C108: Skilled, Mr. Chen!

After watching me enter the game and recreate my role of a useless person, Qin Yi and the others, who were standing next to each other, looked at each other and exchanged a tacit smile. They all stared at the screen in front of me, as if expecting something interesting to appear.

While immersed in the game, I naturally noticed their small movements. However, I didn't say anything. I just smiled and continued to test the relevant content of the game.

The relevant UI interface was fine, including the face-pinning system, which was more refined than the previous life. After casually trying it out, I entered the game using a preset default image. The first thing that caught my eye was the visuals.

In my previous life playing Dark Souls and other games in the Soul series, graphics were not the point. Players didn't praise them for their graphics but for the game's art settings. For instance, the fairy-tale world-like Boreal Valley in Dark Souls 3 stunned countless players the first time they saw it. There was also the Palace of Origin in Sekiro, and Sanctuary Street in Bloodborne, which left a lasting impression.

However, since the technical level in this parallel world was stronger, and the mainstream configurations were higher, there was no reason to keep the same graphics as in the past.

A better game screen could provide players with a better gaming experience. As for the current game, I was very satisfied with what I saw.

The whole atmosphere was dominated by a cold gray tone, the scene was extremely bleak, and the ground was littered with bones and ashes. A vague mist floated in the air, giving it a slightly gloomy and cold vibe. The game had already started to shape its atmosphere.

For the opening animation, I used the promotional title released at the previous exhibition. However, I made a few deletions to tighten up the gaps, making the entire title story more compact. After all, the CG had cost a lot of money, so it was best to make the most of it.

Entering the game, I controlled my character to wear big pants, holding a broken wooden shield and chicken leggings and then began testing some simple movements. As in the previous life, there were system prompts and advice on the ground, with live corpses next to the player as objects for training. But for me, it was obviously unnecessary to look at them. The game's entire system was familiar to me.

I tried all the moves one by one: run, lock, normal attack, heavy attack, release combat skills, and roll.

Then, I opened the console and entered a line of code to call up a shield that could be used for a shield counter. In the game, the small broken wooden shield available to the useless person could only be used for impact and had no blocking ability. If I wanted to practice the shield counter, I had to switch to a shield with blocking skills.

This code was just for testing in the development version and would be deleted in the official release. I equipped the shield that I had called up through the code and approached the first living corpse mob. Instead of acting immediately, I circled around it to wake up in hatred, prompting it to stand up. I saw the living corpse roar and charge at me with a broken sword in hand.

In the eyes of Qin Yi and the others, there was a dull sound of dong from the speaker connected to the monitor. As someone who had participated in the game's combat system design, Qin Yi understood that this was the sound of a successful shield counter.

My character, facing the half-kneeling corpse, performed a shield counter and slammed a wooden stick, like a big chicken leg, onto its head, instantly depleting the long health bar.

The execution screen in the game was more detailed than in my previous life. While Dark Souls had execution animations for different types of weapons, they were mostly shared between a few categories like big swords, axes, long swords, empty hands, and claws. In this version, I had optimized the animations.

Adding or not adding execution actions doesn't impact the core of the game, but it directly influences the player experience. The executions are a reward for players, like the special moves in a fighting game that occur after building up an energy bar. These executions in Dark Souls provide visual rewards. When a shield is successfully used, an execution follows, adding a satisfying payoff.

At the same time, having unique execution animations for each weapon means players no longer have to wonder what the execution looks like for specific weapons.

"Does the whip have an execution animation?" they might ask.

Looking at my smooth shield counter, Qin Yi and the others were stunned.

"Why are you so skilled in operating the shield counter, Mr. Chen?" they wondered.

The correct process was supposed to be to rush in and deal two quick cuts to defeat the living corpse. But here I was, using the shield. Even though I was the producer of the game's combat system, I still had to test everything first. They were all surprised by how proficient I was.

I walked smoothly to the first campfire and lit it, then ran and jumped to another coffin step to pick up a shining white item. I hadn't lost a drop of blood during the whole process and had already arrived in front of the first boss, Ash Judge Gouda. Qin Yi and the others, who had originally expected to see something grand, were now speechless. This was completely different from what they imagined!

But even so, a trace of expectation still lingered in their minds. After all, mobs were different from bosses. Even if I was the producer, wasn't the experience still something that had to be lived through? Watching strategies and high-level skills in text or video doesn't always mean you can execute them. Like all those moments when viewers leave comments like, "They thought I could learn it!"

Qin Yi, who had been previously defeated by this boss, was especially attentive now. Most bosses in Dark Souls share a common feature, they are oversized, creating a strong sense of oppression. Their weapons are usually impressively long, able to attack players from a distance, and they often use large-scale sweeping attacks. Although Ash Judge Guda is the first boss, it's truly intimidating. The attacks are incredibly powerful. Even with a shield, blocking them drains a lot of energy.

What makes it even worse is that most bosses in Dark Souls have two stages, and Guda, Judge of Ashes is no different. The second phase involves a black giant snake, which had caused Qin Yi trouble before. As I prepared to engage the boss, Qin Yi and the others couldn't help but look on with anticipation, wondering if I could handle the challenge ahead.