Click on the "core" above to follow us, here is more than just the game
The game circle of the past few days can be called a "New Year's celebration" - on April 11, the State Press and Publication Administration issued the April game version number, a total of 45. For game makers, the news means that after 263 days, everything seems to start to turn again, and for players, it means that they will finally be able to experience a batch of "new" games.
But when I took a closer look at the first list of version numbers, I found that in addition to the "new faces", there were several familiar "old faces" - such as "Party Star" announced at the "TapTap conference" last year.
At the end of last year, Party Star was already tested in Japan β. After all, in the period when the version number is unknown, choosing to go to sea is a new track opened up by many publishers. Although it is easy to go to sea to operate, it is difficult to overcome the "water and soil dissatisfaction". However, after the official operation, "Party Star" has maintained its excellent results within the top twenty under the "free games" category of the Japanese Service App Store.
It can be seen that the daily service results of "Party Star" are quite outstanding
Being able to achieve good results among the discerning Japanese players was, to be honest, something that really surprised me. After taking the version number, "Party Star" also quickly announced the news of "the official launch date will be announced soon" on the TapTap platform.
Since I was able to have a "party" on my phone, I took the opportunity to enlist my colleagues in the newsroom who liked to fight to experience several rounds of "Party Star" matches, hoping to see what medicine was sold in this gourd that could be recognized by Japanese players.
First acquaintance with "Party Star"
If you just look at the four words "party star", many players may think that this game is a "mini-game collection" similar to "Mario's Party". However, when I opened Party Star, it only took one glance to feel that it was definitely a fighting game that was "different from traditional perception".
In the traditional fighting game, the screen has blood grooves and air grooves, and players can use rubbing moves to play wonderful continuous segments. But if you bring this routine to Party Stars, you'll find that it all becomes "unreasonable": the player character no longer has a health bar limit, and instead replaces it with a "percentage number" above his head. When a character is attacked, the percentage number will continue to rise, and the height and distance of the character will be hit, until it flies out of the field and turns into a meteor in the sky.
If you're a player with a Ren-series console, you might have laughed out loud when you saw this conversation above me — isn't this the famous Nintendo Smash Bros. Brawl?
Yes, as the originator of the "Smash Bros. Brawl" series, the rules and gameplay of "Nintendo Star Brawl" have always been the object of emulation by many games: the indie game "Aether War", Tencent's "Codename: Breaking Dawn", and the heartbeat "Party Star".
I personally don't object to "gameplay borrowing", but I hate "rough copying". Especially when the platform comes from the console platform to the mobile platform, if the game is still just taking other people's things for simple porting, the experience is bound to be left with the word "disaster".
"The War of the Ether", the second generation is also out immediately
So before I started the game, I was still a little muttering inside - "Nintendo Star Brawl" is a game that seems to be simple to play and "abusive", and when I think back to the soul of the soul, "Lose!" Countinue ?” The sound sounded like it was echoing in my ears.
So is the return of Party Star easy? Does it feel right? Is the frame rate stable? Are network requirements high? The feeling of "rubbing glass" on the mobile phone itself is a few points worse than the joystick, but where these foundations are not strong enough, then playing is really "jail".
The mobile phone is so big, but also to operate will block the screen, it is really difficult to optimize it
While waiting for someone else to download the game, I decided to take a look at the rest of Party Stars.
As its name suggests, Party Star presents a "lighthearted and humorous" atmosphere – at a glance, a variety of exaggerated and somewhat cute characters gather together, take a closer look at the characters' names, and it is not difficult to see from "fairy tales" to "myths", and the development team seems to have found a lot of inspiration.
For example, in the following picture, there is a girl named "White Snow" with an apple as a hood, if you really let the queen see it, you must not pay tribute to three points first?
This is still only a part of the role
If I had to say that the art style of Party Star was "a bit of a mess", I wouldn't object. After all, among the fifteen heroes that have been launched so far, you can see a realistic image like "Tong", you can also see a comic-style image like "Agent Five", and even a "Snow Monster" that is closer to the image in Disney's Pixar animation.
Whichever style you prefer, it seems that you can find characters in the game that correspond to the style of painting. But the development team cleverly unified these images with the same tone and the same modeling method. These character groups make you look different without being obtrusive.
The new character "Tong", this style of painting looks different...
Some of the characters look a bit spoofy, while others look like they're designed with a slate and an eye on them — and I checked the news later to find out that the new original character "Yuri Kamiki", which was added this season, was a character created by the player downright.
Co-author with the player and populate it into the game. Although the genre is ever-changing, with such a "player co-creation program", it is no wonder that "Party Star" has a "different" originality in terms of world view, characters and maps.
