The Road to Yellow Springs (formerly translated as "Running to the Nether") is a samurai-themed side-scrolling action game, and when I first saw the game trailer, I was fascinated by its highly restored black and white sword and sword film art style.
Recently, I had the opportunity to try the demo version of the game, so I would like to share my playing experience with you here.
The demo version should be the first two chapters of the early stage from the content point of view, which are the stories of the protagonist Hiroki's youth and youth.
From following in the footsteps of the master to repel the incoming bandits, to taking the initiative to go to the neighboring village with cold lips and teeth to defeat the gangsters, although the plot direction is more straightforward, you can get a glimpse of the overall tone of the game's suffering and heavy - along the way, you can hear the wailing and crying of passers-by, and see the villages that have been burned and plundered. The end of the demo version left a foreshadowing of the storm, and the protagonist himself seems to be about to encounter great misfortune.
Although the story has not yet unfolded, and the content of the first two chapters and the word "Yellow Spring" in the title have not yet been related, the game's passerby dialogue and collections have begun to hint at subsequent plots.
And the hard work of the production team in the art style is indeed commendable. This kind of picture performance is not only a classic black and white gray sword and sword filter can be included, but also the product of the superposition of multiple elements such as excellent lens language and well-designed lighting sets.
In some cases, the game uses a fixed camera position, watching the protagonist's single shadow only come from far and near, in vain; and sometimes, when the camera moves with the protagonist, occasionally there will be a close-up environment to block the protagonist's figure, or see the nearby people get up and walk towards the protagonist's position, an additional depth of field.
The protagonist crosses the crevices of the cave
A fishing village in the wind and rain
Hiroki would guard the corners of the house with weeping women and children hiding their faces, confronting the robbers who were about to commit atrocities; drawing swords against oncoming samurai on the windy drawbridges; and waving their katanas against the few rays of sunlight that passed through the cracks in the trees in the humid jungle.
Usually, Hiroki will live in a remote location in the camera. It was a rather amazing experience – on the one hand, I was manipulating the movement of the character as a player, and on the other hand, I was watching the film as if I were sitting in the best seat in front of the big screen as an audience.
Although this may be a high emotional intelligence statement, the black and white filter does cover up the lack of game modeling refinement to a certain extent, allowing people to be more immersed in the atmosphere of the game creation.
To say that the disadvantage of this kind of picture processing is that sometimes the characters and their actions cannot be seen clearly. This involves the combat play part of the game.
The game has four difficulties
Compared with the eye-catching graphics, the battle part of the game is still relatively decent in terms of the content shown in the first two chapters. Unlike when exploring, when fighting, the enemy and the enemy are kept on the X axis, and the player needs to pay attention to the enemies in front of and behind them.
Yellow Spring Road is designed with light and heavy attacks and derivative more common moves such as combos, blocks, tumbles, and executions. All actions, including defense, consume endurance slots, which requires proper control and not blindly attacking or defending. Pull away and wait for the opportunity.
Blocking counters most of the enemy's attacks, and the judgment is also relatively loose, which is quite easy to use. However, in my experience, there seems to be a certain input delay, and the "Reed Name Shaking Knife Technique" is not easy to use, sometimes I feel that I should block it but I am still injured, and sometimes I block it inexplicably.
Blocking enemies will reveal flaws
Ordinary miscellaneous soldiers are basically solved with two swords, and in the demo version, only samurai and small bosses in armor need to spend more time. Because the types of enemies and the initial attack methods are not rich, the battle tends to be repetitive, but fortunately, because the scene is quite interesting, it is not too boring.
Heavy slashing can stab an enemy
When enemies appear in pairs, there will be a dangerous situation of belly and back attack, testing the player's reaction decision on the spot. But most of the time, even if there is an enemy standing behind him, the enemy will wait empty-handed, waiting for the player and the enemy in front of them to finish single-handedly coming forward.
The abdomen and back are attacked
Overall, I believe that Yellow Springs Road has won the hearts and minds of many players just because of its amazing art style. The prologue of the game shows the tone of the story of bitterness and vengeance, which makes people curious about the future direction of the plot.
The initial combat gameplay of this game is relatively simple, and I hope that as the game progresses, we can see a richer variety of enemies and more diverse attack methods.