Earlier, VG introduced an oriental project Monopoly game developed by the domestic fandom "Team L.U.R.Id Glow", called "Oriental Alien Stone - Ayalian Dawn: Reconstruction". I looked, Che Wan? Fandom evergreens, buy! Monopoly? Childhood after eighty or ninety, buy! Or would you invite the famous Chinese people in the Oriental circle to touch ideolo to personally handle the art? This is not a hurry to buy explosives!
What is the cover image of ideolo's work called "Oriental Alien Stone"
Saying that the name "Oriental Alien Stone - Ayalian Dawn: Reconstruction" is also too long, I removed the suffix and simply used "Oriental Alien Stone" to search the Internet, but found that...
Is this dark style action game really the same game as The Monopoly I'm going to introduce?!
Later, I learned that "Oriental Alien Stone" is not a single work, but a game series. The series was developed by the "Brotherhood of the East" (which should be the predecessor of the "Ghost Group"), and the previously famous works were the 2009 RPG "Oriental Night God Snow", and the "Alien Stone" series was their second work. Dawn of Ayalia is only the first chapter (and the one I'm going to introduce here is a remake of it, which will be referred to as RE below), and the picture above comes from the second chapter of the series, The Crisis of Ayalian.
Because this second chapter was actually the first in the series, searching for "Oriental Alien Stone" on the Internet before the launch of the more popular RE largely refers to this second chapter.
I wanted to search for RE but found the second chapter, which is probably this expression
The "Alien Stone" and "Ayalia" in the title of the series are the core of the series's story, and the crystals that have green and blue, can make money and explode are obviously the Tiberian crystals he has pinched from the Command and Conquer (C&C) series.
It is this kind of mine that ordinary creeps step on and will be poisoned
The official version of the first work in the series, Dawn of Ayalia, was released in 2016 and tells the story of Gensokyo's vigorous real estate movement around this new magical crystal "Love Mine". The protagonist, Bo Li Lingmeng, while solving this mutation and foiling the new energy plan conspiracy of Sanae of Dongfeng Valley, who is mad at loving mines, adds some oil and water to his pocket that has been dry for many years. The gameplay is modeled after Daewoo's classic family game Monopoly series (e.g., "Monopoly" in this article refers to the series without special instructions), plus some oriental and C&C features.
The first chapter of the original title picture, don't ask why the dream is blue (probably related to a hidden object in RE?). ）
As for the second chapter of the series, "Aeria Crisis", it was released in 2013, 3 years before the first chapter (the first chapter was played shortly after). The game genre is also very different from the first chapter, is an R15 horror decryption type side-scrolling action game, about the brainwashed Sanae in the first chapter to listen to the mystery of the brain to the other world (the time point after the seventh level of the first chapter), and thus begin the escape journey of fancy death.
The title of the second chapter, honestly unclear and not strong...
This screen continues at the beginning of chapter 2
Then one might ask, now that we all use the C&C worldview, will there be a third chapter of real-time strategy? This one is really... Possibly.
According to the official blog, the series is divided into three parts, and the real-time strategy is also (probably) in their plan, but it is not implemented in the end, and the reason for this can only be imagined by us players.
Allow me to quote here what a staff member of the bar means by "Ayalian Dawn"
Back to the first chapter of our introduction. As mentioned above, the basic elements of this game are modeled after "Monopoly", and the most characteristic content of "Monopoly", such as functional 2-grid large buildings, card systems, fate events, and gods, are all available.
However, probably to speed up the pace of the game, secondary elements such as the stock market, mini games, and magic houses are not included. Moreover, the small buildings after entering the map have been built with random levels by default (even the time to build a house is saved), coupled with the rapid rise in prices (15 days of price multiplier plus 0.5), making it only take an hour or two to bankrupt the opponent in a game, not to mention that the game length can also be set in the free mode, which is in a sense quite suitable for the fast-paced life of today's people who are busy and playing.
The first chapter of the original game interface, it can be seen that many elements are actually different from the current RE
Of course, this game will not be satisfied with simply paying tribute to Monopoly, and various elements from the East or C&C also run through the system, bringing more variables to the pure real estate movement, but also bringing more room for strategy execution. If you just think of this game as a "copycat Monopoly" to play, it is likely that it will be difficult to move forward immediately. Let's analyze it in detail:
As for the doll, she serves as a cute weather report lady
Crystals: As a key setting of the story, the Love Mine Crystal is definitely one of the most important resources in the game. At first glance, it is a point of interest to a monopoly, but it can not only buy cards, but also need to be used to buy land, especially the purchase and construction of the land needs to consume a lot of crystals, and it is easy for the newcomers to fall into the dilemma of standing in front of the earth without crystals available because they buy explosions in the card shop (the card shop of this game is passing by).
