This article is written by Night Song
(Spoilers)
O.T.K Games Studio is a studio made up of three vanilla chefs from China. The birth of this game came from "wanting to make a vanilla society game that can be played on the PC platform", after all, neither the Odin Realm, the Dragon Crown nor the Masamune Tsunade have come out of the PC version. In order to make the ideal game in their minds, they even hired Sakimoto Hitoshi, who had scored works such as the Royal Knights and the Valkyrie of the Battlefield, to make sound effects.
Although most of the people introduced this game to vanilla society enthusiasts, according to the interview, the reason why they originally wanted to make a game was actually to watch dust: An Elysian Tail's game development story. Dust, who was a single-person artist and programmer with no experience in game development himself, spent four years making the same side-scroll type game.
It took them 3 years to complete the game, but it was overturned twice earlier, and the film at the time of the crowdfunding can be seen to have significantly renovated a lot compared to the final version. For example, the protagonist was originally a ponytail with a short sword and round shield, nor was it the bikini outfit now, and the NPCs were also repainted to better conform to the vanilla society style. There were even three characters to play as originally conceived, but the crowdfunding failed and had to be downsized.
The protagonist, Vivian, is a rune messenger who uses family runes and travels by boat to Mithril Island in order to track down her father, who suddenly left home as a child and the secret behind her. After changing it to a nonsensical but eye-catching bikini style, it is indeed very impressive, and it is a very successful change. The original shape of the ORIGINAL RO ChuXin will probably only remember her small round shield in the end. As for hairstyles and color schemes like RWBY's YANG, the authors say it's just a coincidence.
In order to present the vanilla society thick painting style, as well as exaggerated figures, it can be seen that they have made a lot of efforts to bring themselves closer to the vanilla society, and at first glance they may be mistaken for it. It's just that some scenes are too colorful and will look very dazzling.
Some of the NPC dialogues are also designed to be interesting, such as being choked up if you don't buy a product after reading it. Halfway through the game, there will be shops to replenish them, rather than teleporting back to distant towns, but some merchants are too deliberate to be natural. There will also be towns and cities deep into hell, and the inhabitants will not be limited to humans. When shopping in the store, it is impossible to compare the values, nor does it show how much you hold, so it is annoying to cut through the interface of buying something.
The plot probably begins when the Soul Reaper appears to slaughter the village, and the Green Witch Hepburn casts a spell on the protagonist to use as a tool. This soul reaper battle was originally expected to be a must-lose battle, but someone won the next day on the shelves, making the producer feel that he had been punched in the face, but fortunately there was a hidden ending.
When Hepburn, the Green Witch from the Academy, first appeared as a powerful helper and repaired the Enchantment. However, he then regained his true nature and captured Vivian, who was wanted by the Academy, for her to continue to drive. The "Academy" behind Hepburn is a powerful organization, and Vivian's past was hunted down for their coveting of the power of the runes. However, this game does not describe the situation of the academy too much, but focuses on Hepburn itself.
The game will be interspersed with a lot of CG to tell the story, but he draws a little bit of a good and bad upper and lower limits. Obviously, everywhere you can see it, there are levels above, but some CGs are unbearable to look at. It's like there are two artists in the group, and the other one is not so good at painting, but he has to let him in.
Camden was a student of Hepburn, brainwashed into runes to make the idea that the bad guy and the teacher was not wrong. He was sent to follow Vivian to watch her, and although Vivian tried to change his mind many times during the journey, he remained convinced of the teacher.
In addition to the art, combat is the second highlight of the game. It only takes light and heavy attacks to match each other to easily make combos, and the blow feel is no less than the Odin field that is homaged, and there is a long roll of invincibility time.
Although it is really good when I first contact, I still have some points that I want to complain about after playing for a long time. For example, there is a long gap in the middle of the swing knife after rolling, and often want to roll and then attack but are hit. If you jump and slash immediately swing the knife, you will directly stay in the air at a low place, and you will not be able to hit the one who flies on it. However, if you wait to jump to a certain height before attacking, it is easy to be beaten during this period, which is really irritating.
The Kills can be bound to four moves in the shortcut keys, which consume anger when cast. New kills can be obtained while exploring hidden paths. Personal favorite is the fissure that will turn around, and you can hit the enemy in all directions without dead ends. The single-handed king is to use a hundred spirits to fight directly with the boss, and the anger can be cast uninterrupted before it is used up. In addition, there is invincibility when putting a kill, which can be used as a evasion.
The balance of the store is not very good, or it is simply because you can shop, so simply give it to a store. The initial price of the store is too expensive, and the equipment obtained along the way can be used directly until the strongest equipment is obtained, and there is no need to buy it in the store. Equipment can be enhanced by rising stars and inlaid runes, and insufficient MANA used for consumption can also be disassembled and recycled. Money is almost a decoration.
Whether it is talent growth or equipment ascension, it will consume a lot of MANA. In particular, the demand behind the talent is very high, and if you want to fill it, you can only go to farming. There just happened to be a magic mushroom monster room, and the battle ended as soon as the glowing speed cutting brush passed, and the return trip just finished picking up the props and filled up the anger. Even if the recovery pill drop rate is low, when the talent is finished, there will be a bunch of unused water on the body.
At the beginning, the map is mostly a flat way to the end, and in the later stage, a push platform is added, and the exit often has to skip a bunch of platforms to reach it. At this time, the kind of floating enemy is very annoying, because it is difficult to quickly clear, jumping and jumping to give you a fall.
