Chapter 772 - 772: A Misleading Trailer

After finalizing the development plan for "Xenoblade," Lucas had a lot of his own work to do.

For example, the game's music. In his past life, the soundtrack was too classic.

Especially when "Counterattack" played, it gave people goosebumps with excitement.

There were also some detailed system settings, like the mercenary system in the game. This system was essentially a idle mini-game, mainly for players to build bonds with their Blades.

Because each Blade in the game had different bond requirements, it would be incredibly painful for players to complete them all manually.

A special Blade named Seven, who could compress mission times to as short as an 8-minute cooldown, would be added to the game settings. This would quickly allow players to complete the bond conditions for other Blades. It's commonly referred to as "Miss Seven going out to walk the dogs."

However, in the original game, mercenary missions required players to manually open, accept, and close them, which was very tedious.

So Lucas would implement some special optimizations for this part, such as a loop mode.

After players set up their mercenary teams, they could automatically complete and receive missions without manual adjustments.

Of course, there was another very important point: the game's trailer.

The game could be made slowly, but the promotional video couldn't be neglected.

......

The buzz for "Silent Hill" online had all but died down. Although it had scared a lot of players.

But it had to be said, the rewards were very tempting. A large number of players, enduring discomfort, had successfully completed the game and obtained the right to purchase Nebula Games vouchers.

After purchasing the vouchers, for many players, the natural next question was about Nebula Games' new game.

After all, most players who wanted to play older games would have bought them on release. So the goal for these vouchers was clearly Nebula Games' next big release.

Many players were very confident about this. The only thing they cared about was the genre of Nebula Games' next big title.

Would it be open-world ARPGs like "The Witcher: Wild Hunt" or "Red Dead Redemption," or FPS games like "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare," or cinematic narrative games like "The Last of Us" or "Uncharted"?

Every player had their preferred genre and naturally hoped that Nebula Games would release a game in that genre.

Because of this, players were arguing fiercely online.

As if hearing the players' pleas, before the related topics could escalate.

Something surprising happened that shocked many players: Lucas released a trailer for the new game!

Of course, what shocked players even more was the content shown in this trailer.

At the beginning of the trailer, a red-haired, beautiful girl and a cute young boy in a salvage suit sat by a campfire.

"As long as the core exists, Blade life is eternal."

"If I must continue to feel pain throughout eternity because of memories."

"I think being able to forget might be a form of happiness."

As the firelight flickered, the camera slowly panned up to the star-filled sky.

The next second, the scene switched to a basement. Characters resembling a squirrel and a mecha girl appeared, fighting a powerful enemy.

"For a Blade, memories with a Driver must be very precious, meow!"

Quick cuts followed: a white tiger, a cat girl, a young man with an eyepatch, a noble in formal wear…

"Miss deserves to be the only Driver I've ever synchronized with."

"I will absolutely never forget, how could I possibly forget?"

Across a vast plain, two beautiful girls with red and blonde hair, like sisters, offered their hands to a boy.

"We have to go there, with Rex!"

A montage of fierce battles followed, showing Rex and his companions being pushed back.

"A Blade only lasts for a moment. Memories disappear when they return to their core."

"The more we fight, the more it hurts Pyra and Mythra. It's better not to be by someone like me."

...…

"Meeting Rex and everyone was the best memory."

"This is our promise, I'll go to Elysium for you! Why were you born! What will our future with you be!"

"Let's make lots of memories!"

Continuous battles played with stirring music, but after the darkness, Pyra's pained expression appeared.

"Stop! Don't take my memories!"

"Pyra!"

As Rex's despairing voice echoed, the crystal symbolizing the Aegis fell to the ground, dim and lifeless.

......

After watching the trailer, players familiar with Nebula Games felt like they had been struck by lightning. They instinctively checked the date to make sure it wasn't April Fools' Day.

Because the art style was too anime-like, or rather, otaku-like.

Nebula Games wasn't new to cartoonish styles, if we're talking about cartoon styles. For example, "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild," "Super Mario: Odyssey," and "It Takes Two," they had covered everything from realistic cartoons to others.

But with this new work called "Xenoblade," the style had completely changed!

In fact, if the trailer hadn't explicitly stated it was a game, many players would have thought Nebula Games was preparing to make an anime.

What? You say they're not focusing on their main business?

Is an animation studio that's been held back by games messing with you?

"Dota" had its "Dragon's Blood" anime, and the second season was about to be released. It wasn't impossible for them to make a new anime series.

Of course, besides "Xenoblade" completely changing Nebula Games' previous art direction and suddenly heading in an anime direction,

What concerned players even more was the content shown in the trailer.

Setting aside the background elements like Drivers and Blades, and the gameplay for now.

But those snippets of dialogue made many players' hearts skip a beat.

Because it really felt like a tragedy!

"I have to say, the art style of this new game makes me so excited! But why does it feel like a tragedy?"

"+1! You're not the only one. Blades can become core crystals and lose their memories, and going to Elysium while getting more injured from fighting… this is pure tragedy!"

"Why does everyone think it'll be a tragedy? Maybe there'll be a twist?"

"If it were any other game company, I'd say there's a high probability. But this is Boss Lucas!"

"That's not necessarily true. Didn't Boss Lucas often do things that made us think one thing when it was another in the past?"

"Heh, that's because he wanted to lure you in and kill you! And Boss Lucas hasn't done that much in the past couple of years. After all, Boss Lucas knows his image is deeply ingrained. It's entirely possible that he's just phoning it in with this trailer!"

"That's true!"

......

Inside the office.

"Boss Lucas, this trailer is extremely misleading!" Anna said, feeling speechless as she looked at the player comments online.

Regarding the story, Anna felt that although "Xenoblade" had some twists, it was actually more like a fairy tale.

A boy met a girl, and without hesitation, they set off for Elysium. A standard, classic heroic tale.

There was no need to overthink the logic; it was like watching an anime.

And the game had an unexpectedly sweet ending. It seemed this time they were truly preparing to show players that their beloved Boss Lucas could indeed be a genuine "warrior of love" and deliver heartwarming stories.

But the crucial point was that the trailer's direction was completely different from the story and was full of misdirection.

"If I told the players that this would genuinely be a heartwarming story, what do you think they would think?" Lucas chuckled.

"Hmm… most likely, players would assume it's a tragedy, right?" Anna thought about Lucas's image in the players' minds.

"So, right now, I'm giving players the illusion that I've given up. When they discover it's different from what they expected, how much extra surprise will they get? And that feeling of guilt for misunderstanding me might just change their impression of me." Lucas said with a smile.

"Boss Lucas, I think the surprise is possible, but that label… cough, cough, Boss Lucas, don't harbor any foolish hopes." Anna coughed a couple of times.

Lucas's face darkened. Looking at Anna, who was suppressing a smile, he pointed a finger at the workstation next to him. "You talk too much! Back to work!"

(End of Chapter)

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