To be fair, the current mobile game market has really changed. I played all the way back in the Symbian era and watched mobile games evolve from small Java games to various Unreal Engine masterpieces now. There is really nothing to say about the technological progress. But have you noticed that when you open the app store now, the top 100 are all about drawing cards, drawing skins, and collecting fragments. After playing for three days, you will get tired of it, and after playing for a week, you will want to delete it.
To be honest, I rarely play new mobile games recently. It wasn't until an old friend recommended that I try "Chivalry 2" that I discovered that someone was actually making the kind of pure game that we old players want most.
Let's talk about the core gameplay of "Chivalry 2", with two camps and eight sects. You can feel the clique-like atmosphere of the PC games back then. There are no stamina points to hold you back, and no daily tasks forcing you to clock in and go to work. You can hit when you want, and rest when you want. This kind of real-time combat feels very solid, and the skills are connected smoothly. It can be felt that the development team has put a lot of thought into the ACT elements, and it is not the kind of thing where you can hang up with one click.
I particularly like the setting of permanently preserving the value of equipment. Isn't this the case with today's games—as soon as the version is updated, the equipment you worked so hard for will immediately become garbage. However, "Chivalry 2" dares to offer fully free equipment upgrades and player transactions. The equipment market is in the hands of players, and you can really make money if you play well. This is not the kind of gold farming studio, but a real in-game economic system. Civilian players can turn around with their vision and experience.
The mount training is also very suitable to my liking, especially the function of sharing rides with beautiful women... Let's talk about a 30-year-old man. He can also be romantic in the game. He can take his wife in the game to ride a two-person mount to see the scenery. It adds points for feelings, and he understands everything. The graphics of this game are not the ultimate realism style, but rather a retro martial arts romantic style, with fireworks, moonlight, and sword shadows, and the atmosphere is well captured.
What gets me the most is the gang fights and sieges. How can today's new mobile games dare to do such a big scene? Afraid that players would be refunded if they couldn't beat the game, or that the krypton gold boss would be targeted by civilians, so we simply changed it to a PC-like arena. But "Chivalry 2" still retains the sense of passion of brothers standing shoulder to shoulder. When the forty-person camp is hedging, the sound effects of skills and the roar of command are all in the headphones. It feels like going back to the days of fighting gang wars in the college dormitory all night.
The cross-server battlefield is also more strategic than expected. It doesn't mean that you can crush them without thinking if you have good equipment. Each link of formation coordination, professional skills connection, and on-the-spot judgment of the commander is very critical. I played with wild teams and fixed teams for a few days, and my impression is very obvious - a team with strong execution but no emphasis on strategy will often be able to counterattack against a team with tacit cooperation but average equipment. This kind of competitive game is called deep.
The charging mode is 0, not the kind of hidden trap zero. Equipment trading has started, and the output of ordinary players is taken over by veteran players. Every time the fight ends, the brothers still set up stalls in the city to trade. It really feels like the gaming community back in the day.
Of course, I'm not saying that "Chivalry 2" is perfect. It still has some feedback problems that are not satisfying enough. The early entry threshold is a little higher than the current mainstream brainless mobile games. But to be honest, in this era where even single-player games require in-app purchases, there is still a team willing to make an honest martial arts online game, and make cross-server, gang battles, trading systems, and development content all online. This in itself is something worthy of respect.
The mobile game market has never lacked assembly-line products with exquisite graphics. What it lacks is works that can make people feel the fun of games again. Chivalry II allows me, a ten-year-old player, to find a sense of belonging. If you are tired of drawing cards and want to find some experience of real swordsmanship and brotherhood, you can really give it a try. 😌
The team of Hangzhou Liujin has managed to capture the martial arts fantasy in my heart. I hope they can continue to operate this game well and not be kidnapped by capital or forced to change their taste by short-term KPIs. Then let's see each other in the world and see you in the chivalrous service. 🏮