And it's not easy to get this stuff. The stable acquisition method is to take the crystal through the crystal collection point (if it is taken away for a few more turns to regenerate), then run through most of the map to the other end and pass through the crystal transformation station to convert into usable crystal points, and beware of the crystal being detonated or sent to the hospital or prison in the middle. Secondly, wild goblins or woolly jade that walk to fixed crystal points or on the blackmail road can also be obtained in small quantities. There is no way to get started with a lot of treasure chests or mini-games like Monopoly. Therefore, the shortage of crystal resources basically runs through the entire game, and reasonable planning for the use and acquisition of crystals is definitely a compulsory course for every player to get started.
Power: Another rather C&C-specific system. All buildings, especially large ones (except for crystal power stations, of course, the same below) consume electricity. Once the electricity is exhausted, the toll of small buildings is halved, and large buildings will be directly shut down.
The default power value is quite low, and buying more buildings will be "Low Power"; therefore, in order to stabilize the power supply, it is necessary to leave at least one large open space to build a crystal power station. Although it is also possible to use the "Mysterious Sphere" card to convert a small building into a small power station (note that any power station will cause the price of the block land to drop), or use the power card to provide additional power for several rounds, it is ultimately not practical. In order to avoid power outages, you can also use the power button on the right side of the interface to actively power the building to ensure that limited power is used on the blade, and also to prevent opponents from attacking the power station.
Low Power's pain believes every C&C player has a personal experience
Stamina: A system from the East. Although the game starts with 3 dice, it doesn't mean you can always travel all the way through dangerous enemy areas or quickly transport crystals. Casting 1 dice does not require physical exertion, but each additional dice costs 10 more stamina, and the occasion of the dice is used to "fight" with wild monsters in addition to rushing, and another important function is used for the release of character skills. Because if you run out of stamina, you will fall into the dilemma of not being able to do anything, so if the crystal has a surplus, it is best to buy some cards to replenish your stamina in case of emergency.
Weaker goblins or hairy jade will have a smaller number of dice, and players with good luck can save some stamina accordingly
Skill: How can the girls of Gensokyo honestly play Monopoly? Each character has their own unique active and passive skills, allowing them to play their own style in battle. (As for balance...) ）
Active skills have CDs and also consume stamina, and the stronger the skill, the longer the CD, the more stamina it consumes. That being said, the effect of a character with an anti-heaven skill once the skill is successfully released is also immediate, and the fatal thing is that the opponent usually does not have time to prepare the cards, skills, or limit the ability to launch by cutting the stamina during the CD.
At the same time, there are also some other characters whose skills have higher requirements for the release time, and when they are actually fighting, they will face the embarrassing situation of putting their skills on the opposite side several times but not once. So the abuse of the rigid computer is fine, and when fighting with small partners, I am afraid that I will first list the prohibition table or even directly disable the skills in the rules, or I will not be suppressed by the opponent's skills, which is easy to evolve into a real person to fight.
How does it feel?
As for passive skills compared to active skills, many of them are drawn out separately to see that the effect is not obvious, and some of them need to cooperate with the active skills of the character to be valuable. This is reflected in the main storyline when the player can additionally choose the passive skills of the characters they have defeated before each level starts. Because most of the time the player's operation of the spirit dream of its passive chicken ribs, active and difficult to passively cooperate with others, so you can find that the more practical passive is actually only a few, and may not be able to effectively restrain the other character.
I generally use Remi's skills when I break through the level, and I can limit the opponent's physical strength after the initial resources are rich, not to mention the later stage, which is definitely the most versatile passive
Horoscope: Have you ever tried to get a frog on the front foot, and then step on the back foot into the fate grid and be abducted by aliens? Or lose 3 1s and then Biu drops when fighting with Mao Yu, who has only one dice? That's what luck is at work. Fortune mainly affects the fate of the card, the monster spell point and the hotel, supermarket consumption rate, as for the usual walking craps do not seem to affect. This also makes the role of the two gods Suwako (land + great evil) and chick (decay god + great auspicious) not simple. So if your luck is too bad, you have to consider making up for it technically with cards or skills.
