To be honest, it has been almost 20 years since I played "Cangshenlu" in the Saipan era. Back then, I used a keyboard to play RPGs, the screen was as big as a fingernail, and the plot was all based on my imagination. Now that I think about it, I feel really emotional. In recent years, mobile games have become more and more popular, the graphics have evolved from pixels to light and shadow tracking, and social networking has changed from single-player grinding to thousands of people sharing the screen. However, there are not many games that can really make people calm down and play.
Today I want to talk about the newly launched "Sky Age". I won't brag about it, but it allows me to see two directions in the development of mobile games: one is the breakthrough of freedom, and the other is the return of social experience. Let's talk about the free flight part first. It's not flying close to the ground, but a 360° panoramic view. From clouds to valleys, there is no wall of air to block you. This is considered conscientious in a mobile game. I used to play some Xianxia games, and it was clearly stated that I was wielding a sword, but I was knocked back by a wall of air within two minutes of flying. The experience was very fragmented. "Sky Age" at least makes you feel that the world is real and the direction is controlled by you instead of being tied to the task line. Coupled with the high degree of freedom of the fashion dyeing system, there are hundreds of sets of clothes in the wardrobe, and the colors can be adjusted at will. For experienced players who like to change their appearance, this depth of "personalization" is the key to retaining people.
Let's talk about social gameplay. In the past two years, many MMOs have been doing “lightweight social”, but many of them have turned into automatic path finding + one-click team formation, which is essentially single-player. "Sky Age" has a romantic adventure and demon spirit system. It is not a boring pet catching, but allows pets to have interactive plots and even accompany you to explore the map. There is also the "look back for a moment" encounter mechanism, which is somewhat similar to the social adventure of "Jian Wang 3" on the PC, but it is lighter and suitable for fragmented time. To be honest, this kind of "random encounter" design is much better than forced team formation, and can make people truly feel the human touch in the world.
From an industry perspective, Huai'an Zulong is actually quite interesting. The previous "Dream World" series focused on turn-based social networking in the era of PC games. Now that it has switched to mobile games, the technology is obviously relying on the graphics quality of consoles. But the charging mode of "Sky Era" is actually 0 (free), which surprised me a bit. Nowadays, mobile games are either monthly or weekly, or draw cards to earn money. There are fewer and fewer products that can truly retain players through content. I hope this game can stick to it and don't release VIP levels and attribute props in a few months. That would be a shame.
The last thing I want to say is that the mobile game market is undergoing a transformation from "screen arms race" to "differentiated competition in gameplay." "Sky Era" chooses to use freedom and real social interaction to break the game, which is the right direction. At least in my opinion, as an old player, being able to fly, play, and meet interesting people is much more important than simply accumulating values. It is recommended that friends who like exploration and social interaction give it a try, especially those who are a little tired of traditional MMO gameplay. This game may give you a slightly different feeling. 😌