Text/Nine Lotus Treasure Lamp

After the release of version 1.1 of Jeopardy Zero, the discussion about this game has once again rushed to the forefront.

Many people are not optimistic about "Jeopardy Zero", but its results show its strength - since the launch of version 1.1 of the game, it has occupied the fourth best-selling list of the game for more than 24 hours, and further on, there are only the "three mountains" of the public to the game.

You know, it's not 2020 anymore, and the position of the head product is becoming more and more difficult to shake. The results of "Jeopardy Zero" are already a level that few products can reach.

Of course, Grape Jun can also understand the reason why many people are not optimistic about "Jeopardy Zero": many game experiences represented by "Walking Grid" are indeed debatable.

However, what makes me even more curious is that in terms of content packaging, people also have objections: although many people agree that this is another excellent demonstration of miHoYo's ability, some people believe that "Jeopardy Zero" is even less interesting than miHoYo's first two products in terms of content.

This was my point of interest. Is there a problem with the content packaging of "Jeopardy Zero"? In my opinion, the key to the problem may not be the quality of the content, but the direction of their efforts.

01

What is "Jeopardy Zero" about?

In my opinion, the quality of the content provided by "Jeopardy Zero" is quite high. This 1.1 version has a tendency to continue to rise.

For example, in the field of art, we have already talked about it a lot, so we don't need to go into it again today. In the past two days, there have also been a large number of comments on the new characters Tsing Yi and Jian · Du "crazy" on major Internet platforms.

What I really appreciate about version 1.1 is that not only does the game continue to deliver on the content level of 1.0, but some of the experience issues that were previously affected by gameplay and system are also showing signs of being resolved.

The content of this update of "Jeopardy Zero" mainly revolves around two new characters, "Tsing Yi" and "Jane · Du". Jian · Du became the protagonist of the new main plot, and Tsing Yi added a personal side story.

The highlights are mainly from the main storyline. Since Jian · Du is an undercover agent, it is difficult to fully express it from the perspective of the protagonist, so "Jeopardy Zero" launched an "exclusive vision" gameplay. To put it simply, it is to let the player operate Jane ·, not the protagonist, to understand the whole story.

As far as the story itself goes, I think it's good, but it's not so amazing. But this new content packaging design is ingenious, because it not only better presents the story, but also solves two problems in the content experience smoothly.

The first is the problem of "walking the grid".

From the content packaging level, because the protagonist is not in the story, it is no longer necessary to use "walking grid" to express the remote control of the protagonist. In the new main story, after the player has completed a story, the game will automatically cut into the combat level. The map of the level is large enough for players to directly experience the plot content such as exploration and search in the map. The character walks to some key places and can seamlessly cut into the performance passages.

The second is the issue of "drawing characters can only be shown in battle".

The game's plot creates a passage that allows Jane · to explore the city. This gameplay can be seen as a trial for the player, and the ability for the player to wander around the city with the character drawn may soon be implemented.

In addition to these two content experience issues, the game also adds some new features to play. For example, in version 1.1, the protagonist can finally take photos with interesting things or favorite characters in the game, and when the protagonist takes selfies, there are all kinds of funny poses that highlight his personality.

However, these optimizations alone are not enough to show how hard the content quality of "Jeopardy Zero" is. How much effort the game has put into the content can actually be seen through some subtle details: such as the game's requirements for story content.

What is this requirement? In my opinion, it's about telling a story around the setting.

Whether it is the previous plot of the game, or the main story and Tsing Yi's personal story updated in version 1.1 this time, they all revolve around the setting of "hollowness". They are either talking about the impact of the void on people or objects, or about the new social ecology of the world after the emergence of the hollow.

For example, in this main story, the undercover criminal organization "Mountain Lion Gang" by Jane · Du has achieved long-term hiding through the characteristics of transferability between different hollows.

Another example is Tsing Yi's personal plot, which also takes issues such as the criminal phenomenon surrounding the hollow and the legitimacy of the hollow navigator "Rope Maker" as the motivation for the story to begin.

This kind of adherence to theme is actually rare to see in many games, because it challenges the rationality of the setting too much.

Many of the domestic fantasy games we have seen usually propose some kind of special event that changed the world, and some people have special abilities, etc. However, many works only use this as a premise for the existence of superpowers in the game, without much explanation of this special power, and the story does not necessarily revolve around this premise, but describes some events that "can happen in any world".

