Text: Bright fungus
Welcome to today's game Bai Xiaosheng, I am Bright.
In the summary of the last MGN conference, we mentioned a Japanese indie game called "Ghost Call Center", which has a rather unique style, because Steam did not launch the Chinese keywords and the original name was spelled out.
If you’re a ghost call me here？
No!
The correct search pose is 1F y0u're a gh0st ca11 me here. Looking like the letters 0 and 1 they are really 0 and 1.
For such a game with the speed of light on the airwaves and the magic of music, the author naturally paid attention to it for the first time, and at the same time, with the mentality of trying it out, we tried to contact the Japanese producer Furoshiki Laboratory, and then it really became.
The game is currently only released in Japan in full and demo, but we also got the official demo version and invited the producers to personally introduce this ingenious text adventure game to Chinese players.
—————— Body Divider———————
Basic information/game background
1f y0u're a gh0st ca11 me here is a fantasy-themed text-adventure game in which players play as Reaper, named Vanitas, who for some reason is appointed as the underworld operator to connect the newly installed netherworld hotline. Not every soul can come to Hades smoothly, and what you have to do is to guide the ghosts who are struggling with somewhere into the underworld.
Gameplay
As an action visual novel (official self-description), the only action element of the game is to race against the clock with options that need to be quickly determined like QTE, and KeyLOL netizens call it a bit of "projectile theory" in it.
According to the setting, each underworld call can only last 5 seconds, which is also the last opportunity for the ghosts to ask for help from the outside world, and they will hysterically explain their situation as much as possible in five seconds to seek help, quite like a police operator and an alarmist.
QTE options are 1, 2, 3 numbers, representing three switches, the author's Japanese level is not good, probably to introduce you to the respective functions:
Opportunity 1 calls on Death to take away the souls whose bodies are struggling with pain directly; No. 2 will provide guidance services for the lost souls, and No. 3 will provide protection for ghosts threatened by exorcists.
This game action place comes, the game can not be paused and there will be several ghosts bombarding you with phone calls at the same time, which is very challenging the player's reading comprehension ability, you need to quickly determine what is happening on the other side and connect to the appropriate terminal. In the demo, we don't know the impact of the wiring failure on the subsequent plot, but each failed wiring will lead to a decline in job evaluation, which may directly affect the heroine's career.
Inexplicably, I feel that switching to play in a non-native language is a good choice to exercise your reading ability.
————— Bright's online chat room! —————
This Q&A session was translated and edited from both sides of the English manuscript.
Introduction: Let's get to know you guys first, and let's introduce ourselves and Furoshiki Lab to the readers!
Kotaro Tabaira: Hello everyone, I'm Dendaira Kotaro, Production Director at Furoshiki Laboratory, a working group that develops games and has a variety of other projects.
With the exception of core members (currently programmers and directors), the others are all itinerant members and change depending on the project/game that needs to be made. After the new project was launched, our people entered and began to work; when the work was completed, the group left.
At present, it is also possible to stay in the group after the completion of the project, and our group is now also a person with various functions.
Q: When will the game be released globally? (Currently available in Japan – Author's Note) Is there a follow-up DLC plan?
Tian Ping: Ghost Call Center will meet you this summer!
There are currently no DLC updates planned, but I would be happy to launch a DLC that gives players a story that explores each character's past.
Q: What about the very interesting format of the game, what inspired you to make it?
Tian Ping: Usually, visual novels and text adventure games are usually where several characters talk to each other in the same scene.
But I was thinking, why do you have to go through the dialogue one by one? So I started this project.
Q: Quite a lot of fans are at the first sight of this work at the press conference like it, and almost all of them are attracted by the style of painting, do you have anything you want to talk about about the art style of this work?
Tian Ping: I'm really happy that everyone can get on the airwave. The characters and illustrations are all done by me, and the costumes of the characters also reflect their personalities and values, and I have studied the history of fashion before and figured out a set of methods to express the character's personality and outlook on life through clothing.
Q: BGM is really very magical, MGN as soon as it ended, I tried to find a way to find a film to listen to again (laughs), do friends want to know what story of the creation of the song can be shared?
Tian Ping: I purchased this free song commercial license. Its author is Kinosuke, a former V creator who campaigned under the name "kiichi" (Kan youtube should be the same person as なんとか P - author's note), and has also released free music under the name kinosuke.
I'm a big fan of him, which led me to decide to use his song as the game's BGM.
Q: There are a total of three different call sign terminals in the game, the first number is 999, which is generally used as an emergency call, yes, what do the other two numbers represent?
Tian Ping: The police phone and the regional tour respectively, but both are agencies that provide ghost services.
Q: It's surprising to see a Japanese indie game like Ghost Call Center at the MGN launch, and we can't help but wonder how your collaboration with MGN (SteamParty) unfolded?
Tian Ping: The connection between us began with an email from the organizer (Mu Ran), who praised our studio's games and wanted to use the MGN launch as an opportunity to make more players aware of them. Really appreciated MGN for giving us such an opportunity to reach out to Chinese players.
Q: What kind of message/spirit is the work trying to convey? The store page mentions "prejudice against communication technology, lack of human resources, and uneasiness caused by technological progress", can you talk to you about the social issues you want to discuss through the game?
Tian Ping: When the telephone came out, communication technology was already facing many difficulties.
For example, there have been rumors that people get sick from radio waves and lack understanding of this new profession (referred to as operators).
I thought that if I studied the history of telephone and communication, the story would be more in-depth, so I included it in this story, but I was also surprised to find that the story also has a lot in common with the current world situation.
Q: You should have seen the fan I tweeted, she created this painting at the speed of light after watching the conference, and the question was also asked by her: Will there be a comic in the future? Vanitas is really cute and would love to see more of her story!
Tian Ping: First of all, thank you very much for creating such a beautiful fan figure! I'd love to launch a comic, and I hope Chinese players can read it when it lands on the ground!
(Artist @ Resistance Rist Twitter @HiThereRist)
Q: Are there any plans for localization and distribution?
Tian Ping: I can't say anything about the specifics, but we do have plans to localize in multiple languages.
Q: What inspired you to create the heroine Vanitas? Her name, which means "nothingness" in Latin, seems mysterious.
Tian Ping: Her name is very critical! Vanitas is a Grim Reaper, but she has not been able to receive the work that Reaper should do, and will further expand her story in the main storyline.
Q: It's the end of the question. Finally, there is a more personal question, which is also a reserved program for this column, so tell you about your favorite anime and movies, or what works you have been watching recently.
Tian Ping: My favorite animation is "Luo Xiao Black War", which has been brushed many times. Recently, I watched a French movie, "Diary of a Country Priest," and Japan's "Glittering Hasavi!"
Q: Thank you for taking the time to be interviewed, the epidemic is still a serious problem now, please take care.
Tian Ping: Thank you also for finding our game, and we are also looking forward to the day when it meets Chinese players!
—————— epilogue and fragmented thoughts———————
Bright's chat room is also the first time to invite foreign producers to chat, this time there is also a magical scene of Chinese and Japanese people doing Q&A and cooperation negotiations in English, in short, it is still a unified thank you to all the production team who are willing to respond to our interview invitation, thank you for satisfying Bright's small curiosity as an ordinary player and fan, and thank you for the readers who are willing to order and eat me Amway, and I am sorry to meet such a tasteful editor (laughs).
Everyone has any want to see, want to know more about the indie game also welcome background messages, the author will also try to win the opportunity to open the official puzzle, thank you for your support, we will meet again next time!
The above is today's game Bai Xiaosheng.
If you have any content you want to see or games you want to play, welcome to leave me a message in the background!