On the first day of getting started with "Anno: Mutation", I pushed for 7 hours without stopping, not only because the heroine's tall, handsome, elegant legs brought me the motivation to "play for a year", "Anno: Mutation" is really another refreshment of people's understanding of domestic single-player games.
"Can it blow?" I asked the editor who asked me for the manuscript.
"Calm down. I understand your excitement, but please try to be as reasonable as possible. ”
Well, okay. Please let me try to be as calm as possible, one by one.
Knowledgeable understands
Anno: Mutation is a domestic role-playing game with a cyberpunk theme. The first impression of the game, and the strongest impression throughout, is that the production team is extremely "knowledgeable". Once in the game, the main menu is filled with the ultimate cyberpunk graphics impact. After the initial reading, at first the player can only see a pool of water on the road, and after pressing any key, the camera shakes with a cinematic sense, showing the bright and green Cyber City, and the impact is full.
There is no need to describe too much, a picture illustrates the feelings
The main menu is very expressive, but it's not even a starter. I can also give some examples of knowledgeable practices. For example, the image shaping of the heroine Ann, whether it is the slender beautiful legs in appearance, the flowing high ponytail, or the intellectual temperament from the inside out, the capable personality of people who do not talk much, coupled with the attributes of the sister, this classic combination of the golden rule has brought the violent effect of the drill bit poking straight into the atrium. What is particularly knowledgeable is that the heroine in the game seems to be black hair, but it is not pure black, and even reflects different dark tones in different ambient lights, with a deeper than the dark green and dark blue coloring, low-key interpretation of the character's personality and mood of external cold and internal heat.
This image of a handsome sister with long hair, toughness, but gentleness and rationality, unisex eating, has emerged endlessly in the history of ACG and is quite popular. I would even be suspicious of the official star chaser, as the taste of the Japanese dubbing clearly references The voice and style of Miss Ito Shizu. Ito Shizu, who has starred in roles such as Li Nali in "Exorcism Boy", Yayoi Rokukazuka in "PsychometricIan", and Kamifuori in the Catalogue of Forbidden Books in Magic, is a representative of the role of an intellectually ruthless sister - this positioning is too understandable!
As if to echo it, the game's combat system also deliberately added leg skills. The reason why it is said to be "quite deliberate" is that in most armed fight games in recent years, it is rare to support the bare hands, let alone the gorgeous, more advanced to unlock the free hands, which is obviously "testing faith". In addition, the heroine is already wearing a cyber combat suit, with a variety of cyan light embellishments on her body, this leg skill is played, it is basically an exorcist Li Nali - it is almost an official linkage skin.
Who can refuse the handsome sister's righteous flying kick?
The official synopsis reads: "In the near future, not so far away, humanity recovered from the catastrophe that swept the whole world and gradually established a new order in the metropolis. At night, in the dark corners that neon can't illuminate, the conflict between new humans and mutants is intensifying, planning the next crime..." At first glance, this background does not seem to be particularly different from similar games. It is true that the cyberpunk element is always easily understood as a spirit of rebellion against some kind of large unipolar consciousness, but it can exist as a cultural form, and it is naturally not so simple.
Another perspective of "Anno: Variation" is to express its spiritual core in an appropriate form on the basis of a deep understanding of cyberpunk, especially answering the question of "how to cut into and interpret from a Chinese perspective".
The two points that the story focuses on the most are the two lines of light and dark of the main plot. The driving force of the story line is full of ideal Chinese family affection: the heroine Ann is easily affected by a strange disease "entanglement", and it is easy to suddenly behave abnormally, either hostilely attacking others or fainting, but she has to carry out detective work, which is obviously dangerous for her. In middle school, Ahn wanted to protect his brother in a dispute, but accidentally fell ill and injured his brother's eyes, and the younger brother did not care, but was very worried about his sister's condition.
From Ann's diary, it can be found that she has come forward for her brother more than once, even if she wrote a review book when she was a child, she would secretly write down the bold words of "whoever bullies my brother, I will flatten him", and it is no wonder that her brother will ask for medical treatment without authorization, hoping to help her sister, and as a result, she was accidentally involved in an accident.
In the game, Ann's adventure is to find her missing brother, rather than waking up in the morning and going to overthrow some big business without a word.
