mesbooks Chapter 151 Miyazaki the Little Thief's Epiphany!
Chapter 151 Miyazaki the Little Thief's Epiphany!
Chapter 151 Miyazaki the Little Thief's Epiphany!
The entire map is a huge open sandbox, a fact that Miyazaki had already noticed in the numerous branching paths at the beginning.
To enable the 8-bit machine to handle such a large map, Castlevania chose almost the same technology as The Legend of Zelda.
The entire large map is divided into small miniatures, so that only a smaller map needs to be loaded each time the game is played.
Miyazaki looked at the contents of the map interface.
The entire corridor was divided into several rooms by blue walls.
It seems that the scenes I just switched and the doors I passed through were these cyan parts.
If that's the case—
Miyazaki simply worked backwards from the current room's dimensions.
The map in Castlevania is frighteningly large.
I've only explored a little over 2% of this world in the 365 miles I just traveled!
"Wait, so that boss we just saw was just a beginner tutorial mob??"
Whose beginner tutorial requires multiple restarts to beat even the simplest monsters?!
Shouldn't a tutorial be something that teaches players how to operate the game?
"call----"
Miyazaki took a moment to recover before continuing his journey.
Just as I passed through the Boss room, a new item appeared in front of me.
Regional map.
Miyazaki seemed to understand something and reopened the map.
Sure enough, a large gray area appeared on the map that originally only showed the areas I had explored.
This was clearly the information the map provided.
"Hiss—wait a minute?"
But this map only made him more confused.
There were clearly several areas on the way here that I had not yet reached.
He knew where it was; it must be one of those places on the side roads that he couldn't reach.
Compared to players like Miyazaki who haven't played many games.
Players familiar with Gamenova's previous Legend of Zelda games will feel a strong sense of nostalgia when they encounter Castlevania.
Aside from the fact that the high difficulty level is indeed a bit of a challenge, the map design itself doesn't present many obstacles.
Inside an arcade in New Mexico.
Hunter, the king of kids, sat in front of a demo machine, trying out GAMENOVA's latest title with a group of friends.
"Ah, what a classic ability lock design. I remember encountering it several times in The Legend of Zelda."
Hunter chuckled and turned to look at his new buddy, Vincent.
"Hey Vincent, let's make a bet on when we'll get the ability to jump onto that side path."
"Ah? Oh~ I see, it's like Link's bomb, right? You need to obtain some kind of ability to get through it."
Vincent nodded, immediately understanding what Hunter meant.
The Legend of Zelda series features many ability lock designs.
This has been discussed to death by various gaming magazines.
Hidden caves that Link needs to use bombs to open, and bodies of water that require a raft to cross —
For these veteran Zelda players, ability locks are all too familiar.
However, this seems to be the first time it has been used in a side-scrolling 2D world.
Clearly, their intuition was correct.
Shortly after finding the map, Hunter obtained the game's first blue soul at the end of a fork in the road.
[Flying Armor]
[The falling speed decreases, allowing you to jump further.]
"Aha! What did I say?! We should be able to get the cloak and leather armor at the beginning."
Miyazaki successfully traversed the previously impassable road using the newly acquired flying armor, finally gaining access to a new area.
That moment of sudden enlightenment gave him an exhilarating feeling that he couldn't help but enjoy.
But after reaching such a height within the skull, a new question remained for Miyazaki: "Why?"
He looked at the booklet on the TV cabinet.
The pages of the book were wrinkled and even torn from being turned so many times.
This is a N language tutorial book that the bookstore owner gave me.
He has been learning video game programming for some time now.
This allowed him to reflect more on the game's design itself, in addition to simply enjoying the experience.
What is the purpose of ability locks?
Is it simply a matter of preventing him from running around and making him follow the predetermined route set by the author?
Miyazaki doesn't think so.
At least that won't be the main reason.
He guided his character step by step through the path he had painstakingly cleared, back to the boss room with the giant skeleton.
"The character's growth isn't particularly strong —"
Miyazaki opened the menu and looked at his attribute panel, which was only level 3.
My character hasn't grown much during the previous explorations.
But the world no longer gave him the same feeling.
The swarm of bats that had been hiding in the corner suddenly jumped out and attacked him, but now he could take the initiative and stab them straight through with a javelin.
The skeleton soldiers that used to drive me away in terror are now being cleared out without taking damage by maintaining a safe distance.
The knight who could throw axes also learned to perfectly dodge its attacks by jumping and crouching.
The characters haven't gotten much stronger, but the world is no longer as dangerous as it was at the beginning.
"It's because I've grown up—"
The existence of ability locks allows Miyazaki to explore this world smoothly. Only after learning certain skills and mastering certain information can he enter a completely new area.
Each time a new ability is acquired, one's understanding of the map is completely reconstructed.
Places that seem impossible to reach may have hidden pathways.
Even after navigating numerous paths, you might eventually find yourself circling back to the starting point.
This world is like a giant maze.
But it is fascinating.
"what!"
Miyazaki exclaimed in surprise.
He suddenly understood what the ability lock was all about.
Ultimately, isn't this just solving a mystery?
Why place an irresistible prop on an inaccessible platform?
This is a puzzle, a hook.
It's blatantly telling players, "Want it? Then find a way to get here."
Isn't this just setting a challenge for the players?
And isn't the process of constantly exploring the world, defeating powerful enemies, and finding new abilities precisely the process of solving a mystery?
The seemingly interconnected world itself was the hook that drew him to explore further.
This is a miracle that linear games cannot achieve.
"I'm going to write this down!"
Miyazaki quickly grabbed paper and pen and began writing furiously.
"The ability lock is just an abstract concept; perhaps I don't need to be bound by concrete things like abilities."
"This lock—it could also be a prop lock!"
His hand paused slightly as he recalled the door in the game store that could only be opened from the inside.
"The door cannot be opened from this side!"
"A loop-style miniature map! When players find a key or successfully reach the other side of a door, they can unlock a shortcut or a new area!"
"That's so true! The monster respawn mechanic when switching rooms is also really fun. It allows me to repeatedly farm for what I want, it's so cool, I want to learn that too!"
"Let player progression drive the game, rather than letting character progression overwhelm it!"
"Diverse monster attack patterns provide different feedback based on player actions, making combat more exciting and avoiding rote memorization!"
"Boss battles are the main source of the sense of pressure; once you engage, you can't run away—this is extremely important!"
"There are no save points before the boss fight; dying means running 365 miles again. This significantly increases the death penalty, encouraging players to try their best to avoid dying!"
"Fragmented narratives hide grand stories within the world!"
Miyazaki's eyes grew brighter as he looked at the design philosophies he had compiled.
That's it!
Castlevania is the perfect video game I've been searching for!