Chapter 508: Trust Me, It's a Super Exhilarating Action Game! (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

The development of Hades went smoothly, after all, it's only a small-scale game.

In terms of scenes, Hades primarily consists of five major levels; naturally, four of them are the hells where players play the game. The last one is the Greek mortal world, after the Prince of the Underworld successfully fights his way out of hell.

After Chen Xu provided the detailed level design and planning, although the content was extensive, there weren't major issues. As for art and music, for the current Nebula Games team, it could be said that they were no big problems at all.

If there was one thing that was quite frustrating, it was the game's numerical design. Compared to some RPG games, Hades' numerical design wasn't actually that massive. The only part that gave Qin Yi, who was responsible for this area, a headache, was the various settings within the game.

Originally, after hearing Chen Xu's introduction, Qin Yi felt that this game should be relatively easy. But in reality, he found it to be completely different from what he'd imagined. The monsters' attack values and methods in the game, etc., weren't actually that difficult. It was even much simpler than Undertale, which Chen Xu developed previously. But this didn't mean that Hades was entirely easy and enjoyable.

If one could achieve a perfect routine, then it would naturally be easy and enjoyable. But without a suitable routine, players would have to rely solely on their own skills.

"Mr. Chen, isn't the difficulty curve a bit high? Isn't this supposed to be a hack-and-slash game?" Qin Yi asked, looking bewildered.

"Compared to Bloodborne, don't you think the difficulty is quite low? And if your skill isn't enough, you can rely on luck; if luck isn't enough, you can still rely on grinding, right?" Chen Xu said with a smile.

Hearing Chen Xu's words, Qin Yi was completely speechless, while Meng Zuo beside him didn't say a word.

Young people are young people after all. Hadn't he figured out Mr. Chen after working at Nebula Games for so long? If you were to talk about Hades, it was indeed very satisfying to play, but besides the exhilaration, many of the game's settings were extremely demanding!

Firstly, there's the game's story; when you play, you'll find that every conversation you have with an NPC is different. Why is that? Because the game has an item called Ambrosia, which, when given to an NPC, unlocks corresponding favorability. Depending on the different favorability levels, the words spoken by NPCs during each encounter would naturally differ. Just like the animal villagers in Animal Crossing, they all have their own set of trigger logic.

Secondly, the game's story is tied to NPC favorability. To understand the game's story, one playthrough isn't enough, and to unlock some special plotlines, such as developing a super friendship with characters like Tsundere Death, Dusa the Housekeeper, and Megaera, among other NPCs...

So, how do you trigger them? Just slowly grind!

The game's inherently short progression from start to finish, combined with its randomized gameplay and collectible elements...

Meng Zuo felt that this time, Chen Xu wasn't just after players' money, but also their grind. Hmm... and by the way, it could also make players update their controller accessories.

Rubbing his thumb, Meng Zuo secretly thought as he looked at the combat system's test DEMO.

As time progressed, the hype for Bloodborne finally began to slowly subside. This was mainly because many players had successfully cleared the game one after another.

For hardcore players, Bloodborne, like Dark Souls, actually offered a lot of replayability. For example, the PVP system, and farming Chalice Dungeons. However, for ordinary players, once they cleared the first and second playthroughs and triggered different game endings, it essentially meant they could put the game away.

Moreover, thanks to Bloodborne, some more satisfying games on the market saw a small increase in sales and activity. After all, players suffered so much in Bloodborne, they always needed to make it up elsewhere.

Online, many people were also lamenting that Chen Xu was becoming increasingly 'mad'.

'Seriously, I'm suddenly a little worried. What if Mr. Chen makes all future games in the Bloodborne style? I think sooner or later, his games will scare me to death.'

'+1, Resident Evil, Bloodborne... I wonder what kind of shock Mr. Chen received!'

'Sigh, you might not believe it, but after two consecutive games with extreme content monster designs, now when I look at the Fungal Beasts in Resident Evil and those tentacle monsters in Bloodborne, I actually find them a little cute!'

'Damn it! The bro upstairs is on another level, you seem to have awakened some incredible kink!'

'Bro upstairs, let's block and mute each other, I'm a little scared of you!'

While many players were discussing, Nebula Games and Chen Xu's official social media account quietly updated with new news.

'New game Hades is now available on Switch and Nebula Games Platform! Come and follow the Prince of the Underworld to fight your way out of hell! [Note: This is a very exhilarating action game, suitable for: players who have just experienced Bloodborne]'

Following Chen Xu's official social media post, many players who discovered it were stunned.

'Damn it, it hasn't been long since Bloodborne, and Mr. Chen already has a new game?'

'Even the production team's donkey isn't this efficient!'

'Uh... it doesn't seem to be a blockbuster, but a small-scale game!'

'Wait, what's with the "exhilarating action" emphasized at the end? Follow the Prince of the Underworld to fight out of hell? More like getting tortured to death in hell, right?'

Looking at Chen Xu's official social media post, many players were greatly surprised. After all, not much time had passed since Bloodborne, but driven by curiosity, everyone went to the Nebula Games Platform to check it out and suddenly realized. It wasn't a major production!

