Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 405 - 411: What Kind of Game Is This?

Chapter 405: Chapter 411: What Kind of Game Is This?

"This time... it should really be over, right?"

"It seems that this state is the final conclusion of ’Heartbeat Dream’?"

Zhang Qifeng stroked his chin, not entirely certain about this speculation.

Because the current state really isn’t like traditional games!

At the end of this game, there were no credits or anything like that, nor a "THE END" sign.

This made Zhang Qifeng quite puzzled; had he actually cleared the game, or had it simply entered a sort of deadlock, impasse, or phased lockout state?

After all, if he’d been led to ultimate victory by guides like Yarvette or Sakura, turning the game into a chat simulator, it would end up in a similar loop, which obviously wasn’t the final step.

But to say this isn’t the ending?

That didn’t seem quite right either, because in terms of game content, practically everything was already developed. The game even activated something like a GM mode in the end, allowing free adjustment of the frequency of horror content and most other aspects of the game.

Although as a single-player game, players could choose to "ding", activate cheats to adjust these things, having them built directly into the game was still different.

At least, to Zhang Qifeng, it seemed that the game must be completely over at this point.

But with that came even more mysteries.

"So, going back to the beginning... what kind of game is this really?"

"Or to put it another way, what is the story actually about?"

Zhang Qifeng couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.

For a game, when a player has finished it and experienced most of the content, it’s generally time to draw a conclusion.

Reviewing all the content provided by the game from start to finish, combined with one’s entire gameplay experience, one can conclude with a "recommend" or "do not recommend".

The gameplay experience of ’Heartbeat Dream’ could be said to be like peeling an onion, with many layers.

On the first layer, it seemed like a pure love game, where players invited girls to various events, collected CGs and the Bestiary, experiencing sweet romance.

While the story wasn’t particularly outstanding, the modeling of ’Heartbeat Dream’ was exquisite, and the art was excellent. The various interactive characters were pleasant to look at.

Additionally, what was jokingly called the "sci-fi mode," the "girl-pursuing-player mode" greatly made up for the shortcomings of AI-driven plots, allowing almost every player to find appealing romantic content in the game.

But the game quickly moved to the second layer, stripping away the mask of warmth to reveal the horror elements!

In hindsight, from the perspective of a horror game, the horror content of ’Heartbeat Dream’ was quite good as well.

For each character with a different background, the game designed diverse horror scenes.

The methods of overcoming these challenges differed among players—some could only flee, powerless to fight back, while others could use weaker weapons to defeat powerful enemies.

In terms of atmosphere, music and sound effects, and monster design, the horror content was commendable.

While it couldn’t compare with the very best horror games, it was still considered excellent.

More importantly, because the horror elements appeared without any warning and there were many "beast-level transitions," the scare factor of these horror elements was greatly increased.

This also satisfied many horror game players who followed the buzz.

But the tactic of turning a romance game into a horror game was indeed a bit underhanded, which brought the first wave of criticism for "Heartbeat Dream".

The third layer of the game then gradually began to reveal various meta elements.

It started with text documents repeatedly hinting to the player that the AI game guide had awakened self-awareness. Then, through in-game guidance, players were prompted to operate directly on the game’s root directory files, thus affecting the game world.

It might be deleting someone, adding someone, or a bait-and-switch...

In essence, during this phase, the dimensional wall between the game and the player seemed to be broken. Players interacted with the characters not through the in-game UI, but through the underlying folders on their own computers, engaging in a battle of wits against them.

In this part of the game, every character’s personality seemed to be more clearly displayed, who was kinder-hearted, who truly loved the player more—it all became more apparent.

The content of this layer left one feeling deeply disturbed, as if there was a real ghost floating in one’s computer, or a two-dimensional AI deeply in love with oneself.

Especially with Elios’s ultimate appearance, Zhang Qifeng felt a strange resonance.

He had never interacted with Elios in any romantic way, but after watching this part of the story, he couldn’t help but develop a special affection for her, and her image lingered in his mind even more persistently.

Clearly, after deeply experiencing it, Zhang Qifeng confirmed one thing.

"Heartbeat Dream" was not really a romance game, nor was it purely a horror game. Could it be called a meta game? That also wasn’t quite accurate.

There had not been a similar type of game before. It seemed like a mix of these three elements, but there was something extra about it.

Beyond the horror, it gave a special kind of psychological terror.

After the psychological terror and the display of meta elements, it indeed induced a heart-fluttering sensation, which elevated it above other love simulation games.

At least, players’ memories and impressions of these female characters were much deeper than those in typical love simulation games.

In contrast, the game’s plot was intricate and seemingly a bit anticlimactic.

So, what was the significance of this apocalyptic setting?

Who is the so-called Savior? The protagonist? But the protagonist is still on Eden Island, right?

Is it those female characters whose favorability was maxed out? It seems to be, after all, each one of them would leave Eden once the third stage of max favorability was reached. But this explanation also seemed a bit far-fetched.

Moreover, in the ending that Zhang Qifeng reached last, after activating GM mode, all the female characters except Elios could be re-invited and interacted with by the player, apparently no longer subject to the "must leave when max favorability is reached" restriction.

Add to that the influence of meta elements, which made the game’s storyline even stranger.

Zhang Qifeng was almost 100% certain that there would be many players on the internet fiercely criticizing the game’s plot because most players would feel there was a problem after playing through it.

"But... if you combine all the content of the game, isn’t there perhaps another path to explain the storyline?"

Zhang Qifeng had a faint feeling that he had his article!

Whether he could salvage the website’s reputation might just hinge on this!

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