Tuesday, June 1, 2021
The contrast of Japanese indie world
4Gamer.net's 'Wing of Darkness Proleline', which won the 2018 Indies category, was produced by the indie company 'Production Execution' and distributed by 'Clouded Leopard Entertainment (CLE)'. it's a game It is one of the games included in the 'CLE III Project' previously announced by CLE, and is characterized by excellent graphic depiction and mechanic battles.
Yu-Yeong's Froylline is made up of 3D, and the 'shooting part' aims to quickly dodge the enemy's attacks by moving in all directions, aiming the weapon to quickly annihilate it, and the 'shooting part', which is static but assists the main character and her. It consists of a'cut scene part' that allows you to understand the conflict between the worldview and the characters through the monologue of Erica'. My first impressions of this game looked great. This is because I was interested in the battle part that made use of the colorful graphics and mechanic sensibility.
But what I actually felt was half and half. I think this game is a game that shows'the contrast of Japanese indie games' in both a good and a bad sense. The documentary film'Branching Pass: A Journey to Find Japanese Indie Games' shows how Japan viewed indie games in the mid-10s. And with the success of'Bloodstained' crowdfunding, the Japanese indie market has shown that it is gradually developing. This game shows the development and'identity' of such Japanese indie world.
Game Name : Wing of Darkness | Developer : Project Executables |
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this… Indie graphics? That's amazing...
Yuk's Froyle is quite different from other'Indie Games'. Of course, this is not to undermine indie games, and there were many games with decent graphics among free games. Proleline of Yifei is one such indie game.
Of course, there is also a part of 'concentration and choice'. The shader graphics of the water and the modeling of the characters are excellent, but it can be seen that a lot of the graphics of the surrounding environment are killed, and some parts are vague to be excellent. However, it boasts a fairly high level of graphics for an indie game. I think that this is enough to be called a passing score even compared to commercial games.
still screen?
There is a saying that the scholar who passed by was originally a masked rider who passed by in the static'cut scene part' ... In the same way, Froylein of Yu-Yeok felt the same way, and Clara Ernst, who lived as an ordinary country girl, applied for a regular meal service in the military base and cleaning facilities, but was taken by 'Commander Rudolf Detman', who noticed the suitability, and was taken as a special flight sergeant of the Federal Republic Air Force. , as a 'professional line'.
Clara ends the battle by tagging with Erica, who belonged to the Avent Flugel unit. At first, Erica didn't like Clara, who suddenly came rolling in. Clara was initially dissatisfied with Erica's attitude, but as she gradually started to get to know her values and the person named Erica, their hearts began to loosen little by little.
The story was interesting by showing a complex and intermediate story, but that's it. After that, it flows into a typical story. Despite being in the military, he fixed the hard image of the unit with his own bright side and characteristics, and Erica, who was no different from the Ice Princess, was released, but as a certain incident took place, the fate of the two intersected greatly.
Overall, there was no particular part that hindered the flow of the story. It was really quiet. However, it was quite interesting to proceed in the'monologue method' from start to finish. Except for the short story length. I can't easily tell you the details because it's a spoiler, but to put it simply, you can play everything in the game in '5 hours'.
I tried to fill the uncharacteristic story with the character's charm and Sung Woo-jin's acting, but the cutscenes and short playtimes that made pretty 3D modeling and made motionless at best make this work forgotten. Certainly, the impressions from seeing the whole story are the top/bottom side of'Original Animation Theatrical Version'. Of course, I'm not saying this is a bad thing. Because what I want to say is the part that 'there's nothing special'.
Still, if there is something to be commendable, it is that'I did not look down on the war'. If you look at many Japanese subculture works, there are many works that sometimes depict war in a strangely light manner. War is not only for people, but also for animals and plants. It is a very dangerous conflict that can take all lives at once. Yi-Yeok's Froylin drew a happy ending, but at least he didn't leave those who took their lives unattended. It could be seen that this alone did not portray the war like a simple play house.
The difficulty of the 'combat part' 3D shooting, which is hard but can perform some tricks, is easy. The characteristic of recent 2D shooter games is that they make more and more difficult bullets, and the profile of Lee Yeok is simple and easy to sort out, making it easy for users to begin. However, I think that some parts just failed in terms of balancing and level design, because even if you just lock on and shoot, the enemies will drop.
