Text / Mobile game that little thing Ayumu Nishizawa
The idea is there, and the pattern is there.
Today (April 28), the highly anticipated domestic reasoning game "Mountains and Rivers Travel" was officially launched on the mobile terminal. Since its release on PC in early 2024, the game has garnered 8,000 reviews on Steam, with a 97% positive rating. The game's excellent reputation has also made the producer behind it, Mystery, a considerable amount of attention.
When it comes to the House of Mysteries, practitioners' first impression of it may have to be traced back to miHoYo. In 2019, miHoYo led the investment in Orbi House to complete the A2 round of financing of 40 million yuan, and less than two years later, miHoYo made another additional investment, although the specific amount was not disclosed, miHoYo's shareholding ratio increased from 15% to 23.63%, becoming the largest shareholder of Mystic House, which shows that the scale of investment should not be underestimated.
It's not often that a company of miHoYo's size makes a continuous investment in a start-up game studio in a short period of time. Part of the reason why House of Mysteries has gained popularity may be the pioneering spirit of its team, which resonates with miHoYo.
Although it has not made many achievements in the field of online games before, Mystic House is an offline live-action escape room brand with a history of more than ten years, and it is the pioneer of live-action games in China. Before transforming into game development, Mystic House also cooperated with the Forbidden City IP to launch the "Mystery Palace" series of puzzle books.
According to director BK's interview with the production team of "Mountain and River Travel", the cumulative sales of the three books "Mystery Palace Ruyi Linlang Illustrated Book", "Mystery Palace Gold List Title" and "Mystery Palace: Yongle Doubtful Array" have sold nearly 1 million copies, with a total sales of 150 million yuan. The phenomenal achievements, coupled with the rich design creativity and production experience accumulated in related fields, are the key factors that contributed to miHoYo's secondary investment.
(The first work of "Mystery Palace" achieved crowdfunding of 2000w, with a Douban score of 9.1)
After the great success of the puzzle book business, the House of Mysteries chose to transform into the game field, and there are actually internal and external reasons behind it. On the one hand, the puzzle book business itself faces many limitations, profitability is largely determined by inventory turnover, and on the other hand, the external environment has changed dramatically. When "Mystery Palace 2" was launched, the partner Forbidden City coincided with the "Dabenmen" incident, and the IP of the Forbidden City was unfortunately hit hard, and sales fell off a cliff. Immediately after the outbreak of the epidemic, it had a huge impact on offline production, logistics, inventory management and even content research and development.
There's not much time left for the House of Mysteries to stand still. At that time, miHoYo was already the largest shareholder of Mystic House, and CEO Liu Wei gave pertinent advice to Mystic House: "Your hobby is to make content, why don't you try to make the purest software games directly?"
（图源自B站Up主导演BK，BV1m142197aG）
In 2021, Mimo, the first puzzle-solving mobile game of Mystery House, won a good reputation of 9.4 points on TapTap, showing the development potential of the digital game field and taking a solid step towards "entering the industry". After three years of polishing, the release of "Mountains and Rivers Travelers" has completed the mission of "out of the circle" with a positive social media response, which means that Mysteries has been able to skillfully transform the advantageous experience accumulated in the field of physical puzzle solving into the production pipeline of online games.
(Mimo)
Step by step, the next goal of the House of Mysteries is "commercialization", which corresponds to their third game in development that has not yet been revealed. Judging from the performance of the mobile terminal of "Mountains and Rivers", "commercialization" may have made a good start. Thanks to the simple and clear UI design and smooth operation experience on the PC side, the game also has good content expression after being ported to the mobile side.
As of press time, "Mountain and River Travel" ranked second on TapTap's new product list, receiving more than 1,500 reviews, and the score remained at 9.6 points. After the first discount, the whole chapter is unlocked for only 28 yuan, which is very cost-effective compared to the original price of 58 yuan on the PC side. In the comment area, there are not only new players who come here, but also many loyal fans who continue to repurchase after clearing the PC.
Looking back on the game design of "Mountains and Rivers" now, I can still feel the emotion that I was shocked by the hard work of the production team at the end of the game. The House of Mysteries has shown a commensurate professionalism in this work, as they are experts in the field of puzzle games, and they are constant lovers.
