Game Development Giant

I mentioned the trial and error method before.

This is actually a very common gameplay setting in many games.

For example, in works such as Biohazard 4 (Biohazard 4) and Dead Space (Dead Space), this kind of gameplay is deeply enjoyed by players, and they even specially collect death scenes and make them into videos. Fatal Frame also goes to great lengths to construct several fail animations for each comic page.

Even if the player does not find the correct solution on the first try, he will not face a single failure animation repeatedly. This greatly enhances the fun of the trial and error process, and it is also possible to try out all death animations. Then it became a whole new way to play.

The most critical point of this kind of gameplay is to allow players to constantly experience new things, so that curiosity prompts them to continue, regardless of the malicious settings of various designers.

Returning to the game experience level, the designer of this game frankly said that the entire game wants to deliver an experience similar to watching a movie.

Although the game mode is based on the comic form, after clicking the play button of the first comic strip, each comic will come alive and become a short animation. After connecting these frames and pages of animation, a The film noir gradually takes shape before the players' eyes. But the most interesting thing is not the innovation of this experience, but the new possibilities shown at the narrative level after resurrecting comics into movies and adding interactivity to movies into games.

This is actually what Hideo Kojima has been pursuing since he started designing games.

Express all the content of the game through movies.

And hide-and-seek can only be said to be a very private personal hobby of his. After all, the inspiration for Metal Gear came from the hide-and-seek game he played as a child.

Actually.

There are many more special features about this game.

For example, on the official blog of Love House, the official has recorded two developer design camps (design camps). In the first design camp, three team members completely reproduced the entire game levels in the form of drawing cards. In other words, the game had been completed in the form of paper and pen before adding effects such as animation and music. Judging from the records of the second design camp, in addition to the logical rationality of all levels, the problem to be solved seems to be the problem of the infinite loop ending.

From comics to animation/movies to games, it is a process of gradually enriching the audio-visual experience, from the initial static images to dynamic lens switching, and then to the control of the entire narrative process. Players become more familiar with every aspect of the story, including first-hand experience of alternative story progression possibilities. What is suppressed in this process is often the player's own imagination.

The highlight of Fatal Frame is to move the player's operating space forward to the comic level, and re-expose the player's imagination to the rich audio-visual experience to avoid damage to this process. The player is no longer the passive accepting role, but has become a role similar to a director. This feeling of controlling the direction of the story and watching it proceed according to your control is an experience that cannot be achieved with more action level control.

This allows players to also feel like a director.

This is actually what Hideo Kojima has spent thirty years trying to do. But nothing is done yet.

Therefore, it is no wonder that Fatal Frame was regarded by Hideo Kojima as his 2014 Game of the Year.

It seems to make sense when you think about it, putting aside Kojima's own dreams of directing, as Fatal Frame shows. It is a completely different hide and seek game mode. The hide and seek game mode that Hideo Kojima spent nearly thirty years perfecting was quietly surpassed by Fatal Frame at the core concept level.

Don’t forget, compared to the nearly thirty years of history of the Metal Gear Solid series. Not only is this the first work of the independent game studio Love Shack, it also has only three members.

Maybe The Phantom Pain is Kojima's own version of the ultimate hide-and-seek game, but that's what games are. Whenever you think that the possibilities of a field/type have been exhausted, there will always be new ideas that appear in front of players, and there is no doubt that the breakthroughs in innovation of Fatal Frame have already surpassed those of these three people in Flames. Works from Mint Studio.

Xiaojiao, I have some very special ideas...

Jester had a very detailed and in-depth discussion with Hideo Kojima. Jester's main point of view came from the game Fatal Frame.

And Hideo Kojima also heard it with great brilliance.

Finally, when Jester saw that the time was almost up, he asked Hideo Kojima to wait for him in the conference room. He would go over and personally preside over the first discussion meeting of the 'Era' project in a short while, after all, he was doing some preliminary work. arrangement on.

However, during the chat just now, Hideo Kojima also shared a lot of his ideas with Jester about the game Metal Gear he wants to make.

Especially regarding the world structure. In fact, Hideo Kojima's ideas about the world structure of Metal Gear are not yet completely mature. In Jester's view, they are even a little rough.

It can be said that what Jester knows is much more complete than the world structure that Hideo Kojima wants to create.

After all, as a former fan of Kojima, Jester is extremely familiar with the plot and world structure of Metal Gear Solid.

In fact, by Jester's time, it had already developed into the fifth film, which is the Metal Gear Solid that Hideo Kojima said would be his last. The plot is extremely complicated. To be honest, if you have never been exposed to it, As for the previous plot, if you directly play the fifth game The Phantom Pain, it may take a lot of time and energy to understand the plot.

Even so, it's still confusing.

In fact, the plot of Metal Gear is complicated, but it is also relatively simple.

Hideo Kojima has now completed the origin part of the story.

In 1918, Russia, China and the United States jointly established a decadent organization called the-philosophers, which controlled everything.

Then, in 1961, President Kennedy began to rebel against the-philosophers.

However, the counterattack from the-philosophers came very quickly.

In 1963, the-philosophers assassinated President Kennedy. It was also at this time that the plot of the Metal Gear series officially began. However, what Hideo Kojima wanted to initially produce was not, This plot begins in 1963, but takes place many years later.

Jester had no problem with that.

Because in the world that Jester knew, Hideo Kojima also used this narrative technique to express the plot of his Metal Gear Solid.

For example, this section at the beginning of the plot in 1963, in the game Metal Gear, is the third game in this series.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater to show.

Regarding these things about the plot of this game, Jester just synthesized his own memory, and then said a few things he could say, and at the same time it could inspire Hideo Kojima. In fact, because Jester has never played Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, so it is impossible for him to completely know all of Hideo Kojima’s thoughts on the content of this game.

When Hideo Kojima was about to leave, Jester suddenly thought of a very interesting and unforgettable setting in Hideo Kojima's game.

It can be said that he truly became a loyal fan of Hideo Kojima and the Metal Gear series because of this memory.

After he experienced such a setting at that time, he felt that the Metal Gear Solid series had been sublimated and gave him a different feeling when playing this game than playing other games. I feel that the people in this game are alive.

This is not done through artistic means like more realistic modeling.

Instead, use this feeling.

Living, made of flesh and blood, not a cold zero or a number.

This is what Jester experienced in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

The story and operability of this game surpass the first two orthodox sequels and can be called the highest masterpiece in the history of the Metal Gear series. However, it has been criticized by most players regarding the perspective issue. Movie-like action with scenes and characters, has very high ratings.

The world view of this work describes the origin of the Metal Gear Solid series. Snake (naked snake, the future big boss) becomes the absolute protagonist of this game.

This game adds a new survival system and the core system of the game. Players can see the character's physical condition and eat freshly caught food (food will corrupt over time on the PS2 system), but some players have criticized this feature as very troublesome, while others have praised it. The game truly demonstrates CQC (close combat) skills, just like real stealth combat, and at the same time embodies the theme of wild survival expressively.

There is a level where the boss is a sniper, his name is the-end. In the game, he is set to be a sniper, and his shooting skills are very accurate. His fighting style is very simple, just let you find him. His hiding place, then, turn on your heat detector, which is your optical glasses, and kill him.

Looking at it from here, you might think this is nothing, a very ordinary setting.

But here's the thing.

This boss is a sniper. As soon as you show up, you will be killed mercilessly by the end. (To be continued...)