Wen 丨 Folding Boat Typography 丨 Feather Night
As we all know, no game in the last month has been as popular as Eldon's Circle of Law.
As a masterpiece of soul games, it is undoubtedly known as the "Old Man Ring" by players, which undoubtedly has elements familiar to countless players: a very classical art background, an obscure story background, far-reaching symbols, a huge and rich map, and an indefatigable game difficulty, of course, there is a "fireproof woman" (this should be called "ring protection woman") who stays around the protagonist and plans far-reachingly, in this part, her name is Melina.
And in the old man ring, the most program effect, the most unbearable terrier is in this character. Due to her overly cold personality and invisible to the naked eye of the protagonist, she becomes the character that the player is most willing to persecute, such as the following
Or so it may be
Such ridicule occurs because Melina, one of the female characters responsible for guiding the main line, is really cold.
You know, since the beginning of dark souls 3, there has always been a female character at the core of the protagonist, who is responsible for guiding players to upgrade and explore the world, which is the most important inspirational existence in the game. In Dark Souls 3, such female NPCs are called "Fire Girls". Every time the player returns from passing the fire, he will see her looking at herself tenderly and calling her name.
Like a glimmer of light in the deep world of bitter revenge, not only always accompanying the tortured protagonist, but also always dedicating himself gently and loyally, unswervingly, it is the only white moonlight in the hearts of countless abused delirious players.
Coupled with its own extremely high appearance and desolate life, the beautiful and tragic setting and the magnificent and dark world view are firmly docked like mortise, so that players can't stop wanting, except for calling "Woo Woo Woo Wife" and can't say anything. (At least that's when I played)
However, in "Old Man's Ring", Melina, who was supposed to play such a role, was not very popular with the protagonist. When the game was not yet released, she gave many people a stunning first impression, the same to lead the player to the main line, the same empty melancholy buried in the story, and even with the same Mark that Hidetaka Miyazaki used to mark the heroine - eye disease.
(Classic onset essay)
Everyone's expectation of her is like the firefighter: Blanch! Wife I come spicy!
However, as the game progresses, the player gradually touches her indifference and ruthlessness, she does not have any love for the fader (the protagonist of the game), and even she comes to the fader to trigger various events, all with her own purpose to trade with him.
In the player's own words, "Melina, I hate you the most for being like a piece of wood!" ”
You know, the game itself's depressing plot and gameplay has made people like spinal injections before doing major surgery, numb to the end, it is hard to wait for a beautiful woman to let you do all kinds of dirty work, and finally tell you "sorry Oh this is all a deal", how can people's hearts not be unbalanced.
In her own words, "About me?" I'm looking. The mission that my mother gave me in the Golden Tree in the past, and the reason why I could continue to live even if my body was burned and transformed into a soul form... In fact, I also want to apologize to you, I once said that I would take the place of the finger witch, but I have no way to guide you. Because I'm not a witch, and... It has also lost its existing mission. ”
The subtle sense of distance is often the most stimulating desire, which does not necessarily appear in the guise of possession, but will accumulate many difficulties and stories encountered in the game and catalyze it into such a vision: I have worked so hard, can I impress you a little?
Can you change that a little bit?
Or make you pay a little more attention to me?
On the one hand, we can see that the player must have a complicated entanglement with Melina's fate, but in Melina, this entanglement is part of her completion of her own destiny, she always looks at the distance, looks at the golden tree and the flames, looks at the mother and the fate of going and returning, looks at her own destiny of death, but will not notice the surroundings.
This gap also makes the bad taste in the player's heart infinitely stimulated: if you don't look at me squarely, then I will be mad. (The Fire Lord's route ends with All of Melina's plans contradictory)
Some players even deliberately chose this path in order to let Melina, who has almost no emotional fluctuations, shake because of herself, just to listen to Melina's crying by the campfire.
Isn't this choice a bit familiar?
Yes, we reviewed a similar act in our previous article: the persecution of Higuchi.
The same is from the bad face, it is also difficult to see the emotional fluctuations, and even in the hairstyle and hair color have a certain similarity. Being persecuted is not so incomprehensible... Right?
(It can be explained in one fell swoop)
This kind of behavior derived from hurting arrogance is in line with many subcultural trends such as "clowns" and "defeated dogs", and in an emotional environment where dignity valuation is becoming more and more common, and emotional fair exchange has become the main call, the emotional model of selling dignity and selfless dedication is regarded as a "licking dog" that must not die well. And the classic bitterness setting of "sacrificing everything for love" has become the object of universal ridicule.
In other game environments, this kind of ridicule is also common, such as the one with white hair and green eyes, which is "painful, too painful" at every turn.
(You don't say, there is really a connection between the two)
In this context, the arrogant or cold noodle characters are frustrated, and it has become a bridge section that everyone likes to see.
Like the screenshots of chat history mentioned at the beginning, this form was originally used to record a series of dog licking jokes. In the 19 years of the Dog Lick Terrier fire, you can see this kind of joke on any platform, and these jokes basically revolve around the role model of "Lick Dog - Aquaman", and the ending is generally "Lick but can't" or "The woman tries to test the free market and tries to return to the old owner" as the ending.
Of course, this is not to say that there is anything wrong with the character design of Melina, on the contrary, this image that sinks and floats in the conflict between her own fate and the world has a thickness that far exceeds the thickness of various stems, but it is contrary to the expectations of the player and the current emotional values, so it is jokingly called Higuchi Linna.
(But to put it bluntly, this person does have a little less drama)
In fact, in "The Ring of The Old Man", the symbol of the "FireProof Woman" is not lost or denied by Melina, but becomes a more broken and moving image: a long-dead witch who still guides you forward after death.
Perhaps in Miyazaki's original vision, Melina was not the character who provided empathy for the player (if the dlc later had an additional emotional line, I did not say it), she was no longer a harmless aesthetic object, no longer a planet in which the protagonist revolved around the protagonist, but met the protagonist on the narrow bridge of fate.
In contrast, another female character, La Ni, comes from a mysterious background, although she looks a little arrogant, but in the process of getting along, she gradually drops her guard, thinks about you, and finally is willing to accompany you. Almost without suspense, he gained the love of the player with an overwhelming advantage. Even in the side plot, there is a pure love ending - put a ring on La Ni and forever tie the knot.
As broke out in the interview with the old thief, he was inspired by Fate/Stay Night and turned to the game. So it is also reasonable to set a female second as a perfect wife template, right?
(Rin Party No Doubt)
In the final analysis, the cheating behavior of "don't contact, I'm afraid La ni will misunderstand" does not mean that players are resistant to Melina, nor does it mean that players are in love, do not regard women as independent lovers, but from the fundamental setting of the world view of the soul series game, the light in the dark will always be more precious.
The warmth that players expect from the Fire Lady is still like in Dark Souls 3: on the journey of being tortured and destroyed again and again, there is always someone to keep vigil for you, pray for your peace, bless you smoothly, and face the uncertain fate more firmly than you do.