[GameLook special manuscript, please indicate the source for reprinting]
GameLook report/The “Phantom Tower”, which was compared with “The Original God”, was blown up…
On July 15, “Magic Tower” opened the “Suppressor·Amplification Test”. Unexpectedly, when they opened “Phantom Tower” on time, they were waiting for them to click on the login screen and the “2613” error code that popped up. Fortunately, the operation team did not let the players wait too long. With a sincere and pragmatic apology letter, all players who started and logged in before 14 o’clock were promised that the test qualification was valid.
Although the open world of “Phantom Tower” is really “open” in front of all test players this time, with the players’ enthusiasm for testing, the operation team may have to think ahead of time how to deal with the greater pressure during the open beta. …
As previously expected, the new version of “Phantom Tower” brings a lot of improvements. If the sincerity of a production team is judged by “incremental”, Hotta Studio, the development team of “Phantom Tower”, can definitely bear the name of “full of sincerity”. This brand-new studio of Perfect World Games is repairing word-of-mouth like a BUG with the trend of “baldness”. After two tests, it collects player feedback, organizes and continuously redeems the content of the super-long “baldness list”. This is the most sincere example.
Under the rumors of “black and red marketing”, the open world dream of “Magic Tower” is still continuing.
To win back trust, start from understanding the players
Outside the open world, “light science fiction” and “wasteland” are also important labels of “Magic Tower”, which makes its target audience more comprehensive than traditional single-category games. How to balance the relationship between the two-dimensional and traditional MMO has become the second biggest challenge faced by a new category like “Phantom Tower”. What is the first challenge you ask? Of course, it is how the operation team figured out a way not to explode the server!
Compared with traditional mobile game players, two-dimensional players have many new characteristics. They pay more attention to role development and self-realization, believing that roles, plots, or gameplay ultimately serve the purpose of “pleasing oneself”. Traditional MMO games with the same leather routines can no longer meet the more dimensional game needs of such players, and even develop a kind of subconscious rejection. For this reason, even though the popularity and booking volume of “Fantasy Tower”, which has some features of MMO gameplay, is soaring, it can’t help but be labeled as “don’t understand the second element”.
The solution to this problem is actually very simple, “listen” and “do”. But in the current game market, there is a lot of superficial effort for these two words, but less down-to-earth. However, for the “Phantom Tower” team, this is the most determined choice. While removing the mount attributes, cutting off the power rankings, balancing PVP and other content, the “lightly social” design is used to enhance players’ non-utilitarian interaction in the open world, return to the original intention of friendly and collaborative social interaction, and take into account the young second The “social fear” attribute of dimensional players creates a harmonious and friendly game atmosphere.
What if a two-dimensional player who is immersed in a different world plot alone needs to burn all obstacles in front of him but does not have a fire weapon? The solution to most games is to provide additional blasting props, but in the world of Phantom Tower, you can stop a passing stranger and use his fire weapon to overcome obstacles. Compared with the life and death in the arena, the light social interaction based on goodwill makes the two-dimensional players more useful and more pleasing.
In terms of the people that the two-dimensional players pay attention to, the “Phantom Tower” team does not hesitate to bald, keep polishing and iteratively update. In the first test, some players bluntly said that “Phantom Tower” “doesn’t understand LSP”, and the character’s art style has a strong MMORPG legacy, which is far from the demands of the current Japanese two-dimensional enthusiasts.
If it weren’t for the official comparison video, it would be hard to believe that the two characters in the picture below are the same person. It is this kind of innovation, from hair color to clothing that has been completely renewed, so that the word-of-mouth of “Phantom Tower” “Every test is a new game” spread quickly. The development team achieved a complete update of the game’s characters in just a few months, and the hard work behind it can be seen.
Another important optimization point is the ACT action experience that has received praise since the first exposure, but still has room for improvement. For the two-dimensional players who have experienced many battles in ARPG games, the character dynamics and the sense of strike are also related to the overall texture of the game, and the “Phantom Tower” team also polished on this point with almost critical efforts. Add turbulent airflow to the vertical slashing action in the air, increase weapon stowing performance, optimize reloading and reloading actions… With detailed adjustments and optimizations, the dynamic look and feel of “Phantom Tower” is constantly improving.
Cut the complex and make it simple, every cut is the key
After each round of testing, the “Phantom Tower” development team will release a meticulous and massive “baldness checklist” to elaborate on the content of adjustments and optimizations after this test, from the visual to the gameplay to the system, everything is included. This version of the augmentation test also brings a lot of updates, and every cut is the key, and it hits the player’s pain point.
