If you want to find a model of fragmented narrative in domestic games, Naraka: Bladepoint is definitely well deserved.
Whether it is the heroic stories that are intertwined with each other or the fragments of information in the costume descriptions, these words and phrases together construct the endless struggle between the two true gods, the power struggle of the Wuji Empire, and the grievances and hatreds of the heroic characters.
In the past year, the game has introduced a number of new characters such as Hu Wei, Ji Yingying, and Hardy, all of whom are expanding the boundaries of this story, and the popular hero Wei Qing, who will appear at the beginning of this year, has reversed last year's "Riddler" style and changed to "answer" the previous unsolved mysteries to fill in the gaps in the game's plot. Thanks to this "pit filling" move, a chain reaction of discussion was set off in the player community.
Familiar "strangers".
For many players who have been following the story of Naraka: Bladepoint for a long time, Wei Qing is actually not a "new character". In one of the first art settings of the game, Wei Qing is in the foreground as the main character, and appears as a "childhood sweetheart" in the illustration of the follow-up Yueshan hero story.
Wei Qing's early image was not much different from today's, wearing a lean corset, wearing a cloud gauze crown similar to a brocade guard, and her heroic armor dress showed her identity as a person in the army.
After the character was announced, many of the previously missing settings were also completed. She holds the position of "ruling the gold and guarding the capital" of the Wuji Empire, you can also understand it as "the first female head catcher in the world", and it is her mission to solve serious cases and arrest key criminals, known as the "jade-faced judge".
However, Wei Qing's character richness is more than that, and in the official debut CG announced a few days ago, her interaction with other characters also revealed more news.
The most eye-catching thing in the CG that appeared this time is the fight between Wei Qing and Ji Yingying in the opening. A contest between a killer and a headcatcher was on the verge of breaking out, and after a short gorgeous confrontation, Ji Yingying was trapped by Wei Qingxuanwu Shield. However, Ji Yingying, who was bound by shackles, did not show the slightest panic, but calmly said "You speak", implying that the two had already known each other well.
In fact, if you start from the historical prototype of the "Zhijinwei" and "Impermanence Division" that the two worked, the relationship between Jinyiwei and the two factories does have some meaning of "colleagues", and now that the two have fought each other, it can't help but make people guess how much power struggle there is in the Wuji Empire, and how many former friends have to draw their swords against each other because of this.
Then, the CG perspective left the duel between the two, and Wei Qing, who was alone, was packing up.
In the monologue, the repeated "rain" corresponds to the artistic picture of Wei Qing holding an umbrella for Yue Shan, and it is difficult not to suspect that this passage is talking about her relationship with Yue Shan.
It was mentioned in the story of Yue Shan's appearance that Yue Shan was originally a family of generals, but when he went out to fight against the prince, he caught up with the prince's rebellion, and Yue Shan, who had seen the prince, was suspected of turning back, so there was a story that the Yue family was imprisoned and Wei Qing was ordered to arrest Yue Shan. However, in this CG, it is not difficult for us to see that Wei Qing's indecision in her heart is an order issued by the imperial court on the one hand, and her old best friend on the other hand, she doesn't know what the truth is, she only knows that there must be another conspiracy in it.
In addition, the screen provides a lot of information. The wanted notice for Hu Wei posted on the wall has confirmed that bandits like Hu Wei are also Wei Qing's target, and if Hu Wei's previous experience of robbing Yue Shan is followed, perhaps these two story lines will soon intersect.
After the CG was announced, the "CP Party" among the players directly "celebrated the New Year in advance", and the new news of Yue Shan and Wei Qing's progress made the majority of players praise "It's gone". However, it is not only this pair that can make people "snort", in the first half of CG, Wei Qing and Ji Yingying's rivalry play, seeing the reaction of the two reuniting like old friends, everyone is naturally imaginative, this pair of "girlfriends" composed of many players' "new and old wives" has added some "General Yue Shan, I'm sorry, I choose Yingying" voice to the comment area.
The power of the Xuanwu is back in the field
In the CG announced this time, the interactive shot of the little turtle on Wei Qing's desk and the Yueshan doll has won the praise of many players, and this little turtle that hints at the "power of Xuanwu" runs through the beginning and end of the CG of the whole story, becoming a projection of Wei Qing's image.
As early as the previous "Yongwu Sword Fighting Conference", we had already seen some initial concepts about Wei Qing, and her Xuanwu shield became the focus of discussion among players at that time. And now, after the official announcement of the details, we can confirm that Wei Qing, like Hu Wei, is a hero with the power of a divine beast.
