Source: Game Top
As a steady player who has continuously created "Xiaoice Ice Legend" and "AFK" card hits, many players believe that Lilith's accumulation in card RPG is making a qualitative leap. After a few years of absence, Lilith once again relied on her achievements on the track to run "Sword and Crusade: Departure" (hereinafter referred to as "Departure"), winning the applause of users and further consolidating her dominant position.
From the perspective of a media person, Lilith behaves completely like a "partial student", or to put it another way of saying a little higher emotional intelligence, this is a manufacturer with "extreme style".
While we were fascinated by the esoteric card design and subtle interactions between friend and foe, the stylization of the graphics, the uniqueness of the levels, and the excellent numerical growth were equally satisfying. Its good thing is almost to the point of being unique, and it can always be cheered for by a group of core players and retained in it.
When I saw Lilith unveil the blueprint for the adventure of "Departure", I was also deeply admired. Because it's trying to break new ground and gamble on a card-based world-building. After its overseas release, this game not only won the first place on the iOS free list in many countries and regions and the seventh place on the best-selling list in the United States for many consecutive days, but also refreshed the public's perception of the placement card because of its unique design, exceeding everyone's expectations for the placement of cards and the IP of AFK, and became the object of heated discussion in the domestic industry.
To prove if it was raising the bar for cards, as rumored to be, I took a deep dive into the open beta to make sure I felt more valuable about the product.
Its challenging breakthrough may be developed in three dimensions: RPG elements, combat, and map exploration.
卡牌RPG：重塑英雄的“魂”
I have to say that the RPG of "Departure" "has a stronger sense of playing, and a strong sense of narrative is revealed when entering the game." Frequent character interactions, side plots, as if "AFK" has changed its face, or to put it more broadly, the style that traditional card placement does not have has been extended to "Departure".
The game doesn't seem to want to just keep the story, which takes a lot of text, to stay at the visual level or simply the dialogue context, but to let players feel the charm of this magical alternate world from their own perspective, in the choices and bonds.
From the first acquaintance of the characters to the formation of teammates to the plot performance, "Departure" connects a complete link, not only with clickable dialogue routes, but also wonderful animation interpretations, and finally evolves and sublimates in the progress, constructing a picture for players that may be the most complete world view of "AFK".
First of all, in the carving of role-playing, the game pays great attention to highlighting the most important personality of the characters, giving people the feeling that the project team is trying to create flesh-and-blood heroes. Viren's appearance, through just a few lines of dialogue and expression, fully reveals his uninhibited temperament. In the interaction with the chief Hogan, he was reprimanded that "everything is good, but he has a long mouth", and told the player very down-to-earth that Viren behaves frivolously in his daily life, but he is a very reliable and trustworthy helper. While carrying out the orders of the commander to protect the protagonist, he always adheres to the principles of knighthood. Full of justice and humor, it suddenly increases the player's favorability of this initial hero. And Hogan, as soon as he appeared on the stage, said that he was fighting for peace and for his homeland, and immediately gave players a clear definition of the character. The strong dubbing and rugged body also show the general's demeanor and leadership.
Through the interaction between dialogue and NPCs, players can deeply appreciate the character's personality traits and backstory every time they come into contact with a new character for the first time.
Not only have the heroes said more, but the interspersed animation performances are also a trick to amplify the imagination space of card RPGs. During the dialogue, the continuous changes in the characters' movements and micro-expressions are undoubtedly the unexpected joy that the current market and players can gain in this game. Who would have thought that vertical games could also add animation creativity to enrich the expression of characters' emotions and narratives. For non-story players, "Departure" does not force players to accept the new design, and it is not trivial to choose to skip it directly.
It can be seen that Lilith wants to step out of the boundaries of placing cards, so she is very careful to polish the content of the script. Perhaps by the end of the story, it can be seen that this manufacturer is trying to create a "big world" of its own original IP series, and "Departure" is likely to be just the beginning of the prologue.
Secondly, on the other hand, the innovation of "Departure" has not departed from the essence, and the numerical growth of RPG is still the biggest cool point of the game. If there's one thing that's different, it's that the team may be driving the development line to become lighter and make the game less hepatic and kryptonite.
