To be honest, as an old guy like me who has played all the way from the Symbian era, I really love and hate the current game market. What I love is that the technology is getting better and better, but what I hate is that it is getting harder and harder to find the feeling of being able to produce content in a down-to-earth manner. But the one I want to talk about today, "Paper Wedding Dress 8 Thousand Sons Tree", actually gives me some hope.
Not to brag, this game brought me back to the feeling of playing the mobile version of "The Grudge" as soon as it came out. But the difference is that its narrative style and interaction design are obviously more mature. The nursery rhyme at the beginning of "My godmother is ten thousand years old, and my children are separated for hundreds of years", coupled with the gloomy picture, directly fills the room with a sense of Chinese horror. And pay attention to the developer, Chengdu Jingfan. This studio has been making paper wedding dress series for several years. From the first generation to the eighth generation, progress is visible to the naked eye.
Let's talk about mobile game trends. In the past two years, everyone has been talking about "high-quality products", but there are not many stand-alone mobile games that are truly long-term and content-driven. The Paper Wedding Dress series has established a firm foothold. Each generation maintains a length of 1-2 hours. The plot is coherent, the puzzles are designed online, and there is no in-app purchase and card draw - 0 yuan download, complete experience, which is like a living fossil in the current mobile game market. Sometimes I really want to ask those mobile game manufacturers who are constantly using 648 and 128 monthly cards, do you really think that players are all leeks? 😅
In addition, the Paper Wedding Dress series is very steady on the road of "narrative horror". Unlike some games that rely on sudden jumps to scare people, it is better at using folklore and psychological suggestions to create an atmosphere. For example, the theme of this generation is "Thousand Sons Tree". Just hearing the name can make people think of all kinds of weird stories. Moreover, it combines traditional Chinese cultural symbols (god statues, sacrifices, blessings) and modern horror elements very well. This kind of "localized horror" in my opinion is the direction that mobile games should take in the future - there is no need to blindly learn from the West, there are many good things in our own culture.
But there are also regrets. For example, the current competition on mobile game platforms is too fierce, so version 5.0 has only been released, which is actually a bit late. Moreover, many classic IPs are prone to losing their shape later on. I hope that the Paper Wedding Dress series will not be casually released with sequels just to make up the numbers. Fortunately, at present, every generation has new ideas. The "recognition of relatives" setting of this generation is quite interesting, taking a folk concept and giving it a psychological warfare flavor.
Finally, if you are also an old player, you might as well give this game a try. No need to spend money or money, just spend two hours quietly savoring a story. This kind of experience is becoming increasingly rare in the current mobile game market. 😌
(PS: Remember to wear headphones when playing, the soundtrack and sound effects are amazing, don't let the ambient sound ruin the atmosphere)