When it comes to martial arts RPGs, we always think of old IPs such as Xianjian and Xuanyuan Sword, but if we want to talk about the interpretation of the two words Jianghu, the work "Next Stop Jianghu" developed by Bai Yujing Studio in 2020 left a deep impression on me. The game has been logged in on PC and mobile platforms, and has gained a good reputation from players for its rich game content and careful tribute to many classic works in terms of design. Now the production team has made persistent efforts to meet many martial arts fans again with the sequel "Next Stop Jianghu 2", and they are not satisfied with the success of the previous game, and dare to choose to drastically change the game system, from the original turn-based to ARPG gameplay. In less than four years, whether this Jianghu can still resonate with martial arts fans is also very much looking forward to it.
First of all, I have to admit that as a low-cost game, there are a lot of roughness in the next stop Jianghu 2, and these roughness are visible to the naked eye after only ten minutes of play.
For example, the level of modeling and the fluency of action are quite average, the sense of blow is better than nothing, and the vertical painting is basically made of AI, but from time to time there is a random Q version of the 2D vertical painting, which makes people feel very dramatic, although the map is claimed to be seamless and open, but the loading time of the cutscene plot switch is very long. But on the other hand, the features and intentions of this game are also obvious.
First of all, the music level of the game is extremely high, and even a fairly high-quality theme song will be brought as soon as the game is launched, and the heart-wrenching melody already makes people feel excited to enter the play in advance. Secondly, players can not only play the designated protagonist, but also have three different identities to choose from: Jiangmen Huzi, rich daughter, and poor scholar, although it is a pity that the latter two have not been opened in the current version, but the official has predicted that the main line of the three identities will be very different, and the script is written by the powerful author of the online text, using at least three story lines to interpret the rivers and lakes from different angles, and it is absolutely full of sincerity in terms of plot weight.
What's even more intriguing is the amount of space the game gives to the player's character setting before the start of the game.
The first is the martial arts routine.,Equivalent to the initial weapon of the character.,At present, there are four kinds of swords, knives, guns and fists.,I personally think the gun is worth recommending.,After all, the combat gameplay of this work belongs to the ARPG mode.,The gun attack range is large and even the attack judgment can be made behind you.,In the current environment without a lock function, it is more suitable for novices to get started。
The second is the distribution of attributes,Vitality、Spirit、Body and other combat attributes have a certain number of points available for allocation,This is not unusual,But the non-combat attributes are also very rich and really surprising,Personality、Life、Knowledge、Tactics、There are dozens of sub-items under these types,Presumably there are many ways to play from this。 The last is the opening talent, players can consume points to choose talents, in order to adjust the growth of the character, the interesting thing is that some talents are of a negative nature, the role is not only to increase the number of points available, there are advantages and disadvantages to make me feel that this is a fresh person. Of course, there must be players who want to ask where is the pinching system? Don't worry, according to the development of the plot at the beginning, the protagonist will eat the Yirong Dan in order to hide his identity, so as to change his name and appearance, and will not disappoint the pinching party.
The story is very delicate, perhaps in response to censorship issues or cultural controversies, avoiding direct historical archetypes. Under the division and dispute of the princes, the temples and the people are in a state of turmoil, with the ideas of Bodhi, Xuanmen, and the academy as the program, and the five major factions that lead the rivers and lakes have been derived, but the invisible controller is planning a conspiracy to change the world. The so-called setting of the three religions and three saints, I believe that players can see at a glance where the prototype comes from, this kind of worldview that integrates various opposing elements such as space and reality, rivers and lakes and politics, culture and legends, has a fascinating imagination space.
The rivers and lakes are sinister and unpredictable - although everyone knows this sentence, the plot of the protagonist being besieged by a killer and almost receiving a boxed lunch in less than five minutes at the beginning still surprised me. The protagonist lost his memory and martial arts because of serious injuries, and in order to escape the possible pursuit, with the help of a mysterious girl who saved his life, he changed his name and temporarily hid in a village, yes, this is a novice village that belongs to the player. But unlike other games for newcomers, from every step of the way here, your situation is still dangerous, not to mention the battles that follow the main story, even the occasional few wolves in the mountains around the village will form a sudden threat. This Jianghu is really ruthless, for you who don't practice well but want to rush the main line without a brain or run the map at will, it won't provide internal protection because you want to take care of the novice game experience.