From this point of view, we can also find the confidence of "Jeopardy Zero" in its own worldview setting - if it were not for repeated scrutiny, the setting would not have withstood such a high intensity of narration.

So the question arises, if the art, narrative, and world view of Jeopardy Zero are really fine, why do some people still think that the content of the game is not attractive enough?

02

The most "old two-dimensional" miHoYo product?

In my opinion, the content direction of "Jeopardy Zero" is the core of the controversy. The worldview style chosen for this game is really special.

The main thing is that the game has a distinctly "tape-futuristic" flavor. What is that? To put it simply, it is a type of retro-futurism, with logic similar to "steampunk": it depicts a worldview based on the high level of technological development at the time when tape was used as an important information medium in the context of the 90s of the last century. It's first and foremost futuristic, meaning that the world is sci-fi, but at the same time it has a lot of traces of the 90s.

Judging by the atmosphere offered by Jeopardy Zero, it has a lot of tape-futuristic features.

On a sci-fi level, there are tons of mechas, robots, and AI in the game. For example, Baiqi Heavy Industry's various intelligent large-scale construction machinery, the characters Billy, Tsing Yi, and various Bangbu in the story are all highly intelligent robots. The protagonist also has an AI intelligent assistant, Fairy, which is also a common design in science fiction stories.

At the retro level, the game is more reflected.

For example, if we look at the main character's home, there are various cassette or disc players, radios, record players, picture tube televisions, and so on. Even the game console is a reference to the Nintendo red and white machine of the 80s.

On the social side, the whole street is synonymous with retro: a street with video stores, record stores, arcade halls, and newsagents at the same time, which basically illustrates the society in the game, and there are still many people who need to use these stores to satisfy their entertainment life. The game also deliberately fictionalized a popular special effects work "Starlight Knight" in the world, and the golden age of Japan special effects dramas was also around the 90s.

In addition, there are various large advertising airships in the city, 90s JDM-style modified cars, and so on. If you look at the buildings in the distance on Liufen Street and Guangying Square, you'll also notice that the main buildings in the game are basically concrete buildings, not the glass buildings that are popular today. These are almost all characteristic of the end of the last century and the beginning of this century.

But strictly speaking, Jeopardy Zero is not a "fundamentalist" tape-futuristic worldview, and it also incorporates a lot of innovation.

First of all, the retro feeling of "Jeopardy Zero" is not just expressed through various old objects. In terms of story style and content performance, they are also imitating some content that is only available in old animations, bringing people back to the "old times". For example, the promotional video previously released by the game is a nod to the 1984 domestic animation "Sheriff Black Cat".

IN DETAIL, IN TERMS OF CHARACTER SETTING AND ART STYLE, "Jeopardy Zero" clearly has traces of reference to animation companies GAINAX and TRIGGER. Anton, the guy with a drill, is reminiscent of the animation "Tianyuan Breakthrough"; Cleida's outfit that can only be found in hot-blooded animation, as well as the inexplicable but very burning story direction, gave me a feeling of "Cutting Girl"; The game is in some graphic art, and it also reminds me of Angel in Stockings.

In terms of the composition of the worldview, this feeling of "all kinds of weirdos gathering in one city" also brought me back to the world depicted in "Blood Front" by BONES.

Bloodfront

Even in terms of performance, the game is simulating the style of 2D animation. For example, in some of the scenes, we can see that the characters are clearly stretched, which is common in 2D animation, but rarely seen in 3D.

Not only refers to the skin of these works, but also has the "soul" of these works in many places in "Jeopardy Zero". Compared with the world that is completely unusual, or the deep emotional tone, this game emphasizes starting from the daily and breaking the everyday, and the emotional tone is more bloody and pure. In addition, in many places, the game also has a sense of humor that is "just messy", and even the "kill to death" content that was popular in the anime of that era.

In addition to having its own ideas about the retro feeling, "Jeopardy Zero" also has a lot of content design that keeps pace with the times or is integrated.

For example, the main concept of "emptiness" is hardly a science fiction content. The game's moves can be called the magical force "Six Lessons in the Sky", as well as Furry characters such as Laikan, which give the story a bit of fantasy.

