National Game Producer

At noon three days later.

Gamers, when they were unable to extricate themselves from playing "Slay the Spire", "Firebringer" suddenly appeared and posted a notice on Weibo, "Today at 6 o'clock in the evening, the new game will be released on time."

After the news was released, one stone stirred up thousands of waves!

Countless players with mixed feelings flocked to the bottom of this post and wrote their own messages.

[You still have the nerve to come back! It’s been two days. Do you know how I spent these two days? 】

[Go away, I already have Miss Hua Yao and Slay the Spire, I don’t love you anymore [crying]]

[You are back... Hey, there are still 5 days left before the end of the summer vacation. It should be enough for me to clear the level, right? 】

["Fire Bearer", my "Fire Bearer"... Siha~]

[Unbelievable... uh, the "Firebringer" team seems to have four beautiful girls? From this point of view, it is not considered unbelievable. 】

[Damn, I just bought "Slay the Spire" two minutes ago... How do we play this? 】

[hhh, it’s okay, switch between the two games, double the enjoyment, double the happiness~]

…

In reality, after Xu Wennuo saw this news, he immediately approached He Ji aggressively.

Xu Wennuo: Where is my advance trial?!

He Jiu: The game was directly posted to the official game platform as soon as it was modified, and I didn’t have time to notify you.

Xu Wennuo: It’s the same thing if you send it to me now.

Xu Wennuo: [blushing]

He Jiu: There are less than six hours left, you can play the official version, or forget it?

Xu Wennuo: How could you just let it go?

Xu Wennuo: Did I treat you to so many meals in vain?

He Jiu: Next time, definitely next time.

Xu Wennuo: [crazy]

Xu Wennuo: Believe it or not, I will go directly to your studio to block you?

He Jiu: [sweating]

He Jiu: To be honest, this game is really not suitable for you.

He Jiu: Well... I can give you the game, but I also suggest you go and watch Brother Zhang's live broadcast on your platform first. People like him who are good at playing "Isaac" and "Ori" may want to

Deflated.

Xu Wennuo: You actually gave it to Brother Zhang but not to me?!

He Ji: Can you read my message?

He Jiu: Okay, okay, I’ll send it to you right away.

After a while, Xu Wennuo received the game itself from the other party.

She thought for a while, and finally went to station B first to check the situation on Brother Zhang's side.

When she opened the live broadcast room, she happened to see the other party enter the game.

The time is just right.

‘Then let’s take a look at the content of the game first.’

She whispered silently in her heart.

…

the other side.

After Brother Zhang entered the game, he quickly adjusted various game settings, and then directly opened the new save file.

Brother Zhang’s online name is not actually Brother Zhang.

However, at 32 years old this year, he is indeed one of the oldest people in the game live broadcast circle.

Whether it is a young game anchor or an old audience who has followed him for many years, they will call him "brother" either affectionately or respectfully because of his seniority and age.

And because his surname was Zhang, everyone called him "Brother Zhang" and gradually replaced other titles with this title.

Back to business.

After officially entering the game, a text plot appeared on the screen.

[In the distant wilderness, when your name is mentioned, they are full of awe and regret. No one can tame our savage souls, but you accepted the challenge.

[Under the paleest gaze, you teach, we change, and our instincts are redeemed.

【You have brought bugs and beasts a world they never dreamed of.

[——From "Elegy of Hallownest", written by teacher Monomon. 】

Immediately afterwards, there is an opening animation.

A black body wrapped in chains was suddenly broken through the skull by an unknown orange gas bursting out from its body.

Then, the orange-yellow gas seemed to be released into the air.

In the distance, a black body with three eyes suddenly came to life.

The screen changes.

Slightly sad background music played quietly.

A cute little humanoid white insect, wearing a cloak and carrying bone nails, walked slowly from a distance.

It is surrounded by black buildings that resemble the stomachs of insect beetles, and even the street lights are shaped like insects.

The little cutie walked to the edge of the cliff, stared at the brightly lit area in the distance, and then jumped off the cliff very decisively.

The opening animation ends here.

The little cutie fell from the air and finally hit the ground hard.

The whole screen trembled slightly.

Looking at the surrounding environment, this seems to be a cave?