01
Activate the common memory of that era
Corresponding to the national atmosphere exuded by the title of the game, the most attractive thing about "Mountains and Rivers Travel" is that it is rooted in the soil of modern Chinese history and culture.
The story is set in early 20th century China, during a turbulent period after the Westernization Movement and before the Xinhai Revolution. The impoverished and weak semi-colonial and semi-feudal dynasty is about to come to an end, and the new forces are poised for a new force, but it is full of difficulties. The end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China was a turning point in China's modernization, and it was also a gray era that we could not experience but which was most likely to resonate with national complexes.
"Mountains and Rivers Traveler" chose to be set in the late Qing Dynasty, perhaps because of the tension brought about by the tragedy and contrast of the drastic changes of this era. However, from the perspective of cost and design difficulty, this is already an anti-commercial intuitive topic. It's not easy for any game team to tell the story of this era well.
How to refine the story material with epochal significance? How to artistically process these events without deviating from the basic historical facts and scientific principles? How should the events be distributed between rationality and sensibility, and then arouse the player's active thinking? In the face of these interlocking creative difficulties that cannot be ignored, the production team of "Mountain and River Travel" did not avoid the important and trivial, but spent three years working slowly and meticulously, and inserted enough solid and meticulous content into all aspects of the game.
Specifically, the story of "Mountains and Rivers" mainly takes place in five regions: London, Hunan Mountain Village, Wuhan, Yangzhou, and Shanghai, providing players with multiple perspectives to see the world, focusing on Wuhan and Shanghai, two representative centers of modern Chinese industry and commerce, and focusing on the "changes" that took place in all walks of life in the late Qing Dynasty.
Among them, Wuhan, as an important industrial city in modern China, has witnessed the rise and fall of the Qing government's Westernization Movement. The Hanyang Iron Works was the largest modern chemical plant in China at that time, representing China's attempt to emulate the West and develop a national industry. The depiction of the Hanyang Iron Works in the game shows the development of China's modern chemical industry on the one hand, and on the other hand, it also exposes the disadvantages of China being controlled by others everywhere in terms of technology and management. When all the contradictions are revealed, players will be able to feel more deeply the pains and challenges faced by China in the process of industrial modernization.
Shanghai is the concentration of interests of the Western powers in China. Through the portrayal of the Shanghai Public Concession, the game shows the erosion of colonialism on China and the various social problems caused by it. But at the same time, Shanghai is also the birthplace of new ideas and culture in modern China, representing another possibility of social change in China. As a result, the game does not simply demonize or beautify Shanghai at that time, but strives to show its complex and real side by profileing multiple characters.
(There are red-headed patrols from India in Shanghai)
Through the juxtaposition of antique ink painting style with Chinese and Western architecture and costumes, "Mountain and River Travel" reproduces the landscape of the era of fierce collision between Chinese and Western cultures in the late Qing Dynasty. The various characters and scenes that players see in the game are all marked by that era. From the landlord wearing a melon skin hat to the comprador in a suit and leather shoes, from the mighty Qing Dynasty yamen to the Chinese and Western joint trial of the public party, the game vividly outlines the group portraits and social status quo of all social strata with a very tense visual contrast.
(Syndicate public hall where Chinese and Western props such as batons and water and fire sticks appear at the same time)
In terms of character building, "Mountain and River Travel" not only relies on visual presentation to portray deviations, but also more than 40 characters in the game, no matter how important they are, there is always a plot to help them "de-face". Even the seemingly ordinary and even somewhat wooden Qing Dynasty soldier Ding Dazhen, for many years, he has remembered an old boy who is obsessed with the imperial examination - even if the imperial examination system has been abolished, Dazhen insists on posting a fake list for the old man once a year, just so that the old man can have a thought in his heart. This episode has nothing to do with the flow of the main story, but it can make players gain a small touch enough to smile in addition to sighing.