The game also introduces a lot of features of contemporary life. For example, the rope net forum, on this fictional website, many people speak in a very online style, and some people even post short videos on the rope network. In addition, such as hot pot, milk tea, trendy toy shops, etc., are also showing the trend of the worldview of "Jeopardy Zero".

To sum up, "Jeopardy Zero" introduces a large number of content elements from the real society and animation at that time in the 90s, and combines them with modern life and science fiction elements to create a retro science fiction style that conforms to modern aesthetics. For some old two-dimensional people, they may feel a double intimacy from this game - it is both reminiscent of childhood and the present.

It may be a bit controversial to say this: in this way, "Jeopardy Zero" may be the product that is closest to the "old two-dimensional" among miHoYo's products.

This may sound like a compliment, but in fact, it's the most adventurous part of Jeopardy Zero.

03

Was it a mistake, or was it intentional?

For me personally, the content of Jeopardy Zero is probably the most likable on the market. I spend a lot of time wandering around Guangying Square, even if I don't do anything, just to take pictures of passers-by and see this lively neighborhood. I also like the game's breaking story and pure passion, which makes people can't help but chant "Ye Qing Hui".

But the problem is that this style is too provocative. It's not like cyberpunk, it's a future that everyone can relate to; It's not like steampunk, it's a pure fantasy that no one has ever felt. It can only resonate with some people - such as the old two-dimensional who was born in the 80s or 90s, immersed in two-dimensional works since childhood, and likes the aesthetic of the trigger society.

But now, as the post-00s move towards adulthood, they are the main player group of the second game. Of course, there are many young people who love "Jeopardy Zero", but there are also many people who may not have seen the tape and may not be able to understand the hidden memes in the game. At the core, the life-oriented, hot-blooded style of secondary and secondary content of "Jeopardy Zero" does not necessarily meet the needs of young two-dimensional groups for content.

People's demand for two-dimensional will change with the development of society. The development of the Internet has solved the problem of difficulty in making friends for many ACG groups, and "dark dead house" is not the main tone of young ACG.

If the previous users may hope that the two-dimensional world is a spiritual harbor that people want to live in, they supplement their social needs through virtual relationships; Then the current two-dimensional world often exists as a social currency, and its role is to constantly provide people with fresh topics that can be communicated on the Internet or offline.

Therefore, we can see that the expectations of today's two-dimensional groups for content are sometimes deeper love needs than dating, and sometimes they are more exciting and exaggerated post-apocalyptic world fantasies.

One of the great things about "Jeopardy Zero" is that even in a retro style, they can capture the resonance of many users through some modern life stalks and content design capabilities that are all-inclusive. But Rao, retro style doesn't seem to have become a magic weapon for them to gain more users.

Combined with the controversy over the game's gameplay, some people may think that we can now close the coffin: this game is a failure!

I don't think so.

In most people's expectations, the products produced by miHoYo should go in the direction of "all-you-can-eat". However, the stage of development that miHoYo is facing today may not necessarily have to pursue the kind of results that are big enough to explode, but it is time to "check and fill in the gaps".

Judging from the current information, miHoYo has more and more products under development, such as the recently exposed "Star Cloth Valley", as well as the "Elf Battle" game, etc., and the types of users facing are becoming more and more diverse. These attempts may not necessarily lead to phenomenal products, but they all sound differentiating enough. Compared with the two-dimensional market, which is already difficult to see growth, perhaps these products are the new force that helps miHoYo expand its user plate.

At this turning point, I think the identity of "Jeopardy Zero" may be even more special: although it is also a second tour, its route is not the same as "Genshin Impact" and "Star Iron".

In my opinion, miHoYo's two previous works are products that want to reach all two-dimensional groups as much as possible. Although they can attract the love of a large number of users, after all, it is difficult to adjust the number of people, and it is difficult to take care of the unique needs of each segment of users. This even makes some people think that miHoYo's works are not "personal" enough, and they have gradually drifted away from the second dimension.

However, "Jeopardy Zero" shows that miHoYo still has the ability to penetrate into a small circle of users. They still know how to meet the personalized needs of segmented users by differentiating content.

And the more vertical the market of "Jeopardy Zero", the higher the barriers posed by its content. The unique flavor it creates today is hard to beat with competitive thinking. If miHoYo will really come out of the second dimension in the future, then "Jeopardy Zero" may become an important place for them to leave in this market.

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