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"Master", which was released at the beginning of this year, is like many other games, running from exhibition to exhibition, but it always seems to be out of reach. Throughout the year I could only observe the game through States of Play and Forward Activities, but I never knew what it was going to be, which was a visual reflection of the quality of the game.
Last week, I finally played The Master's 20-minute Preview Demo, and now I can say with certainty: Master is cool.
During the pandemic, many games have seen their previews either released through streaming services like Parsec or showed preview versions with limited content, which is less than ideal for games like Master. Usually, I'll go through this type of demo, record the key points, and then write a review. But "Master" is different, and I played its demo five times.
Master, like many other action games, has a weird advantage — these games, just by playing them and using your gamepad to experience the action elements of the game, bring far more rewards for achievement than any experience points or props in the game.
Presumably, there have been many forward-looking texts explaining what kind of game "Master" is, so this article will save some effort, directly cut to the main topic, and talk about the game content of this Demo.
We were operating an initial twenty-year-old character, walking down the back alley to a club, and then the club's doorman warned me not to enter without an invitation. And my invitation, yes, is just a straight punch to the face. The bouncer ate several fists before he lay down, but after that, the road to the club was unimpeded.
At the club front desk, I have two conversation options to ask about the person I'm looking for or to remain silent. In a few times, I inquired about the target, and then the guys at the front desk began to shout; in other times, I kept silent, and then the guys at the front desk began to shout; finally, I decided to jump straight to the table, split his head and cover his face and beat him up, the guys still began to shout, but at least this time after his reinforcements came, I had less people to deal with.
When the first process arrives here, you've probably been beaten up once. It's normal to have difficulty dealing with hordes of enemies at the same time, at least that's how I consoled myself. After being defeated in Master, the player needs to press and hold a button to activate a coin, and thus age one to three years.
Each coin seems to be able to be used this three times before it bursts and disappears, and you have an amulet-like pendant with several gold coins tied to it, at least in the Demo version. At first, getting older seemed to only affect the character's appearance, but when I reached the age of thirty, the game prompted me that I would now be able to deal more damage, but with less health.
Well, yes, that's exactly what I felt when I was thirty.
I got the front desk guy, grabbed the baseball bat that an enemy had used to beat me up, and walked into the club grounds. This is the first real battle, with about seven enemies and a variety of weapons scattered on the ground.
These enemies also don't actively attack your character, so you can say hello to them with a flying kick that hits them in the back of the head. But after that, they'll start hitting you aggressively.
There are plenty of beer bottles and low stools in the club grounds, which is no less than an arsenal for a skilled player. Press the B key to pick up weapons like a beer bottle (it's only 1 durability, but I can probably hit it 8 points) and press the shoulder button to kick an object at an enemy. During one process, I ran around, kicking stools and bottles at people, and a battle was consumed by me.
After breaking up the group, a strong enemy jumps onto the dance floor to fight you. This is the "place of persuasion" in the game "Master" that requires you to carefully study the mechanics. The dancer would keep sweeping my legs, and since I wasn't very good at blocking at first, it worked well for me.
But after a few passes, I was able to navigate the fight, and then I was able to dodge her lower attack, and salute her with a sweep of my legs, knocking her against the wall, and emptying her half-tube of blood bars with a long combo eight seconds after the battle began.
There is a locked door in this room where the protagonist indicates that he needs a key card to enter. But for some reason I didn't know much, in the next few passes I was able to walk straight through the door, which led to another area with several battles I hadn't seen before. It was a dead end after that, so I had to go back and play the main line. I'm guessing there may be explorable content like shortcuts, props, or optional battles here in the future.
Now let's go back to the main line, in a certain room, I beat up a bunch of bad guys and beat them up so hard that one of them was going to attack me and just chose to run. I pressed them for information, someone gave me a clue, and then I started standing where I was, which I thought was strange at first. But then when I was beaten up by other opponents, I noticed that these people were there to cheer up my enemies. I instantly regretted that I hadn't beaten them again.
In another room afterward, I met a Muay Thai boxer who looked warlike and couldn't wait to beat me up. Then he really beat me up. He felt like a little boss to me, and during the battle, I was thrown around like a rag doll.
If you're not good at blocking, dodging, or using special skills, wait for someone to be dragged to the ground like a mop. In the first sight process, I was about 15 years old before I finally beat him.
The rest of the demo is pretty much like what I mentioned above, and it doesn't change much in the process after that, but that doesn't mean the experience will become repetitive. After playing it five times, I want to do it a hundred million times, and I'm curious about what's behind that door at the end of the demo. I want to see the levels behind me, and I want to meet more enemies.
The good news is that I won't have to wait too long, as master will land on PS4, PS5, and PC on February 8 next year, and players who prefer the physical version will be able to pocket it after the spring release.
Translated by 丨 TNSKSK
Edit 丨 Zoe
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