分类： Review

Slay the Spire

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

Slay the Spire is a card-based Roguelike game created and published by Mega Crit Games. It combines deck building and Rogue gameplay, encouraging players to combine their decks based on randomly appearing cards and relics to defeat the enemies in the spire.

The game is inherited from Dream Quest, developed by Peter Whalen, but optimized on its strong randomness to create a highly strategic gameplay experience for players using monster intent and clear card effects. In its wake, countless followers have flocked to this niche genre, and now the card-based Rouge has become an extremely large segment of the gaming community.

2. Making Random Strategic

At the 1989 GDC, game design master Sid Meier said:

“A game is a series of interesting decisions”

Slay the Spire succeeds precisely because it offers players a predictable choice of strategies to crack difficult levels with calculation, no matter the difficulty. This kind of thinking is exactly what makes for interesting decisions.

I think there are often two types of randomness in strategy Rouge: chance random and strategy random.

Chance Random

Random chance means that the player makes a choice first and later sees a random result.

For example, with mechanics such as character hit and critic rates in XCOM, the player has at least 3 outcomes after giving an attack command to a character.

  1. the attack hits, dealing normal damage.

  2. the attack hits, dealing bludgeoning damage.

  3. the attack missed.

The player is unable to accurately predict the outcome before the character acts, which can result in the entire course of the battle changing due to this one random circumstance.

Rouge games often have limited resources and the player consumes resources with every action, creating what must be a poor gaming experience if the correct strategy may randomly travel as a result.

Strategy Random

Strategy random means that the game generates random challenges or puzzles, and the player chooses his or her own determined expectations based on these challenges.

For example, in Into the Breach, the location of monster generation is random, but the player can clearly see the intent of each enemy, the location and type of new enemy that will appear on the next turn, and thus control the character to execute the optimal strategy of his or her choice.

This type of randomness is similar to gaming in a chess game, but instead of having to evolve the opponent’s possible choices, the player simply uses the limited leverage his side has to solve the upcoming problem. However, it still requires a great deal of calculation at each move, increasing the burden of thought on the player.

Killing Spire is a clever combination of two random mechanics, as players build decks from randomly appearing cards and then use them strategically to solve puzzles based on the battlefield.

This doesn’t mean that the cards don’t have random effects, but the presence of random luck means that it adds to the fun of the game. There are a handful of cards that cause random effects for each profession in the game, but they mostly affect situations where you are fighting more with less, and they don’t randomise negative effects.

3. Core Mechanisms

3.1 Strategy

3.1.1 Limited Resource Assignment

In traditional strategy games, players need to manage and administer the resources they collect in a limited amount of time to win, but one defeat does not mean the end of the game, as long as they can continue to collect resources, they will always have a chance to turn the game around.

In Strategy Rouge, the length of a single game is fixed, which means that the player’s resources are fixed, and all of the player’s strategic choices will revolve around the limited resources, i.e. the strategy is the solution to the allocation of those resources.

In Slay the Spire, players have 4 types of resources：

  • Card: Cards are the strategies available to players when they engage in battle.
  • Gold: Gold is a resource for players to buy items from merchants or to unlock higher level options in random events.
  • Potion: Potions are one-time items that assist players in battle.
  • HP: HP is a resource that players can choose to exchange in battle, and also affects some of the options for random events.

There are also relics, which are items that enhance the player’s character’s abilities, but it is almost impossible for the player to spend them in exchange for resources, so they are not classified as allocatable resources.

3.1.2 Map

In Slay the Spire, players can choose different routes to the boss room at the bottom of the level.

At the start of each game, the player first obtains a complete map of the entire level, estimates the potential rewards based on the different types of rooms on the map, and selectively exchanges resources to defeat the final boss and win the game.

Six types of rooms are shown on the map：

Merchant
Spend gold to acquire cards, relics or potions; spend gold to remove cards.
Random Events
Random appearance of other types of rooms or special events.
Rest Site
Restoring blood; strengthening cards (special relics will offer extra options)
Treasure
Obtaining relics
Monsters
Spend blood to gain cards, gold and potions
Elite Monsters
Spend blood to gain cards, gold, relics and potions

3.1.3 Combat

Combat is the part of Slay the Spire that players have to face as they move forward, and it’s fair to say that everything players do to prepare for combat in the game is in service of it.

