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Chapter 106: Game Analysis and Dark Souls Progress
More and more online players, as well as specialized media outlets, are talking about Valiant Hearts: The Great War.
As for sales, Valiant Hearts: The Great War clearly doesn't compare to games like Fall Guys. Three days after its launch, and with a price of just $4, it sold 310,000 copies. This represents an increase of only $4,000 from last year's To the Moon.
Price is not a significant factor, as it is only $1 more expensive. This is mainly due to the timing of To the Moon's launch last year, which coincided with a period of great player interest in Nebula Games.
However, during the launch of Valiant Hearts: The Great War, few players paid attention to it. Aside from Alex's mention on the official blog, the game was mainly presented on Nebula Games' platforms.
These sales figures show that Nebula Games' influence is much greater than it was last year. Several media outlets have also reported on Valiant Hearts: The Great War, a unique anti-war game. After all, among the anti-war games of the same era, it was a little behind. Only Valiant Hearts: The Great War could stand out.
But for many common designers who worked on this expedition, it was a completely different experience. In some industry designer forums, designers who had played this game complained bitterly.
"How disgusting! I finally made a game, and this Alex participated!"
"Exactly! When the expedition was announced, you should have at least told me, but when my game was almost finished, this guy appeared!"
"Who would have thought? They were warming up for Dark Souls, and suddenly he joined and created a game!"
"It's so awkward!"
"The key is that Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a top-notch game, both in content and story!"
"And compared to last year's To the Moon, this game also has a very rich puzzle gameplay."
"I think there shouldn't be any suspense in this expedition!"
"If we compare sales, I think there are still some games that can compete with Valiant Hearts: The Great War, but as for the award... forget it."
Two weeks after the launch, the expedition selection officially began, and Valiant Hearts: The Great War, without a doubt, took first place.
In the official game store, Valiant Hearts: The Great War is featured on the front page, along with an award-winning review from the game department:
"As a game based on World War I, this game does not depict war through grand scenes, but reflects the pain it causes through the experiences of ordinary people."
"By depicting the hardships, joys, and sorrows experienced by common people of various nationalities, ethnicities, and identities during the war, it deeply portrays the horrifying nature of war and the profound suffering it brings."
"Without focusing on visual presentation, the 2D side-scrolling cartoon graffiti style makes this game, just like the story it portrays, classic but deeply relatable."
"Although it is a war-themed game, the depiction of blood is not overly graphic. Scenes such as projectiles falling and soldiers falling one by one are depicted in a cartoon style, which makes them quite comical. Isn't this effect the ultimate irony of a war where there is no 'good side'?"
"This is a war-themed game that completely subverts traditional narratives. A common person sacrifices themselves for a meaningless war; this is the ultimate critique of war."
The reviews have been very positive, but the attention has mainly been focused on the game's main plot.
However, winning this award has had a significant impact beyond a small circle of indie game fans and Alex. For the average player, it has not caused much of a stir.
The main reason is that, unlike last year, during the same period as the travel event, players did not experience a game drought. Instead, there were many highly anticipated blockbuster titles on the market.
NetDragon and Aether Games, two of the main virtual reality studios, are pre-releasing their latest virtual reality titles. Meanwhile, on the PC platform, Nebula Games, which revolutionized the indie scene last year, is also pre-releasing its first truly major PC title, Dark Souls. There are also releases from two other game developers.
Unlike last year's game drought, this year has been quite lively. So, for the average player, while Valiant Hearts: The Great War is excellent, it is clearly unlikely to cause much of a stir.
Just like last year, he received a trophy from the Game Department and met again with the leaders of the Game Department. Alex had already submitted his application for the Game Designer title, so getting the senior title was not a problem. The available resources of the official game engine had also increased by one more gigabyte compared to before.
Jane, taking the certificate and the trophy from Alex's hands and placing them in a nearby wooden cabinet, smiled radiantly with excitement. "Another certificate and trophy! I think one day we can open a physical exhibition store like those big companies, displaying all the company's awards."
"That day will come!" Lisa also expressed some anticipation.
"We'll talk about this later," Alex smiled.
After chatting for a while with Lisa and Jane, Alex stood up and prepared to go to the project team to oversee Dark Souls' development progress. He also needed to determine the promotion model and schedule for the upcoming games, based on the game's progress and content, along with the marketing team.
For a game, especially an AAA one, this is fundamental. There are many examples from past lives that could serve as a model. For this reason, Alex also attached great importance to this aspect. He wanted to prevent the marketing department from promoting the game to the sky, promising players all kinds of promises, while the project team still had a version in development.
Upon arriving at the Dark Souls project team, Eric looked at Alex, who was reviewing the game's content, and seemed to hesitate to speak.
"Alex, couldn't we reduce the difficulty a bit or give players options?" Eric asked Alex in the end, as he watched Alex design the game's map.
Currently, the entire Dark Souls combat system and its numerical values are practically complete. All that's left is to implement them in the game, such as the placement of monsters.
After studying the corresponding numerical values and the core concept of the gameplay, Eric and some of the developers on the team have largely understood the charm and characteristics of Dark Souls.
Unlike typical ARPGs, this game does not follow a routine where you encounter weak enemies and then level up. Instead, it is a much more realistic experience. In previous ARPGs, no matter how skilled a player was, they were limited by stats. You could never defeat the powerful final boss with a level 1 account.
But that's not the case with Dark Souls. While stats exist, as long as you are strong enough, even at level 1, armed only with a small stick with chicken feet, you can defeat the final boss. This is the charm of Dark Souls: there are no invincible monsters; if there are, it's simply because your skills aren't up to par. Equipment and levels are only there to help you.
Putting the charm aside, Eric already felt that the map design was quite malicious. But now, what did he see? Tons of powerful monsters were added from the beginning.
And in the small room across the dragon bridge from Lothric Wall, the first treasure chest the player found was actually a monster! Not to mention all the traps and mechanics. Even the written instructions for the player were a mix of truth and falsehood.
For example, next to the drawbridge in the catacombs, there was a note that said it would break, which naturally made players believe it would break if they walked onto the center.
But in reality, it requires the player to manually cut it to break it. And if the player is worried that the drawbridge will break if they walk on it and take another path, countless skeletal "Sword Masters" will tell them that the Lord of Cinder is trash, and that his soldiers are the strongest!