The enemy in the back has a bunch of very troublesome attack modes, and will also attack from a distance, and there is no way to offset it but to dodge or carry hard. A bunch of enemies are attacking with hegemonic bodies, on the contrary, we are hit and fly, slashing one or two knives will have to roll, and the enemy will always be beaten. The last best way to play is to raise your anger and then clear the field. Lack of long-range attacks, their own attack range is not large enough, even if they are a little higher than the head, they have to jump up and fight, and they are often beaten to the point of not being able to move. Personally, I hate to run into slimes the most, and the blood will split after a dozen hits, and I always hit until I am beaten back and forth.
Tombstones and campfires are save points, and basically one of them will be located in front of each boss. However, only tombstones can be teleported, and campfires are cooking and plot cutscenes. The cooking system can provide buff, and after buying dishes in the store, you can get recipes and cook with ingredients on the campfire without having to run more than one merchant. It's just that Buff doesn't have an icon and doesn't know if there's any on it.
Speaking of ingredients, this is another place where there is no balance. Potion ingredients can replenish blood, but potions are expensive ingredients and cheap. The potion returns a percentage, but the increase in blood volume is not high. The potion also has the negative effect of decreasing the effect of continuous use, and it is better to directly eat the ingredients in comparison. The potion probably only wins in the ability to put it quickly, without pausing on drinking water.
There are a lot of bosses, and several of them have a story background to describe their experiences, so it is also memorable after playing. In the case that blood replenishment can be suspended, and there is no brain release, as long as you don't forget to replenish blood, you can go smoothly. Except for some who are too active or weak to move around, they can only spend time with him to grasp the flaws and slowly cut the blood.
The Soul Reaper is the case above that can only be slowly consumed with her. Usually run around, throw tracking bullets when you have nothing to do, release range skills when you have things, and pay attention to ground traps. In total, she will play with her three times in the game, and the third time she will even be transformed in two stages.
In order not to let the game process only be a simple fight and kill, the content of the main line NPCs have been given their own unique stories. However, the plot is all about sadness and joy as the main tone, which can be felt in the dialogue of ordinary passers-by to the slightly dark style of this work. Vivian is more like a passerby in their story, and when they talk to them, they are either dead or on the way to death.
In the Kasbah area, in addition to fighting monsters, you can also talk to ghosts, so that you can learn from them what happened in the past. That's why bosses are the target of our challenges.
One of the three protagonists of the first edition was not completely abandoned, and the production team placed her in a hidden sideline. In this branch line, you can challenge a strong bear mother, and it will affect the true ending. It is said that this mother bear will leave a long green flame on the ground, and there is almost no place to stand. In addition to paying attention to the gap in the move, you must also be careful not to step on the fire to avoid being burned to death. I challenged several times to win, and the terrain restrictions in the lateral reels were really too far north.
The past of the protagonist Vivian will be told in the middle of the way in the way of recalling CG. The father suddenly ran away from home, the mother died early, and she and her sister were dependent on each other. Her sister was very strict with her, but she also died to protect her during a college hunt. He then lived a wandering life and worked as a mercenary until he decided to go to Mithril Island. This is also the origin of the name of the game, The Vagrant. As for the secrets of the Rune Messenger, which even the Academy covets, it will also be revealed in the game.
However, the most questionable owl baron in the game has no explanation at all. He will appear once at the beginning of the main line and once in the finale of the true ending. The words spoken are completely incomprehensible, and they don't know what their identity is, and the plot is completely unnecessary. It is to come out and pretend to be a ghost, and the dialogue with the protagonist does not intersect, I really don't know what he has come to do. Other times it's just a matter of opening the rift in time for the player to play challenging levels.
Picture appreciation
The whole game has a level above the level, and the operation and sense of blow are excellent, which even the Song of the Virgin Zero can not do. There seem to be a lot of bugs in the beginning, but I haven't touched it when I play, and the picture is a relatively small problem. The plot and system are very rich, and the problem of independent viewing is not big, and together they expose the problem of bad balance. But this is in terms of design experience, which is understandable for them who are making games for the first time.
The game lasts about 10 hours, and if you still have to solve the true ending, brush mana, get the strongest weapon, challenge the rift in time and space, etc., it will take more time. In particular, some places are far from the teleportation point, and it is tiring to run back and forth. The maze of the dead with the strongest weapon is full of north, and it is necessary to challenge continuously, and each blood has to be fought for a long time. As soon as I accidentally died at the end and wanted to hit me completely, I gave up, and later learned that I could stack the dimensional sword easily.
Although there are many small problems that can be picked, under the price that he is not bad overall and is half sold and half given away, it can basically be ignored. Personally, I am more dissatisfied with not letting the player play the final behind-the-scenes boss, but using the plot to take it, there is a feeling of incomplete burning. The ending is also very... Confusingly want to say: clams?
Finally, an Easter egg that probably no one knows. There was actually no publicity at the beginning of the game, only a few tweets. Instead, there are NPCs who are in cahoots with the Battle Chef Brigade.
The studio's next work, Bad Girls: Repeaters, is successfully crowdfunding in production. With the same worldview as wanderers, the story is set on Mithril Island a thousand years later, and Vivian's descendants will also appear in the game. Now there is a demo version, interested can pay attention to. The distribution rights of Rangers are in the hands of SakuraGame, so it cannot be directly released as a sequel to Rangers. Then gossip, recently SakuraGame used the reason of not updating for a long time to pull out the Rover background permission of O.T.K Games, and now only get back part of the permissions.