The victory condition is that all enemy lives are reduced to 0. The defeat condition is that the player’s life is reduced to 0. The flow of the battle can be simplified as:

There are very few ways to restore life points in the game, so the player’s strategic choices for balancing the character’s attack and defence in each turn are in effect resource management of the character’s life points.

The composition of the deck will directly affect the strategies available to the player in this section. At the same time, the enemy’s intentions for the next turn are displayed in battle, encouraging players to choose the best strategy to break the situation.

3.2 Deck Building

3.2.1 Strength dimensions

In battle, players need to spend a fixed amount of energy each turn to play cards to their effect. As a game with strategy at its core, it is extremely important that Slay the Spire is numerically balanced.

There are 367 cards in the game, with 75 exclusive cards for each of the four professions Silent,Defect,Ironclad and Watcher, 53 colourless cards common to all professions and 14 cursed cards.

Depending on the effect, the cards available to the player can be divided into four categories: damage, defence, card draw and energy.

After counting the effects of all the cards, it was calculated that the expected standard values for each type of card effect are directly linked to the energy consumption, and that the values of all the cards do not deviate too much from the standard values：

Energy Cost

0

1

2

3

Damage

6

11

18

32

Block

4

9

16

Card Draw

1.5

3

In addition:

  • Cards that are stronger than standard are often accompanied by negative effects/additional release conditions

  • Cards that are weaker than standard often have other positive effects/can create more effects with other cards

  • Colorless cards will be slightly higher than the Pro Deck standard value for their rarity

At the same time, the weak initial card strength of each character encourages players to use cards acquired during the game, and forces them to trigger more combinations between cards when facing enemies with several times stronger life values than their characters later on.

3.2.1 Card System

Cards are the player’s strategic options in battle, and the more strategic they are, the more complex the player will be able to deal with the situation.

For this reason, instead of including a large number of rare cards with extensive text descriptions, Slay the Spire simplifies card functions and then enriches them with linking effects. The player community refers to these effects as combos, and cards that can form combos are referred to as a card system.

Statistics on the popular systems for each profession reveal that the designers offer a wealth of strategic options for each profession.

There are four types of characters in the game, each with three basic card systems.

Ironclad

  • Strength (emphasis on damage)
  • Blocking (emphasis on defence)
  • Depletion (emphasis on energy recovery)

 

Silent

  • Poison (emphasis on attack)
  • Knife (emphasis on attack)
  • Discard (Energy Recovery & Card Draw)

Defect

  • Lightning Ball (emphasis on attack)
  • Frostball (emphasis on defence)
  • Dark Ball (defence and card draw)

Watcher

  • Reserved (emphasis on card draw)
  • Stance (attack and energy recovery)
  • Foresight (emphasis on card draw)

As you can see, each card system enhances 1-2 aspects of a character’s ability, but winning battles requires a balance of players’ abilities in four areas: damage, defence, card draw and energy, which requires players to match up and build different systems to win the ultimate victory.

The clear and easy-to-calculate card effects successfully create a unique experience that guides players in forming their own strategies in a random variety of ways.

4. Enhancing the Experience

Slay the Spire creates a random world rich in strategy and enhances the player’s strategic choice experience with clear hints of monster intent and a card system that transforms functions to help players make sense of the battle and turn the tide.

  • Visual cues for monster intent

      • Monster intent shows the enemy’s next system in a straightforward manner, helping players to quickly understand the battle situation

      • In the original beta version, this feature required players to click on each enemy to read text cues to understand their intent, which was improved to an iconic display as it was complex and difficult to understand

      • There are 15 types of icons for monster intent, depending on the damage and effect, and the damage value is displayed directly on the icon

      • If the enemy’s actions cause a compound effect, the icons will overlap and there are 12 types of compound icons

      • The monster itself animates differently depending on the intent

0-4 damage
5-9 damage
10-14 damage
15-19 damage
20-24 damage
25-29 damage
30+ damage
Block
Negative Effect
powerful Negative Effect
Use a Buff
Escape
Asleep
Stunned
Not any of the above

      • The following outcomes are possible when the enemy’s intentions are unknown：

          • Splitting.

          • Exploding

          • Summoning Minion.

          • Changing form.

          • Reviving itself.

          • Doing nothing.