As for the handling of historical details and knowledge points, "Mountain and River Travel" is also exquisite. Whether it is a major historical event, a scientific investigation method, or a popular fashion in the lives of the people at that time, the game is supported by exquisite materials and pictures. In the process of reasoning and solving the case, players can also imperceptibly review the relevant liberal arts and sciences knowledge, which realizes the effect of entertaining and teaching.
Players can open their favorites at any time to review relevant historical facts and knowledge
With such a complete background and character creation, the case-based "Mountains and Rivers Detective" gathers the scattered clues of the case into a microcosm of the changes of the times, and the game process has a documentary-like appeal, showing the artistic wisdom of "seeing the big from the small" everywhere. When players put themselves into the characters and experience a series of tense and tortuous cases, they can not only empathize with the joys, sorrows and sorrows of each character, but also feel the impact of the changes of the times on their personal destiny.
As a result, the goal of the game is no longer only to solve the case, but to carry a variety of emotional sustenance: the player's dedication to the case comes from the concern for the character's relatives and friends, and the desire to pursue the truth behind the scenes will also be sublimated into thinking about the future of the nation.
History is not only the foundation of reality, but also the source of creation. "Mountains and Rivers Travel" uses a unique perspective to see through history, reproduces history with exquisite skills, and writes history with sincere feelings, conveying an eternal feeling of family and country like spring breeze and rain, and actively triggering the thinking of a new generation. In the work "Mountains and Rivers Travel", the label of "national style" seems to be able to interpret a deeper meaning from the perspective of narrative connotation and artistic value.
02
Benge's exquisite deduction adventure
Returning to the perspective of playability, as a detective deduction puzzle game, how does "Mountain and River Traveler" perform in the most critical deduction design?
For novice players who are less exposed to mystery games, "Mountain and River Travel" will undoubtedly provide an unforgettable gaming experience and open the door to a new world for them. The game adheres to the "ontological reasoning" gameplay, emphasizing relying solely on logic and clues to solve the mystery, without any supernatural or unexplained factors. The truth of each case is often logical, which is the fairest and friendliest design for players who are used to passively accepting evidence and solving it step by step.
(The detective process is clear and interlocking)
In addition, "Mountain and River Travel" has cleverly designed many confusing puzzles and suspense, which fully mobilizes the player's observation and reasoning skills. Games often take advantage of the player's preconceived notions, first inducing the player to walk into the wrong place in conviction, and then overturning the previous judgment and pointing out the loopholes through the interpretation of peers or the emergence of new evidence. When a seemingly solid clue is suddenly denied, the player is both surprised and motivated to continue the search for the truth, fully immersed in the game's preset rhythm.
But don't worry, the overall difficulty of the puzzles is moderate, and the extremely friendly navigation mechanics will make it easy for even novice players to pick up quickly. For example, when encountering important clues, the protagonist will save his key sentences in his head, which the player can consult at any time, but not looking at them will not affect the progress of the game. While these keywords don't give you a direct answer, they do prompt you to think further, without significantly reducing the challenge of the game while ensuring a smooth flow of the game.
The game also has a personality that is at odds with the protagonist, often raising sharp questions when the protagonist is in trouble, forcing the player to face up to the doubts in the case and objectively re-examine each option. Seemingly reasonable assumptions are often overturned, and seemingly absurd choices can eventually become breakthroughs. In a fierce self-defense, the player will follow the protagonist into a vortex of selfless thinking. And every time I ask and answer myself, I have witnessed the process of the player and Shen Zhongping growing together. This flow-like design allows players to experience the hardships of reasoning, and also multiplies the joy of solving the case when it comes naturally.
(The character of the protagonist)
In terms of the visual effects of the picture, "Mountains and Rivers Travel" can be said to be a collection of the strengths of hundreds of schools, integrating the advantages of many masterpieces. The game learns the dynamic visual style of series such as "Reverse Judgment" and "Danganronpa", and skillfully uses the language of movie storyboards in many places to highlight the emotional changes and dialogue rhythm of the characters through camera switching. When presenting key evidence or interrogating to find a breakthrough, the interspersed flashes and speed lines are used in the close-ups of the characters, which greatly enhances the bloody atmosphere at the climax of the plot.
