Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 626 - 609: Are the Immortals’ Figures Not Quite Right?

Chapter 626: Chapter 609: Are the Immortals’ Figures Not Quite Right?

Meanwhile, Chen Tingquan has also started the livestream.

"Today, we’re going to play ’Reverse Heaven,’ my dear viewers.

"From the current rumors, it looks like this is a cultivation game.

"I love reading cultivation novels, a true loyal reader, okay? I just want to see if the slogan ’Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin, Undisputed Throughout Eternity’ will appear right at the start of the game."

As Chen Tingquan spoke, he unpacked and activated the pre-downloaded game, waiting for the shader to compile.

Even though Nitiandang didn’t make high-scale promotions for ’Reverse Heaven,’ had no trial experiences, and not even a long promotion CG, there are still many rumors circulating online.

Among these, the most widespread is obviously a line from the game’s official platform marketing slogan.

"Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin, Undisputed Throughout Eternity, cultivation is to go against heaven, ’Reverse Heaven’ invites you to start a new journey of cultivation!"

Just these few words, that little taste already hits you hard!

Cultivation novel enthusiasts like Chen Tingquan simply can’t resist.

Dragons are the most noble fantasy creatures in Huaxia’s classical imagery.

And nine is the ultimate number.

Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin is undoubtedly an iconic pinnacle in cultivation novels, and just these four words bring a chilling aura to everyone.

"Cultivation is to go against heaven," this sentence also well highlights the core of cultivation novels and aligns perfectly with the name ’Reverse Heaven.’

For fans of the cultivation genre, this game is really worth looking forward to.

Up to now, although Xianxia novels have always been a popular category in web literature, similar themes in the gaming industry are not that many.

On one hand, it’s because the domestic gaming industry is relatively weak and lacks the ability to develop high-quality AAA Xianxia games, mostly resorting to reskinning MMOs; on the other hand, it’s because the grand imagery of Xianxia is difficult to convey through specific visuals.

Hence, this track is broad, and not just any gaming company can take it.

However, Nitiandang has already proven its solid strength with many previous games, especially with the game "Ascension," which had a strong immortal vibe, making players believe Nitiandang has enough strength to develop such a groundbreaking Xianxia masterpiece.

What? You say the immortal vibe of "Ascension" felt weird?

Just say if it has it or not!

Chen Tingquan is also quite excited about this new game.

Soon, the shader compilation is complete.

The shader compilation interface also looks pretty normal, and the UI has clear Xianxia elements, everything seems normal.

After a simple adjustment of the graphics settings, he entered the opening CG.

Vast snowy plains, towering mountains.

Suddenly, the screen started to shake slightly, followed by increasingly intense tremors, and gravel rolled down the snowy mountains.

A giant azure dragon flew in from off-screen, wrestling with a massive demon beast the size of a giant ape.

This monster wrestling animation looks quite impressive, somewhat reminiscent of the territorial battles of colossal monsters in certain hunting games.

The two monsters rolled through the air, causing the snowy mountains to shower with gravel, their attacks tearing chasms in the ground.

The scene shifted behind a mountain peak, where several immorals with flowing robes appeared.

They wore traditionally styled Xianxia clothing, with both male and female immortals present.

Seeing the two demon beasts seemed almost exhausted, they trod on flying swords and quickly chased after them.

Their fighting styles varied, some directly lifted enormous rocks and hurled them at the demon beasts, while others swung various magic artifacts and treasures, launching spell attacks, and some controlled flying swords to barrage them like a remote Gatling gun.

The scene was chaotic for a time.

After the chaotic battle, as the smoke gradually cleared, the demon beast resembling a giant ape fled in panic, while the giant azure dragon was pinned to the ground, struggling a bit before falling silent.

A few immortals surrounded it, nodding with satisfaction.

One of the immortals, as burly as a small mountain, seemed the most injured. He took a gourd out of his pocket and poured half a bottle of elixir pills into his mouth.

Then, using their treasures, they bound the dragon’s corpse, flew back on their swords, and dragged it toward the distant sect shrouded in clouds and mist.

The scene shifted again, pulling into a long shot.

Three different regions appeared on the screen simultaneously:

In the lower left, the lowest area seemed to be an ordinary human village;

The center right of the screen depicted a stretch of small mountains, where sect buildings could be vaguely seen perched on cliffs and crags;

And in the upper left, the direction the immortals flew toward, where the towering mountains reached into the clouds—vaguely visible through the mist were grand buildings made of various jade stones and precious metals, clearly a truly top sect.

Within these three regions, there were also three different selectable concept art pieces, representing the three initial identities players could choose from.

Chen Tingquan was stunned.