Long-term development and numerical competition have always been the focus of card RPGs in the past. However, as fragmented experience-based gaming habits have become the mainstream, the rise of new entertainment methods such as short videos and short dramas has continuously diverted players' attention and begun to conflict with traditional RPG experiences, making it difficult for the current category to be widely recognized by young users.
If we want to successfully enter the 2.0 era, drastic reforms are inevitable. At that time, "AFK" faced the dilemma of numerical expansion, which led to the doubling of players' fatigue in the later stage, and they went online to "brush points" and repeatedly complete daily tasks, which was as boring as a robot. In order to solve these problems, as early as last year's testing stage, the official said that it would abandon the criticism of numerical values and make it have a more long-term vitality.
Now, RPG cultivation has tended to be mild in the early stage, and it has begun to target audiences with different tastes, not just hardcore players, and it has indeed achieved good results.
Let's start with hero levels. The "training manual" required for its upgrade is deeply tied to the idle income gameplay. The use of automatic hang-up machines that do not require operation to produce consumables is undoubtedly an important measure for mildness. At the same time, there is a cap on the output of the training manual, and the output frequency is also controlled, and the speed of hero leveling is programmed to avoid level "explosion". For example, the output of 20,000 per hour, when the next level is also 20,000 at a time, the player will feel the experience of growing more slowly as he goes up.
It is worth mentioning that the level can be inherited directly, and with the change of the player's lineup and replacement, it means that the player only needs to upgrade the 5 characters that appear, which once again greatly reduces the cultivation pressure.
Excluding resource consumption and only unlocking and strengthening character skills around hero levels is another mild ingenuity of "Departure", and few games on the market will do "load reduction" in outfit skills. Instead of spending energy on "opening skills", players turn to the skill content itself and study the skill matching. This shift undoubtedly reinforces the game's all-important strategic attributes, and for the development team, it actually kills two birds with one stone.
The premise of unlocking high-level skills is integrated into the character level, which is no longer only determined by level, but is equivalent to the progress of level and grade to jointly control the progress of skill enhancement. However, for the cultivation route of the protagonist's buff and equipment system, it is weighed by the level of the overall lineup.
In-game, the protagonist buff is called "Echoes of the Old Days", which covers 6 types of spells that can bring different combat effects. From this point of view, it actually provides players with further operational space to make up for the shortcomings of the lineup, and then serve the strategy of the game. Therefore, the cultivation technique has almost become an important part of the growth of the character.
On the other hand, the equipment system adopts a consistent sharing mechanism, replacing the traditional RPG that emphasizes the concept of personal equipment of characters with the logic of class induction, and the same class shares a set of equipment, which greatly simplifies the system. Although the weapons, as well as the hands, feet, shoulders, clothes and shoes set are still retained, they have become the key points of equipment development. Interestingly, though, the focus of early equipment is not on forging, but on constant substitution. Lilith added a bit of a design that resembles the smell of Rogue farming, which is a bit unexpected. Players can almost completely ignore the development of equipment, although they can replace it after receiving a red dot. Even when higher-tier equipment is not yet available, forging serves as a way to fill in and connect with the strength of the player's advancement.
On a deeper level, the R&D team may still want to maintain a variety of development paths, and in some ways, there are more ways for players to transition smoothly.
Whether it is the protagonist buff or the equipment system, I feel that without exception, the balance adjustment of the hero is emphasized, and the player is always reminded to pay attention to "rain and dew", and do not "play the hero".