  • Card design outside the system

      • When a player chooses a card system that is severely lacking in a certain function, they can choose a card that is severely over-valued in the missing function but has harsh conditions of use to complement the weaknesses of their library, giving players a wider range of strategic options

      • Players can choose cards that convert an ability into another type of ability, such as Body Slam: Deal damage equal to your Block, which converts a defensive ability into a damage ability

      • Colorless cards are difficult to form combinations with, but they are strong enough to complement a player’s professional library, and can even have special combinations with other systems, providing players with more imaginative strategic options

      • Special colorless cards can be drawn randomly in battle to enrich the player’s deck, but they only have positive effects, enriching the player’s strategic options

5. Epilogue

At the time of the game’s release, the production team called Slay the Spire a Rougelite game, giving players a degree of certainty amidst the overall randomness, which is reinforced as players gain experience and eventually leads to a practically realistic strategy.

The Rogue element provides players with the thrill of a close win, and the strategic gameplay allows players to win without doubting that luck is their winning formula, proving the appeal that thinking brings to the game.

It’s hard to summarise what makes Slay the Spire work. The balance between random and strategic elements is just a symptom of what it is, but I think the core of it lies in the design philosophy of the team: Continuous optimisation of the game mechanics with the player experience at the core.

Killing Spire opened in Early Access in 2017 and won’t be released until 2019, during which time the team has been filling in content and adjusting values on a weekly basis, even though on the shop page they say “updated every fortnight”. I believe that listening to players and constantly optimising and improving the game experience is the distance between Killzone and a fun game.

Ring Fit Adventure

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

Ring Fit Adventure is a fitness RPG from Nintendo that requires the Nintendo Switch and Ring-Con to play.

Players take on the role of a warrior who uses fitness to fight against the Dragaux. Players need to perform actions that match their character’s movements to manipulate them to move, attack and other actions, combining gameplay with movement to create a gameplay experience that will keep players engrossed in fitness.

Ring Fit Adventure overcomes the weak feedback and monotony of the fitness process and creates a fun experience for the player with a complete gameplay framework for how fitness works.

2. Get immediate feedback on fitness

Work out first, Play later

Ring Fit Adventure is not the first physical fitness game to be released on the Switch platform, with Fitness boxing also utilizing the features of the Joy-con to create an exercise experience for the player.

These games are very pure and require the player to follow the character’s movements, but do not entice the player to stick with the game. The underlying logic of these games is the same as fitness, requiring players to have a strong self-drive to work out.

These products are more of an alternative to the game format for the gym-goer than a game.

And for most players, the main reasons for not being able to keep exercising are:

  • Monotonous and painful: the need to repeat the same movement over and over again, many times, makes it difficult to call the process fun.

  • Poor feedback: it often takes weeks or even months for the results to show up on the body.

Play first, work out later

Ring Fit Adventure goes in the opposite direction by first laying out the full RPG core mechanics in an interaction that requires the player to operate through movement.

The game’s own substantial RPG system features a much better numerical plan. Any action the player takes in the game converts into experience, and in the early stages of the game, the player can upgrade every 1-2 levels, and even towards the end of the game, up to 4 levels can be reached. The experience is enhanced by attack animations, background music and exercise assistance.

Using RPG elements, the game makes the sport more engaging.

  • Fun: each movement is animated with fun effects and there are hundreds of levels in 23 worlds for players to experience.

  • Strong Feedback: Every movement the player makes has a direct effect, including but not limited to moving, attacking, collecting, and recovering.

3. Core Mechanisms

Ring Fit Adventure takes a turn-based RPG approach to plot play and combat.

I have divided the core RPG system of this game into three sections: characters, levels and battles

3.1 Main Characters

  • Player Character

      • The character that players play as in the game does not have an official name. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Nintendo named the figure Ring Fit Trainee.

      • This character opens the game by recklessly unlocking Drgaux’s seal at the beginning of the game.

  • NPC

      • Ring

          • Ring is the character that guides the player through the game, and it is also the Ring-con in the player’s hands.

          • Ring has five abilities to help players on their adventures.

Color Coding

Matching the attack with the enemy color makes said attack stronger

Smoothiecraft

Allows the player to make Smoothies

River Rowing

Allows the player to traverse long stretches of water

Jump Boost

Allows the player to flip during a jump by jumping twice in rapid succession

Wing Ability

Allows the player to cross any chasm

      • Honey and Hubby

          • Honey and Hubby are the couple who run the grocery shop in the game.

          • They will give out quests to players and sell props, equipment and materials.

  • Enemies

      • Dragaux

          • Dragaux is the game’s biggest villain, a fitness freak determined to beat the player.

