Photo: Mechanic Warrior Fusion
Text/Aoki
The love of mechs and warriors supports the continuous upgrading of this IP.
When it comes to mechs, many people's minds will immediately come up with works. From Evangelion and Mobile Suit Gundam to Farona in the Sky and Revolution Machine, from hardcore heavy mechs to more decorative exoskeleton mechs, the subject of mechs has always been the evergreen tree of the second dimension.
Although it is said that "mecha is the romance of men", this theme is more hardcore, which makes the spread of many mecha games stop at a small number of core players, making it difficult to get close to the public eye. The "machine girl" born of the combination of mecha and beautiful girls, with its hardcore design and low threshold, has found a balance between the niche and the public, and has become the mainstream of the two-dimensional mecha mobile game in recent years.
Now, there is another long-lost mecha mobile game online.
Previously, the production team ACCESS continued to improve and iterate according to the feedback of players: new UI, new big move animation, live2D, hang-up, increase the drop rate of cultivation materials, increase benefits... In the beta of May 25, 2021, Mobile Suit: Fusion is fully and meticulously prepared.
In addition to the parts that are more likely to be paid attention to by players and directly related to the game experience, it is THE CAREFUL OPERATION OF THE IP of ACCESS. In the face of new markets and players, "Mobile Suit Hime: Fusion" uses new artistic and technical powers to reinterpret and interpret IP.
The art is fully optimized, and the IP is iterated to high quality
The biggest change in Mobile Suit Hime: Fusion is the art-based packaging. From character drawing and UI to skill animation and battle scenes, the art of this game can be said to be fully optimized and upgraded.
Most of the stand-up paintings in this work are used by girls with light mechs and exoskeletons of the same color, and there is no shortage of heavier mechs that are more rigid and visually focused. The experienced ACCESS has its own methodology for the appearance of the machine girl, the warriors are not simple shell two-dimensional beautiful girls, the smooth and cold mecha itself has the beauty is enough to attract fans.
Compared with the previous game, which uses a translucent fluorescent UI similar to an electronic screen to create a sense of science fiction, the UI of this game highlights simplicity and texture. The main color of the UI has a high gray level, and the overall interface is flattened while there are layers and highlights, which will not dazzle the player.
One of the big selling points of this game is the gorgeous skill animation performance. The delicate particle effect makes the 2D picture have excellent expressiveness, and the clean and clean action and refreshing sense of blow also allow players to get visual enjoyment.
The battle scene is a realistic doomsday city, and there are time weather effects, such as raindrops falling and puddles on the ground when fighting outdoors in the rain, and the details are full. The ground has a dark pattern similar to a circuit board, full of mechanical wind.
The transition diagram takes the form of a large CG+ bottom text concept description, revealing a corner of a huge worldview.
Expand content to tell richer IP stories
"Mobile Suit Hime: Fusion" expands the content of the game's world view on the basis of the previous game, and tells a richer IP story with more diverse characters.
In the previous game, the plot begins with the base being attacked by golems, and for the first time, the first time it is activated, and the battle skills are not yet skilled, and Genio leads the crowd to escape. Interestingly, the opening scene of this game is in the face of the approach of the puppet, and Neo leads the other warriors to fight calmly and calmly in the posture of a senior. This should be a small Easter egg for old players. From this, you can also get a glimpse of the long-term operation of the production team on IP.
The previous characters who appeared in this game were Neo, Mel, Layla, and 04. Among them, Neo, Mel, and Layla are described as the basis for the establishment of their respective pedigrees, and many AGs have been derived. In the plot, Neo continues to fight for the survival of humanity as the representative of the fleet, and is one of the characters of Kachi, while Mel and Layla appear as supporters.
04 is the more special of the four warriors. Although the players' voices are very enthusiastic, this character is regrettably shelved for various reasons, and it can be said that there is no substantive appearance in the previous game. And now, under the new technical conditions, the production team has fulfilled the promise made 04 a usable role in Mobile Suit Hime: Fusion, and the four heroines of the previous game can be gathered in this game.
If the image of the richer and more three-dimensional previous game character is the sincerity of the production team to the old players, the new character with a hundred flowers is an important step in the IP upgrade of this work.
Thanks to the prosperity of fandom culture, the painters in the two-dimensional circle have gradually been recognized by the public, from simple behind-the-scenes staff to the "mother" of the character kitchen and CP kitchen, and the head painters such as Lao Lei and star shadow mages have a large number of fans. Just as the fans of the voice actor will follow the favorite voice to complete the work, the fans of the artist will also download the game because of the character drawn by the favorite artist.
