We visited S-Game in Beijing to speak to Phantom Blade Zero's director about the game's 30 weapons and how they worked to balance them all.
In multiplayer action games, it's vital that every weapon or character is equally useful, at least as much as possible. I spoke to Phantom Blade Zero's director, Soulframe (S), about how S-Game managed 30 different weapons, and how the team tried to make them balanced.
S knows balance is important in Phantom Blade Zero: "It's hard, especially for 30 different weapons," he admits. "But the good thing is our game is a single-player game, and we don't have to make everything 100% balanced, so there are stronger ones and weaker ones," he continued.
Instead of making an action game where every weapon is a good option at all times, where players can stick with their favorite weapon, S-Game wanted to ensure players experimented.
Weapons are "the key to solving the problem" in the game, S said. "So when you encounter some bosses and when you encounter some even minor different enemies, like the shield guy, the shield guy is a little problem, and you will resolve that with the axe or with the big flower blade. So in the whole process, we keep on giving players different problems to be resolved, and sometimes these problems require certain weapons or some certain builds to resolve them."
That is an interesting way to approach combat design. The weapons aren't just different skins of the same thing; they entirely change the damage you're able to do and the movement your character is capable of. It pushes you to experiment to try and find the best way forward. "We hope people explore as much as possible and use different weapons to beat the boss," Soulframe said.
For example, take the fire-breathing dragon mask, line-dancing boss from the recent trailer. You'll be able to chip away at his health using anything from your arsenal, but in my recent preview, I was able to take a weapon into the fight that reduced the impact of the boss's main attack. Using it made the fight so much easier, but Phantom Blade Zero doesn't push you towards certain pieces of equipment; it leaves you to figure it out for yourself.
There are wacky and interesting weapons still to be revealed, and S-Game has been very intentional about how and when you unlock each one. Whether you've found a weapon you're comfortable with or not, you should still give every weapon a go when you find them.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.pcgamesn.com/phantom-blade-zero/interview-make-everything-balanced