"Holy smokes, the battle scenes are done well.

"These immortals’ magic artifact effects are also impressive.

"Wait, are these immortals’ muscles too exaggerated? Is Nitiandang trying a new art style again?

"It’s one thing for the male immortal with a body cultivation, powerful type to look like a square, but why does the female cultivator also look somewhat square? Is this reasonable?

"Everything is filled with immortal vibes, except for this physique..."

Chen Tingquan is struggling to hold back, seeing these immortals’ physiques must take extreme restraint not to mock them.

The male immortals are actually okay, since in cultivation novels, there’s the concept of body cultivation, where physical strength is increased through body honing, making bigger muscles embody a sense of power.

Like some fodder characters, they’re generally depicted as large-sized.

But the issue is, there are also immortals using magic artifacts or spell attacks, who are obviously placed in a mage role, yet their muscles aren’t small either?

The female cultivators are particularly jarring.

Because these cultivators wear Xianxia outfits with flowing sleeves, akin to the figures depicted in murals of flying deities, female cultivators generally expose their forearms and calves.

Yet with these muscle masses... Chen Tingquan has no doubt they could kick him to death with one foot.

Even though the female cultivator’s muscle mass is smaller than the male’s, it’s still not within a normal range either.

However, Chen Tingquan didn’t particularly complain about this because if you really get technical, it could somewhat make sense.

Cultivators need to hone their bodies, making them stronger to better cultivate their divine sense, and having muscles several sizes bigger than regular humans can be explained to a degree.

Moreover, this might just be a special art style by Nitiandang, since all their previous games had different, even widely varied, art styles.

Perhaps it’s a whole new attempt.

The bullet comments didn’t dwell much on this matter since they’ve already been distracted by the character selection interface.

These three regions, three pieces of concept art, correspond to the three different identities players can choose from.

But the problem is, only the first is a free identity, the other two actually require payment!

[Ordinary Villager]

[You are an ordinary child in the village. Although you’ve heard many stories of immortals from the village elders, you’ve never seen a real immortal. However, with the leftover ancient incomplete books at home, you’ve vaguely cultivated a sense of qi. Others don’t believe it, but you firmly believe you are a one-in-a-million cultivation prodigy, destined to carve out a path in this harsh prehistoric world.]

[*Free*]

[Small Sect Disciple]

[Your family is a local powerhouse, and your father always had high hopes for you, finding ways to send you to a sect for cultivation. You are the pride of your generation in the sect and have high expectations from your master.]

[*Unlocks with 198*]

[Inner Sect Disciple of a Great Sect]

[You are a true second-generation cultivator, your father is a Golden Core Strongman. Since childhood, you’ve received abundant resources in a great sect, having a perfect cultivation plan. The Nascent Soul Ancestor in the sect also holds great expectations for you, perhaps one hundred years later, you could succeed your father as the youngest Sect Master.]

[*Unlocks with 648*]

The character concept art corresponding to these three identities also differs.

The ordinary villager is a ragged child, wearing patched clothes, while the inner sect disciple of a great sect is well-built, with luxurious attire, not much different from the immortals seen in the CG.

Chen Tingquan was flabbergasted.

"What do you mean? Just starting with the initial identity, and you’re already forcing us to pay up?!"

Exactly, this isn’t tempting you to spend money, but truly forcing you to pay.

So-called tempting is ensuring the player’s basic game experience, and spending money can further improve it by subtly encouraging players to top up, but there won’t be any fundamental difference before and after spending.

While forcing payment directly limits the basic identity choices or item acquisition, the game experience before and after spending is fundamentally different.

Judging from the situation of ’Reverse Heaven,’ these three identities clearly have huge differences, and the phrase "*Unlocks with 648*" is blatantly price-marked.

"Is there no longer any code of conduct? Even in those ’join me, brother’ type national war games, there’s no such thing as forcing payment right when you enter the game!"

Chen Tingquan felt slightly shocked by Nitiandang again.

Though he didn’t play that many national war games, he knows these games usually force payment, but mostly start doing so midway through.

When you first enter, everyone is pretty much the same, except for a very few particularly wealthy top-tier whales, players will generally observe a bit first.

At this time, the game won’t forcibly increase monster stats but let players enjoy a couple of days first.

After playing for three to five days or a week, as players’ habits initially form, then gradually increase monster stats, making fights harder and introduce various PvP or GvG modes, opening up discount packages to coerce players to top up.

’Reverse Heaven’ does it well; you haven’t even seen the game screen while asking for a 648.

Ridiculous!

Chen Tingquan thought for a moment, then decisively chose the Ordinary Villager.

Even if it’s a game from Nitiandang, asking me for 648 right away is too much!