There are many interactions in the family that can trigger good memories of growing up, and the sisters and brothers are deeply in love
The dark line of the story is a root-seeking with oriental charm. Cyberpunk culture often borrows the background of technology to make the human soul and body have a specific separation and change, such as modifying memory, copying the body, etc., so as to naturally trigger the audience's thinking - "Who am I, what can be considered me?" ”
This part of the connotation is originally a tone with the self-cognitive speculation in Eastern culture, and "Epoch: Variation" is to change to the perspective of Chinese to interpret the "return to reality" of nature. In the story, Ann constantly touches the secret of her own life while pursuing her brother, and finally reveals the truth, and can answer the question of "who am I exactly", which can be seen as another form of "journey home", and the Chinese flavor is very good. Especially in the face of their own fate, some bridges, I feel that the heroine almost shouted a sentence "my life is up to me", this is the cyberpunk with Chinese genes!
The thoughtful and gentle robot father has a great influence on the personality of the heroine
In the relative corners, there are also many Chinese thinking logics. For example, the heroine is a detective, not a killer, so most of her tasks are more peaceful, without great killing intent, even if their combat effectiveness is against the sky, there is no tendency to take the initiative to teach people, can not fight without fighting, this is the Chinese style and precious, good with people, not to form a wrongdoer's thinking, and the logic of interest conversion in cyberpunk culture can be well matched. In the story, An Er did not say anything directly to the flat person only once - someone went to the bar of the hostess's house to find obscurity, that is no wonder "although far away will be cursed", this is surely everyone can understand.
Of course, the game allows players to feel more specifically or understand the extremely rich details, and the organic integration of various classic cultural elements is really countless. The production team is like some kind of proud hobby exhibition, the exaggerated amount and the quality in place often make me forget that this is an independent game of a small production group.
Don't care about the specific technology, the beautiful girl knee pillow is praise!
For example, in the combat part, in addition to the leg skills mentioned above, the default weapon of the heroine is a combination of one-handed sword and pistol, which is a good way to play handsome, Dante certification. The knowledge is that in battle, the gun is almost no hard straight seconds to pull out, and the time to stay in the air can be increased when shooting, whether it is used to dodge the attack or the continuous section is cool, it is a very smooth design, really comfortable. Pistol damage is also positioned at a more appropriate force, not too convenient for the player to be remote, rogue skipping class, and can also play an unexpected role under reasonable transformation - of course, the main thing is the heroic sister playing handsome.
For another example, the plot is interspersed with virtual idol elements that were originally born out of cyberpunk, but have now gradually entered real life, and the two-dimensional beautiful girl with a huge electronic projection, that is, a powerful existence that can defeat aliens, does not accept rebuttal. There are even two different virtual idols designed in the story, one of which is also given a side quest, in which [for spoilers, the data has been deleted], I have to say, the production team you are fierce enough...
Coming here, I really blurted out: This is also too [dido slang] to understand!
As for the movie posters and other Easter eggs and NPC styling, there are more, the game also invited the representative of cyberpunk culture "Valhalla: Cyberpunk Bartender Action" and the store manager to the game cameo, like a three-dimensional composite bombing of the large love letter confession scene, more fierce than the previous poster fire in "Shadow Torch City". I even felt a sense of tragedy from the contrast, as if I vaguely heard the producer say: "I think I should not go back, and shout enough to the predecessors who love it in one breath." ”
See who visited the hostess's bar
In short, from these knowledgeable points, it can be intuitively seen that the production team has a sincere love and control over all the content added to the game, and is the player's "own person", not a "businessman" who only knows about sales and costs. "I thought there had to be something interesting here in the story, so I made it." I can feel that the production team seems to have written this sentence on the screen. This is especially precious today – think about how many games in recent years have changed beyond recognition because of long-term operations, or added obvious layman designs.
Of course, these things are sometimes expressed too violently or too paranoidly, which inevitably narrows the audience. In the Steam comment area, I also saw that many players who did not understand the corresponding elements gave some personal views, such as some people will criticize the low damage of the pistol, and can only say that it is a pity not to be able to taste hundreds of foods. Happily, the production team announced the latest phased update plan, obviously aware of some problems, such as the need to optimize the combat feel, the plot of the obscure need to be supplemented, and so on. They are actively modifying.