Of course, this is not the first time that the power of the divine beast has appeared in "Naraka: Infinite", just like the world deduction of "two rituals give birth to four elephants, and four elephants give birth to gossip" in traditional Taoism, the game renders the endless competition between the cathode true god and the anode true god, and then makes the power of the four elephants into the basic setting of the game.
Before combining the heroic features with the imagery of the divine beasts, the blessings of the three divine beasts, such as the green dragon, the vermilion bird, and the Xuanwu, have appeared in the game's competitions, providing players with different special bonuses. Among them, the ability of the Martial Force is biased towards defense and maintenance, and the wielder can gain additional damage reduction while also providing a large area of reconnaissance ability, allowing nearby enemies to appear.
And this time, the "Xuanwu power" on Wei Qing's body is completely consistent with the worldview constructed in the original game. Wei Qing's skills in the game revolve entirely around her Xuanwu shield, and after seeing the opportunity to interrupt the opponent's offensive rhythm with defense**, it is a skill that players must master when controlling her.
Among them, the V2 derivation of the Mystery can allow Wei Qing to make the enemy's position appear like the "Xuanwu Power" in the game after blocking the enemy's attack, and if Wei Qing activates the Mystery again at this time, he can even realize the "Flying Thunder God" operation that teleports to the attacker's side, which can be said to be a subtle design that combines the power of Xuanwu and the setting of the head of the pursuit of the murderer.
Thanks to this unique power of Xuanwu, Wei Qing has become the first traditional "damage-bearing" character in Naraka: Bladepoint, and Wei Qing's gameplay ideas are also very different from the existing heroes in Naraka: Bladepoint, and even feel like a test by the production team.
In the current "Naraka: Bladepoint", when players are fighting knives, the power of the active attack is really great. Even in hand-to-hand combat where you are deeply disadvantaged, it is not uncommon to use offense as defense to seize the opportunity to turn the tide of battle. This "bike-to-bike" experience has led many players to prefer the latter when faced with pulling and attacking.
And after Wei Qing joined the game, there was a new choice for this scene. Her blocking is constant and can get the opportunity to fight back or chase in an instant, which can be called the gospel of hard work. To a certain extent, this is using the passive strategy to obtain the same benefits as the active strategy, which is undoubtedly "threatening" the original rules of pulling and grabbing the rhythm.
Especially after Wei Qing launched the test server, some actual combat ** will appear Wei Qing supermodel, and there are also some doubts in the player's community. But in fact, if you dig deep into its rules, Wei Qing's skills are not strong enough to directly overturn the table, but as a deterrent, internalized in the original rules of the game.
Wei Qing, who seems to be a supermodel, is actually not without restraint. Pulling away and avoiding her edge is the main strategy against Wei, while her counterattacks and pursuits can also be defused using positioning, kiting or huddles. In this way, Wei Qing's space to play is actually relatively limited, but it will become a kind of deterrent that everyone fears, and become a shield wall in the duel. In a master duel, forcing the opponent to pull and adjust the rhythm of the attack is perhaps the most likely effect of this mystery, and the opponent will still be in a dynamic balance.
In the group platoon, the situation of multi-person melee is more conducive to Wei Qing's skill play. With the help of the deterrent power of parrying, she can break up the gang for her teammates, and she can also "touch" her opponents and create opportunities for her teammates to combo, but again, her skills are still too focused on the benefits of fighting knives, and she can't get the burst or control ability of other heroes, which has a very obvious shortcoming.
It can be said that Wei Qing's skill mechanism seems to be a supermodel, but a closer look at it is a change of thinking, giving players who are not good at fighting knives an additional choice, and it can also make the game's group row play more tricks.
Looking back at the previous few new heroes, Wei Qing's design ideas are very different from them. After we have seen Hardy's Feitian, Ji Yingying's "Summoning" exclusive**, and Jade Linglong's ecstasy**, Wei Qing, like several "predecessors", jumped out of the original game rules with mysteries, but returned to the game triangle itself, making more fuss about the core gameplay, which has a "old-school" flavor. It is foreseeable that Wei Qing's appearance may not bring earth-shaking changes, but the details and awareness of knife fighting born by her will soon become a new compulsory course.
Conclusion
Before the official release of Wei Qing's actual machine demonstration, the planning of "Naraka: Bladepoint" also answered many questions raised by players. One of the first problems is the reconstruction of hero skills that began after the release of Wei Qing, using new game ideas to examine the design of those heroes in the past, and constantly enriching and changing the gameplay. This may be the greater significance of the role of Wei Qing to "Naraka: Infinite".