“The graphics and music of the game are still of the same high standard as before. I can only say that it truly deserves to be called ‘Firebringer’.

"However, the overall atmosphere of this game feels a bit depressing, especially when watching cutscenes in an immersive way. The performance of the pictures and music directly brings out the loneliness, heaviness, and sadness in people's hearts...

"Hmm... I estimate that this will be a sadder story than "Ori"..."

Brother Zhang expressed his thoughts in a low voice, and then quickly changed his attitude.

"Well, as you can see on the main menu interface, the game is called "Hollow Knight". It is a new game prepared by 'Firebringer' to be released at six o'clock in the evening... Well, I was lucky enough to get an early trial version.

You’re qualified to play~”

The pride in his tone could be heard by anyone.

[That is, it is just a few hours ahead of us. What are you so proud of! [Annoyed]]

[If it’s an action game, Brother Zhang should be able to clear it in one day, right?]

[If you say that, I won’t watch it. I’ll go play [Tsundere] by myself at night]

[Is this a similar type of game to "Ori"? The atmosphere is indeed a bit dark and depressing. It doesn't have the aesthetic feeling of "Ori"~]

[Okay, it’s finally the turn of my favorite genre! I’ll buy it all tonight!]

[It feels like the big game anchors at Station B are all going to be online with the "Fire Bearer"~]

…

"Haha, bird food... But I also relied on my friends to contact the 'Fire Bearer' with great difficulty."

As Brother Zhang spoke, he began to control the little cutie and became familiar with its various movements, "The name is "Hollow Knight". The hollow should be the name of a place or terrain, just like the current cave... The knight probably refers to 'me'

'?"

Like "Ori and the Blind Forest", "Hollow Knight" is also a platform jumping and side-scrolling action game.

However, in terms of attack methods, "Ori" mainly uses long-range fairy fire, while "Hollow Knight" mainly uses melee bone nails.

Brother Zhang tried to use bone nails to chop down the obstacles blocking the road, and found that the feedback given by the game seemed to be quite good.

This feeling of punching to the flesh is a novel experience that he has never been able to experience in other games.

really……

If you want to play an excellent new type of game, you still have to watch "Firebringer"!

"Metal combat is a man's romance!"

Brother Zhang shouted without any scruples, and then controlled the little knight to go all the way to the right. During this process, he easily killed a few small bugs and collected some shells similar to coins.

The entire game UI only has some display information in the upper left corner.

In the far corner is a transparent ball with some pure white liquid sloshing inside;

To the right of the sphere are five white masks;

Below the mask is a combination of carapace and numbers.

"These five masks should be the character's health, and the number added to the carapace is probably the amount of currency... What does the last sphere mean? Is it some kind of energy?"

Brother Zhang was talking and operating, and soon came to an oval whiteboard that could be inspected.

Following the prompts to interact with the whiteboard, he successfully obtained a piece of information.

[Higher living beings, these words are only for you.

【Your powerful strength makes you stand out from us.

[Concentrate your strength, and you can achieve feats that other insects can only dream of.]

Below this information, there is also a description about the sphere.

[Slash the enemy to collect souls;

[Once enough souls are collected, the souls can be gathered to heal wounds. 】

"Oh, so this ball is a container for storing souls... At present, the soul seems to be only used to restore blood, but it will probably be used for more than this in the future..."

Brother Zhang controlled the little knight and continued to move forward.

After a short period of simple terrain jumps and killing enemies, he came to an area where the ground was covered with spikes, and finally stopped at the edge of the air platform.

Originally, according to the terrain settings given in the scene, he should have continued to jump up at this time.

After all, there are spikes down here that cannot be touched.

However, for Brother Zhang, who has played "Ori and the Dark Forest" several times, he could almost see at a glance that there was something wrong with the dark area in the lower right corner.

"This location in the lower right corner could have been sealed with a wall, but it only left a dark area instead of directly sealing it off, so I guess there is probably a hidden passage here..."

With that said, Brother Zhang controlled the little knight, stepped over the spikes, and jumped to the area in the lower right corner.

The next second, the sound effect of "Ding Dong" came from the game.

——This is the game prompting him to discover the hidden snow area.

"Hey, let me tell you, there must be a hidden passage here... Tsk, I've already figured out the 'Fire Bearer'~"

Brother Zhang became more and more proud.