Weather: A system from Oriental Fantasy. Each time a period of time passes, it will take effect for the full character. The next (or current) weather, the effective (or continuous) time can be viewed in the upper right of the interface, including many practical weathers with only 1 point (rain) and stay in place (snow) per dice (to know that this game does not have a "turtle card" and a "stay card" that works for others).
Of course, you can also use Tianzi's active skill to choose the weather of the next turn, pay attention to the next round
Research Institute: Although the system monopoly exists, this technology system that is important in this work is still worth mentioning separately. Because the research effect in this game exists in the upper left corner of the interface in the form of a skill, as long as the technology points are stored enough (the total level of the research institutes owned by the player is the same as the total level of the research institutes owned by the player) it is directly available, and there is no need to go to the research institute and spend a period of research like Monopoly to get the corresponding items (and it may be stolen after obtaining).
In addition to the fixed level 1 construction worker, level 3 missile and level 5 nuclear bomb, there is also a level 2 unlockable magic shield, which not only reverses demolition but also anti-occupation, and level 4 awards 2 crystals per round (passive), and Mom no longer has to worry about me not being able to afford small buildings. The limitation is just that you can't upgrade with construction workers and consume and upgrade resources very high, which means that if your opponent has a covered Level 5 institute and power plant, and you don't have a bunch of powerful cards to deal with, then you are not far from being nuclear leveled and hitting GG.
Incidentally, the "level 6" in the Institute's skills is incorrectly expressed, in fact, the Institute is also capped at level 5, and as long as the Institute is enhanced by the Mysterious Sphere (no matter what level), the upper limit of technology points will be increased by 10
Information Bar: Although it is not a systematic feature, the secondary information in the game (to speed up the efficiency of the game) will be displayed in this set (rather than the large pop-up window displayed in the middle of the screen), such as specific state changes, skill effects, fate event effects, etc., so players need to keep an eye on it. After the fateful event, you can also see Wenwen's comments, which is very interesting.
In addition, as a fan of "Che Wanhua" to the game, various oriental elements (including a large number of two settings) run through the entire game. In the level introduction, character introduction, character lines, card descriptions and fate events, etc., almost all the text parts are full of various play memes, and the concentration is high enough to satisfy all kinds of che wan lao fans, although only the mengxin who was tricked into by Monopoly may be confused.
Of course, the burst clothes of bankrupt girls are also a major attraction (RE only) What is "reconstruction"
Ideolo had already participated in the "Oriental Night God Snow" project of the Meng Oriental Brotherhood in 2009, when his painting style had not yet formed the strong style of today. Therefore, ideolo, who has become the big touch of the Eastern circle after 10 years, has once again returned to contribute to the "RE" of the newborn ghost group, which has surprised fans, but it is also logical.
Ideolo's art style is quite recognizable, in addition to being active in the Oriental circle, he also served as the character of "Luo Tianyi" and the 3DS game "Starlight Phantom Song"
With the help of ideolo gangsters and others, RE's beauty is unique in today's Steam indie games compared to the original chapter of the first chapter, which can only be described in shabby. Needless to say, the characters are drawn on their own, and the refreshing UI is also pleasing to the eye.
The level of refinement in the game map is also amazing. Each building and massive background material has a large number of small details that are enough to make the painter burst his liver, taking the small building upgrade as an example, you can see that the building is covered from the bottom floor layer by layer while placing more daily necessities, and finally the skin becomes a complete house, and the life atmosphere of the Gensokyo girl is spontaneous.
As shown in the figure, it is a small building style from level 1 to level 5
However, this excessively fine architectural drawing also has the problem of low recognition and lack of emphasis. Even players who are familiar with Monopoly, the Orient, and even C&C cannot intuitively judge the function of the building from the appearance of the building when playing, and even easily confuse with other buildings, and have to use the mouse to point at the building to read the description one by one.
For example, this crystal transformation station looks similar to a small Level 4 building at first glance
In terms of plot, rather than telling the story in a decent manner with large paragraphs of text and static standing paintings, RE chose to tell the plot with a cute and cute style of non-line dynamic comics, which makes it easier and more intuitive to understand the plot.
Even in the plot of the manga, do not forget to play the terrier
However, this simple plot expression is fine in describing daily content, but the plot of this game also has a dark story line that runs through the series, which involves a large number of exclusive settings of the series, and the intricate relationship between the respective goals of several "black screens" and them is confusing even after reading the relevant introductions in the picture book.
