Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 11 A bit interesting

Chen Mo was, after all, an editor at GamerSky, not a newbie like Ye Feiyang who could only shout "Holy crap, this is fun!"

His years of editing experience allowed him to quickly dissect the core of the game, and he sensed something was wrong after playing only two or three rounds.

This "Final Front" is pretty good.

First of all.

From entering the game to its two core gameplay mechanics, the first impression of "Final Front" is maturity, or to put it another way, completeness.

It completely lacks the small-scale feel of many current anime-style games; this is a highly polished game, from the character art to the gameplay.

It's worth noting that at this point, there was already a game in the gun anthropomorphism genre.

That's *GunGirls*, which will be in open beta testing in a few days.

That game was also a game with the theme of gun anthropomorphism. It was made by the "Bakery Girl" circle, and GamerSky also took on the promotion. He even wrote the article.

So naturally, Chen Mo compared the two, starting with the character illustrations.

There are actually many good character illustrations in "Gun Girls", but ultimately "Gun Girls" adopts the current mainstream commissioned art model for anime games.

In other words, different characters are outsourced to different artists.

Then take it back.

In this mode, it is inevitable that there will be inconsistencies in the art style, which will be reflected in various aspects of the game, but it will not affect the gameplay.

But it does feel a bit strange.

The Final Front is completely different. All the characters have a similar art style and are very distinctive. You can tell at a glance that the Soviet guns are Soviet guns.

The overall character illustrations are very detailed, clearly the work of the same art team, and they are pleasing to the eye.

Of course, compared to character illustrations, which are a matter of personal preference, this system is different.

What surprised him even more was the gameplay of "Final Frontline". This game was not a reskinned minifigure match-3 game, nor was it a simple strategy game.

It created a chessboard battlefield at a 45-degree angle, and all the characters fought automatically.

At first, Chen Mo thought this kind of automatic combat was a bit boring. After all, if the combat was automatic, what could the player do?

Even though the auto-battle animations in "Final Front" are indeed well done and quite interesting, it is still an auto-battle game. All players can control is to match lineups and allocate resources.

There are actually only three core operations.

Firstly, "execution points" are obtained through combat.

Secondly, "execution points" are allocated, and there are only three possible destinations: refreshing the shop, upgrading the population, and recruiting characters.

Third, place the pieces on the board, make some minor adjustments to the formation, and proceed to the next round of battle.

"That's it? That's way too easy!"

Chen Mo quickly figured out the core gameplay, and at first, he didn't think there was anything special about it.

After a full PVP match, he was already sweating slightly.

Eight players fight on a map, and only one can survive.

Every choice in each round requires careful consideration: should you save money to increase your population and maintain a winning/losing streak, or quickly spend money to boost your combat power? When should you spend money, and when should you save it? How do you adjust your positioning and roles based on your opponent's lineup?
There aren't many steps involved, but the intricacies and strategic maneuvering within them are incredibly profound!

Every round is full of variables and excitement.

"This PVP mode is quite interesting."

"The pace is faster, and the randomness brings more variables."

The exhilaration of winning a game and the frustration of losing a game both come very directly.

"Furthermore, while auto-battle requires less manual operation, it also has a lower barrier to entry, which suits players like me who prefer to use their brains rather than their hands."

Now let's look at the PVE aspect. I thought it would be the typical grind of a traditional anime game, but it turned out to be quite well done.

"Roast pigeon elements, humanoid collection, skill upgrades, equipment combinations..."

"It has all the necessary elements for development, and the growth curve is quite smooth."

Unlike some games where you either grind yourself to death or spend all your money, this one is different.

The only way to spend money in the entire "Final Front" game is by drawing characters; everything else can be obtained by progressing through the game.

Whether it's the sense of accomplishment from strategically winning in PVP or the satisfaction of watching your carefully nurtured team overcome obstacles in PVE, the positive feedback in this game is excellent.

"Damn, I'm hooked, really hooked..."

Chen Mo couldn't help but curse, but the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up.

He has completely forgotten about formulaic writing and perfunctory tasks; this game is worth writing properly!
"but……"

He switched back to the document, his fingers hovering over the keyboard.

"Which company made this game? Starry Sky Games? Never heard of it... Someone who can produce this level of completion and innovative gameplay shouldn't be an unknown company."

After playing for a while, Chen Mo began to plan how to write his article.

The first step is to introduce the game developer.

Chen Mo searched for Starry Sky Games online, but apart from an empty official website, there was absolutely no information. It was as if Starry Sky Games had appeared out of thin air.

However, although the game company's content was not released, his search brought up a lot of player feedback for "Final Front".

One of them is a popular video on Bilibili.

The title is also very straightforward.

Holy crap! *Final Battlefront*? This is seriously addictive!

The video content is very simple. It's basically the blogger expressing their feelings after playing the game, and their overall viewpoint is similar to Chen Mo's own experience.

However, the blogger behind this video is a popular game review content creator with a large following.

Therefore, this video has a high number of views.

There were also many comments under the video.

"Any pros out there who can teach me how to build a team? I'm a newbie and I'm already getting ripped off, sob sob..."

"Stop talking! I was just a little short of first place in the last five games. I'm not going to say anything more, I'm going to start the sixth one!"

"The character art is top-notch! I declare 95 my waifu!"

"The PVE roguelike mode is also fun. It doesn't force you to spend money, and it's quite interesting to slowly develop your character."

"The only pay-to-win aspect is gacha pulls, which is a plus!"

"Anyone still not registered? Click my link!!"

"Speaking of which, who made this game? I searched for ages and couldn't find anything. Starry Sky Games? Never even heard of it."

"Who cares who made it, as long as it's fun! I've already got three friends hooked, hehe."

Chen Mo flipped through the list one by one.

The players' reaction was similar to his expectations, or even more enthusiastic.

Positive reviews focused on innovative gameplay, beautiful character art, and fair monetization, while complaints mostly concerned bad luck in PvP or requests for strategy guides.

"Alright, everyone says it's good, so I'll confidently boast about it."

Since the game was indeed fun, the player feedback was good, and there was money to be made, Chen Mo's thinking was naturally clearer than ever before.

(End of this chapter)