As if you can hear the production team chanting "2022, how can the free exploration game not be fishing"
Fusion of fusion
Due to the richness of the content, Anno: Mutations is easily reminiscent of some games of the order of AAA. For example, when exploring, there are a lot of unexpected interactions that can be performed - TV shows in the game can switch channels, and there are a lot of garbage pick-up props with emotional filters. Not only that, but the game also incorporates a systematic cultural element that far exceeds our established impression of domestic games, like a novel cocktail, with a lot of cyberpunk, some "Resident Evil", and some inspiration from other creative themes.
The gameplay is roughly divided into two parts, one is avg-style investigation in 3D scenes, and the other is 2D horizontal battle. The switching between the two is mostly achieved through scene room changes, although it is not as good as the in-situ switching of many AAA games, but through the level map design still shows an extremely smooth sense of rhythm, and achieves a better effect in their own way. Especially when the player enters a new scene and finds himself in 3D, it is equivalent to knowing in disguise that this is a safe zone and can breathe a sigh of relief.
This running chart switch enables a very interesting space exploration experience. For example, in some maze scenes in the game, the player often fights in the "close-up" near the camera side, vaguely seems to be able to see things in the distance, and then enters the investigation scene to run to the "far", from the "far end" and then back to the "far view" of the scene just now, only to suddenly realize what exactly he just saw. These designs combine the details of traditional 2D with the sheer size of 3D.
Running map switching is convenient for expressing more complex and large maps, which is a very interesting spatial experience
Relatively speaking, the combat part of the game is significantly simplified, with plenty of options, but also points to the point. For example, weapons, the game has a one-handed sword, dual-wielding sword, large sword and other melee main weapons, all have about three or four upgraded versions, not too much, but enough tricks. Some of these upgrades can be bought from the store for money, some can be obtained by completing specific tasks, and some can be obtained by breaking down the garbage they have picked up to obtain resources and then crafting. There are all kinds of classic doorways, and there are still many ways to play.
The feel of the 3 types of weapons is also basically in line with the established impression, and my vampire old hunter is a little used to using it very smoothly, at least the handle buttons are very reasonable. In addition, the double-wielding sword also subdivides the route of combining the combination to form a double-edged sword, which is equivalent to providing a fourth type of weapon - the romance of the two-sword unity is also another embodiment of knowledge.
Shooting secondary weapons represented by pistols have a total of 3 functional positioning in the game. Pistols are very suitable for containing long-range enemies in chaotic battles, which greatly avoids the situation that players will be attacked by long-range miscellaneous soldiers in armed fighting games; it can also be combined with the "broken armor" system in the game, with the advantages of fast rate of fire, long range, and abundant ammunition, with the advantages of broken armor chips to break through the armor stream to skip class. In short, the weapon system sparrow is small and complete.
Eat me a hair dominator... Sorry, the string is out
Cyberpunk theme, there must be chip design outside of weapons. Chip design is more decent, nothing more than adding attack power or damage to attributes, etc., but its growth line is different from the weapon that closely follows the progress of the game's plot, and can complement the growth of the weapon. Crafting the strongest level chips requires the collection of rare materials, which are often placed in difficult places on the map, requiring the player's sixth sense of seeking objects.
The combat difficulty of the game is low, and it can be seen that the production team mainly wants to give players a stage for performance and experience, and in most cases, it is really blind to fight. The heroine Ann's rolling has a long invincible judgment, the enemy's enemy judgment is also very slow, it is easy to jump left and right to dodge, coupled with many of Ann's skills with a large displacement sprint effect, the enemy often shakes his head, can not catch the player - in the clearance, I did not use the official provided a more "open and hang" function.
Or so to speak, in the process, there are only a few highly agile bosses I seriously shielded a few times (yes, this game also has a shield reverse), and then a shuttle of bullets to break the armor execution - really to say the difficulty of the battle, the third boss of "Shadow Torch City" is about the difficulty cap of "Era: Mutation", if you update the equipment synchronously, it will not even be more difficult than the "Ori" series. I'm not exaggerating, people's selling points are really not all on the ACT element, don't blame McDonald's for not approving it.
The action part is still for the sake of being handsome overall
All in all, in terms of specific gameplay, "Anno: Mutation" belongs to the advantages of the eclectic family, and the ones that choose high cost performance and suits themselves are integrated to form their own characteristics. How to choose, the production team is very careful.
The fusion of different classic elements in the game is more interesting than the gameplay. When the story unconsciously slipped from cyberpunk to Resident Evil, I was really slow to go around the bend and then shoot the case.
