Screen
From a visual point of view, if it can be said to be an improvement, because Rain Blood 1 was completed by Soulframe alone as the original artist, while the art team of Rain Blood 2 Much more powerful, among them are Yang Hao, who is good at using Flash to draw combat actions and convert them into RPGmaker materials, and several animation masters such as "Agent Qiqi" and "Da Vinci". Therefore, when I entered the game, the game screen I saw was fuller than that of Rain Blood 1. The more complete art team and computer graphics made this work more accurate in the details of the screen, whether it is characters or scenes. They all get rid of the single feeling of lines and give people a more realistic feeling, especially the strong sense of layering of the buildings.
A more refined and realistic picture
To be more precise, the painting style of Rain Blood 2 is essentially different from that of Rain Blood 1, as Zhou Libo said "Northerners eat garlic and southerners drink coffee, how can they compare!" (I grew up eating garlic). Because Rain Blood 1 is an independent creation, the entire game is hand-painted, giving people the feeling of being free and uninhibited; while Rain Blood 2's exquisite computer graphics can still find some shadows of Rain Blood 1, but it is no longer as precise as Rain Blood 1. The unscrupulous drawing, his requirements are more rigorous, and the expression is more realistic. If you have to compare it, I'm afraid it feels a bit like impressionism vs. realism.
The picture is full of ink style and layered.
The overall painting style of Yecheng reflects a strong Chinese style, but the atmosphere created is not like Qingshan like many Chinese style games. Green water, but a strange sense of darkness. It makes people feel as if they are in a weird conspiracy with the martial arts world, and the storm is about to come. This creates an excellent atmosphere foundation for the suspenseful martial arts genre.
Plot
In order not to spoil anything, I will analyze the exquisite plot of the second generation only from the plot design. In the sequel to Yicheng, the soul arrives in Yicheng and begins to search for the truth behind the conspiracy. The plot designed by Soulframe still continues the high suspense and tension of the first generation. There is not a single story mission in the game that is as superfluous as the RPGs we usually play, such as delivering water, delivering letters, or picking up things. Each link of its tasks is connected to the next link and is an indispensable part of the entire "bureau".
The entire plot also perfectly interprets the word "suspense". It is not a development like Jin Yong's juvenile adventure, but more in line with Gulong's unconstrained layout. In the second generation, in addition to the "Organization" and "Shadow" that originally appeared, "Mr. Bai" who claims to be righteous also appears. So, we have another thought about "good and evil". And when the author's thoughts follow the author as he reads between the lines, he can truly feel the carefully planned conspiracies, and the scenes are touching, heartbreaking, or confusing. Just like the following branch line of the Baitouke plot that continues a generation, the plot of Yicheng can indeed be called a classic of suspense martial arts culture.
Game system
First of all, unlike the God-looking-down perspective of the previous game, the game perspective adopts a horizontal layout. The advantage of the horizontal version is that players can have a greater sense of immersion, walking on the map, and interacting with every element can be well expressed. Although the overhead perspective cannot be so intuitive in details, its advantage is that it can have a good overall view. Therefore, when I played Yicheng, I encountered some challenges in walking the maze. I have to say that the horizontal maze is much more difficult than the maze in the top view.
The combat system still continues to be turn-based. The author knows that many players are not interested in turn-based systems. Soulframe has also taken this into consideration, so in the next "Rainblood Prequel", it will adopt a real-time mode to create into an action game. In the author's opinion, the turn-based system of this sequel is the right choice, because as a suspenseful martial arts game that focuses on plot, its combat is not the author's focus. In Han Han's words, "all-round excellence equals all-round mediocrity" ”, a game should be uniquely remembered by players. Just like when players mention The Elder Scrolls, they think of its high degree of freedom, not its plot (except for an arrow in the knee); when players mention Call of Duty, they think of its cinematic interactions; and when we mention Rain Blood , what should be remembered is its ingenious design and suspenseful martial arts plot with twists and turns, rather than the thrill of killing monsters.
Having said that, if you really pursue the thrill of killing monsters, why not play WOW? There are so many monsters waiting for you to kill...
And another huge improvement in the game is reflected in the sense of attack of the game. , in the first generation, because it is only an independent game, the author cannot cover everything, so the game's impact is not strong. In the second generation, the author focused on improving the impact of combat, by adjusting the frame rate and slowing down the frame rate during contact to achieve the effect of enhancing the sense of everyone. When I played Rain Blood 2, I did feel the strong impact when hitting the enemy with the move.
Although the game still uses the game editor RPGMAKER, a large number of original program scripts make the game's interpretation more original and can freely express the plot. The move setting in this game will be larger and more rigorous, the character skill upgrade and weapon upgrade systems will be more mature, there will be more types of enemies, and the characteristics will be more distinctive. Many players maliciously criticized Rain Blood before its release, saying it was an RPGMAKER-level copycat. The author disagrees. If you have played the RPGMAKER game or have experience in ROGMAKER development, you will find that the system of Rain Blood 2 has really broken out of the shackles of the engine. To put it another way, still using such a popular and simple editor due to financial constraints is probably not Soulframe’s original intention. Who doesn’t want to find a strong programming team to develop their own engine? But is this really something that a small studio that has just transformed from an independent game into a commercial game can do?
Soundtrack
< p>The music of this game is produced by Bo Caisheng, a musical genius who studied in the United States. The music I feel in the game combines Eastern and Western instruments, and also incorporates many advantages of Western music on the basis of Chinese style. Due to my limited musical literacy, I only heard three musical instruments: guzheng, violin, and drums, but I dare not talk about more musical sounds. As for the soundtrack of the entire work, it is definitely just right. The majesty of the battle, the weirdness in the maze, and the low tone when the conspiracy is revealed. The mystery and weird style of the entire work are vividly highlighted by the soundtrack.As a commercial work in the true sense of the Rain Blood series, "Rain Blood 2: Ye City" can be said to have put a lot of effort into the suspenseful martial arts plot. If Rain Blood 1 is just a young independent game, then Rain Blood 2’s full commercialization and more complete design mark its maturity. Only then can we dare to say that it is indeed the pioneer of suspense martial arts games. .
Song Dandan said: "It is difficult to be a woman, and it is difficult to be a celebrity." Zhao Benshan said: "It is difficult to be a famous old woman!". As for the sequel to Yuxue, I would like to say that it is difficult to make a small-level game. It is difficult to make a domestic game. It is difficult to make a small-level domestic game! Many of us players always want to buy a white powder-level game for the price of cabbage. Many players always want our games to remain "independent" because in their worldview "commercialization = spending money", they even wish that domestic games would continue to be pirated and monopolized. Just as you can't like everyone, don't expect everyone to like you. Therefore, the author here just wants to advise these players, it doesn't matter if you don't like it, but please give this well-thought-out game your remaining little tolerance, because there are more people who like it who need it.
An old boy’s game dream, a martial arts dream that subverts tradition, a domestic dream to go global...