news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

Looking back at the first half of 2024, it is hard to ignore the category of "action games". With the emergence of popular games such as DNF Mobile, Mingchao, and Juequ Zero, as well as the launch of strong games such as Naraka: Bladepoint Mobile, Star Dawn, and Blade & Soul 2, the action category has once again flooded into the players' field of vision. Let's talk about "action games" today.

"Every action game must find its own answer based on current user needs."

This is the feedback from a core player during the Blade & Soul 2 Chinese server test a few days ago, which shows the new demands of users in a new environment. Inspired by this, when communicating with NCSOFT Blade & Soul 2 producer Mr. Cui Rongzhun and the Chinese server planning team, we briefly discussed two questions about "action":

What are the needs of animation users nowadays?

What is the Chinese version of "Blade & Soul 2"'s answer to action?

"Blade & Soul 2", which started off against all odds, does it really understand the needs of current animation users?

Looking at the various game tracks in recent years, scroll art scroll gameplay is nothing new. If there is an action element to the game, then the action requirements will inevitably join the battle.

For example, the two games launched this year, “Miracle” and “Zero”, have put a lot of effort into the action design, but there are still players who are not satisfied with the action of the two games and made a lot of suggestions, forcing the games to continue to iterate, which led to the current reversal of word of mouth. It can be seen that the proportion of action in the criteria for players to judge whether a game is fun or not is getting bigger and bigger.

Currently, users' demands for actionability generally have two elements.

The first is the fighting mechanism, which uses action strikes to strengthen the offense and defense game. For example, the well-known "defense counterattack", Link time, and vibration sword are all counterattack mechanisms designed based on the timing of enemy attacks. In addition, there is a "restraint relationship", and there is mutual restraint between actions, such as throwing techniques, heavy attacks, etc.

The second is the rationality and coherence of the action, providing more reasonable and smooth action shooting according to the background of the game characters.

To enhance the player's action experience. The last is the sense of attack. If the first two are the design of action and mechanism, the sense of attack is the action experience presented to the player. What does it feel like to chop and punch, and whether the effect of the action can infect the player becomes the final key.

Regarding the current user needs in the action market, the Blade & Soul 2 creative team added:

"Over the past 30 years, Korean MMO players have always recognized and loved the MMO design concept established by Lineage, which focuses more on action design and combat. However, in recent years, as more and more games with more open experiences and more innovative gameplay have emerged in the global market, the needs of this group of players have changed dramatically, just like Chinese MMO players.

Players' demands for action and playability experience are increasing.

We once misjudged the user's demand for the action-oriented nature of Blade & Soul 2, which led to poor performance of the international server. We also saw more clearly what players expected from the Blade & Soul IP. Therefore, after in-depth communication, the Chinese and Korean teams unanimously decided to promote the "rebirth" of Blade & Soul 2 in the Chinese server, even if it meant investing resources, energy and time to almost redo a whole game. While making up for the regrets, we also truly inherited and recast the "battle spirit" of Blade & Soul, which is the rebirth of Blade & Soul 2."

The battle framework has been greatly changed. What is the answer to Blade & Soul 2's own actions?

“If I were to summarize the action of Blade & Soul 2 in the Chinese version, it would be agility.

If we want to meet the expectations of Blade & Soul players, we need to restore the characteristic "action" of Blade & Soul, delete the "auto-battle" and "auto-hunting in the wild" gameplay modes that weaken the action experience, and expand the action world of "Blade & Soul 2" in a more flexible way. In addition to changing the map exploration of continuous tasks to free exploration, the project focuses on the optimization of action mechanism, action design and coherence. "

As Choi Yong-jun, the game producer, said in response to players' questions, the Chinese server has completely reworked the entire combat system of the game, changing the standing combat style of the international server and comprehensively strengthening the positioning and response operations. Whether it is melee or ranged combat, normal attacks and most skills can be released while moving, and the original rolling evasion has also been adjusted to a more flexible and longer displacement sliding dodge.

The above changes have greatly improved the originally clumsy feel of the game. Now the combat operation limit of "Blade & Soul 2" has been greatly improved. It is not only more fun to play and as smooth as playing ACT, but also possible to show off various skills without taking any damage or challenge the BOSS above the level.

At the same time, regarding the problem of awkward perspective rotation mentioned by players, Cui Rongzhun's team also provided a new solution. "Blade & Soul 2" has been fully optimized in terms of perspective operation. First, the target locking mechanism has been improved to make it easier for players to control the perspective in fierce battles; an automatic lens switching function has been added to assist players in maintaining the best perspective at all times; the function of the Tab key has been adjusted to lock/unlock, allowing players to quickly switch targets. These changes free players from the tedious enemy search operation and allow them to focus more on the battle itself.

In terms of combo design, all professional martial arts have been upgraded, and the action combos and combo system have been improved. Now the combos have been streamlined to 5 active skills + multiple QTE action skills. QTE action skills are triggered by active skills, which simplifies the operation, makes the combos smoother and more seamless, and also makes the battle more strategic and interesting.

In order to further enhance the playability, Blade & Soul 2 optimizes the action mechanism. In addition to the general action game's counterattacks by avoiding and blocking, it also provides a third unique counterattack method - combined attack. In multiplayer dungeons, when the word "combination" appears above the BOSS's head, it is the time for the "combination attack" action skill to appear. At this time, quickly enter the blue skill range and use the "combination attack skill" to eliminate the BOSS's combined attack bar, thus causing the BOSS to become stiff.

After a certain number of successful counterattacks, such as dodge, block, and joint attack, the boss will be suppressed and enter a dizzy state. At this time, the player can use QTE action skills to attack the boss and experience the pleasure of hitting a large number with smooth output. QTE has a variety of martial arts moves that can cope with various situations. If used well, it can help players conquer various dungeons with less effort.

Conclusion:Judging from the reactions of players in the recent second test, the rebirth of Blade & Soul 2 is undoubtedly more in line with players' expectations. Characters can move flexibly and their martial arts can be countered accordingly. It is no longer a standing still output. The addition of the QTE mechanism allows players to take the initiative on the battlefield and show personal strategy in countering moves. At the same time, they can enjoy the feedback of each punch and get a hearty combat experience.

The future of the action game market is undoubtedly broad, and the rebirth of "Blade & Soul 2" is ready to compete. Blade & Soul, which is more action-oriented and understands users better, is undoubtedly competitive. But the competition in the track is also fierce. Martial arts swords, apocalyptic science fiction, street fighting, action games of different themes have fought one after another, just like the rivers and lakes, different sects, different styles, but all make people yearn for it.

Let us wait and see how far the reborn "Blade & Soul 2" can go in the future.