Trial Report of "The Road to the underworld": Breaking into the Black and White Sword and Halberd Film

"The Road to the underworld" (formerly translated as "To the underworld") is a horizontal action game with a samurai theme. When I first saw the game trailer, I was attracted by its highly restored black and white sword and halberd film art style.

I recently had the opportunity to try a trial version of the game, and I would like to share with you my experience of playing downstream.

From the content perspective, the trial version should be the first two chapters of the early stage, which are the stories of the protagonist Hiroki's youth and his youth.

From chasing the footsteps of the master to repelling the attacking bandits, to taking the initiative to go to the neighboring village where the lips and teeth are cold and defeat the criminals, although the plot direction is relatively straightforward, one can glimpse the overall tone of the game's heavy suffering - hearing the mournful cries of passersby along the way, and seeing the villages that have been burned, killed, and looted. The end of the trial version left a foreshadowing of impending storms, and it seemed that the protagonist himself was also about to encounter great misfortune.

Although the story has not yet unfolded, and there is no connection between the content of the first two chapters and the word "Huangquan" in the title, the dialogue between passersby and collectibles in the game have begun to imply the subsequent related plot.

The dedication of the production team to the artistic style is indeed commendable. This kind of visual representation is not just a classic black, white, gray sword and halberd filter that can encompass, but also a product of multiple elements such as excellent lenses and carefully designed lighting scenes.

At some times, the game uses a fixed camera position, watching the protagonist walk alone from far to near, adding to the feeling of desolation; Sometimes, when the camera moves with the protagonist, there may be a close-up environment blocking the protagonist's figure, or seeing people standing up and walking towards the protagonist's position, adding an extra depth of field.

The protagonist travels through the cracks of a cave

Fishing Village in the Wind and Rain

Hongshu will guard the women and children crying in the corner of the house, confronting the bandits who are about to commit atrocities; On the stormy suspension bridge, they will draw their swords against the oncoming warriors; In the damp dense forest, waving samurai swords against the few beams of sunlight passing through the cracks of the trees.

Generally speaking, Hiroki will be located in remote locations of the camera. This is a rather wonderful experience - on the one hand, as a player, I am manipulating the movement of my character, and on the other hand, I feel like I am sitting in the best seat in front of the big screen as an audience member to enjoy this film.

Although this may be a statement of high emotional intelligence, black and white filters do to some extent mask the lack of precision in game modeling, allowing people to be more immersed in the atmosphere of game creation.

The downside of this kind of image processing is that sometimes the characters and their movements can't be clearly seen. This involves the combat and gameplay part of the game.

The game has four levels of difficulty

Compared to the impressive visual performance, the combat part of the game is relatively average based on the content presented in the first two chapters. Unlike during exploration, during battles, both the enemy and ourselves remain on the X-axis, and players need to focus on the enemies in front and behind them.

Huangquan Road is designed with light and heavy attacks, as well as more common moves such as combos, blocking, rolling, and execution. All actions, including defense, will consume endurance slots, which requires reasonable control and not blindly attacking or defending. Stand up and wait for the opportunity to move.

Blocking can counter most enemy attacks and has a relatively loose judgment, making it quite useful. However, in my experience, there seems to be a certain input delay, and the "reed name shaking knife technique" is not easy to use. Sometimes I feel like I should have blocked it, but I still get injured, and sometimes I inexplicably block it.

blocking enemies will reveal loopholes

Ordinary miscellaneous soldiers are basically solved with two strikes, while in the trial version, only armored warriors and small bosses need to spend more time. Due to the limited variety of enemy types and initial attack methods, battles tend to be repetitive. Fortunately, the scene is quite artistic, so there is not much boredom.

Heavy slashing can kill one enemy with one knife

When enemies appear in pairs, there is a dangerous situation of being attacked from both sides, which tests the player's ability to react and make decisions on the spot. But most of the time, even if there is an enemy standing behind them, they will still wait with their swords in the air, waiting for the player and the enemy in front of them to compete before coming forward.

is under attack from both sides

Overall, I believe that "The Road to the underworld" can win the hearts of many players just by its stunning artistic style. The game's preface presents a story tone of great bitterness and deep hatred, making people curious about the future direction of the plot.

The initial combat gameplay of this game is relatively simple, and I hope to see a wider variety of enemies and more diverse attack methods as the game progresses.