Game Making: Start By Healing the Player

After Chen Xu announced the existence of ‘Undertale’.

The average, ordinary gamers did not notice anything out of place, they simply felt that the situation has escalated.

This was no longer an argument, but an all out war!

But to the well-informed gaming media, it felt like the barking of a chihuahua.

They originally thought it was the angry outburst of a hotheaded young man.

Now it felt like Zhong Mei and Chen Xu were manufacturing hype!

Regardless, it was still something that drew eyes and traffic, so they wouldn’t miss out on it.

So as the gaming news outlets updated their coverage, the popularity of both ‘Blooming’ and ‘Undertale’ started to skyrocket.

Back in Hepai Style, Zhong Mei was upset.

Because instead of ‘Blooming’ taking center stage, the two games would be linked.

He took the time to start a fight with Chen Xu to raise its popularity, and spent a lot of money on its promotion.

But now? He had basically given a free ride to ‘Undertale’ as well.

  ……………

On the 15th of July, ‘Undertale’ was officially launched on the official gaming platforms. A full 3 days earlier than Zhong Mei’s ‘Blooming’.

You could say it struck the first blow.

Many game designers and gamers are paying attention to the performance of ‘Undertale’.

After all, this is not an erotic game like its predecessor, ‘Mirror’.

Although the performance of ‘Mirror’ was very impressive, it was still an 18R game.

Everyone wanted to know how good the quality of Chen Xu’s first “real” game would be.

In the editorial office of a gaming media website called Spacetime.

Wu Tian, who had been hired as a reviewer not long ago, sat in front of the computer preparing to experience ‘Undertale’.

Wu Tian was depressed, because this was a sunday and he was supposed to be off-duty. But there was nothing he could do, the recent popularity of ‘Undertale’ meant every website would be scrambling to release their reviews as soon as possible.

So he had no choice but to work overtime.

All for a stupid little indie game…

“Forget it, let’s just bear with it, at least they’re paying me for this.” Looking at the time, Wu Tian sighed for the nth time since he clocked in.

He remembered the apologetic tone of the editor-in-chief, “Our overtime pay is relatively high, and it was difficult to get people on such short notice, I hope you understand.”

After making sure all the settings on the computer were right, and the recording software was functional, Wu Tian booted up the game.

It started with the company logo. A black, starry sky with “Nebula Games” written in hanzi above and english below.

After a moment of darkness, an old, yellowed portrait appeared on the screen. It showed a small child with long hair, whose face could not be seen.

Next to the child, standing on two feet, was an animal also without a face. It looked like a rabbit. Or was it a dog? A sheep?

Like an old comic book, the yellowed page was turned.

“Is it because they lack the money for CG animations? But this comic book way of telling the opening story doesn’t look bad at all.”.

With that opening alone, ‘Undertale’ already left a good impression on Wu Tian.

At least there’s a good chance that today’s journey into overtime won’t be torture.

The background music began to play, a simple but interesting tune.

[ Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS ]

[ One day, war broke out between the two races ]

[ After a long battle, the humans were victorious ]

[ They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell ]

[ Many years later ]

[ Mount EBOTT – 201X ]

[ Legends say that those who climb the mountain never return ]

A very simple introduction, Wu Tian found nothing outstanding yet.

After naming his character, he saw him waking up on a patch of yellow flowers.

Receiving no prompts, Wu Tian pushed a few buttons and found that he could move. After exploring the room, he moved forward.

He arrived at what appeared to be the gates of an ancient castle, and after passing through them, a small sunflower appeared.

[ Howdy! ]

[ I’m Flowey ]

[ Flowey the flower ]

[ Hmmm… ]

[ You’re new to the Underground. Aren’t you? ]

[ Golly, you must be so confused ]

[ Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! ]

[ I guess little old me will have to do ]

[ Ready? Here we go! ]

“What an odd character,” Wu Tian was still not sure what to think of the game, “You can grow stronger by gaining LV, so shouldn’t it be level? Why is it called love?”

Wu Tian was confused by Flowey’s lines. Is it making fun of him?

And what are these “friendliness pellets”?

The music actually sounds slightly unsettling, and Wu Tian feels like something is wrong with this little flower.

The next scenes confirmed his thoughts.

Flowey, who seemed friendly at first, showed a malicious face after telling him to touch the friendliness pellets.

His health was reduced to 1 point, the music stopped, and the shaking text only added more to the atmosphere.

[ You idiot ]

[ In this world, it’s kill or be killed ]

[ Why would anyone pass up an opportunity like this? ]

[ Die ]

Distorted laughter filled the air, but Wu Tian’s mood showed no fluctuations. According to standard game logic, someone should come to the rescue.

Looking at the heart-shaped icon being surrounded by white particles, Wu Tian jotted down some notes for his review.

The combat seems to have some sort of bullet hell element, and maybe some rhythm game elements.

But so far the story felt a bit dated, isn’t this just a traditional RPG?

Sure enough, just as the pellets were about to touch him, his health, which was at 1 point, suddenly filled up. At the same time, the pellets disappeared.

The little flower also showed a puzzled expression, and was then sent flying by a ball of flames.

A woman with goat horns on her head appeared to save the day.

[ What a terrible creature. Torturing such a poor, innocent youth ]

[ Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the ruins ]

[ I pass through this place everyday to see if anyone has fallen down ]

[ You are the first human to come down here in a long time ]

[ Come! I will guide you through the catacombs ]

[ This way ]

After a brief conversation, the NPC named Toriel led Wu Tian onwards.

Teaching him how to solve puzzles and avoid traps.

At the same time, telling him that he does not always have to fight when he encounters enemies. He can actually try communicating with them.

The puzzles were extremely simple, just pushing stones and crossing bridges.

At this point, Wu Tian was starting to feel some frustration, “It’s not exactly torture, but it’s just so boring, not even as interesting as ‘Mirror’ so far.”

He sighed and looked at the monster he encountered, but did not choose to talk to it or give it a friendly hug.

Instead, he went straight for combat.

So far, there are only a few things he finds noteworthy.

This includes the combat, and the encounter with the flower.

He noted with some enthusiasm that although this could be classified as a bullet hell game, different monsters seem to have different fighting styles and animations.

For example, the frog monsters have an attack where a small frog appears and tries to jump at the heart. Or an attack where little flies appear near the heart.

Overall, the attacks fit the image of the monster very well.

“I just hope this game won’t be too long and boring, so I can get home and relax soon.” Wu Tian sighed again and shook his head.