It is best for everyone to go to the picture book, a large number of things that are not explained in the normal game are included in it, which is very helpful for understanding the game (the picture book interface should be to pinch his second chapter, you need to manually operate the early seedlings like the action game, and you can also let the early seedlings drop the nail board and fall out of bounds Biu)
So in order to better understand the plot of this work, I specially went to the cloud to cloud the original text plot part. However, I found that the explanation of the shady part of the original plot was not necessarily much clearer, but the daily part was full of all kinds of inappropriate jokes...
Anyway, I can't laugh, and I especially want to press skip
However, instead of the original chapter ending abruptly at the climax (forcing you to continue playing the rhythm of the second chapter), RE added a new final level and let a new original character appear and serve as the final boss. And the plot of RE is also followed by the defeat of this halfway back pot man, and the transformation of Gensokyo has once again been (temporarily) solved by the efforts of Lingmeng and others, giving the first chapter a phased ending, which is really gratifying?
Having said that, have you forgotten some guy who was a boss in the early days...
But this back pot man is not in vain to carry the pot, not only is his own skill enough to imba, in the final level, the final boss will also sacrifice a variety of opening and hanging means, so that the player will die at the speed of light once he steps on his territory (although the boss of the original final level is also open and hanging but not so bad). And if you lose, you will even play tricks, continue to use more unreasonable hanging to let you accompany her for more than a dozen rounds, so that the first few levels are still relaxed and happy, I instantly pull my blood pressure full, and sacrifice the player's special "hanging" - SL Dafa to compete with it...
I've never seen such a brazen boss
In addition, in terms of playing terriers, since the re was first released in 2019, those terriers must also keep pace with the times. Although the character lines should be used in the original voice without changing the words (here I have to praise the dubbing that has been used since the original version is really good, except for a man whose voice is obviously too soft), but the card description and the stem of the fate event can be described as close to the times, bringing players more fresh fun.
For example, this "Hello sorry"
There is also this skill of Lingmeng corresponding to the character of a recent game
In terms of functions, RE finally supports LAN battles, but at present it can only use a slightly complex "soil method" network (even the official also provides more than ten pages of tutorials) and can not make full use of the advantages of the Steam platform, and friends who want to play happily with their friends also need to have certain network knowledge.
Secondly, RE also comes with a map editor, so players with strong hands-on skills who are not addicted to more than a dozen official maps can try to use the rich material to create a more refined (or more poisonous) Gensokyo by themselves. Maybe in future updates, your carefully crafted maps will be shared with more players through the Workshop.
Map editing interface conclusion
Although a lot of previous analysis, in general, this "Oriental Alien Stone - Ayalian Dawn: Reconstruction" is still a game with obvious advantages and disadvantages, that is, it is a very picky game. It is true that this game has reached the point where it is not rude to sell after repackaging, but if you play carefully, you will find that many of the underlying designs are still stuck at the immature level of self-entertainment, and there is still a certain gap with many mature independent game studios today.
If you know Chewan and are familiar with various online memes, then these elements will make you happy to play against all odds. But if you just want to find a replacement for Monopoly that can be enjoyed by everyone and plan to use cute girls to trick friends into the pit, then you better be prepared to face complex systems, dazzling maps, obscure plots, various natural understanding of the stems and online settings that require professional knowledge.
But in any case, this game that only sells for thirty or forty is still worth a try, after all, Daewoo's Monopoly 10 is also about the same price. At the same time, I also hope that after the development team earns the first pot of gold, it will not only further optimize the RE, but also let the RE in the second chapter and the third chapter of the kingdom of heaven meet the fans as soon as possible.
But the first chapter RE has taken the route of complete light cuteness, and the second chapter RE how to change it to balance the style between cuteness and horror... Or will it be made like "Night Back"? Merit:
- Rare friends fun game in recent years
- Fast-paced gameplay in line with today's gamers' playing habits
- Diversified system allows the strategy to be used in more dimensions
- Exquisite fine art is completely in line with the mainstream aesthetic
- Comic-style cutscenes
-Concentration tube enough for Che Wan and various network memes
Shortcoming:
-The system is complex and difficult to get started, and the relevant resources (especially crystals) are obtained in harsh conditions
- Character abilities are unbalanced, and some powerful characters lack effective countermeasures
- Lack of mechanics to reverse laggard players
- Cards and fate events are not abundant enough
- The building is too fancy to be recognizable
- Obscure dark plot
- The last two levels of the story mode are not reasonablely difficult
- Tedious online setup