Chapter 682: Let Players Die Comfortably, Die Happily (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

Chapter 682: Let Players Die Comfortably, Die Happily (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

The biggest difference between Sekiro and Dark Souls and Bloodborne lies in the combat system.

It can be said that Sekiro is more inclined towards ACT, that is, action games. Whereas Bloodborne and Dark Souls lean more towards RPG attributes.

The main reason is that the birth of Sekiro in his previous life was initially conceived as a spiritual successor to a game called Tenchu.

However, as the game's development progressed, Hidetaka Miyazaki ultimately decided to make Sekiro a standalone game. It's not like Souls-like games, nor is it like Tenchu. Sekiro is just Sekiro.

Although it still has Sculptor's Idols corresponding to bonfires and lamps, and mobs respawn after resurrection, the difference in the combat system directly leads to a different gameplay experience.

If rookie players in Bloodborne and Dark Souls could still use some crooked methods to clear the game without improving their skills, then such a phenomenon is completely nonexistent in Sekiro.

Lady Butterfly, Genichiro Ashina, and later Great Shinobi Owl (Elder) and Great Shinobi Owl (Young) from three years prior, as well as Emma and Isshin Ashina. It's safe to say that in any ending route, players will encounter teachers in the true sense of the word—teachers whose challenges cannot be cheesed with crooked methods. If you can't beat them, you simply can't; there's no way around it.

Therefore, Sekiro is also considered by many players to be one of the most difficult games.

In the office, Qin Yi, Meng Zuo, and others looked at the detailed design concept document in their hands, all completely Spartan. The illusion from the previous meeting vanished entirely upon seeing the game's Numerical Design.

It was clear that in terms of difficulty, Sekiro could absolutely be considered the pinnacle of the Souls series. Perhaps only the Death Mode of Dark Souls could rival it.

"Mr. Chen, this difficulty!?" Qin Yi looked at Chen Xu with a pained expression.

Just thinking about it was enough to imagine!

"This difficulty is very reasonable. After all, for the first playthrough, we shouldn't make players suffer too much. The more challenging modes can be placed in the second and third playthroughs," Chen Xu said with a smile.

Regarding the game content, Chen Xu also adopted the complete Sekiro version from his previous life. Aside from the two higher difficulties that unlock sequentially after clearing the game—Shura, Immortal Severance, Return (Divine Heir)'s Inner Father, Inner Genichiro, and Inner Isshin—the initial version will also provide players with the seventeen consecutive battles unlocked after three successive battles.

Of course, that's not all; Chen Xu actually has further plans for the future. After all, players' challenges are limitless. And to be honest, for players who put in a little effort, these difficulties are nothing. After all, Sekiro is also a memorization game; as long as you can endure dying, you will definitely succeed.

For example, Genichiro Ashina's moves are quite fixed. If you create distance and use the Healing Gourd to recover health on the spot, Genichiro in his first two phases will pull out his bow and shoot arrows. If it's Inner Genichiro, he will perform a leaping thrust. Mindlessly using Mikiri Counter after drinking a potion can easily resolve this. Also, Lady Butterfly's attacks can be interrupted with a spinning dodge step, allowing for an endless cycle of chipping away her health.

So, similar to the Death Mode designed with Artificial Intelligence AI in Dark Souls back then, Chen Xu also plans to introduce a more challenging 'Despair Mode' for Sekiro later on.

Of course, that will be after the game's launch. For now, the focus remains on the game's content itself.

"Apart from the Numerical Design and Level Design, Hu Tu, you're responsible for coordinating the Art aspect," Chen Xu said to Hu Tu and Yang Xin, who were nearby.

While the map design of Sekiro in his previous life was excellent, it also suffered from various BUGs. For example, if you first go to Mibu Village, defeat the Corrupted Monk, learn to dive, then use a double jump from the bridge in front of Ashina Castle to a nearby wall, you could turn the entire map into an ocean, freely swimming to wherever you wanted, colloquially known as Air Swimming. This kind of map design BUG, Chen Xu intended to fix in the game. As for some cheese methods, Chen Xu didn't plan to change them. For example, using Divine Confetti against the phantom Corrupted Monk for an assassination is part of the game's skill mechanism.

Of course, a more important point is that for those who love to cheese, a few well-meaning 'Old Professors' will teach them how to behave in later levels.

"Additionally, pull a group of people from the Art Team. Unlike before, this time we need to make the player's death screen look good. It's tentatively set at 99 artistic 'Death' characters."

"At the same time, just like in Detroit: Become Human, where players collect various ways for Connor to die to earn an achievement trophy, in Sekiro, each time a player dies, a different stylized 'Death' character will randomly appear. Collecting 99 different 'Death' characters will earn a trophy," Chen Xu said, thinking, towards Ruan Ningxue.

After all, unlike Dark Souls and Bloodborne, where you have one life and return to a bonfire or lamp upon death, in Sekiro, a player might see 'Death' twice or even thrice in a single battle. In such cases, this can make their deaths feel more comforting.

Currently, the Nebula Games Platform on the VR platform, although only supporting the official Workshop, will allow players to create simple text-based creative MODs. For example, changing 'Death' to 'Noob'. Of course, considering the existence of trophy collectors, this 'Death' is also a progression trophy, where the displayed 'Death' character will cycle down after appearing, and true randomness will only occur after a full cycle.

Listening to Chen Xu's words, Ruan Ningxue looked speechless. Mr. Chen, you're truly too thoughtful.

………………

And so, Sekiro's difficulty was set. Although Chen Xu stated that the difficulty would be adjusted later based on development feedback, with appropriate weakening or strengthening, Qin Yi and the others consistently believed that the words "weakening" should be removed. There would only be strengthening, no weakening!

In response, Meng Zuo and his team could only silently pray for the players, hoping they'd fend for themselves.

Meanwhile, in the gaming industry, the impact of BioShock had not yet dissipated. Although BioShock was considered inimitable by many game designers, for large game developers, its influence on small and medium-sized game designers was quite profound. Especially for some game designers who pursued art, BioShock was practically revered as a classic.

Among them were many excellent works, and of course, some rather mediocre ones. However, everyone, without prior consultation, unanimously chose the same direction: tragedy. After all, tragedies always leave a deeper impression, and most classic works throughout history conclude with tragedy. Coupled with Chen Xu's renowned nickname in the gaming industry, and the tone of the recently released BioShock duology, the trend unknowingly shifted towards Chen Xu. (End of Chapter) <>