          • Dragaux will appear repeatedly throughout the game, each time with a new method of attack.

      • The Four Masters

          • The four masters have been conquered by Dragaux and have blocked the player from challenging him on several occasions on his way to adventure.

Allegra

The Legs Master

Abdonis

The Abs Master

Armando

The Arms Master

Guru Andma

The Yoga Master

3.2 Level Exploration

  • The scenes in the game are divided into two categories: worlds and levels.

  • World

      • The player moves through the worlds by walking the grid

      • There are 23 worlds in the game for players to explore

      • Players can mix Smoothies in the world screen

      • The worlds contain the following

            • Towns, where players can buy items and take on side quests

            • Main levels, where players progress through the story

            • Branch levels, where players can choose to earn specific rewards or complete side quests

            • Arena levels, where players need to complete a series of battles in as few rounds as possible to earn rewards

            • Gym levels, where players need to complete a series of exercises and achieve the required moves to earn rewards

            • Challenge levels, where players need to play mini-games to meet scoring requirements to earn rewards

            • Bonus monsters, where the first time you reach a level you need to defeat bonus monsters that drop large amounts of gold or experience

            • Treasure chests, where players can earn rewards directly

            • Portal, which transports players to another location in the world to explore

  • Levels

      • Players need to keep moving through levels by running in place

      • Players move through levels by platform jumping

      • Challenge levels in which players will enter different level scenarios depending on the challenge objective

      • Levels contain the following

            • Players can collect gold coins and are rewarded with experience points for collecting three large gold coins

            • Enemies, where players can choose to fight or leap over them using a two-step jump

            • Mechanisms, which require the player to break in motion

            • Branching routes, with different rewards for different routes

            • Treasure chests, which players need to open with deep squats

3.3 Combat

  • Basic Attributes: The basic attributes of players and enemies are Blood, Attack and Defence.。

      • Character attributes change as you level up, unlock talent trees or equip clothes.

      • Enemy attributes will vary depending on the type of enemy.

      • Monsters without colour have slightly higher defence than other monsters

      • Darkened monsters have much higher defence than normal monsters

  • Skills：

      • Skills are how characters attack or recover in battle

      • Players can acquire new skills by unlocking talent trees or by opening treasure chests in levels

      • Players need to perform the movement represented by the skill to activate it, and the effect of the skill is positively related to the standard of the player’s movement

      • Although the number of movements required per attack or recovery varies by adjusting the intensity of the training, the upper limit of the value is fixed

      • There are 45 skills in 4 categories and each skill is divided into 4 levels, the higher the level, the better the effect

Arms(8)

Overhead Press / Front Press / Bow Pull / Overhead Arm Twist / Overhead Arm Spin / Shoulder Press / Tricep Kickback / Back Press

Stomach(16)

Knee-to-Chest / Standing Twist / Plank / Overhead Bend / Open & Close Leg Raise / Overhead Hip Shake / Seated Forward Press / Overhead Lunge Twist / Leg Raise / Flutter Kick / Pendulum Bend / Leg Scissors / Russian Twist / Overhead Side Bend / Seated Ring Raise

Legs(11)

Squat / Knee Lift / Thigh Press / Wide Squat / Hip Lift / Ring Raise Combo / Overhead Squat / Mountain Climber / Side Step / Knee-Lift Combo

Yoga(10)

Chair Pose / Warrior I Pose / Fan Pose / Warrior II Pose / Revolved Crescent Lunge Pose / Warrior III Pose / Hinge Pose / Tree Pose / Standing Forward Fold / Boat Pose

  • Enemy behaviour

      • Attack: All enemies can attack, attack power varies depending on type

      • Accumulate: Enemies will accumulate for one round before launching a powerful attack

      • Restore: yoga carpet enemies can restore their own blood and that of one other enemy

      • Summoning: pumped up bird enemies can summon other enemies to join the fight

      • Rest: all enemies may rest for a while without taking any action

  • Damage Formula
      • Normal Attack :(Player Attack + Cloth Attack + Action Attack) /Target Defense
      • Color Matched :All Attack * 150%
      • Smoothie :All attack * 120%(boost) or 135%(huge boost)

  • External systems

      • Special Attacks

          • By drinking Smoothies or unlocking a talent, the player has a chance to trigger a Rush attack

          • Rush attacks require the player to repeat as many moves as possible in a limited amount of time