In general, the numerical growth is amplifying the "easy burden reduction" feature of "AFK" everywhere, increasing the retention rate of players in the early stage and cultivating user stickiness. Wait until the player's love for the game increases, and then take the steps of commercialization through the progress card point to complete a series of paid conversions. Producer Jiang O also said: "We are willing to sacrifice some short-term things in exchange for a longer game experience, change the reputation in the hearts of players, and let more players be willing to enter the world of "Departure". It can be seen that they hope that the IP of AFK can accompany players for a longer time, in the original words: "We make games that accompany players for 10 years, not for players to play for 10 years, but to always want to come back, and always be able to come back." ”
However, the design of various cultivation routes is decoupled from each other, even if the thickness of cultivation is always reduced, but from the growth experience, it always gives people some discordant contradictions, and does not completely solve the "liver" of the game. In the later stage, due to the connection between multiple cultivation lines, players still have to spend time to promote the common growth of various numerical plates. The way to obtain income through automatic idle gameplay is solid, but it also requires players to keep the game process from dropping, which will undoubtedly allow more players to choose in terms of time and activity in the case of slow output in the later stage.
In my opinion, the "new version" that the project team has been striving for has not reached the point of perfection, and it can be said that it has achieved phased success in the exploration process, and the architecture system of numerical growth needs to be iterated in a new round.
In terms of plot performance, I was shocked when I learned that the amount of text in the early stage of "Departure" alone had reached 20W words. Because AFK was not a game known for its story, Departure, which adheres to the IP, seems to redefine the position of placing cards. It's a pity that although the vigorous creation of the world view and the enrichment of players' experience of the content have effectively changed the stereotype of "card RPG is numerical crushing", it is obviously not as good as the works of the second game and MMO tracks.
On the road to IP, the team may still need to produce larger-scale boutiques to impact the market. But it is undeniable that the reshaped "role-playing" continues to win the favor of players, making "AFK" usher in the day of departure.
Idle Combat: The strategically enrichment begins
As a veteran AFK, I've had a certain level of appreciation for its good combat performance. Therefore, when I got my hands on "Departure", my biggest feeling was not the intuitive visual differences, but the reflection of the core content of the team's planning.
"Departure" no longer adopts the fixed position of the hostile on both sides of the previous game, but chooses to integrate the complexity and attack range of the war chess to determine the priority target of the attack, and at the same time, it also has a design concept for the scene, with special terrain such as walls, as well as benefit elements such as buff grids and explosive barrels, which raise the player's excitement threshold for strategic gameplay from the visual aspect.
Expanding in detail, the lineup formed by 5 heroes gives players a certain degree of operability because of the addition of the setting of the chess grid, and there is no time limit in the PVE link, allowing players to fully think about strategy. According to the general position logic, the tank and warrior classes are in the front, and the auxiliary, shooter, and mage are in the back. But with a terrain like a fence that restricts movement, the depth of the strategy has obviously changed. Not only does it look at the distance and range of the attack, but to be more efficient, you must have the melee hero go around obstacles such as high walls and enter the enemy position to attack the opponent as quickly as possible, so as not to waste the so-called action points. The addition of buffs and explosive barrels has become the "chemical reactant" of the battle situation, producing multi-level changes in the course of the battle.
First, the buff effect directly enriches the traditional hero positioning strategy. There is no longer only one logic to think about the formation, and it has become another aspect of combat strategy to move the appropriate heroes reasonably according to the buff information, so that they can maximize their role and continue to cause negative effects on the enemy. Second, the use of explosive barrels should be timely. It's of course best to detonate when only enemy heroes are in the blast radius, but often your own heroes will rush into the enemy formation, giving the battlefield a sense of humor and always making people feel entangled.
In addition, if you set out from Sacred Stone Town, step through the Groden Plains, and walk through the twilight jungle, you will deeply realize that the shaping of the character's combat attributes is not groundless, but can find corresponding sources of inspiration from the wonderful stories of the world view.
For example, as an Imperial Knight, Viren holds a holy sword in his hand, so he locates a warrior, and his skills are "Thunder Sword Shadow", "Instant Shadow Blade" and other sword slashes, outputting physical damage; 's skill effects illustrate the element of its magic, and even specifically sew the plot into the character to introduce the bonus of the bond effect.
I believe that many hardcore players will compare specific entry attributes, match character skills and professions, and form a lineup with different advantages to deal with the battle situation. The R&D team is well versed in the needs of users, and has set up two rounds of preparation in the PVP gameplay. Players can make adjustments in the second round based on each other's information in the first round.
