Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 567 - 550 New Character Joins the Team

Chapter 567: Chapter 550 New Character Joins the Team

Limited by their field of vision, players couldn’t see the entire map; they could only faintly perceive new boundaries emerging in their sight, stretching forward endlessly.

Moreover, the Hero’s current location was actually not in the center of the original continent, but towards the top left corner.

Nitiandang didn’t flatten the newly opened areas around the original region like spreading a pancake, but instead played some tricks, interweaving various regions in a complex manner.

And the Hero just so happened to be able to vaguely see the distant King’s City and the towering demon volcano to the south.

Compared to the small volcano in "Endless Fantasy Legend 1," this vast demon volcano was nothing short of monumental.

Not only that, but the majestic King’s City had expanded in size compared to the scale of the original Demon Cave, and most importantly, it felt eerily familiar.

"That’s the King’s City from ’Ascension’!

"And it’s been expanded even further!"

Zhuge Jun faintly discerned that the main part of the King’s City hadn’t changed much, but there were more supporting buildings in the surrounding area.

Some military towns and villages were scattered around the periphery.

Then suddenly, the screen shook violently, and amid a severe earthquake, the Hero looked back at the massive rift where the Demon Cave had once been.

Dark light burst forth again from that place, demonic energy soared into the sky.

It seemed as though something was awakening within the southern demon volcano, answering the call from afar.

Birds and beasts in the surrounding dense forest were startled, flocks of birds soared into the sky, darkening the heavens.

In the ending of "Endless Fantasy Legend 1," the Hero had actually managed to temporarily defeat the powerful Demon King with the Sword of the Brave. Like a giant sword, the black steel structure in the sky collapsed, plummeting into the fissure in the earth, sealing the Demon King completely.

After that, Fantasy Continent had returned to peace.

But now, as the fog cleared, the seal also seemed to loosen, and a new calamity was about to arrive.

The camera cut to the Hero’s front, and character customization was available.

"Wow, epic upgrade!

"You can customize the face, choose the gender, and even change body type.

"But the degree of freedom seems pretty ordinary."

Zhuge Jun took a look, and the character customization system was not very detailed; one could even call it rudimentary.

The options for face and body type were limited, with no ability to fine-tune specific parts; while the variety of hairstyles and colors weren’t too extensive either.

However, compared to "Endless Fantasy Legend 1," which didn’t allow any customization at all, the freedom had indeed increased.

Zhuge Jun decisively chose a female character, and customized a face he liked.

"Who would play a game choosing a male character? Staring at a male character’s butt all day, I’d rather play a female character.

"Oh, but this is a mobile game. If I can draw other characters, maybe I can use them to run around the map.

"Never mind, I’ll choose and see.

"Right, since they’re using other game IPs, and there’s the King’s City from ’Ascension,’ I should be able to play as Li Huanzhen in this game, right?

"Do they also have to implement a blade-launching mechanic or something?

"But if I wanted to play with blade launchers, I could just play ’Ascension’; why would I do it in a mobile game!"

Zhuge Jun began to self-mock.

The beginning was nearly the same as in "Endless Fantasy Legend 1"; there wasn’t a clear tutorial, just a brief introduction to some basic operations, otherwise players had to figure it out on their own.

This was a clear difference from the over-explanatory tutorials common in most mobile games.

Running, jumping, climbing walls, gliding, all these actions were very familiar already, nothing much to practice.

Zhuge Jun went into the settings to adjust these to his preferred keybindings, then he was eager to find a roadside creature for some combat practice.

While "Endless Fantasy Legend 1" couldn’t strictly be called an action game, its combat system was quite well done.

Not only were there various powerful abilities, but all the basic combat skills were available, including basic attacks, archery, raising shields to deflect, and more, offering plenty of variety to keep things interesting.

Zhuge Jun had also practiced some of "Endless Fantasy Legend 1"’s operations, and although not an expert, he was quite confident in his own abilities.

"I don’t expect the new game’s combat system to be very complex, but it should be a bit more elaborate than before, right?"

There was a clearly marked guide path ahead, and Zhuge Jun followed the trail for a bit before entering a cutscene.

Several monsters were seen attacking a traveler on the side of the road.

She appeared to be a Huaxia-style loli character, with her hair in signature buns, wearing bright yellow armor and wielding a long spear.

What followed was straightforward; naturally, the Hero couldn’t stand by and took action, teaming up seamlessly with the NPC to eliminate the creatures.

After the cutscene, it went straight into the combat screen, with a prompt appearing: players could freely switch between two characters using the D-pad on the controller or the 1-2-3-4 keys on the keyboard.

"Heh, it can indeed cut people.

"After all, it’s a mobile game, you need to sell characters, so I suppose that’s reasonable. Still, I need to take a closer look at the details of combat."

