Many people think that women's game products are nothing more than falling in love with paper people, with a single gameplay, an empty plot, and only relying on the appearance of the male protagonist to win the world. In fact, for a long time, many women-oriented games did have a single and homogeneous content. However, with the increase in player demand, the content, gameplay, and plot of women-oriented games are becoming more and more abundant.
For example, "Codename Kite", which is very popular overseas, not only broke the stereotype that "female-oriented games are pure love", but also greatly transformed and upgraded the richness of gameplay, character relationship chain, and world view construction. It can be said that this game is no longer a female-oriented game in the traditional sense, it breaks through the entire track by itself.
The author played "Codename Kite" about three or four months ago, almost subverting my stereotype of female-oriented games, and unconsciously the author has become a successful woman with a career in the game, although this is different from the original intention of playing the game, but it is undeniable that the emotional value brought by the double harvest of "career" and "blue face" is incomparable to traditional women-oriented games or plot-oriented games.
So today, the author will start from the perspective of what stereotype "Codename Kite" breaks, and analyze with you to see why this game is so popular.
(Figure: The rich system and gameplay of the main interface doom this game to be "not simple")
Let's take a look at the picture above, if you haven't played Codename Kite, it's hard for anyone to imagine that this is a female-oriented game character analysis. But the most shocking part,In fact, a large number of female players left messages at the bottom of this picture,Show off their lineup,A simple lineup analysis chart has attracted more than 6,000 people to discuss,At the same time, there are more than 6,000 forwards,Shows that players need to understand the role ability in addition to their own needs,There is also their own small user group to share and discuss。
For a long time, female gamers did not seem to have any connection with "strategy games" at all, and female gamers were naturally excluded from the strategy game system.
However, after "Codename Kite" integrated the strategy card combat system into the game, it amazed everyone, and it proved that female players can also challenge the game system with strong strategy.
The combat system of "Codename Kite" is designed very deeply, each character has a wealth of skills and plays his role in the team, and each character also has a set of "life charts" in addition to skills, which can change the basic attributes of the characters, and the game will be different in different combat environments. Its strategy depth is on par with that of traditional strategy games.
Will female gamers be able to accept this high-intensity combat system? This is a question that haunts everyone's mind. Female gamers gave their own answers, it turns out that they can also study strategies and skills like male players, and then post their strategies and experiences on the Internet to discuss with everyone.
On social media, there is even a "Codename Kite" special station to answer all the puzzles that players encounter. "If you can't beat it, you can study it, and if you can't study it, you can discuss it with your friends", this is the attitude of female players towards strategic battles.
In fact, when I first started playing "Codename Kite" in Hong Kong, I was thinking about another question, what is the significance of such a huge combat system for female-oriented games? Will female gamers approve of this design?
It was only after I got started that I realized that the combat system was the essence of the game. Traditional female-oriented games are most likely to encounter the problems of missing plot content, slowing down the pace of the game, and wasting time with a large number of meal replacement plots. However, Codename Kite's combat system provides the player base with a lot of experience and a sense of accomplishment outside of the content.
"I was in love, and before I knew it, I started a career." This is a question that many female gamers begin to think about slowly after entering the game, and the combat system in the game is an important part of the player's "career".
The traditional story-oriented game's combat system is mostly a decoration, with little relevance to the game itself, and it is not very goal-oriented for the player, as if the battle is just a process that exists to delay time.
The design of Codename Kite is very different, integrating combat into the entire story, which is very similar to the feeling of a single-player RPG game to fight monsters and drive the plot. First of all, the game sets a very important goal for the player, which is to run the secret agent organization "Embroidery Building" as the leader, and all the characters in the play are inextricably linked with the player and the Embroidery Building. How to run the embroidery building well, how to subdue these characters, how to make the agents obedient, and how to promote the development of the main plot must be carried out around the combat system.
That's why female gamers accept the strategic combat design of "Codename Kite", because this set of gameplay is the basis for their "career". On the surface, it seems to be a battle, but in fact, for players, it is a process of building a foundation step by step, and players will feel that the development of the embroidery building and the relationship between each character are obtained through their own efforts, and it is the relationship between pay and harvest.
(Pictured: Challenging Lantai and the Dungeon are the two cores that drive the game's plot)
At the same time, the combat system of Codename Kite is fundamentally different from the traditional card battle. What should I do if I can't beat the level in a traditional game? Either go out to fight monsters and upgrade, or go out and become stronger. However, "Codename Kite" has a huge character attributes, skill restraint and destiny chart system, and there is a careful strategic deployment behind every level, and when the level cannot be beaten, there is a high probability that there is a problem with the strategy matching.
As a result, there are a large number of strategic deployments spontaneously shared by players on social platforms, especially after each issue of the dungeon activity is updated, "Dungeon 42 Raiders", "Dungeon 60 Raiders" and so on are all popular searches related to "Codename Kite" on major platforms. The emergence of strategies and experiences has provided players with a broader social platform, and a group of like-minded girls get together not to talk about beauty and strategy, which is also one of the wonders on the Internet.
"Codename Kite" has made many female users feel the "personality charm of successful women" through "engaging in careers", but outside of their careers, the portrayal of the heroine (that is, the player) is the finishing touch.
