I Just Want Players to Save Money, They Insist on Giving Me!
Chapter 519 - 170: May you journey through half your life and return still as a youth!_5

Chapter 519: Chapter 170: May you journey through half your life and return still as a youth!_5

To every player who has earnestly experienced a game, I offer the highest respect.

...

Ma Yang had spent nearly three whole days, apart from eating and sleeping, playing "Super Mario: Odyssey". Without completing the full collection, he finally finished the first playthrough.

As the rolling credits of the development team appeared, his mood turned bittersweet.

He stared at the screen, lost in thought, like a child who had misplaced his favourite toy.

Reflecting on the first time he played the game, he had simply regarded it as a children’s game geared towards kids.

But now, after finishing the first run, the complexity of his emotions overwhelmed him.

He even felt a bit regretful for finishing it so quickly.

He hadn’t been this happy in a long time.

Apart from this game, Ma Yang almost couldn’t feel that anyone in reality cared about his feelings, or that he was constantly being presented with praise and rewards.

At least in the game, he was a carefree child, but outside of it, he had to grapple with the burdens of life again.

"Sigh... Huh?" He had just sighed when Ma Yang noticed something.

After the credits ended, the top player gave him another surprise!

The game, which cost 200 yuan, showed its incredible vitality and replayability!

Unlike traditional games where, after completing the first playthrough, a second run would at most involve collecting some alternate endings or game Easter eggs.

The second playthrough of "Super Mario: Odyssey" meant revisiting each country on the basis of the first playthrough and collecting a whole new batch of Noble Moons!

And these moons came with a bunch of new and more challenging puzzles!

Mario’s journey hadn’t ended yet!

His journey of childhood innocence hadn’t ended yet either!

When he saw Mario appear once again in the first country, "Hat Country", from the first run.

Ma Yang smiled again.

"This game... just how many more surprises does it have for me?" he marveled sincerely.

But this time, after some thought, he slowly put down the controller.

Ma Yang was a bit afraid to continue playing.

He wanted the memories of his childhood, which he had gotten to revisit after so many years, to last a little longer.

Taking a deep breath, he rubbed his face.

Ma Yang then searched online for information about "Super Mario: Odyssey" and the top player.

How had he never discovered such a company before, capable of creating games of this caliber, even transcending age limits?

But it wasn’t too late to start paying attention now.

After a bit of surfing on the internet, Ma Yang found that this company’s reputation among domestic gamers was exceptionally high!

Even the previously popular titles "Pubg", "Eternity", and "Cloud Top" were all works crafted by this company.

And the creative inspiration for these hit projects could almost all be traced back to one person—the chief designer of the top player, Ke Jin!

"Damn, this guy is excessively amazing..." As he searched for more about Ke Jin’s background, Ma Yang was stunned by the young game designer’s long list of achievements, his eyes wide with amazement!

What he saw was:

The founder of the pigeon gameplay!

The creator of the battle royale genre!

A pioneer of tower defense gameplay!

He promoted masocore gameplay to its heights, finding a clever balance between pain and pleasure for players.

And single-handedly brought narrative-driven games back into the limelight for gamers.

Beyond that, there were his innovative changes to card and board games.

Of course, Ma Yang believed that "Super Mario: Odyssey" could also be considered a game with a cross-generational impact.

It’s only that "Super Mario: Odyssey" encompassed so many elements, making it hard to say what it pioneered.

"You could only say that it reached the pinnacle in the platform jump genre," Ma Yang read a review from a netizen about "Super Mario: Odyssey".

Soon after, he stumbled upon a trending post.

[What is the charm hidden in this fairy tale-styled children’s game that attracts countless adults? — Reflections after playing "Super Mario: Odyssey".]

Clicking on it redirected him to NAA, the largest gamer forum in the country.

And the person who posted appeared to be someone named ’Wangsi Libeici’.

Since Ma Yang rarely followed the gaming scene before, he had never heard of this person.

Yet as he read through the post, Ma Yang found that this critic was truly awesome.

Beici bro analyzed from multiple perspectives why "Super Mario: Odyssey" is enjoyable.

The article mentioned something Ma Yang had also felt.

"Super Mario: Odyssey" greatly stimulated a player’s curiosity and desire to explore.

"...I hadn’t even realized I had such a strong sense of curiosity until I played this game, which seemed to suddenly pull me back to my childhood."

"I’ve wondered why, as I grew older, I became less and less curious and had a dwindling desire for exploration, as my days seemed to be nothing more than a monotonous copy and paste."

"Is it because of age? But I’ve searched for any kind of documentation, domestic or international, and found no evidence that curiosity is inversely proportional to age."

"After some reflection, I think."

"The lack of curiosity comes from the fact that as we grow up, we no longer receive rewards. In fact, being too curious can sometimes even lead to punishment."

"The adult world is filled with the restraint of ’don’t ask what you shouldn’t ask’ and ’don’t pry into what you shouldn’t know’."