Not to brag, the graphics of mobile games nowadays are becoming more and more exquisite, but sometimes I install a new game and want to delete it after playing it for less than ten minutes. I don't know why, but it always lacks the energy of "you can figure it out all night if you get stuck on a level" back then. I was browsing the forum today and saw this section, and suddenly I was reminded of an old Nokia, and the movie "The Romance of the Generals of the Yang Family" that I secretly read countless times in class.
To be honest, if you look at this game today, the picture is probably crude at the pixel level, but on the screen in Saipan back then, the row of Yang generals stood in front of the formation, with the tips of their spears pointing outwards. I could see the momentum of thousands of troops😄. The game is a standard strategic war chess, with a turn-based grid. Each level pays attention to positioning, movement, skill timing and troop restraint. It is not the kind of thing that can be passed without thinking. We are all familiar with the story of the Yang family generals, but when we actually started to play it, we realized what a "bloody battle" is - Liao soldiers surrounded us in waves, and there were fewer and fewer people around us who could move, which was frustrating and frustrating. Especially when it came to the scene where Pan Renmei was stumbling behind the scene, I clearly remember reading the scene seven or eight times and arranging the troops until midnight. Finally, I sent Yang Laolinggong to the front and watched him not fall down, and then I breathed a sigh of relief.
At that time, there was no such thing as online battles, automatic battles, and one-click sweeps. They all used their fingers to precisely poke at the resistive screen. Occasionally, they accidentally touched it and slapped their thighs in anger. But it's this feeling of “every step counts” that makes people remember it like chewing olives. The generals of the Yang family all have their own personalities, some are capable of resisting, some are capable of long-range, and even their passive skills are exquisite. If you train the right candidates, it will be really hassle-free in the later stage. Thinking about it now, it was not easy to build such a strategy system under that kind of hardware conditions.
There is zero charge for this game, and it seems like there are no in-app purchases at all. It is purely based on gameplay. Later, I also looked for similar mobile war chess games on Android. Either they drew cards that made me doubt my life, or they were so stuck due to physical limitations that I had to squeeze in time to get online even if I wanted to push a picture properly. It's nothing like "The Romance of the Generals of the Yang Family" back then. I could carry it in my pocket and finish it steadily in three minutes between classes. The developer is Chengdu Xinyue Huyu. To be honest, I really didn't pay attention at the time, but looking back now, this kind of small team that is not impatient and down-to-earth in gameplay has become a rare species in today's market.
I saw the news a few days ago that mobile games these days often use battle arenas, and they rush to compete without polishing the gameplay. As I watched, I shook my head, remembering the era of the "Yang Family Generals" again. A stand-alone chess game with no fancy social systems, no daily check-ins, and no paid monthly cards. It just sits neatly on my phone and has stayed with me for several semesters.
Some people may think that my nostalgia filter is too thick and I am not flattering or black. I admit that it is partly true. But if you had really been under the desk or under the quilt, personally operating Yang Jiye to withstand the Liao army's charge bit by bit, you would understand the feeling - it's not that the graphics are awesome or the sound effects are great, it's that you watched a group of heroes gritting their teeth and holding on in troubled times, and you yourself, like them, must be as calm and calculated as they are. This is probably the charm of a good game. Even if it has been more than ten years, I still feel warm when I think about it occasionally. 😌
Not to mention, I almost forgot that I still have a Symbian simulator in my phone. I will go to the school field to order some soldiers tonight. I wonder if anyone else remembers Pan Renmei's face?