It can be seen that the project not simply changed the graphic performance of the previous battle, but also gave the game a more in-depth strategy from the direction of gameplay. On the one hand, Lilith has stuffed a lot of unexpected new mechanics into the combat scene to increase the "molecule" of confrontation, and I believe that more complex and diverse designs and mechanics will be introduced in the future to raise the strategic level of the game; on the other hand, it will return to the character itself and fully mobilize the player's ability to think about the research and use of the character.
It is not difficult to find that promoting category evolution through design innovation is exactly the way "Departure" plays. Personally, however, I think that games are a little cautious about their exploration of innovation. For example, the skill element of the hero's association, but there is no mature elemental reaction or restraint mode to make it more dimensional. Maybe the project team has more consideration based on player feedback and wants to try to move in other creative directions, but I hope they can go free and bring the idea of private collection.
Map Exploration: Stitching is not against the harmony
Finally, it's time to talk about Lilith's map exploration answer.
It's not that the plot story and map exploration are deliberately separated, but the world framework of "Departure", which is not successful, has to be brought out separately to explore its significance as an innovation point that the team focuses on polishing.
As the company's first large-scale map exploration wrapped in the plot, I think this part really makes the uniqueness of the IP. Although it is the same as other latecomers, it chooses to learn from the mature model that has been proven by the market. But you can't help but face up to the value it creates on the card track.
In comparison, "Departure" is not as advanced as the open world, but it still knows how to drive players to explore.
The game's basic drive is pure, following the guide and navigating automatically, and then there will be more and more events on the main side line on the map. Fight against evil forces, maintain law and order, chase down suspects, remove pollutants, and occasionally return items with items, place objects, solve puzzles and other plot gameplay, and even hand over the underground exploration of the rogue...... Lilith is constantly putting in highly interactive elements.
Because of the existence of profits, players can basically get positive feedback on all the explorations carried out in the big world, stimulating players to continue collecting and unlocking the storylines behind each region and each character - some simple but effective. Needless to say, the plot players are rushing to the content of the performance.
The downside is that if you're not very familiar with the traditional set of map exploration, which is commonplace in MMOs and open worlds, then this drive may be greatly reduced. But don't worry, the greatest thing about "Departure" is that it separates multiple sections, even if you don't want to explore, then don't run the map, go to experience and cultivate, play PVE, PVP, there will always be content to consume. In addition, automatic pathfinding also avoids a lot of unnecessary battles, so the experience of rushing the big world is not bad.
But if you want to dig deep into some surprising map designs, and want to find dopamine from the chapter designs that turn back and forth, "Departure" has come up with "good goods" for such a group of vertical users. The lush jungle, the somewhat messy town streets, the treasure chests hidden everywhere, and the occasional adventure with NPCs are all telling players to stop and discover the good. If you don't rush to push the exploration progress in a linear fashion, but choose to wander freely, you may get the joy of looting.
The team's understanding of the big world is not only about laying out events and battles to form positive feedback, but also attaches great importance to the experience of exploration and interaction, including multiplayer socialization, which is also realized under the world map. Other players along the way, tap on the character and open the chat box to start chatting. The demonic creatures that I encountered by chance were worried that the challenge would not be enough, and they were able to pull people into the team nearby, which simply raised the level of social stickiness of placing cards to a higher level.
After the boiling art changes discussed before, I think the replaced 3D picture book painting style makes the overall color rendering more layered, making the look and artistic expression comfortable and eye-catching. I still get lost in the jungle, but it becomes part of my experience of exploring and enjoying the beauty of the Western landscape.
epilogue
In my opinion, "Departure" is Lilith's intention to target the core players who are tricky, and at the same time, it is also an open arms to a wider range of users, and it is a bold attempt to innovate and break through herself.
It's not perfect, but it's good to dare to take the first step. Rather than stacking up a batch of placement cards, I hope that Lilith can continue to make products with obvious characteristics like "Sword and Crusade", so as to maintain a multi-dimensional exploration of the theme presentation, gameplay framework, and system integration.
The charm of boutique is the conflict between the new and the old, and the evolution of the placed cards? The bold and careful Lilith is back!