The perspective of the pre-load screen was somewhat similar to the mode of Don't Starve or Overcooked that Chen Xu had developed previously. But the only thing that made many players' hearts tremble was the "exhilarating action" and "target audience" explicitly highlighted in the notes.

Was this perhaps another one of Mr. Chen's conspiracies? After all, it was well-known that Mr. Chen's words always had to be interpreted in reverse.

Faced with the players' reactions, Chen Xu also felt a bit helpless. How exactly did trust between people disappear?

Addressing the players' confusion, Chen Xu released an actual gameplay demonstration: "Dear players, please don't overthink it. Trust me, Hades is a very exhilarating and exciting action game, allowing everyone to fully experience the joy of mowing down enemies."

At the same time, a few concept art images were posted below the official social media account. Concept art of the Prince of the Underworld, Hades, Cerberus, Poseidon, Zeus, and other NPCs, along with an actual gameplay demonstration.

Trust you? Hell no! Trust you, Mr. Chen, the Warrior of Love, to torment them again?

Many players muttered inwardly, but their curiosity about the new game still made them click on the video to watch.

Accompanied by stirring music, the Prince of the Underworld, wielding a divine sword, slayed various grotesque monsters in hell, and with each swing of the blade, golden thunderbolts flashed. The video switched in the next second, still featuring the Prince of the Underworld, but this time his weapon had become a spear. He performed wide-range sweeps, threw it and recalled it, and as he dashed, waves burst forth from beneath his feet, knocking back surrounding monsters.

Afterwards, there were similar scenes of the Prince of the Underworld slaying monsters, only the weapons and attack effects were different. Through the game's introduction, many players also understood some of Hades' characteristics: it was a game with randomized gameplay.

The diverse weapons and cool moves surprised many players. Could it be that they had wrongly blamed Chen Xu this time? Was this really an exhilarating action game?

Of course, although many players still expressed disbelief and decided to take a wait-and-see approach, because Resident Evil and Bloodborne had given them some PTSD. However, quite a few players silently shelled out money to buy it, as the revealed gameplay looked genuinely cool, and the price didn't seem too high either.

(End of Chapter) <>

[ { "english_translation": "Prince of the Underworld", "original_term": "冥界王子" }, { "english_translation": "Greek mortal world", "original_term": "希腊人间" }, { "english_translation": "monster attack values", "original_term": "怪物攻击数值" }, { "english_translation": "difficulty curve", "original_term": "难度曲线" }, { "english_translation": "favorability", "original_term": "好感度" }, { "english_translation": "animal villagers", "original_term": "小动物" }, { "english_translation": "trigger logic", "original_term": "触发逻辑" }, { "english_translation": "Tsundere Death", "original_term": "傲娇死神" }, { "english_translation": "Dusa the Housekeeper", "original_term": "管家杜莎" }, { "english_translation": "Megaera", "original_term": "墨纪拉" }, { "english_translation": "super friendship", "original_term": "超友谊" }, { "english_translation": "collectible elements", "original_term": "可收集的要素" }, { "english_translation": "replayability", "original_term": "可玩性" }, { "english_translation": "PVP system", "original_term": "PVP系统" }, { "english_translation": "game endings", "original_term": "游戏结局" }, { "english_translation": "activity", "original_term": "活跃度" }, { "english_translation": "extreme content", "original_term": "重口" }, { "english_translation": "tentacle monster", "original_term": "触手怪" }, { "english_translation": "next level", "original_term": "重量级" }, { "english_translation": "kink", "original_term": "XP" }, { "english_translation": "block and mute", "original_term": "拉黑屏蔽" }, { "english_translation": "Switch", "original_term": "switch" }, { "english_translation": "action game", "original_term": "动作类游戏" }, { "english_translation": "target audience", "original_term": "适合人群" }, { "english_translation": "tortured to death", "original_term": "虐杀致死" }, { "english_translation": "pre-load screen", "original_term": "预载画面" }, { "english_translation": "concept art", "original_term": "概念原画图" }, { "english_translation": "Hell no!", "original_term": "信个大头鬼" }, { "english_translation": "Cerberus", "original_term": "地狱三头犬" }, { "english_translation": "Poseidon", "original_term": "波塞冬" }, { "english_translation": "divine sword", "original_term": "神剑" }, { "english_translation": "grotesque monsters", "original_term": "奇形怪状的怪物" }, { "english_translation": "sweep", "original_term": "横扫" }, { "english_translation": "throw", "original_term": "投掷" }, { "english_translation": "waves", "original_term": "海浪" }, { "english_translation": "burst forth", "original_term": "迸射而出" }, { "english_translation": "knock back", "original_term": "击退" }, { "english_translation": "cool moves", "original_term": "炫酷的动作" }, { "english_translation": "wrongly blamed", "original_term": "错怪" }, { "english_translation": "PTSD", "original_term": "PTSD" }, { "english_translation": "cool", "original_term": "炫酷" }, { "english_translation": "shelled out money", "original_term": "掏钱" } ]