The viewers in the live broadcast room also began to flood their screens with barrages at this time.

[Brother Zhang is still very good at playing this kind of game! 】

[The map design of "Firebringer" is still so insidious...]

[Hey, I like this kind of hidden map design with little surprises. I won’t read it for now. I will go and experience it myself after the game is officially released tonight~]

[Although Brother Zhang is a bit of a [pig], his game intuition is really not that bad of a [dog head]]

[Damn, I can’t stand it anymore, I really want to play...]

…

Brother Zhang watched the barrage for a while and then continued the game.

After taking two steps to the right, he stopped again.

He suddenly discovered that there were still many spikes on the ground in front of him, and the ground without spikes was quite far away from his location.

You can probably estimate by visual inspection that if he just jumps, he will definitely not be able to jump over the spikes.

"Is the opposite place a place where you need to learn the double jump before you can go there?"

Brother Zhang was confused and tried to jump forward with all his strength.

Then……

Without any surprise, he fell into the middle of the spikes.

At this time, he did not gain invincibility for a short period of time, but was directly teleported to the entrance of the hidden passage.

This also means that he cannot rely on the invincible method to slowly reach the opposite side.

"It seems that there is really no way to get over it now... Let's come back later after learning skills like double jump."

Brother Zhang said as he turned around and walked back.

As he walked, he slashed the bone nails a few times out of habit.

at this time--

The bone nail in his hand suddenly collided with the spikes on the ground in front of him.

With a "ding" sound, he took two steps back under the influence of the reaction force.

"Hey, it turns out these thorns can be cut?" Brother Zhang was stunned for a moment, and then continued to swing the bone nails and cut at the sharp thorns.

After about a dozen cuts, he saw that the spikes had not changed at all, so he stopped again.

It seems that these spikes can only be cut, not cut off...

I was fooled!

So, what’s the point of designing such an interaction for “Firebringer”?

Brother Zhang curled his lips and prepared to continue walking up.

At this time, he suddenly noticed a barrage.

[Brother Zhang, try the spikes, I guess it can bounce you up.]

Bounce up...

Brother Zhang was taken aback for a moment, then reacted.

yes!

Since when he cuts the spikes flatly, he will take two steps back due to the reaction force; then when he slashes the spikes, shouldn't he also be bounced up due to the reaction force?

In this case, can I use this to jump further?

Or even...could he keep bouncing on the spikes?

"I'll try the spikes."

Brother Zhang said and turned back to the hidden passage.

As a patient with ADHD, he had already tried various slashing methods of the Knight at the beginning of the game, which naturally included the downward slashing attack.

If the idea of ​​the barrage just now is true, then he should be able to successfully test it within three times.

only……

Would the "Firebringer" really devise such a hidden trick?

No matter how you think about it, it's a bit too far-fetched, right?

Brother Zhang took a deep breath and controlled the little knight to jump towards the spikes.

When the little knight began to fall from the air, he controlled it to make a snapping motion.

"Ding"!

Accompanied by a crisp sound.

The little knight was successfully bounced up by the reaction force, continued to jump forward for a short distance, and finally landed firmly on the ground.

Success!

And it’s a success right the first time!

Brother Zhang slapped the bed hard.

“It really can be like this!”

At the same time, the barrage began to flood the screen like crazy.

【Oh oh oh oh oh!】

【Brother Zhang is awesome!】

[The barrage master is awesome!]

【This is really possible!】

[The "Fire Bearer" also designed such a technique, who would have thought of this? 】

[It gives me the feeling of "Slam" in "Ori and the Blind Forest", with the same "Firebringer" characteristics as always! 】

[Don't praise, don't praise, this is just a small design of "Firebringer". When you see more outrageous designs later, it's not too late for you to praise again [dog head]]

…

At this time, Brother Zhang slowly calmed down.

He glanced at the barrage and couldn't help but smile.

"Indeed, the 'Fire Bearer' is still so awesome, I won't accept it!"

After a slight pause, he added, "I feel like I have to follow Wen Nuoer's example in the future and treat the Fire Bearer team to a few more meals, and then strive for a few more early trials..."

He didn't consider his role in promoting the game.

It was like...it was his honor to be able to play the game "Firebringer" in advance.