"If you like games that pursue gameplay more than fine details, then I'm waiting for you in the game."
In the game introduction of "Liu Yin", there is such a sentence.
If you translate it with low emotional intelligence, it is obviously an admission of the lack of detail in the picture.
Admittedly, the artistic performance of "Liu Yin" is indeed not fine, except for the little sister with big tits and long legs who can barely rush, the scene modeling and environmental details are very rough. Bgm and dubbing are remarkable, and important characters have live-action dubbing, but the ambient sound effect is slightly awkward, with a strong low-cost flavor.
Then again, after all, it is an indie game made by a small studio, so instead of spending the budget on art, it is better to play with peace of mind.
If it is really possible to conquer players with gameplay alone, these are not unforgivable flaws.
Open gameplay to explore freely
"Liu Yin" prides itself on being an open world, a single scene is actually not very large, but there are many places to explore, you can go as far as you can see, light work and two sections can not jump to the place, you can also create a foothold through the form of "inserting a sword".
In addition, there are many hidden elements underwater waiting for players to discover. The addition of the concept of time, where certain events and items only appear at specific points in time, further increases the exploratory nature.
The regional scenes are connected to each other by doors, and the non-linear game advances, which restricts the player's footsteps not by a certain plot, or even by a certain mission, as long as you can get key items, you can unlock new areas.
For example, if you follow the normal process to open the second main line map, the Night Palace, you need to talk to the unknown warrior first, learn the information of the angler, gain the trust of the angler, and follow the process according to its prompts to catch the safflower carp before opening the portal. But if you like to wander around, wander around in the water and just catch the red carp that swims fast, go directly to the door and wait for the angler to come and help you open the door, skip all the steps in front of you.
Of course, this will miss a large part of the plot information, "Liu Yin" uses the soul fragment narrative method, the inconspicuous corner of the book Jane combined with the character dialogue only a few words, in order to infer the background story and character relationship.
In addition to fixing the props that need to be collected, most things are not highlighted, and the inconspicuous small animals in the environment may be the key to advancing the task, such as the rooster running around at the entrance of the novice village, who could have imagined that it would be of great use in the follow-up?
The characters in the scene will not hold a big question mark and directly tell you that I have a task on me, and I can find the side quest information through dialogue interaction or carrying key props.
There is no unique standard for open-ended mission gameplay, there are most possibilities lurking, and of course, the consequences of being a lowly hand have to bear their own responsibilities.
When I first entered the Lingfeng Valley, the first person I encountered was a lady with a large waist and a round waist, who only sold one thing on the stall, and would be accused of being close, obviously to lure the player to be a gentleman on the beam. However, if you want to grab it hard, the big lady will tell you that her flesh is not all fat, even if you run fast, people directly take a crow in the aircraft with a hand and accurately guide you to kill you.
This seemingly impossible thing actually has a variety of solutions.
Hard resistance to three moves, just one of them
"Liu Yin" encourages players to explore freely and dare to try, but they can't just be a brainless man, discovering details and being good at thinking is the most important.
Five-element interactive gossip derivation
It is not difficult to see that the core decryption mechanism of "Liu Yin" is derived through the five elements, fire can burn, water can extinguish fire and conduct electricity.
In the scene interaction, the flame is more useful, calcining metal, burning trees, or igniting the brazier to trigger the mechanism; the mechanism of metal and water conduction is mainly reflected in the decryption of the mechanism, guiding the current to the designated location.
In addition, there are many deciphering levels full of ancient style, such as rhythmic melodies, chessboard endings, and so on.
The proportion of combat elements in "Liu Yin" is actually not high, and the mobs in the scene can be directly skipped, even if they are bosses that must be attacked in the mission flow, they can also be crushed by offensive spell props.
I thought that the production team would simply fool the past, after all, the main exploration and decryption gameplay, action battles can be done casually, and the big factories next door are not all played like this.
Unexpectedly, this work not only has a very perfect combat mechanism, in addition to the cost problem mentioned above, the action performance is not so exquisite, compared to some similar domestic 3D action games, playing is "where to light up and press where" to have a lot of depth.
Based on the Bagua derivative mechanism of "Li, Kun, Hui, Qian, Kan, Gen, Zhen, and Xun", all moves and skills will consume or generate Bagua points, and pre-Bagua points will be obtained through ordinary attacks to meet the conditions for releasing skills, and then obtain advanced Bagua points to release big moves, forming a steady stream of combos.
It looks a bit similar to the gas collection mechanism but is not limited to this, some gossip points have a short existence time, if not used, they will disappear on their own, and in the face of a strong BOSS, they also need to dodge block, which is a test of operation and resilience.
The current version contains four weapons, namely the Thin Sword Ryu Sakura, the Epee Tenjo, the Gun Umbrella HuaShou, and the Spirit Needle Thousand Dances, each with unique characteristics and move derivations. The difference is reflected in the speed distance of the attack and the efficiency of breaking the shield, and the more interesting thing is the gun parachute, which can be used as a gliding tool during daily exploration.
In addition, the magic power crystals of different attributes, only the corresponding boss will drop, which is used to enchant skills, add new functions and special effects.
There is no concept of hierarchy in Ryu yin, and "Ryu" is the only thing that can directly improve the attributes of the character, but it is more about enriching the player's exploration ability than enhancing the numerical value.
The more comprehensively the player explores, the more items and artifacts they gain, and the more diverse the means they will be able to deal with the dangers of the journey.
The direction of the national bill can actually be many
"Liu Yin" is not an open world in the end, it is not easy to define!
But it seems to me that the open world never depends on the size of the map? Are there too many question marks? Freedom is at its core, and there are always more surprises to be gained by exploring at will than by following obedience step by step.
Slogans are not used to shout, labels are not used to operate, put aside gimmicks and dig deep into the gameplay to really convince players.
In the current mainstream environment where domestic fantasy games pursue fancy painting styles, there are not many developers who dare to seriously study gameplay. And as players, most people are never counting on these, and games are always played, not watched!
Due to the cost and team limitations, "Liu Yin" does have some problems here and there, but it is undeniable that it has a relatively mature performance in terms of gameplay.
At present, the game is still in the early access stage, and with continuous optimization and improvement, it is believed that the makers can bring players a better experience.