‘The Traveler Sets Off Again’
I’m not afraid of your ridicule. I am one of those people who has been trapped by the so-called “fan economy”. This may have something to do with the environment in which I grew up. It was a typical third-tier tourist city. In my more than 20 years of student life, I rarely met people who also took "video games" as a hobby, and no one would discuss cultural diversity with you at all.
In a sense, my experience after moving to Shanghai completely changed my world view. The various exhibitions and performances, the subculture streets in the bustling city, and various offline activities with animation or games as the theme have given me a new hobby - "café tour", just to try my best to Get closer to your favorite works.
square enix cafe
A few days ago, under the guise of "collecting materials and writing articles", I got half a day from my leader, the purpose was to visit the most famous game-themed cafe "square enix cafe" in Shanghai (hereinafter referred to as se cafe) . I am a frequent visitor there, a frequent visitor so to speak, and I only go there once or twice when I have a lot of money. Personally, I like the atmosphere there very much - all the people who visit there are people who like games, and most of their conversations revolve around the theme of the season. I have visited the se cafe in Akihabara, Tokyo, when I was on a business trip before. , probably the same feeling. So, of course, the "source" is true, but it is more out of "selfishness". I like to collect coasters, and the theme of this issue "Traveler on the Wrong Road: Overlord of the Continent" is just right for me. If I'm lucky, You can also meet a few friends there and enjoy the fun of "exchanging coasters"...
In se cafe, many players come here to collect coasters
It's interesting to say that se cafe on weekdays It has actually become a "purified" place, unaffected by the random crowds of people taking a break on weekends. Basically, the only people who come here specifically are "veterans" who go straight to the topic. "Salamanda" who also works on the Internet in Shanghai is one of them.
You can probably guess from the name he gave himself that "Salamanda" is an out-and-out "se fan" at the senior level. As a player, he is often active on the front line of strategies for certain console games, and he will come to support every time the cafe changes its theme. After chatting for a while, he told me that the "Final Fantasy VII" special event in December last year was actually much busier than it is now - and now, there are still many empty seats in the cafe.
"But there's nothing you can do about it. It's a working day after all, and Octopath Traveler is already more famous than popular... If it opens later, the effect may be much better, you know what I mean. "
"Traveler on the Crossroads: Overlord of the Continent"
Although what he said was not very direct, the meaning was very clear - compared with the famous AAA-level IPs under SE, "Traveler on the Crossroads" is still a niche thing after all. Everyone can see that this wave of themes is probably related to the national server that will be launched for public beta on May 16 this year, but until not long ago, only the international server of this game was in operation.
Salamanda is a loyal fan of the "Walkers on the Crossroads" series, and is a true portrayal of many players in mainland China: he started playing in the Taiwanese server at the end of 2022, and has been playing sporadically for more than a year following the progress. For them, the Taiwan server is mainly for the convenience of reading the plot in Chinese, because the plot of the mobile game is directly or indirectly related to the first generation "Walker on the Wandering Road", and the story stage is also set in "Aurus" many years before the first generation story happened. "Tela Continent", from the perspective of console version players, it should be a complete part of the world view - you know, in Japan, where the original game was born, there have never been a few manufacturers that stuff important stories into mobile games. And SE especially likes this approach.
"Traveler on the Crossroads" has many selling points, and the "plot" is always one of the most attractive parts.
Before the emergence of Traditional Chinese, these players would follow the translation of the plot of the Japanese server online, but in the end they still couldn't bear it. Live, choose to end it in person, the music written by Yasuchi Nishiki himself and the main story full of adult fairy tale temperament are always irresistible to old players. Salamanda in the cafe ordered a drink called "Crimson Medicine and Serum". In the game "Traveler on the Wrong Road: Overlord of the Continent", this is a key prop in the "Power" chapter of the first main story. In his words, the "functional drink" ingredient in this soda may be the most restored game setting in the entire menu.
"Crimson Medicine and Serum"
In real life, many domestic players look down on the national server and think that the national server will be magically modified in order to defraud money. However, for many people who have actually played it, "Walker on the Crossroads: "Hegemon of the Continent" really doesn't have much room for magical changes. Different from the traditional "second games" that dominate the market today, its selling point is too much about the game design itself. Except for the grand occasion in the early days of server launch, its daily server revenue has never been comparable to those of popular mobile games. After more than three years of user iteration, only a group of extremely core jrpg players remain, and their user stickiness is basically reflected in the actual gameplay.