In the world of Anno: Mutation, it is the mysterious "mechanical virus" that causes the world to revolutionize the wasteland. This virus will turn humans into robots little by little, or something worse, in short, this is a more exciting perspective on human nature than traditional cyberpunk stories, and it is easy to recall the taste of "2077 Japan Lockdown".
Some people can still communicate when they are recruited, and some people can communicate...
It is with this background that the game gradually transitions from the cyberpunk urban temperament of the first few hours to the underground biochemical laboratory. That's when I realized why I liked the taste of "3D maps + finding materials to synthesize grenades + searching for the truth of events while hitting people", which is the feeling of "Resident Evil" - we all know that only playing "Resident Evil" can not experience the taste of cyberpunk, only "Anno: Mutation" can eat two bites, double kitchen ecstasy.
More than that, it's eating. With the help of the sequential advancement of the main story line, the second half of the story smoothly enters some deeper intervals, and also makes people realize that a reptile that appears during the battle training at the beginning of the story is not simply pinching, it is real! Many of the foreshadowings in the front are gradually recycled, coupled with the chinese family affection of the heroine's driving core, making the development of this story make some other lovers who like other themes feel fresh and intimate.
These large blocks of elements that are reasonably integrated under the knowledge of operation are very ambitious, coupled with the bar games, "PONG" deliberately placed in the bar scene, hacker unlocks and other small details, the world of "Era: Mutation" naturally becomes three-dimensional, a lot more complex, 3A atmosphere, and even make people feel that if the production team can have more resources, maybe it will really make a domestic "2077" - of course, rational, calm, it is still an independent game.
This shelter object... Is that you?! My dear Nokia!
Regrets
Anno: Mutation is great, especially the first half of the process, and in the later stages, there is some obvious delay, at least two or three times, and I thought the story should be over, but it didn't. Looking back, it may be that the production team is competing with themselves, and there are still some things that feel that there are traces of modification and adjustment.
For some players who are not familiar with the relevant background, the second half of the story is really too difficult to understand, or even if I have a certain understanding of this, I will come back to god after the ending. For example, Dr. C said "no butterfly you are nothing", this seems to be headless and brainless, until I realized, I understood that this butterfly said "408"... oh! So, turns out you... It's "239"!
While the integrity of the game's story may be lost today for a variety of reasons, many of the seemingly abrupt level designs will suddenly open up when the relevant information is added. In the current version of the story, we can only think of it as a handsome sister's search for relatives in the Cyber era.
Some parts of the design are really loving, but the threshold for information sharing is also regrettable
Although it is the end of the story, I am not worried about spoilers at all, because this piece seems to have cut a lot, and there is no transparency at all
Also, although the degree of game completion is already very high, there is still enough room for improvement. In the game, there are many details caused by lack of experience, such as selling things and dismantling things is really troublesome. There are also some unknown designs, such as many areas are blocked and cannot be entered, some of which can be opened as the story progresses, but there are also places that are not open to the end of the story, and on the map, there are obviously empty seats, maybe deleted, or left to DLC? Recently, the production team also made it clear that some branches will be added, so let's wait and see.
In addition, the "after-day talk" section that opened after the end of the main line of the game is suspected of lacking content. Before the final chapter of the main line, the heroine's father will chant "unconscious son" at the door of the house, and after passing the customs, he will find that his father has returned to the study, there has been a change, but he cannot talk to him, according to common sense, at least one or two lines should be spoken at this time. Also, at this time, the dialogue content of the bar sister is still stopped in the final chapter, more like the production team wants to do but has not finished. Of course, given the large amount of NPC dialogue throughout, the freedom to explore the environment, and more than one interactive design that exceeded expectations, I was indeed a bit deliberately picky.
An autistic dad who obviously uses plot material and enters sage mode
epilogue
All in all, Anno: Mutation may not be much of a perfect one, but it offers a multitude of unique experiences and good content of sufficient quality. Even in 2022, when masterpieces are frequent, it is a work that should not be missed. The mix-and-match design of various elements is valuable enough to refresh people's cognition of domestic games.
Special reminder, if you like sailor clothes and student clothes style, you must buy a collector's edition, even if it is only this set of clothes! Other than that...... When will the DLC come out? I'm going to take Aya to see the sea!"