And it should be noted that,Although there is an automatic archive in this work,But the archiving frequency is very low.,It is recommended that when you run a branch or prepare to enter a new main line,You must manually archive it from time to time.,Otherwise, even if it's a simple difficulty start,,There is also the danger of accidentally getting involved in a battle or a mistake in operation.。 I have to sigh that this may be regarded as a kind of sinister situation.
The rivers and lakes are not only fighting and killing, but also sophisticated people - this sentence is used to describe the interpersonal system of this work, which is really suitable. On the open game map, most of the NPCs can interact, and there may be a stranger who suddenly comes to you to learn martial arts at some point, and you can also communicate with you with the flying pigeon book after developing a certain degree of favorability. In addition, please remember that the rivers and lakes are the place of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and martial arts is not the only option. You can fish alone in the mountains and rivers, or trade with others, or make friends with piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, you can use your brain to think and use logical reasoning to see through unsolved mysteries, you can listen to the rumors of the rivers and lakes to find hidden treasure clues - just like Chu Liuxiang in Gu Long's pen, it has the all-encompassing charm of three religions and nine streams, and also has the romance of digging the truth and treasures with wisdom.
Another feature of this game is that it doesn't have a direct concept of hierarchy, and it doesn't use words like experience points, but instead uses a meridian system. You can think of it as a technology tree, using Xiuwei to gradually activate the meridians and then choose the heart method to get bonuses, which is the core of the character's development, and the meridians also come with an entry that consumes the repair to refresh. Combined with the realm system and various elixirs, players can also further improve through cultivation and internal absorption after opening up more meridians. Strictly speaking, there is no unique innovation in this cultivation system, but on the basis of giving players great freedom to cultivate, it adopts a way of expression closer to martial arts culture, and the average player may feel uncomfortable at first, but I think this is a very substitutional setting, just imagine as a chivalrous person, if you play against the enemy, you think about how many levels I have practiced, it is really a bad scenery. But if I say how many levels my realm has reached, how many cultivations I have, how many meridians I have opened up, and how many secret books I have cultivated, it will make me feel that I have truly become a Jianghu person.
It is also worth mentioning that it has only been about a week since the game was released, and the production team has already made several updates and corrections based on player feedback. FOR EXAMPLE, SOME PLAYERS LEFT A MESSAGE ON STEAM, SAYING THAT THE TASK TIME LIMIT MADE THE GAME TOO TIGHT, SO THEY QUICKLY CANCELED THE TIME LIMIT FOR MOST OF THE TASKS, AND SOME PLAYERS THOUGHT THAT THEY WOULD BE HURT IF THEY FELL FROM A HIGH PLACE WHEN USING LIGHT POWER, SO IT WAS TOO UNIMMERSIVE, WHICH MARTIAL ARTS DRAMA DID YOU EVER SEE A KNIGHT WHO KNEW HOW TO DO LIGHT SKILLS WOULD FALL AND BE INJURED BECAUSE OF THIS? SO THIS WAS QUICKLY CORRECTED. As the saying goes, where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, on the other hand, rivers and lakes are centered on people, how can a good river and lake be shaped without paying attention to people's opinions? Bai Yujing Studio obviously understands this truth, and their attitude of taking players' opinions seriously is really worthy of our trust and praise.
To sum up, the next stop Jianghu 2 is not a 3A masterpiece with luxurious configurations, and there are even many places that need to be further sculpted, but even so, it has made its own characteristics, that is, it is up to the player to decide his own way of survival. Rather than Bai Yujing Studio making a game for us to play, it is better to say that this is a game that changes according to our ideas, and what kind of chivalrous man the player thinks he should become, what kind of story will he have. Although there is no fixed form and absolute definition of rivers and lakes, it must be both dangerous and exciting fun, both free to come and go and will be restricted by unwritten rules, both complex human nature but always exist in the spirit of the rivers and lakes, I am very happy that "Next Stop Jianghu 2" has made this temperament, maybe it can't surpass the historical status of those similar classic IPs, but I believe that this Jianghu with a unique taste will now open its own prelude in the history of domestic games.
Game Name: "Next Stop Jianghu 2"
Release date: April 17, 2024
登陆平台：PC（Steam/WeGame)
Overall rating: 7/10
Recommended for: Players who like open-world martial arts
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