When making Yuri Kamiki, the progress will be reported in a timely manner by the official basically every time it is updated
The epee sword has no edge, and the big coincidence does not work
There are a couple of colleagues in the editorial department who often play Smash Bros., what I call "big brothers"—like Wing Cookies, and the bald teacher in charge of business. At the beginning, when I heard me say that it was a game of "big fight like", the bald teacher first expressed the feeling of "disdain" very strongly.
"The Nintendo All-Star Brawl is characterized by 'chaos', with a wealth of props and dazzling maps that make each match unique. You see "Party Star" only four modes, it is certainly not interesting. ”
I have to say that Ren Dou's 1v1v1v1 is really hilarious
Indeed, if you just take apart the Party Star model, there are only four: 1v1, 2v2, 1v1v1v1 and a "soccer mode" that adds to the cake. However, since the main "party", it is fun to fight with people, so the key is to see that it does not play like that.
The operation of "Party Star" is very simple, in addition to using a virtual joystick to control the direction, light attack, skill attack, defense, jumping, throwing constitute the entire operation of the entire battle. Instead of requiring a "back move table" like in previous fighting games, you can use a variety of different skills as long as you add direction to attack, and that's it.
But "simple" does not mean "superficial". Party Star's attack methods still require fast and accurate input – for example, the Smash attack we commonly known in Smash Bros. Brawl is not absent, and it is still necessary to quickly enter the joystick and enter the light attack. However, probably for the sake of simplifying the operation of the mobile phone, "Party Star" still made more adjustments to the attack system: for example, the Smash attack was simplified from three-way to only horizontal release; after separating the strong attack buttons separately, it was subdivided into three moves: up and down and horizontal.
While ensuring that the character can have sufficient moves, through the separation of keys and the integration of functions, "Party Star" greatly alleviates the possibility of touch screen misoperation, so whether it is a new player who has not been in contact with this type before, or an old player who has "grabbed it", it is very easy to get started in "Party Star".
As long as you match the direction, you can use different moves, easy and fast
"I poke! The game is surprisingly well operated! After guiding the novice with the bald teacher and trying to test each other for a few rounds, he actually issued an exclamation contrary to his previous point of view.
"You don't have to look at this game to run and jump and squat, but it's actually not so simple." He explained to me, "I didn't expect that the DI that the character would control when he turned around or was knocked out... Mechanisms such as 'using the joystick to control the angle at which the character flies when they are knocked out' have been retained. ”
The direction and distance of flight are controlled by angle
Because "Party Star" still follows the judgment of "flying out of the field and not coming back, even if you lose", so "returning to the field" - that is, trying to return to the venue by all means has become a compulsory course for players. After being shot out, the direction of the character's flight can be controlled by pushing the direction of the rocker, and details like this can be delicately displayed on this small screen, and "Party Star" does a good job in detail.
"But there are also some simplifications." Teacher Bald said, "For example, defense, although there are also in the game, the size of the shield does not decrease, but it will reduce the protection value." "Using the virtual joystick operation, the player's movement accuracy is bound to decrease, and it is natural to change the tactics according to the size of the shield and the protection value, and it is expected that the Party Star will make subtractions."
In Party Star, the shield only shatters
In addition to the defense buttons that open the shield, in Party Star, when the player presses the defense button in the air and pairs it with the arrow keys, the character can be moved and dodged short distances in the air. I was pleasantly surprised by the retention of this mechanism, and players familiar with Smash Bros. Brawl may know that when the character immediately after jumping, he can make a high-level skill called "Wavedash" when he immediately launches an oblique air dodge back to the ground, which is also achievable in Party Star, which undoubtedly adds more variables and more room for maneuvering in battle.
The purple aperture is a mid-air dodge, a short time, and is one of the master skills
Another simplification is the independent "throwing technique". In Party Star, throwing is simplified to two directions: front and back. Generally speaking, throwing is the most advantageous means used to break the opponent's defenses. Because Party Star separates the grab-and-shoot function, it's a lot easier to use. And through the key setting, you can even use your throwing skills while defending, hitting your opponent by surprise.
For novice players, it is highly recommended to turn on the "swipe mode", which makes it easier to use the technique of catching shots in defense
But from my point of view, the simplification of Party Star always gives me a feeling of "last resort" - not to do random subtraction, but to simplify the input burden while maximizing the game's features. The game still retains different character characteristics is a good example: the weight of the light running speed is faster, while the number of frames is short; the large weight of the body has a hegemonic skill, although the move is very long, but the damage is considerable.
Another example is in Party Star, due to the design of the virtual joystick, the player's operational error makes the "off-site interception" operation between the enemy and us a high-risk, high-reward thing. However, "Party Star" adopts a combination of encouraging players to use "air dodge" + "two-stage jump" + "skill attack", adding more ways to return to the field. In this way, the survival rate of players has been greatly improved, and it has also given more room for strategic consideration to the battle situation.