The controls feel pretty quick. It moves immediately when you press the start button to evade enemy bullets in the air. You can feel a refreshing atmosphere throughout the game, apparently trying to give it a "cool" feeling. It may be a bit difficult to fight while moving up/down, but you can clear the target easily by using the △ button to switch to the main/sub-weapon, lock-on the target and shoot.
However, it was not long before it was confirmed that the form of battle could be 'uniformed' if it was wrong. There is no need to check the 'layout' before the 'briefing' to enter the battle and check your own weapons, you can just go to battle, but even if you only carry a specific weapon, the blankers will fall helplessly. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage that you don't have to change your weapons one by one and bother you.
If it is an advantage, it will be'convenience', but explaining it as a disadvantage can lead to'lack of diversity'. The content is very lacking. The amount of battle is small, but it is not fun to choose a weapon while thinking about how to play an active part in the battle. However, it is possible to enjoy 'self-hard mode' by deliberately selecting only weapons that are difficult to engage with the enemy, but this would not be the intended content.
'Only two things'. Nothing else.
After that, I played a little more, but my initial impression was, “Is this all?” Another indie game that CLE had previously distributed,'Marchen Forest', also made up for the lack of content in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd parts. this is very serious
On the contrary, if you want to see only the'story of the game', you can rather like the linear structure that you can enjoy the story by cutting off all unnecessary branches and fighting the battle. Just as a game doesn't necessarily have to have a long play time, it can be said that Yoo-Yeok's Froylline made good choices and concentration in the limited circumstances that they could focus on.
But what I said above is just saying that there is no need to add 'useless extras'. The regrettable part still remains. For example, if there was a function to 'upgrade weapon' or 'edit and customize weapon' in the area of changing the armament, I think it would have been possible to show a more diverse combat play. There isn't enough variety right now.
Besides that, there is not much 'freedom' without it. Battle -> Cutscene -> It is a repeat of battle. Even if there was no 3D map movement, various descriptions of the world view shown by the choice of cutscenes or movement of places would have been necessary, but only the repetition of battles and cutscenes. This structure, no matter how good the story is, only gives players boredom and boredom. However, the structure of the scenario is also very simple, so after playing the game for less than 3 hours, it is quickly forgotten from the memory.
I recently watched 'Indie Game: The Movie' and 'Branching Pass' at 'Game × Cinema' held at the Korea Film Archive. I could see the parts I was trying to improve. The Proline of Wing of Darkness is a mirror of both the good and the bad of these indie games.
The good thing is that it has a quality comparable to that of commercial games. First of all, various effects, including graphics, are properly mixed to give pleasure to the eyes, and the fun of the battle part is sufficiently refreshing. It is one of the interesting elements to see the process of the two relations between Clara and Erica connect and diverge, even though the cutscene part does not underestimate the element of war.
The bad side is the lack of depth. The length of the cutscene part and the length of the battle part are also quite short. In terms of play time, it is possible to clear within '5 hours', and battles can be cleared very easily. The ability to change weapons is limited, and only after the cutscene is a battle, so the lack of content is greatly felt. In particular, the cutscene part, where the character does not move, deserves to enter the domain of likes and dislikes, and the story has few characteristics.
However, considering that the Japanese indie market is still developing, Proleline of Yiyuk is a great game. Of course, there may be a lot of shortcomings compared to'commercial games', but the fact that it has created a visual and combat system that can stand side by side with them is excellent. However, considering that there is nothing to see except for battles and cutscenes, there seems to be a lot of work to be done.
I think the reason that indie games not only stand shoulder to shoulder with commercial games, but also have greater potential is 'original'. The Proleline of Yife lacks the originality that only such indie games can have. Rather, it can be seen that it stands shoulder to shoulder with other Japanese B-class games. Rather, the'Neptune series' looks better if you look at the material alone. However, considering the completeness of the game, there is plenty of room for development. If the day comes when these games are given even 'originality', Japanese games will once again make it possible to challenge the world on the stage.
Advantages
- Great graphics beyond the indie level
- Combat parts showing great operability
- The horrors of war in the background and scenario
- A story dealing with the ambiguity between humans and weapons
Disadvantages
- Cutscenes with no movement are the likes and dislikes
- Endless repetition of battles and cutscenes
- Short play time to see the ending in one day
- Lack of content and lack of interaction