With a flood of ads, time slowly passed.
On August 1st, "Monster Hunter: World" officially opened its demo download on the Nebula Games platform.
Not just players, but many game industry designers also downloaded the game right away.
Because many game designers in the industry also wanted to see what kind of game "Monster Hunter: World" really was.
After all, hunting games used to be a small group's thing, and this game has a very different meaning.
Because the success or failure of this game, while not deciding the life or death of the Nebula Games platform, wouldn't cause too much damage.
It would definitely make the struggling channel alliance celebrate.
Whether it was a designer who decided to join the Nebula Games platform, or a designer still with the channel alliance, NetDragon, or SkyNova, they really didn't want to see that happen.
After all, the designers and some indie game studios, small game companies, were basically enjoying the benefits of Nebula Games' sudden rise.
But for regular players, they obviously didn't care so much.
As players, they just wanted to play a good game.
"Monster Hunter: World" was obviously the game they had been looking forward to for a while.
Around 11 AM, many players had already pre-downloaded "Monster Hunter: World" from the Nebula Games platform, waiting for the demo to open at 12 PM.
In a neighborhood in Beijing, Hannah and Zack, who were now a couple, were sitting in front of their computers, with Ben, Wells, and Joy in the voice chat.
Five friends were chatting while waiting for the game to open.
"This game is good in every way, it's just that it only allows four people to play together," Ben said with a bit of frustration in the voice chat.
"Yeah!" Zack agreed.
"It's okay, we'll see about the time later, and I'm pretty busy with a big project at work recently," Wells said in the voice chat.
"Okay, let's not talk about that. Even though this game only allows four people to play together, and there are five of us, Zack and I can use one computer, taking turns for each round," Hannah said with a smile.
"Alright, alright, think about the feelings of us single people, Hannah, stop showing off!" Joy chimed in.
"But I don't know if this game will be difficult. Huge monsters plus small hunters, it feels like something!" Zack said.
"It shouldn't be too hard, and didn't Lucas say this game isn't like Dark Souls? And the previous trailers felt very relaxed, even having time to cook meat while hunting," Ben said, sharing his thoughts.
"Who cares so much, let's just go for it! The five of us have all beaten Dark Souls! And doesn't this game have a team mode? If we can't beat it, we'll just team up and beat the boss. All problems solved," Hannah said casually.
"It's open, it's open, we can enter the game, stop chatting!" Joy said in the voice chat, noticing that they could now enter the game.
Hearing this, Zack and the others immediately clicked on the game.
After clicking to open the game, it didn't immediately start, but a pop-up window appeared.
'Since the current version is a demo, only limited areas are open, and multiplayer is not supported. (Only character creation data will be saved.)'
Seeing the prompt in front of them, Zack and the others weren't too surprised.
After all, they were all experienced players, and they knew what a demo meant.
Opening up limited content was basically just the game's intro, letting players understand what the game was like.
Naturally, many things couldn't be experienced.
In the voice chat, the group quickly discussed and turned off their microphones.
Since they couldn't team up, the voice chat wasn't really necessary, and it was better to focus on experiencing the game.
As the Nebula Games logo disappeared, the sound of waves crashing could be heard.
The next moment, a loud voice shouted:
[Well... everyone in the Fifth Fleet!]
[The time is almost here, let's skip the farewells!]
[Once you board this ship, there's no turning back. If you're not ready, I suggest you turn back now.]
[Now, let's set sail for the New World!]
[May the Azure Star that guides the way shine for you!]
With the voiceover, the closed gate opened.
Blinding light appeared, and after adjusting, countless people with luggage began to board the ship.
Zack mingled among them, obviously one of those heading to the New World.
After boarding the ship and arriving on the deck.
The ship's crew guided him into the ship's cabin.
Entering the cabin was a whole new world.
Candle chandeliers hung from the top of the cabin, countless armored crew members moved back and forth, three or five hunters were raising cups in front of a wide table, and there were crew members carrying stacks of books, studying something.
But what surprised Zack the most were the little cats in armor jumping around, raising their cups and drinking with the hunters.
In addition, there were many little cats walking upright and wandering around, acting as waiters and delivering plates full of food to the tables.
Watching a little cat put a plate full of food on the table, then open its big eyes and shake hands with a female hunter at the table with a smile, it was simply adorable.
"These cats are so cute!" Zack couldn't help but exclaim.
Is this really a hunting game? Or a game that sells cuteness?
Curious, Zack observed everything in the cabin.
Each hunter was busy with their own things, either drinking, researching information, or organizing equipment.
Are these his hunting companions in the future? Are these the partners he will fight alongside with?
Now Zack completely understood why Lucas said that "Monster Hunter: World" was completely different from "Dark Souls".
Not to mention the art style and gameplay.
Just the atmosphere.
Look, the Hunter's Guild members are so friendly and harmonious? They will be his good helpers in the future.
If single-player mode doesn't allow you to team up, he'll probably be with these NPC teammates.
Unlike "Dark Souls", Firelink Shrine has the Fire Keeper, and there are only so many people.
There is also the Gloomy Crestfallen Warrior, spreading negative thoughts all the time, and the whole game's atmosphere is very depressing.
Of course, luckily, you can ask for help in any game.
But "Monster Hunter: World" clearly has a completely different style.
United, friendly, and full of positive energy!
[Hey, we're arriving at the New World soon, are you ready?]
[Nervous?]
While Zack was thinking, a mohawk-headed male hunter walked up to him, sat down across the table with a wine glass in his hand, and started chatting.
After discussing the current situation and content.
The next moment, the game entered the character creation screen, similar to "Dark Souls," but compared to Dark Souls' Western fantasy style, this "Monster Hunter: World" was more Eastern.
Character Creation!?
That's my specialty! And the character creation data seems to be saved, right?
Looking at the rich character creation interface in front of him, Zack became excited.
This is his favorite part!
There's nothing to say about gender, still a male character. As for skin tone, it's yellow.
For the face shape, it has to be dignified, a middle-aged hunter at the peak of his life's fighting power.
No hair on the lips, nothing gets done, so add some facial hair to the chin.
But the mentality has to be young, and when facing hunting targets, you don't necessarily have to fight to the death, you can also use love to influence them.
So the hair color needs to have a bit of playfulness.
"Done!" After spending about fifteen minutes, Zack nodded in satisfaction looking at the character in front of him.
The only thing he was a little dissatisfied with was that compared to the character creation system of "Dark Souls," "Monster Hunter: World" was a bit conservative, and he couldn't fully express himself, but it's fine.
(End of Chapter)
---
Read +100 advanced chapters on my patre*n
patr eon.com/GustinaKamiya
Free Tier can read 3 advanced chapters
---