The diversity of returns has undoubtedly brought more variables
Of course, Party Star's battles don't give a perfect score:
Judging from the characters that have been unlocked so far, most of the characters' horizontal skill attacks are mostly rapid bursts and continuous skills, and the frame number and damage of these skills attack are very good. As a result, many players do not hold each other back and exchange blood with their opponents in the standing back link, but blindly use the same skill brainlessly;
From the map point of view, due to the reduction of the number of floors in the air, most players are fighting ground battles, and some of the characters' excellent air combat machines cannot be fully played, which also makes me feel a little regretful.
Although the map is very detailed, it is still somewhat simple in construction
But overall, "Party Star" has won the affirmation of several brawl masters in the newsroom with its core system of "easy to use and difficult to master" - it seems to be unremarkable, but it buries a solid and stable "uniqueness"; it seems simple and rough, but it has a complex and changeable combat core.
It's smooth to operate and fun to play, and it's no wonder that Party Star is perfect for parties – the so-called "epee bladeless, clever no work", every player can quickly find fun in the battle of Party Star. However, if you want to become a real master, you still need to go a long way.
"Party Star" still follows the "mobile game" model
While Party Star has a combat experience that delights us, it's still impossible to ignore the fact that it's a fighting game for mobile platforms. In the game, there are still some routines to consider "long-term operation" and "revenue"... That's right, some of the mobile game elements that we are all too used to.
It may be that many players' first reaction after hearing the word "mobile game" is "spend money and pay money". However, it seems that in addition to the high-level "Season Pass", the paid currency is not yet open for the time being , there are only two currencies , "Gold Coin" and "Stardust", which can be continuously obtained as long as they continue to participate in the battle. Skins and expressions in the game only need these two currencies to buy them all. More conscientiously, the characters in the game don't currently need to spend extra money to unlock them all.
At present, there are only two currencies in the national service
To this end, I deliberately downloaded the japanese service for comparison. The Japanese Service currently has a new currency compared to the National Costume, and the new currency can purchase skins and unlock heroes in advance, but the game's lesson points are limited to this. So even after the payment system is launched, basically as long as you play a few rounds a day, the rewards of levels and passes are enough to unlock most of the characters.
This means that the lesson money does not actually affect the amount of content that the player can experience and the overall balance of the game, but only plays a role in the icing on the cake.
Although there is no traditional stamina system in the game, perhaps due to the speed of content consumption in the game, Party Star will only limit the maximum number of medals obtained in the game: each player initially has a quota of 200 medals, which costs an upper limit ranging from 10-20 depending on the winner, and the 10 medal quota will be restored in 1 hour. Medals can be used to unlock chests and obtain materials or coins for character upgrades.
Sometimes there are double medal rewards
This seems to limit the frequency of online matches for players to some extent, but it does not limit the length and number of times players play. In addition, the invitational tournament between friends is not limited, from another point of view, "Party Star" also encourages friends to play with each other, three or five friends offline get together, anytime and anywhere to come to this, happy and happy, how good.
However, some of the cultivation systems added to the game still more or less caused me to worry: for example, the bonus character fragments can strengthen the performance of the character, and can increase the proportion of attack and defense. Numerically, this bonus is not small, and it is uncertain how the character will change the game after the performance increase.
Although the upgrade progress is getting slower and slower, the 5% value bonus seems really not small
However, I don't think the development team will do such a thing as "the damage of the player who pays the lesson is higher than that of the average player". After all, "Party Star" is still a "fighting game", and trying to maintain the basic principles of competition is the "lifeline" that allows the game to continue to operate.
epilogue
Just as I finished typing the text above, I suddenly found that the account of the bald teacher in the game had reached the progress of "800 stars" in the game. He told me frankly that he "played until four o'clock in the morning."
In terms of game mode and feel, the performance of "Party Star" exceeded my expectations. After a few rounds of matches, my iPhone 11 was able to stabilize the game at 60 frames without getting hot, and the matching time of a single game is currently no more than 10 seconds, which is satisfactory. However, in the case of a bad network, the fluency of the game will still have a great impact, but whether it is with wifi or mobile network, as long as the fluctuation is not large, players can open anytime and anywhere.
For "Party Star", "standing on the shoulders of giants" is only its first step, and after taking the version number, the next "official launch" is the real test for it.
So, if you're new to this type of game, you might as well pull out Party Star and play it at the party, it will make you the "real star" of the party, and if you are an old player who likes Smash Bros., Party Star will make you smile and will definitely let you find some fun derived from "freshness".
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