The setting of the heroine "King Guangling" in the game got rid of the traditional label of silly white sweetness, although she is a daughter, she has to show people in men's clothes most of the time, because since she was born, she has been burdened with the responsibility of "King Guangling", guarding the water and soil of Guangling, and it is her mission to let the people live and work in peace and contentment, and it is also her dream to run the spy organization of "Embroidery Building".
The character of King Guangling can be said to be a collection of the shining points of women in the new era, capable, responsible, responsible, and idealistic, and every character in the game will recognize her because of the shining point on her body, not like Shuangwen, because she is the heroine, she is directly recognized. This design not only increases the personality charm, but also brings more positive and positive emotional value to players, which is an important reason why the player group widely recognizes and accepts the character of "King Guangling".
The bond between the plot and the characters is the real core of female-oriented games, and it is also the underlying logic of female-oriented games. However, unlike the traditional "love brain" game, the relationship between the characters in "Codename Kite" is more complicated, in addition to the five male protagonists, a large number of other characters also have various bonds with players.
For example, Chen Deng, the eldest son of the Chen family who "swears to protect the water and soil of Guangling for His Royal Highness", is a popular character, but in the game, Chen Deng and the player are more confidants, Chen Deng's belief is "guard", and the player will feel Chen Deng's pathos and ideals in the plot, and at the same time, the player also has the same belief as him.
But if Chen Deng is just an NPC who simply follows the player, even if he can talk rhetorically, he is just an ordinary character. The subtlety of the plot of "Codename Kite" is to three-dimensional the image of a large number of NPCs, and establish a complex chain of character relationships. Chen Deng looks like a weak and weak man on the surface, but he has always been at odds with Yuan Ji, one of the male protagonists in the game, and even released cruel words in front of the player, "Don't let him fall into my hands." ”
Yuan Ji is one of the most popular protagonists in the game, clever and gentle. Therefore, when facing the relationship between Chen Deng and Yuan Ji, many players could only say with a tangled face: "You guys make it difficult for me to do this." ”
This kind of plot design has also been recognized by players. When people discuss the plot and character setting of the game, they always say, "Planning really knows what we want." "It must be a woman who writes the plot, and a man will never be able to write such a detailed thing. ”
So how detailed are the plot details of "Codename Kite"? Let's take Yuan Ji as an example, he seems to be a polite and weak scholar, but in fact, as the eldest son of the Yuan family, he is resolute and decisive, but when facing players, he will always show his most gentle face. But in the troubled times, the two have different positions, friends and foes are unknown, and each has interests, power and responsibilities, and the sincere expression intertwined in it, and the emotional push and pull of the evenly matched are more able to grasp the player's heart than the mode of passively accepting feelings in regular games - it turns out that you can also enjoy this kind of love dominated by "me".
(Picture: Indifferent to outsiders, gentle and considerate to himself, Yuan Ji is the ideal type in the dreams of many female players)
This kind of detail-winning plot can be seen everywhere in the game, and every line may poke at the most vulnerable place in the heart of female players. The plot of "Codename Kite" can be said to be full of stamina, it is not to use Qiong Yao's "I love you" to lay the emotional foundation, but to use a variety of dotted stories to slowly weave a big network of emotions, including family, friendship, love, master-apprentice and even pets, these people and things together composed the story of King Guangling (the name in the player's game) in "Codename Kite", rather than simply falling in love with several male protagonists.
(Picture: A little chubby bird has its own story in the game)
What's so fun about Codename Kite? The author thinks there are two major factors, one is that, as mentioned above, it builds a new world with huge details, and players are in the game, and they continue to grow in this world by looking for clues of various details, unconsciously making themselves a member of the world, blurring the boundary between virtual and reality.
Another reason is that it has formed its own set of content closed loops in the core gameplay.
Why are female gamers willing to accept the combat system in the game to "make a career"? It's because they carry a lot of responsibilities behind them, what are the responsibilities behind them? It is the plot bond between the characters, and it is the game's combat system that promotes the bond between the plot and the characters, "strategic combat + rich plot + intricate character chain" combined together to repeat and self-contained.
When many women-oriented games are designed, the plot is the plot, the combat is the battle, and the daily quest is the daily quest, and the only connection between them may be to get rewards to redeem items. "Codename Kite" integrates these contents together, and then a large number of people's task relationship chains trigger qualitative changes.
(Picture: A large number of characters in the game have their own stories)
After "Codename Kite" broke the traditional design, we suddenly found that female players can also study strategy and combat in female-oriented games, and can also be attracted by other emotions, which broadens the content ideas for the entire track.
Today, Codename Kite's unique and innovative game mode has been recognized by the market. Each agent (the character code name in the game) has a full character design and personality, and each agent has his own identity and role in the world of "Codename Kite", and all the agents and players can come together to promote the development of the game world, which is the charm of the plot to the game.
However, when the system of "Codename Kite" matures, can we still define it as a female-oriented game? Under the author's visit, we have found that many male users are "secretly" playing "Codename Kite". The core reason is the strategic combat system, after research and pondering, male players think it is really interesting; On the other hand, many male players have also affirmed the plot of the game, breaking their stereotype that women only have love for the plot of the game.
As more users learn about the game in the future, more labels and reviews will be given to it, and "female-oriented game" may be just one of many labels. However, no matter what the future holds, "Codename Kite" has indeed provided a lot of fresh ideas for games of the same category, and the change of the entire track in the future is something worth looking forward to together.