Swipe left and right to view
When the case enters a critical moment, when the protagonist reviews the evidence and clarifies his thoughts, the game adopts a combination of close-up of the protagonist's eyes and a high-speed flashback scene, with a rapid drum beat, and finally at the moment when the protagonist suddenly opens his eyes, it presents an impressive sense of epiphany.
It is true that "Mountain and River Travel" has many commendable points, but for experienced mystery gamers and mystery lovers, the game may bring some sense of déjà vu and discrepancy in terms of the novelty and depth of reasoning design: the plot of some core tricks has a high degree of overlap with classic mystery works such as "Absolute Alibi" and "Kanedaichi Juvenile Incident Book", and the connection between the puzzles and evidence in some chapters of the game is also a bit lacking in the narrative part because the narrative part is too long.
Secondly, although the game covers the most common reasoning gameplay such as autopsy, evidence collection, interrogation, and evidence presentation, the process mode is relatively linear and simple, and special reasoning gameplay such as group reasoning, group testimony, cooperative deduction, and debate have all been reproduced, but it is more to achieve the differentiation of chapter gameplay, and it has limited help for deepening the reasoning experience. The superposition of multiple factors may make it difficult for "Mountain and River Travel" to fully meet the expectations of mystery fans. To avoid spoilers, I won't go into detail here.
(The "collaborative deduction" session seems to limit the discussant to just two people.)
It is worth mentioning that the official also frankly stated in the main interface and ending screen of the game that the case design of "Mountain and River Traveler" borrowed from many classic works, and expressed gratitude and recommendation to them, and this sincere attitude is worthy of recognition. Although this does not eliminate the regret brought to players by the sense of déjà vu of some cases, the production team did not copy them all or deliberately stand out from the crowd, but considered the docking of the case with the plot narrative, which is more down-to-earth.
There are many other places where you can feel the care of the product. The game carefully crafts every option in the reasoning process, even if it is a few wrong branches, it also has a voiceover and hypothetical reasoning process. Choosing an option multiple times may lead to unexpected achievements, show-making, or foreshadowing. When it comes to identifying or presenting evidence, players can even choose domestic animals, ghosts, or even themselves. Even if the direction is wrong, players can still have unexpected fun, and the whole detective process is filled with a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.
(The murderer is a strange force)
In some auxiliary elements that are easy to overlook, but are very helpful to enhance the sensory experience, "Mountains and Rivers Travel" also shows the standard that a masterpiece should have. For example, the character dubbing fully considers the accent characteristics of each character, the soundtrack integrates a variety of traditional musical instruments to complement the situation, and the translation of some proper nouns and foreign languages is also cleverly combined with the characteristics of the times. These details are carefully polished to add to the overall excellent performance of the game.
(During the Qing Dynasty, "coffee" was translated as "fattening")
All in all, "Mountain and River Travel" may not be the most outstanding in terms of reasoning design, but its steady performance in narrative and the production team's careful polishing of all aspects of details still make it a masterpiece worth recommending. For players who want to explore the field of inference for the first time, "Mountain and River Travel" will also be an excellent starting choice.
03
Write at the end
Whether a game is made with care or not, players will know as soon as they play. The search, dedication and sacrifice of those national backbones and elites of the times have been portrayed in "Mountains and Rivers Travel". So much so that now I recall the phrase in the game, "All the past is a prologue", and I am still inevitably moved.
For the product "Mountains and Rivers", perhaps those elements outside of gameplay - the long-term narrative throughout the whole situation and the overall presentation full of patriotic feelings - are its real core selling points. Years later, I may forget the truth of each case, but the sense of striving brought about by the national complex that was pushed to burst out at the beginning has long occupied a corner of my heart.
With the launch of the mobile terminal, the official finally revealed this Thursday that "Mountain and River Travel" is expected to launch DLC within the year, revealing many suspense in the main plot for players, and the game's official theme song will also be released in the near future. Shen Zhongwen's "out of the circle" story is not over yet, and I am very much looking forward to the fact that Mysteries will continue to maintain a high-quality production level in the third work in the future, and connect the "commercialization" of the puzzle game category.