Since "Black Myth: Wukong", there seem to be few masterpieces in domestic PC/console games that have attracted attention from the international market.
And the mecha game "Limit Relief Machine" developed by Xishanju may be one of the few ones. After opening the test and trial play, "Limit Relief Machine" has attracted a lot of attention in Japan, Europe and the United States. In addition to the first exposure of the TGA in 2023, the number of video views on the Internet exceeded that of triple-A games such as "Marvel's Spider-Man 2", and many domestic and foreign top KOLs also issued evaluations. After the game got the version number in China, mecha fans couldn't sit still.
At the same time, there are also many people who are not optimistic about "Unrestricted Machine". On the one hand, it is questionable whether Xishanju can do a good job in this kind of high-threshold game experience and gameplay fun, and on the other hand, it is also a little doubtful that the relatively niche mecha theme in China can be effective.
On April 5th, Xishanju held an offline trial of "Solving the Limit", they built the venue with a sense of ceremony, and displayed a batch of original designs in the corridor. The players who came to participate had a lively discussion, and some people could even know a lot about the 9 mechs that were announced earlier.
In the field, there is even a large half-length device of the Longyuan mecha. When the fog is released, sparks flash, and it is really atmospheric......
Of course, these are all external, but the highlight is the game itself: the trial is divided into two sessions in the morning and afternoon, in the morning in 6v6 mode, and in the afternoon in the new PVEVP mode "Mashmak". Since the latter is under development, it is inconvenient to reveal too much content, so Grape can only describe the overall look and feel of the game.
The first feeling I had in "Liberating the Restriction Machine" was that it was "tasteful". Needless to say, in terms of mecha design, there have been a lot of media and KOL analysis before, and in terms of mechanical structure, mecha shape and material armor, "Limit Relief Machine" has achieved a very high degree of sophistication. Because the mecha is biased towards the real system, its armament and transformation are also rigorously designed. To this extent, Xishanju can launch a mecha figure in combination with the game.
Another aspect lies in the handling feel of the mecha. "Limit Relief Machine" has found the feeling it should have in some experiences exclusive to mecha battles. For example, when sprinting and flying at high speeds, there will be airflow effects at the edge of the screen, the screen will produce a slight distortion effect, and the camera will also adjust the camera position according to the shape switch. Those mechs that can transform into flying mechs will also have operating logic such as pulling up and diving in the flight state.
The material comes from the Internet
The second feeling I have about "Limit Breaker" is that its competitive experience in the game is very different from the mainstream PVP products on the market. Many people will compare products such as Overwatch and Apex Legends to it, but first of all, "Limit Solver" is very different in terms of shooting - the ranged attack of the mecha in the game deliberately weakens the aiming, as long as the camera is pointed at the enemy unit for a while, the mecha will automatically lock onto the target, which gives both novice and veteran shooters room to operate.
And unlike traditional shooter games, mecha combat places a strong emphasis on three-dimensional maneuvering. Each mech in Unleashed Aircraft has a dash and flight function, and holding it down will keep it in the air. This kind of operation, which is more complex and adds a dimension, will make people really feel like they are opening a mecha. With the correct feel mentioned above, "Limit Solver" is easier to play than regular shooters.
In terms of the design of the character function positioning, "Limit Relief Machine" feels similar to "Overwatch" - under the five major positioning of attack, defense, support, fighting and sniper, each mecha has 3 skills and different subdivision characteristics. For example, the same sniper type, the heavy sniper Aquinas has a stasis function, which is biased towards the back row of the opponent at a single point, while the light sniper Narujin can release group stealth skills, and the effect is biased towards team support.
The material comes from the Internet
When Guo Weiwei introduced the new gameplay, he also specifically mentioned one point: he observed in the morning session that many players will always hold a shield when playing melee mechs, but the actual gameplay is more than that - mechs with shields can rely on timing judgment to play shield countereffects. This mechanic, which is usually an ARPG, is rare in competitive shooter games, and probably only in the mecha genre.
Although the big framework is not new, in terms of the overall combat experience, "Liberating Machine" is indeed different enough: first of all, the mecha market is almost blank, and it is scarce enough in terms of subject matter; secondly, horizontally, "Liberating Machine" has a cross-category operation experience (shooting + action + flying); as long as it is coupled with a more in-depth gameplay vertically, it will not have any meal replacement in China. And one of the purposes of this trial is to test whether the depth of the game is effective.
Because of the different mechanisms and different feels, even if there are staff in the venue to help "counsel", Grape Jun is not fully familiar with the operation in the morning. But at the same time, there are also many players who have already killed and begun to discuss the gameplay and balance of the new mecha. On the web, you'll also see a lot of players doing at length – even before the game is out.
These in-depth discussions are the best embodiment of the hardcore attributes of mecha gamers. And the test of this group of hardcore players may also be the biggest challenge facing "Solving the Limit".
However, the production team also seems to want to prove their hardcore to players, so they specially opened a tour of the R&D floor. As soon as you go upstairs, you will see a large number of boxes of mecha models. What shocked me was that the staff pointed to a box casually, and the player could immediately call out the name of the mecha.
On this whole floor, the atmosphere of the glue guy is quite strong. The overall decoration of the floor is in the style of a sci-fi mecha, and almost every row of employees' workstations has shelves with mecha models.
In addition to the models, I also saw a placard on some of the workstations with words such as "XX Best User" - a certain mecha in "Limit Breaker". Combined with the "event information" on the small blackboard on the wall, this is the title assigned to the players after some of their groups played.
A 6V6 exhibition match was also held at the venue
After looking at the staff area, the most important thing is Guo Weiwei's office. It's no exaggeration to say that this is a glue guy's paradise...... Some people ridiculed that Guo Weiwei built an office for the purpose of putting models. Seeing this kind of scene, I think it is not difficult to understand why they have been able to persist for eight years.
After the tour, I heard some players debating the topic of the game fiercely. Some people said that "Solving the Limit" gave him a good feeling, and another person said: "Where is it good?
Of course, whether it is top or not may still depend on subjective feelings. At present, there are still many problems in "Unlimiting Machine", the most important ones may be:
1. In terms of commercialization, there is not much content shown in the game at present, and it is most likely related to the appearance of the mecha, whether this part can be made more complete and self-consistent;
2. In terms of gameplay mode, whether the PVEVP experience can be done well and enough to support long-term operation, and whether the PVE mode with high player demand will appear;
3. In terms of optimization, when playing with the on-site alien computer, the game also occasionally has a slight lag, whether it can support more equipment to run.
These questions should be left to discuss when the game development is more mature. But at this stage, I think the biggest advantage of "Limit Relief Machine" is that it has achieved unprecedented heights for domestic mechas. Speaking of which, I remembered a meme I saw on the Internet before:
Although it is said to be a meme, for a long time, domestic mecha really did this...... As long as the "mecha" flavor at the appearance level is made, most teams that are not hardcore mecha fans will not really care about the difference between the real system and the super system, nor will they care whether the mecha is reasonable to move and whether each module is useful.
Therefore, it is really rare that Xishanju can die for eight years and achieve this level of mecha. It is too early to discuss whether "Unrestricted Machine" can become a phenomenal game product, but the most meaningful point is that in the past, domestic mecha fans did not dare to think about "domestic mecha IP". Looking at the global market, this may be the first time in China that someone has really made a game that is enough to compare with the "Armored Core" series on the same stage, and it is also the most promising game to reach the international mecha IP level at this stage.