As a free mobile game, the Japanese server still maintains an ultra-high average score of 4.6 after more than three years of operation.
Speaking of which, "Traveler on the Wrong Road: Overlord of the Continent" is actually not the first game to have such a score. The game of situations. In 2018, a card game called "Poetry of Shadows" entered the country. Although it appeared to be a game with strong "two-dimensional" attributes, the real main users were those Among domestic players, there is even a saying that "NetEase's last conscience" is among the "players" who have delved deeply into the gameplay itself.
What the two have in common is that they do not need to piece together a complete game experience based on the premise of "krypton gold".
Just like "Poetry of Shadows" focuses its gameplay on enjoying the fun of card building and battles, the biggest selling point of "Walkers on the Crossroads: Overlord of the Continent" is focused on its thick story, world view setting, A special Japanese fantasy atmosphere, as well as classic but not outdated command-based combat. As a mobile game, it has rarely caught the attention of console and traditional role-playing game players, but it's not the kind of game that can "suddenly explode" among blue ocean players. To put it more harshly, there are many profitable projects, and smart people will not point to these two games to make money.
This is why we have reason to believe that the national server of "Qilu Traveler: Overlord of the Continent" can provide the same high-quality experience - earlier last year, the Traditional Chinese version announced a change of agents, although user data was smoothly inherited. , but it still makes those "Taiwan server" players who have made a lot of money break out in a cold sweat. Investigate the root cause, you will find that this is ultimately caused by unsatisfactory revenue results, and medium-sized agents are eager to stop losses. At the same time, various problems with the krypton gold exchange rate and network connection are also a high threshold for ordinary players who are afraid of trouble.
Some people are worried that NetEase will adopt the same "divest investment if it doesn't make money" strategy. But with the example of "Poetry of Shadows" in the past, "Traveler on the Wrong Road: Overlord of the Continent" can undoubtedly give players a dose of reassurance, because every Everyone knows that this is a matter of losing money and making a profit. And if you haven’t invested too much in other versions in advance, you can use the national server as a new starting point. What's more, the Chinese version of "Wanderer: Overlord of the Continent" also offers some more competitive conditions - unique picture improvements and special content.
Naturally, there is no need to explain the improvement of the picture. "Walkers on the Crossroads: Overlord of the Continent" has repeatedly emphasized from the beginning that they have upgraded the original picture performance - richer light and shadow effects, and a more comfortable screen aspect ratio. , all of which further upgraded the game's graphics on the basis of the first-generation motherboard. This is actually a very rare thing. After all, from today's perspective, although the first generation HD-2D in 2018 is exquisite, it has already created a huge gap with the sequel, and Japanese mobile games are caught between the two generations. , naturally it is just a streamlined version of the first generation design concept.
In fact, since the launch of "Walker II" last year, many players have been hoping to use it as a benchmark to completely enhance the visual expression of mobile games. But this is easier said than done, and it involves a lot of problems at the program structure level. For a game that is still in the operational stage, such an upgrade is not realistic.
Screen comparison between the original version and the national server
But who would have thought that three years later, the "latecomer" of the national server would become its biggest advantage. Relying on mature industrial technology, the graphics of the Chinese server version have made huge progress, and second only to the abundant investment of the Japanese server, SE has raised the highest level of emphasis on this overseas authorization - in order to take care of the players of the Chinese server With a cultural background, the original cast personally took the stage and based on the image of the "female warrior" in Chinese martial arts works, created the special character "Jekarite" for the national server. Since the launch of the Japanese server in 2020, he has become the only regionally-exclusive character in the world.
Jekarite
Such treatment is undoubtedly the "trump card" that NetEase has been preparing since it won the agency rights for the Chinese server. Putting aside all subjective prejudices, you really can't find anything wrong with it. Some time ago, when I was talking about the Chinese server with an old editor from the editorial department who has resigned, the answer he gave was almost the most authentic player reaction.
“I kind of want to switch to the national server”
To be honest, there shouldn’t be any chain of contempt or superiority between the Taiwanese server and the Japanese server. New players certainly have the right to choose the one that suits them, but the launch of the national server is to give those A chance for "Scattered" players to reunite.
This brief adventure in se cafe was like the meeting of travelers in the game - we are strangers, but the common goal created an opportunity for us to travel together.
Players always need a companion on the road. Travelers meet here and the journey will begin again.
