"Only Big Adventure" review: Play with feet, fun

The first attention to "Only Big Adventure" this game, is in 19 years of China Joy. At the time of SONY's booth, "Only Big Adventure" was one of the highlights of the trial area, and the crowd waiting in line for the experience was worse than that of the "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" which had already been heavily promoted. Now, after several years of polishing, the game has finally landed on the Steam platform and unveiled its mysterious veil to the majority of players.

I believe that domestic players are familiar with the developer of "Only Big Adventure" - NEXT Studios, whose works such as "Death Comes" and "Mystery Chasing" have received quite good evaluations on major platforms. If you've played the studio's work, "simplicity and subtlety" is a consistent feature of its game design. In Only Adventure, this feature is once again incorporated into every aspect of the game.

A game you play with your feet

The so-called "simple" does not mean the difficulty of the game, but the simplicity of the game mechanics.

If a game is like a house, then the game mechanics are like the foundation of the bottom of the house, supporting the weight of the whole game. For a lightweight, casual game, the design of the "foundation" can't be too complicated. The actions that the player needs to remember should be as simple as possible, while ensuring that the game is sufficiently playable.

The "foundation" of "Only Big Adventure" is a good choice, it is just a simple setting - "play the game with your feet."

This is the slogan of the game's official website and the core mechanic of the game. It is not that the game requires players to use their feet to control, but the character that the player controls in the game is a special robot that can complete a series of actions with only two feet - "only".

All the actions of "Only" are completed through the two rockers of the handle, which is extremely simplified in the way of operation. Players only need to turn the joystick to control the "only" feet, so that they can achieve actions such as advancing, sliding, and interacting with the organ. In terms of setting, it's really not that difficult.

But when you actually get started, you will find that it is not so simple to manipulate these two feet flexibly.

First you need a gamepad, which is necessary to get started in the game. Although this game can also be controlled by the mouse, but this mode of operation is limited to single player mode, and the overall experience will be slightly inferior to the joystick operation of the gamepad. Especially in the need for rapid movement of the scene, the operation of the controller will be much more convenient than the mouse.

Secondly, the control of "only" also has a certain skill, you need to practice the order, rhythm, and amplitude of steps repeatedly. The process is much like a baby learning to walk, and you may even unconsciously recite the slogan "left and right" while practicing.

All of the subsequent gameplay of Only Great Adventure is based on the use of two feet. Just like the familiar Mario, although it can only run and jump, once the two simple actions are combined and interact with the scene of the game, it can achieve complex actions such as stepping on the head attack, super jump, and pushing off the wall. This is the beauty of game design.

And "Just Dare" manages to do that, too. When the player mastered the simplest walk, the game began to spawn new ways to play. The role of feet is no longer limited to walking. You can use your feet to glide forward quickly, use your feet to interact with the props in the scene, climb the slope, trigger the mechanism, adsorption props, "only" although there are only two feet, but the production team gave the two feet do not lose the action ability of both hands. If a simple game mechanic can achieve different gameplay in different needs, then the mechanic can be called a success.

Level design is the driving force behind sustainable games

With a good game mechanic in place, the next focus is on the game's levels. The production team needed to incorporate seemingly simple game mechanics into the levels, combine different effects, and make the whole game rich and interesting.

Let's take Mario as an example, the success of the "Mario" series of levels is that players can discover new ways of playing without the need for specific guidance, which we can call "implicit guidance". The player's game process is a process of discovery and trying, and the satisfaction of trying and succeeding will also make the player's experience a qualitative leap.

Good game mechanics serve the level design, and the level design, in turn, brings the game mechanics to life. "Just Dare" deserves credit for trying to do this.

For example, after the player is familiar with the basic walking, the level will arrange a ramp for you to introduce the operation of "sliding on your feet", you can see various props or collect items in the scene, the system will not explicitly remind you how to interact, but when you get close, you will subconsciously understand the corresponding operation skills.

The simple manipulation of the feet will gradually develop new abilities. Levels give the player the opportunity to discover new ways to play and get used to it over and over again, and every time they get to a new location, they can't help but explore the corners of the map in an attempt to find more hidden ways that might exist, which always gives the experience a certain sense of mystery.

In addition, each level of the game has its own unique theme, and each theme is a further expansion of the gameplay. For example, in the level "Brave Snow Mountain", "Only"'s feet are given the ability to swing back and forth between the cliffs with the help of the rope, and can also use the rope to solve the puzzles in the scene. In the level "Rapids and Waterfalls", the foot becomes the power source that drives the boat forward, giving the player a unique experience that is different from traveling on the ground.

With the game's excellent physics engine, the experience is even more fun. For example, when "only" standing on the roller bridge, the player will not only have to consider the control of the rocker when walking, but also pay attention to the balance of the bridge caused by the station position. When steering the boat forward, the player should control the direction of the ship, and always pay attention to the flow rate of the water, adjust the frequency and amplitude of the step in time, and successfully cross the rapids. This level experience, which requires multiple factors to be considered at the same time, adds a bit of tension to the game.

Joy alone is better than joy

If you want to say "Only Big Adventure" the biggest fun, it must be the double cooperation mode of this work. I can even responsibly say that the single-player mode and the two-player co-op mode of this game are completely two games.

In single-player mode, the game flow is more like a puzzle game. This is obviously not enough to be the most attractive point of the game. As the game's promotion says, before "playing with your feet," you must first "make friends with your heart." If you don't have friends to join you, you're missing out on half the fun of the game.

In the two-player mode, the levels were also changed to encourage cooperation between players. For example, in the snow and whitewater levels, the two players' "only" are linked by a rope from beginning to end. Solo activities are difficult due to the length of the rope. At the same time, many puzzles need to be solved using this rope to connect the player.

This design, so that players have to choose to walk side by side in order to pass, the game through a simple item, to achieve the connection between the two players. This connection is both physical and intellectual.

More variety comes from the addition of a variety of new challenges, which are a source of joy for players. Since it's a two-player game, mistakes are inevitable. And in countless intentional or unintentional mistakes, players and their partners have gradually cultivated a certain tacit understanding. The game also added a level settlement agreement.

Of course, you can ignore this setting entirely and simply have fun making fun of your teammates. I'm sure a lot of players, after entering the game with friends, will inevitably have a wave of mutual pit. After all, the two-player game is a joy to play, you don't have to pass as the sole purpose, focus on "selling teammates" in the game.

Conclusion

The bold innovation in game mechanics and level design of Only Great Adventure has shown me the great potential of Chinese games. I am glad that we have a good developer like NEXT Studios, who is willing to step out of their comfort zone and constantly challenge the fields they have never been involved in.

As a two-person cooperation game, "Only Big Adventure" is a rare domestic masterpiece in recent years, even ordinary people who do not play games can be easily brought into this operation is not complicated in the game, and experience the fun of playing with friends.

Of course, in order to experience this game 100% fun, you still need to have a friend who is willing to "play with feet".