The reporter from Game Timespace was Li Ye, who basically handled all interviews for Nebula Games. He was, in fact, the first reporter to interview Chen Xu. As for GameSpot, it was a middle-aged man named Liu Yue, the editor-in-chief responsible for GameSpot's content in China.

Sitting opposite Chen Xu, both were a little excited. After all, this was big news; globally, only their two companies secured the opportunity for this exclusive interview. The cameramen from both sides had already set up their equipment.

"Let's get straight to the point here," Chen Xu said, smiling at the two reporters.

The two companies had clearly discussed this, and Liu Yue from GameSpot took the lead, asking: "Alright, Mr. Chen, let's get to the main topic. The first question, which many players are concerned about, is whether your new work is a Souls-like game?"

"The new project is called Bloodborne. As for whether it's a Souls-like game, I can only say that players will feel some familiar flavor," Chen Xu smiled.

Hearing Chen Xu's words, Li Ye on the side smiled knowingly, clearly an indirect affirmation, which also excited him.

"Then, Mr. Chen, how does the difficulty of Bloodborne compare to Dark Souls?" Li Ye asked a crucial question.

"Difficulty largely depends on the player, and Bloodborne's combat system is quite different from Dark Souls'," Chen Xu said with a smile.

"Just saying that might not give everyone a clear idea, so we've prepared a segment of actual gameplay demonstration for you here," Chen Xu paused and said. Then he stood up and opened the prepared large screen, taking the controller from Lin Rou, his assistant, who was nearby.

Li Ye and Liu Yue, sitting there, had their eyes light up. Actual gameplay demonstration!? This was explosive news! And an unexpected bonus! Under their gaze, the game screen displayed the gameplay.

Of course, cutscenes were skipped directly, mainly focusing on a combat test DEMO.

The hunter in the game stood in the patient ward of Iosefka's Clinic, with a half-health werewolf not far away, tearing at a corpse.

"First, the number of blood vials players can carry in the game will be greatly increased. Players can carry 20 blood vials, and killing monsters may also drop blood vials, greatly increasing the game's margin for error."

While speaking, Chen Xu controlled the hunter in the game to walk towards the werewolf. The werewolf let out a bellow, suddenly pouncing on the hunter. Then, the hunter controlled by Chen Xu in the game executed a nimble dodge, appearing behind the werewolf. Taking advantage of the werewolf's stun lock after its attack, he charged up and delivered a heavy blow, making the werewolf stumble, then fiercely thrust his right hand towards its kidney area.

Splish!

Accompanied by a muffled sound, a spray of blood burst from the werewolf's body as it fell, dead. A white light appeared on its corpse, and Chen Xu picked it up to find two blood vials.

"Mr. Chen, what is this!?" Li Ye and Liu Yue exclaimed excitedly, watching the hunter's cool Visceral Attack in the game. Although they were reporters, they were also players. They were full of anticipation for this mysterious game. And this Visceral Attack, coupled with the bleeding visual effects, was simply too cool and too shocking!

"This is Bloodborne's execution move: Visceral Attack. It can be used when a monster is in a staggered state, similar to backstabs and executions in Dark Souls. Of course, in Bloodborne, players need to launch a charge attack from behind to trigger it," Chen Xu explained with a smile.

Listening to Chen Xu's introduction, both were very surprised. Although the timing for this Visceral Attack was stricter compared to Dark Souls, the key was that the game allowed players to carry 20 blood vials, and killing monsters could replenish them? If they had 20 blood vials back in the days of Linking the Fire, Gundyr the Ash and all the Lords of Cinder would have been weaklings!

"In addition, there's a special mechanism in the game: after being attacked, players will enter a state called Rally. At this point, if players attack the monster, they can recover the lost health."

"This encourages players to get greedy and attack?" Li Ye asked Chen Xu.

Players who have played Dark Souls and Monster Hunter know what behavior is most dangerous. That is getting greedy. Players who often get greedy are either masters—and unbelievably skilled ones—or they end up with graveyard grass three feet high.

And Bloodborne's mechanism, which encourages getting greedy, was simply insane and depraved!

"Yes, that's right. This mechanism mainly encourages players to attack proactively and is also to showcase a major characteristic of Bloodborne," Chen Xu nodded with a smile.

"A major characteristic?" Liu Yue and Li Ye looked bewildered.

"That's right. A common complaint about Dark Souls was that the bulky armor was too ugly, and the rolling animation was clumsy and ungraceful."

"So, in Bloodborne, we've replaced the European medieval knight armor style with British and Victorian clothing styles. Look at the hunter's trench coat, look at this tricorne hat."

"Including rolling, which has been changed to a more fluid dodge in the game," Chen Xu controlled the character in the game, performing two rolls and dodges.

"Then, Mr. Chen, will the hunter's attire in the game have defense attributes?" Li Ye seemed to realize something.

"Of course, it will have defense, it just won't have the defense power of Havel's Set. Of course, we can't just weaken; we also strengthen. Without heavy armor, players are faster and more agile in the game, making it easier to dodge monster attacks. This allows players to show off their skills better," Chen Xu concluded with a smile.

As he spoke, Chen Xu controlled his character to find the first villager holding a torch. Facing the villager's attack, he dodged behind them, charged up an attack, putting them in a flinch/stun state, and then performed a Visceral Attack, looking very effortless and relaxed. It did seem quite easy. With greater speed and agility, it was indeed easier to dodge enemy attacks, both reporters observed, surprised at Chen Xu's demonstration.

"Then, Mr. Chen, are there shields in this game?" Liu Yue asked a crucial question at this point, which was also a concern among players online.

"Shields? Of course, there are shields! But unlike Dark Souls, Bloodborne's shields aren't available from the start, and they aren't very effective," Chen Xu said with a smile.

Hearing Chen Xu's words, Liu Yue and Li Ye involuntarily breathed a sigh of relief. Having shields was good, having shields was good. They ignored the phrase "not very effective."

Relieved, they failed to notice that Chen Xu's smile had become exceptionally radiant.

(End of Chapter) <>