“Light pollution” is a big problem that players have reported more before. The overly gorgeous light effect once made the player unable to see the position of the character under his control during the battle. Regarding the light effect of “excessiveness”, the development team has made significant adjustments after this update, which brings about a series of animation updates when the role skills are cast.
The development team did not hesitate to weaken the screen shock problem that was also criticized by players. This is undoubtedly a great boon for players with 3D vertigo. The timely adjustment of the two major issues is not only a full respect for player feedback, but also a comprehensive upgrade of the combat experience.
Through significant changes in the underlying logic and visual interaction, the new version of “Phantom Tower” further realizes the game experience of “seeing comfortably and cutting smoothly”.
As busy as programmers, there is also the planning of “Fantasy Tower”. For the plot that two-dimensional players attach great importance to, the development team also responds to player feedback in the first time, supplementing and optimizing the content of the story. Earlier, many players said that the role of Sally died suddenly in the plot, which also affected the overall rhythm of the game. In the new version, the “Phantom Tower” team has added a new plot to make Sally’s related storyline more reasonable. In the narrative rhythm, the new version has also been targeted to optimize, and strive to tell a good story.
Compared with MMORPG, a major feature of the open world is its high degree of freedom. Players can not follow the main tasks to promote the development of the plot, but freely explore in the fantasy and different world, which also makes all the plants in the open world need to be carefully crafted, bringing richer and more realistic exploration to the leisure players of the idle clouds and wild cranes. Experience.
In the previous version, insufficient scene expression was also a major problem reported by players. In order to enhance the visual presentation of the open world, the new version brings iterative optimization of modeling scenes. Focusing on the two themes of “Light Science Fiction” and “Wasteland”, the “Fantasy Tower” team has added a series of buildings, creatures and environmental props that conform to the world view. Whether it is falling leaves or floating grass, they are fully adapted to the environmental characteristics. Although these detailed improvements do not affect the main line experience of the game, they further enrich the tension of the open world scene and make the game feel even more textured.
From the battle to the content and then to the scene, the “Phantom Tower” team removed the complex and simplified step by step, realizing the rapid advancement of the game quality with amazing efficiency. While making drastic improvements to the existing game content, the development team has not forgotten to bring new surprises to players.
Introduce the old and bring forth the new, to be fresh and more fun
The biggest surprise of the new version of “Phantom Tower” is undoubtedly the brand-new mimicry system. Players can ignore the existing gender and body type after acquiring a specific weapon, and the mimicry is a brand-new appearance. The addition of the mimicry system realizes the two-dimensional player’s demand for the personification of weapons, and makes the weapons that continue to form fetters with the player in battle really come alive.
At the same time, the “Phantom Tower” team also hopes that the addition of the mimicry system will not allow the character image to overly restrict the choice of weapons, so players can also let their favorite mimicry image use other weapons to fight. On the contrary, players can also switch back to their own image to use mimicry weapons, so as not to weaken the more self-substituting immersive game experience.
At present, the mimic system has a total of four characters open, and each character has a distinct personal charm, which can fully satisfy the aesthetic appeal of different players.
In addition to the creative mimicry system, the new version also brings a dream game with mild Roguelike characteristics. When the player explores the treasure chest or clears the camp, he has the opportunity to trigger the mysterious original energy storage device to go to the unknown dreamland at any time.
Players who escape into illusory dreams will face various tests. They may be trapped in intricate dark labyrinths, they may usher in mysterious and treacherous mechanical buildings on the way forward, or they may board a fully-fired artillery car to resist foreign invasions, or even Having to fight against fierce and violent monsters, it may also be necessary to find alive with my hazy memory…
The high degree of randomness of the dream gameplay makes every exploration full of freshness and excitement, which also brings more fun to players who love to seek challenges and are good at solving puzzles. In addition, completing all the puzzles can unlock generous clearance rewards, which will further stimulate players’ interest in exploration.
In addition to mimicry and dreams, the new version of “Phantom Tower” also contains many new easter eggs waiting for players to explore and discover. The endless possibilities of the open world also make future iterations of “Phantom Tower” more and more exciting.
“Every test is like a new game” is not only the general feeling of the players who participated in the test, but also a true portrayal of the iteration of the “Phantom Tower” version. Although there is still room for improvement in the current version of the game, with the unremitting efforts of the bald team, I believe that “Phantom Tower” can move closer to the anticipated high-quality open world.
This Article is curated from Source and we only provide the English version of the Story.