          • Rush attacks have different levels of fixed damage (normal, good, perfect) depending on the number of moves the player makes

      • Props

          • Smoothies can be used to add bonuses in levels or to restore blood and provide buffs in battle

          • Players can synthesise Smoothies in the world interface or buy them in town

          • Players can obtain Smoothie recipes through treasure chests or level rewards

          • The ingredients needed to make Smoothies can be collected in the levels

          • Players will need to use Ring-Con with their moves to make Smoothie

      • Equipment

          • Equipment can improve character attributes or increase level rewards

          • Some equipment has special mechanics, such as translating the language of other races in the game

          • Equipment needs to be purchased by the player in town

      • Talent trees

          • Talent trees can unlock skills, improve character attributes and increase a character’s combat abilities

          • Players upgrade to gain skill points to unlock the talent tree

3.4 Summary

From a traditional RPG point of view, the system of Ring Fit Adventure is extremely simplified.

This gives us an insight into the design philosophy of the game: a low barrier to entry, but with the potential to investigate the core mechanics.

Ring Fit Adventure creates an accessible atmosphere that allows players with little exposure to RPGs to get started quickly, while providing a rich combat support system to improve the experience of skilled players.

The focus of the game’s design is still on the action experience of movement interaction, and the full RPG core is also intended for this experience. As a result, players will be driven by the RPG elements to keep playing and thus actively exercising for fitness purposes.

4. Enhancing the experience

Ring Fit Adventure ensures a fun fitness tone through its core mechanics, and reinforces this experience in the following ways.

  • Visuals

      • When the player performs a move correctly, the flame effects on the character’s head become brighter and the power-ups glow, creating the impression that the player is burning calories themselves.

      • When attacking, depending on the type of action, there are different attack effects around the enemy. These effects are closely related to the action, for example, when performing abdominal movements, the attack effect changes from a beer belly to a visible eight-pack.

      • When defending, the size of the defensive shield will change depending on the player’s level of force, the harder the player works, the larger the shield will be.

  • Sound effects

      • As the player moves through the level, a quick run in place will not only fire up the character’s head, but will also motivate the player with acceleration sounds.

      • As players perform actions, they are prompted by a low to rapid sound effect, the more standard the player’s actions, the faster and louder the sound translates.

  • Level design

      • Some levels will emphasise the repetition of a certain move, but will evolve through mechanics to present the same move as a different organ. For example, levels that emphasise deep squats will see the player face simple bouncing organs – springs that repeat deep squats – swings that deep squat in rhythm – and deep squat power cars.

      • On hard-to-pass sections, the game sets up large gold coin rewards ahead to motivate players to reach their goal in one fell swoop.

      • On difficult sections, the game will also zoom out to show the magnificent scenery ahead to entice players to go further.

  • Sports assistance

      • Players can choose their own exercise intensity to prevent them from giving up on the game because it is too difficult.

      • For players with special needs, the game offers a motion assist option to reduce the intensity of the motion in specific parts.

      • Each time you start the game, after 2-3 levels, you will be prompted not to over-exercise to reduce the chance of injury.

      • Customised stretching exercises at the end of each game, based on the movements performed that day.

5. Epilogue

In traditional RPGs, the plot is a very important part of the game. Ring Fit Adventure does not tell a complex story, but simply uses the story of Dragaux to set the stage for the entire system to be played by the player, and the game’s well-designed mechanics are all designed to create a fun fitness experience.

Nintendo immerses the player in the sport through an accessible and deep RPG system. I think this is not only an innovation in game design, but this game also serves to expand the community and reach of the game. While the player base is expanding, there are still prejudiced people who don’t understand the artistry and literature behind narrative games, and it’s games like Ring Fit Adventure that are most likely to become gamers.

With the addition of a rhythm mode in subsequent updates and a more difficult multi-week challenge once the game is cleared, Ring Fit Adventure is an excellent piece of work with solid roots and a high level of completion.

Death Stranding

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

Death Stranding is a third-person game created by Kojima Productions, which producer Hideo Kojima calls a Social bonding game.

The player plays as Sam, a courier belonging to the Bridge. After the outbreak of Death Stranding, the surface is no longer suitable for human survival, and only the unique courier can move safely outside. The player takes on this role, traveling west from the eastern United States, reconnecting the entire country to the Cairol network and confronting the enemies planning to cause the bio-extinction event along the way.

