Recently, Zelda-like new game Tunic landed on Xbox and PC platforms. It is said to be zelda because the player needs to operate a small fox and take an adventure in a dangerous land, exploring treasures and secrets sealed by the dust of history, somewhat similar to Zelda's design.
At present, the ratings of the game media are very good, IGN even gave a 9-point rating, and the praise rate on Steam has reached 95%.
When I saw this game, the first thing that came to my mind was a game called "Death's Gate".
In Death's Gate, the protagonist controlled by the player is a crow, walking with the wind, and looking like a leisurely stroll. In "Tunic", the protagonist little fox walks and jumps, and the huge tail is constantly swinging, and the style of the two is really similar.
Games like Tunic and Death's Gate, while fresh in style and cute in characters, are also challenging action-adventure games. The game is full of ingenious mechanisms and creative maps, which make people can't help but applaud the whimsy of the makers.
Judging from the critical acclaim of Tunic, players' preference for games today, in addition to hardcore games that require skill, is also fond of games with cute styles.
Perhaps it is precisely because of this game phenomenon that many game manufacturers have begun to walk cute in order to attract this part of the player. So how do they make the game cute? Xiaobian simply analyzes and analyzes.
The first method is the simplest, which is to use the cute Q version of the character. Most turn-based online games adopt the Q version style design, such as "Journey to the West", "Water Margin Q Legend", "Dream World 3" and so on.
This type of game belongs to the National Style Q version, in addition to the European and American Q version, such as the famous "Harry Potter Magic Awakening".
(Have you been cute by this baby panda who plays bamboo as a double-knuckle stick?) ）
In addition to the character design, there is also a way to feel cute - the elaborate mechanism designed in the game.
Some people may not think that how the mechanism design can become the reason for the cuteness of the game, to know that the "Dark Souls" series is famous for the map and mechanism design, how is it not cute at all, but it is still terrible?
Here I would like to explain that the exquisite mechanism I am talking about has different design methods in different games. Some games are designed with strict logic, such as the Dark Souls and Resident Evil series, and some games are designed with childlike fun and brain holes, such as "Two People" and "Little Big Planet".
These two games integrate the things that people are accustomed to every day into the design of the mechanism, such as the air outlet of the blower becoming a "lift", the most common nail as a "shotgun", etc., all of which make people feel the childlike fun of the game.
The most prominent place to highlight the cute style of the game is the color, the above small editor mentioned "tunic" and "Death's Gate" are very colorful games.
Such colors are easily reminiscent of Nintendo games, such as the Mario series, which are also the favorites of children, and children also happen to be symbols of cuteness.
Speaking of which, it is not so much about how game manufacturers have designed games to be more cute, but actually about how game manufacturers have stimulated players' childlike fun and childhood memories through game design. After all, what today's players lack is not games, but memories of playing games as children!
You tell me? Everyone is welcome to leave a message in the comment area.