Perhaps with this in mind, Mobile Suit Hime: Fusion does not pursue the unity of painting style as in the previous work, but leaves the painter with free space to play, and presents a variety of mecha maidens by retaining the painter's personal style. The combination of different drawing styles and the game's worldview gives birth to the division of forces that is called "genealogy" in the game.
With the "genealogy" as the starting point, the world view setting of "Mobile Suit: Fusion" is extremely compatible, so its character design also has a lot of room for play. Beast-eared maidens, maid costumes, samurai, magical maidens, seemingly unmatched attributes combined with mecha under the command of the worldview, do not make people feel "too many elements", but very harmonious. The multi-lineage mecha girl caters to the diverse aesthetics and preferences of the two-dimensional group, and has a certain attraction for pan-two-dimensional players of different circles. At the same time, it also enriches and expands the IP of this game, adding a lot of content for it to be mined.
For example, the genealogy of "Motorized Magical Girl", this game does not simply push the ability to transform, fly, fight and other abilities to the black box of magic, but gives a new interpretation of "Magical Girl" through mecha technology under the unique world view.
Following the main line of "Apocalypse under the Cannibalism of Puppets", "Mobile Suit: Fusion" is based on mecha culture, using detailed details and rigorous settings to enrich the skeleton of IP and enhance the extensibility of IP. This not only satisfies the high requirements of the two-dimensional players for the world view and the enthusiasm for mining evidence, but also leaves enough initial resources and development space for players to spontaneously create UGC content.
The plot of this work also leaves enough momentum for IP upgrades. The timeline of "Mobile Suit: Fusion" is set after the previous game, focusing on the "dark and deep" style, which pays more attention to the reflection of the cruel reality in the context of the end of the world than the previous game, but it is not "sadistic for the sake of abuse" forced knife. The characters of the previous game are still active in the plot of this game, and there is no shortage of small Easter eggs that make old players smile.
The major forces in the plot are relatively clear, the buried foreshadowing and dark lines make the plot have a certain readability, and the copywriting has not become a riddle person because of the blind pursuit of "profound", and the story is always easy to understand and grasp. In the dark and depressing apocalyptic background, several outbreaks in the plot have formed a small climax, and there is no shortage of touching points and famous scenes.
Overall, the plot of Mobile Suit Hime: Fusion is simple but rich enough and ups and downs. The main line has a certain blank space, and the rich and huge world view also leaves a multi-directional possibility for the development of the next IP story.
Platform marketing and "dream linkage" help IP break the circle
How to break the circle of relatively niche mecha categories to attract more pan-two-dimensional players, and how to call back old players and pull in new players after several years of silence, these are the two major problems faced by this work. In this regard, "Mobile Suit: Fusion" chose to invite well-known musicians to produce promotional songs while marketing on the online platform to promote the game's breaking of the circle.
The B station where many young groups gather is the main battlefield of many game marketing, and this game is exclusively represented by bilibili games, backed by the platform to make it more advantageous to fight at home. Station B does not hesitate to spare its own traffic resources, and began marketing during the development and closed testing period of "Mobile Suit: Fusion"; on the eve of the public beta, the advertisement of "Mobile Suit: Fusion" is a conspicuous part of the resident homepage. The different styles of characters rotated daily are paired with words such as "free fifty consecutive" and "limited skins", which effectively attract the attention of pan-two-dimensional players.
In addition to conventional marketing, this work also tries to "break the dimensional wall" through cross-border linkage. Starting from the three camps in the game, "Mobile Battle Ji: Fusion" ingeniously invited three musicians Kobayashi Weiyu, KOKIA, and Yuan Yawei to produce exclusive promotional songs, forming a fantastic linkage between the "Battle Ji" in the game and the real "Ge Ji".
As a well-known Japanese pianist and singer, Kobayashi has collaborated with Hiroyuki Sawano on many tracks, in addition to the famous "Sword Drawing Divine Comedy" "βίος", as well as two interludes of "Mobile Suit Gundam UC", "EGO" and "REMIND YOU". The prolific and high-quality Katsuhime KOKIA has also sung for many mecha anime, such as the theme song of the fourth chapter of the theatrical version of "Space Battleship Yamato 2199", "Memory の光", and the opening song "Fate" of the theatrical version of "Sword of broken blades". The worldview of this game is closely related to the mecha culture, and the selection of these two to make promotional songs can be said to complement each other.
In just a few hours, the first video of the promotional song has exceeded 500,000 views on station B.
epilogue
To gain a foothold in the highly competitive market, it is inseparable from the long-term operation of IP. "Mobile Suit: Fusion" from the art, character, plot to enhance the depth and width of ip, with marketing and music packaging to attract more circle players, occupy a place in the mecha category. We look forward to its performance after the public beta.
-END-