The game creates a unique connected experience by limiting player resource caps and asynchronous online play. This experience gives players the spiritual satisfaction of finding themselves ” being needed “.

2. Creating Small Impulses on Interest Curve

In most games, player emotion is directly related to the tension of the storyline and the rising difficulty of the combat. When plotted on a normal player experience curve, Death Stranding looks like this, with player emotions constantly changing as the storyline progresses.

But in Death Stranding, the asynchronous online system creates a unique connection experience for players, and the appreciation system creates another level of mood swings, even as players feel more pleasure from other players than the game itself.

In terms of the overall flow of the game.

In the first two chapters of the game, the game teaches the player a lot of unfamiliar concepts, while the player has very few resources, struggles to manage courses of action and has a very depressing atmosphere.

From the third chapter onwards, the player is given carriers and exoskeletons to aid in the action, while getting hold of more helpful buildings and props. At this point the player has more control over the delivery routes and can gain appreciation from other players through the buildings, allowing for more positive emotional feedback.

When building highways, the lack of supplies becomes apparent to the player, and incorrect route planning can put the player in a dilemma. The player’s emotions are rekindled when the online system secretly merges other players’ resources to aid in the construction of the highway and allows the player to lend a helping hand to other compatriots.

Once inside the snowy mountains, the player is unable to use vehicles to move around, returning to the way things were at the start of the game, although a more convenient zip line construction is soon unlocked and allows the player to go back over the snowy mountains to the previous area, creating a dramatic change of pace.

Towards the end of the game, the continuous large boss battles are outstandingly well executed, giving the player a new dimension.

This well-designed content aside, the players’ appreciation of each other forms a subtle fluctuation in the experience curve.

3. Innovative mechanisms

3.1 Resource management from A to B

Most traditional games are made in a format where the player accepts a mission at point A, travels to point B to complete it, and sets up points of interest in between.

Death Stranding, on the other hand, places the player’s experience on the journey from point A to point B. The core of the experience is how the player gets from A to B. To enhance this experience, the game creates a unique management system. To enhance this experience, the game has created a unique management system that is hidden within the courier system.

I have divided it into three categories.

  • Resource Management

      • Weight and centre of gravity：

          • Players can customise the placement of goods in transit, but their own load capacity is limited. The load can be enhanced with exoskeletons, but there are missions that require multiple packages, requiring the player to make trade-offs.

          • Players may encounter urgently needed supplies during transport and will not be able to carry them if there is insufficient load space.

          • The way goods are placed affects the character’s centre of gravity, and when the centre of gravity is shifted, the player needs to spend more effort on manoeuvres to keep the character balanced.

      • Shared space for equipment and goods

          • Players need ladders, climbing cables and other props to cross obstacles in the route, which share storage space and load with the cargo. The player needs to predict and allocate the number of props on the transport route.

          • There are combat scenarios where weapons also occupy storage space and players need to judge whether they need to carry weapons depending on their route.

      • Special mission requirements

          • Some tasks have additional requirements on the condition of the goods, for example: pizzas need to be stored flat and not submerged in water; valuable items can be damaged or even explode after repeated collisions, etc.

  • Route management

      • Potential enemies

          • There are two types of enemies in the game, BT and Mules, and the player needs to choose whether to move around them or not depending on the load.

          • There are differences in the weapons and equipment used against the two types of enemy, and players will need to allocate equipment for both sides.

      • Special weather

          • There is special weather in the game and the weather forecast is unlocked when the player arrives at the weather station, so the player needs to choose a transport route based on the weather.

          • Rainy weather can accelerate damage to goods and is often accompanied by BT.

      • Terrain

          • Up and downhill terrain can affect your ability to move, and you will need to have more props to keep you safe if there is a lot of this type of terrain on your route.

          • Rivers and mountains need to be crossed with props or buildings and players need to decide whether to carry construction resources depending on the situation.

      • Vehicles

          • There are two types of vehicles in the game: motorbikes and trucks. They have different carrying capacities, passing performance and range, so you will need to choose according to your objectives.

          • The game’s highways do not allow you to reach all target points, and goods stored on the vehicles may disappear due to the distance, so you cannot rely on them.

      • Buildings

          • Other players’ structures will appear in areas that are already connected to the network, and players can choose to carry resources to build structures on the routes they must take.

          • Routes built with structures such as bridges make it easier for players to drive their vehicles through.

