Chapter 887: I'm Not Some Kind of Devil

Persona, in its previous life, was only developed as a spin-off of Shin Megami Tensei.

However, through If, and later Sin and Punishment, it established its own unique style.

The story focuses on mysterious elements like campus supernatural tales and urban legends, portraying deep psychological themes.

Its plots involving friendship, romance, and other elements further expanded the game's audience.

Especially by the third generation, the thematic framework for this spin-off series was established.

First, in terms of the Persona's background, the Personas, symbolizing mythical figures, allegorized the characters' destinies.

However, the overall game is much heavier, discussing profound topics of life and death, like an ancient Greek tragedy. One could say that all sentient beings suffer, all who feel love are entangled in karma, and none are free from injustice in this game.

Secondly, there's the gameplay, with its month-by-month progression and social simulation elements.

These elements were greatly developed in subsequent works, and by Persona 5, it became a magnum opus of traditional RPGs.

But for many players, the game's background or its deep core themes aren't really their main concern. For a game to be successful, it just needs to be fun enough and evoke some emotion.

The friendship and bonds of the Phantom Thieves, including Ren Amamiya, Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki, and Makoto Niijima, as well as the engaging daily life simulation and the cool and stylish art style.

These elements allow players to immerse themselves in the game and spend dozens of hours happily. For a game, this is already a success.

……………

While Persona was dominating major live streaming platforms and video platforms,

The production of next-gen VR gaming pods was also underway day and night.

After avoiding the initial peak sales period, the production capacity issues were resolved.

Moreover, the sudden unveiling of this next-gen VR gaming pod caught Zeus, its old overseas rival, completely off guard.

Even some game developers originally on the Zeus platform temporarily announced their plans.

After all, the next-gen VR gaming pod overseas has not yet entered mass production. Even if the technical aspects have been resolved, it will still take a considerable interim period for subsequent safety reviews, channel clearance, and other procedures.

During this interim period, Huanyu's next-gen VR gaming pod has virtually no rivals in the market.

While overseas technical personnel worked day and night, hoping to launch their next-gen gaming pods soon,

Players both domestically and internationally couldn't wait any longer and scrambled to purchase them, eager to experience the next-gen immersion.

Excellent and immersive gameplay, along with a more relaxed game performance compared to before, made the next-gen gaming pod the hottest electronic product on the market.

To be fair, many players were dissatisfied with the current lack of anticipated game titles.

Persona counts as one, but for most players, while this game is excellent, it may not appeal to the majority. After all, it's an extremely traditional RPG, not very free, and a slow-burn game with a very slow pace.

Especially for domestic players, compared to Persona, which is set against the daily lives of high school students in an island nation, the second wuxia game described by Nebula Games at the previous next-gen VR game press conference, based on The Three Heroes and Five Gallants, became a major point of anticipation for many players.

Although wuxia and xianxia themes have been overused like a hot weapon by major and minor domestic developers to the point of being completely broken and unusable, which Chinese person doesn't harbor a wuxia dream or a xianxia dream?

So, after Persona was launched, in addition to playing, domestic players mostly refreshed Nebula Games' and Chen Xu's official Weibo accounts daily, hoping for more news about the wuxia game Fate Seeker.

However, this left many players both disappointed and surprised.

The disappointment stemmed from Nebula Games not announcing anything in that regard.

But the surprise was that Nebula Games announced a new initiative:

Many of its classic older games, such as Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Monster Hunter, Uncharted, Assassin's Creed, The Last of Us, Red Dead Redemption, and other VR games, will undergo next-gen development and receive corresponding free patches.

The reason for adopting this model is, on one hand, that Nebula Games is not short on money, and on the other hand, the Game Department has special subsidies, and most of the art assets can be reused.

The more troublesome part is merely adapting the games for next-gen VR.

As soon as this news broke, players were all excited, expressing that Nebula Games was truly conscientious.

However, regarding the next-gen adaptation, many players also began discussing it, as the game list was just a list. And many players understood that not all these next-gen games could be developed at once. There would definitely be an order, and since Nebula Games hadn't specified which game would come first, players naturally began to discuss it.

Those who liked Assassin's Creed vigorously praised Assassin's Creed, and those who liked Red Dead Redemption vigorously praised Red Dead Redemption.

Games like Uncharted and The Witcher were topics of heated discussion.

Of course, there were also some players who just wanted to watch the excitement and suggested that since next-gen versions were being released, Nebula Games should just remake some of its older games entirely. For example, Outlast, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, and Resident Evil Village.

Although these games generally have the lowest completion rates among Nebula Games' titles, even lower than Souls-like games, their popularity is top-tier. Even Uncharted and The Last of Us, in terms of mainstream popularity alone, couldn't compare to them.

So, on the game community forums, the names of these games immediately surged to the front, until Chen Xu posted an official message: “Alright, I'll satisfy you. Pick one out of these three: Silent Hill, Outlast, Resident Evil.”

Looking at the three options on Chen Xu's official Weibo, the players who had previously been happily instigating suddenly became dumbfounded.

Why were they instigating?

On one hand, they loved watching the excitement, and on the other, they weren't panicking at all. What were they? Ordinary players! What was Nebula Games? A world-renowned gaming giant! How could it listen to its players? It should have its own plans and initiatives!

Also, wasn't something a bit off with this list?

“I'm disgusted! What kind of major game developer listens to player opinions like this? I could cry to death!”

“Don't cry, the taste is a bit strong, but honestly, Mr. Chen, you should act unilaterally!”

“Exactly! Exactly! Don't listen to us!”

“Speaking of which, hasn't anyone noticed a problem? If you're going to pick, add Resident Evil Village! I can accept saving a daughter, but I really don't want to save my wife!”

“Mr. Chen, I've already divorced that old hag Mia, please don't do this!”

Looking at the poll list posted on Chen Xu's official Weibo, many players were on the verge of tears.

Inside Nebula Games, Chen Xu looked at the comments below his official Weibo and broke into a wide smile.

Just thinking about the players' delighted expressions made him very happy and joyful.

“So, Mr. Chen's first next-gen remake will really be chosen from these three games?” Ruan Ningxue couldn't help but ask.

“A promise made is a promise kept, and besides, I've already announced it on the official Weibo, so how could it be false?” Chen Xu said solemnly, then paused and added: “Of course, I'm not some kind of devil. Dark Souls and its prequel, along with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Bloodborne, and Monster Hunter: World will also have one game chosen from them as an extra surprise.”

You say you're not a devil!

Yang Xin and the others, who had been silent beside him, stared with wide eyes.

“Also, Fate Seeker will be announced on the same day. After all, we still need to calm players' rising blood pressure.”

How many game designers like him, who integrate himself with players and wholeheartedly fulfill their wishes, exist in this world?

Looking at the players' online petitions, Chen Xu couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

(End of Chapter) <>