Since this battle was only equivalent to a beginner’s tutorial, it was very easy, and Zhuge Jun quickly dispatched all the minor monsters.

However, he felt somewhat irritated after the fight.

"No, where are all my fancy combat moves?

"Where’s my Fire Bullet? My Justice from the Sky?

"Don’t tell me they’re all gone!

"With all these changes, how come there’s only a normal attack, one Skill, and one ultimate move left?

"How can it be so simplified!"

Endless Fantasy Legend 2’s combat system is not complicated at all because it cut out the original variety of flashy elemental abilities, or rather, it split those abilities across different characters.

The basic combat system for a character is very simple: one normal attack, one minor Skill, and one ultimate move.

Of course, to be more specific, it’s a bit more complex than that. For example, normal attacks are divided into a tap and a hold; the hold becomes a heavy attack. Additionally, there are falling attacks when jumping, charge attacks during a sprint, and step-in attacks when you dodge, and so on.

But this can hardly be called a complex combat system.

As for the two Skills, they also seem fairly straightforward:

The Hero’s minor Skill is of the Wood attribute, and its effect is a visible green aura that causes the growth of vegetation in a circular area around him, which has a certain periodicity and regularity, roughly one point something seconds per instance, looking like the ripples when a stone is thrown into a pond.

The mere Skill itself does not cause any direct damage, but it does increase the Hero’s movement speed and reduce stamina consumption while also inflicting a slight slowing effect on enemies.

The Hero’s ultimate move is to summon a giant ring of fire that revolves around him, causing fire damage to monsters.

When Wood attribute and Fire Attribute collide, they trigger a combustion reaction, causing continuous fire damage to enemies, and the damage can stack, increasing with each additional layer.

As for that Earth Element loli character with the Huaxia flair, she uses a spear, which differs from the Hero’s Sword and Shield combo.

Her minor Skill calls forth a large stone spear from the ground to pierce the enemies, causing small area damage and adding a shield to herself.

The ultimate move summons a small Water Element dragon that sprays water over a fan-shaped area in front of her, causing damage and healing herself.

The little loli’s Skills can also interact with the Hero’s Skills.

When Earth Attribute and Wood attribute react, the effect of the vegetation growth strengthens, and the grass that grows seems much more lush;

When Water Attribute and Earth Attribute react, a "mud" effect occurs, putting a significant slow on enemies;

When Water Attribute and Wood Attribute interact, the frequency of the vegetation growth increases;

And when Water Attribute and Fire Attribute react, an evaporation effect takes place, causing extra damage.

Inevitably, there will be situations where one element can react with two others, but which one comes first and which comes after?

Zhuge Jun says he doesn’t understand!

Overall, there must be some underlying rules, or it might have to do with the amount of elemental buildup on the monsters, though most players probably won’t calculate it that precisely when playing the game.

Although at first glance, this mechanism seems rather complex, for Zhuge Jun, the actual hands-on experience is not so.

Because if you ignore those complex reactions, the straightforward combat is best described with that familiar phrase: hit wherever it lights up!

Zhuge Jun just needs to use the Hero’s minor Skill first, then switch to the little loli, use her minor Skill, and then it’s all hack and slash, throwing out ultimate moves whenever they’re ready, and all the monsters die.

As for the special effects on the screen, they are quite flashy, whether it’s the accelerated growth of grass or the burning flames, or the white steam that spreads as the Water Element evaporates, accompanied by a sizzling sound—the scene looks quite spectacular.

But for players like Zhuge Jun, veterans of Endless Fantasy Legend 1, it didn’t feel particularly thrilling.

Because they felt, the mechanics have been trimmed!

How strong were the mechanisms in Endless Fantasy Legend 1? You could bind several stones together, then grab them with the Power of Wind, blow them up with a Fire Elemental Bomb, and the whole sequence flowed smoothly, bringing immense satisfaction.

And Endless Fantasy Legend 2? It feels like a massive step backward; on the surface, it seems to have a lot of variety, but in reality, there’s no mechanical interaction between different elements, just an inflation of values.

Moreover, what’s with each character having two elemental powers?

If we’re going by Endless Fantasy Legend 1, the Hero should be proficient in all elements.

And if it’s about highlighting character settings, then perhaps one elemental power might be better.

"Never mind, I won’t rush to question it. Maybe there’s a complex mechanism akin to Endless Fantasy Legend 1, but it’s just not revealed in the early stages?

"Maybe it’ll get better once everything is unlocked."

Next up was a segment of the story dialogue.

The player-character Hero is essentially seen as the Hero from hundreds of years after those in Endless Fantasy Legend 1, a new Hero who carries on the legacy.

And this Earth Attribute girl with the bun hairstyle, named Xi Yun, seems to be the first default character to join the team.