  • Capability Management

      • Exoskeletons

          • There are three exoskeletons in the game, different exoskeletons are equipped for different situations and will directly affect the player’s ability to transport them.

      • Stamina

          • Stamina directly affects the player’s ability to move, with a lower stamina limit making it difficult to carry cargo across terrain such as rivers.

          • Player stamina is directly related to stamina and affects how dangerous a player is in the event of an encounter.

          • Stamina can be restored by building or drinking water and is directly related to the player’s route planning.

3.2 Asynchronous online

Death Stranding uses asynchronous online functionality, where players will play the game solo, but other players’ banners, buildings, and supplies will appear in the game world, and players can praise each other.

Compared to Dark Souls’ admonition system, Death Stranding also goes a step further in the following areas.

  • The creation of roads

      • The game counts the routes taken by players around the world, and when players frequently choose the same route, the vegetation on that route disappears, exposing the ground and creating the feeling of a real route.

      • This detail not only shows how the world has changed but also helps later new players to quickly discover common routes.

      • On the other hand, this mechanic demonstrates how a human society full of rules can be created from nothing.

  • Much visible Likes

      • Signs, buildings and props placed by players may be displayed simultaneously in other players’ worlds and all may receive likes.

      • When a player logs into the game for the first time each day, the game will alert them to how many likes they have received. Players will also receive such notifications periodically during continuous play.

      • There is an ability in the character level that is directly linked to the number of likes. The likes that players give to each other can feed directly into the game’s gains and losses.

  • SOS system

      • Players can post online requests for resources when they are in trouble.

      • When other players receive the request, they can choose to transport supplies to the nearest resource storage point.

      • This mutual help is entirely voluntary on the part of the players. The social experience created by players actively choosing to offer help is far stronger than forced co-operative tasks.

4. Enhancing the experience

Death Stranding creates a uniquely connected experience through mechanics that are enhanced by scenario design and mission design.

  • Scenario design

      • As a semi-open world game, the game uses multiple triangular-shaped terrains to shade each other and create visual gravity to motivate players to explore.

      • Although the game is open, there is little visible vegetation. The ground is covered in short moss-like plants, creating open vistas and making player buildings and signs more visible.

      • The moss-like plant-covered ground allows the player to visualize the real terrain and gives the player clearer information for route planning.

      • The game’s highways do not connect all mission points, requiring the player to explore the route on foot with a lighter load at the end of the road.

  • Mission design

      • Players intercepting missions that require them to cross large distances in-game will be able to easily spot carriers near the mission acceptance point. These carriers may belong to other players or NPCs, encouraging players to make connections by actively displaying shared content.

      • During some missions, players will receive likes from NPCs. The humorous and natural way in which the NPCs give compliments in the storyline shows this slightly abrupt in-game setting in a natural way, reinforcing the player’s acceptance of this mechanic.

      • In the main combat missions, players are often not adequately resupplied for battle. When the player is in danger, characters with the names of other players appear in the battle scenes to provide resources to the player. The game internally increases the amount of exposure players have to each other, reinforcing the connection between players.

5. Epilogue

Death Stranding is a game that focuses on the player experience, which is a far cry from the many games that sell well but don’t really innovate. But at the same time, it has always been a game that has received polarising reviews. In my opinion, there are three main reasons for this situation.

  1. Slow pacing in the early stages: Within a month of the game’s release, 75% of people had made it through Chapter 2, but only 25% had completed Chapter 3. The game throws a lot of obscure settings at the player early on, while the player’s abilities are not improved for a long time, making it easy to get confused and uninteresting.

  2. Low Combat Difficulty: While the focus of the game is not on combat, the low difficulty of the combat section detracts from the player’s sense of immersion in the plot. Even towards the end of the game, the monsters the player encounters are visually overwhelming, but the desire to attack is minimal.

  3. Poor Streaming Experience: Many players first learned about the game through the live stream, but the complex mechanics made it difficult for viewers to get a sense of the fun. When this group of players share their opinions online, it can create conflict with those who have played the game.

With the launch of Death Stranding: Director’s Cut, turret buildings that can be acquired in the early-mid stages have been added, as well as new combat styles and weapons that improve the player’s experience in the early stages and new sneak levels that add to the richness of the game.

It currently has a 53% trophy capture rate for Chapter 3 on the Playstation and a 49% trophy capture rate for the final pass, a stark contrast from the beginning of the release in the test of time.