I Just Want Players to Save Money, They Insist on Giving Me!
Chapter 737 - 229: Initial Plateau! (Asking for monthly votes in the last few minutes! Thank you! _2)

Chapter 737: Chapter 229: Initial Plateau! (Asking for monthly votes in the last few minutes! Thank you! _2)

As such, the upper limit of the energy bar determined how high a slope players could climb.

The higher the mountain they could climb, the broader their choices of paths.

Unfortunately, French Fries hadn’t yet obtained the materials needed for improvement, so he had to give up for the time being.

Soon, he encountered a mechanical monster inside the ruins, resembling a giant octopus and standing as tall as three men; half its body was initially buried in the ground, and it was engraved with some ancient, obscure totem symbols.

As Link approached, it seemed as if it were activated, with the cylindrical head’s solitary eye beginning to emit a dangerous red light.

Accompanied by a sharp warning sound of ’beep beep beep beep beep!’

The sound became increasingly piercing, as if accelerating towards a critical threshold.

This warning signal sounded very ominous, prompting French Fries to quickly seek shelter behind a broken wall.

Then the Great Octopus, after completing its charging, shot a straight laser of deep blue light from its single eye pupil.

"Boom!!!"

The force was so strong that it even caused the camera’s graphics to shake slightly.

The targeted location was where Link was hiding.

"It looks like this creature can lock onto targets."

French Fries had wanted to try, to rush up and strike when the opponent’s move was cooling down.

But unexpectedly, the octopus’s charging had no cooldown.

As soon as one laser finished, just as Link was showing his head.

A red infrared-like aiming beam landed on Link.

The ’beep beep beep beep beep’ sound echoed again.

The pressure was immense.

Forcing French Fries to abandon the idea of standing his ground.

"This creature doesn’t seem like something we can take on right now..."

"And did you all notice, the patterned totem on this creature’s body is very similar to the Sheikah Slate in Link’s hand."

"Zelda said that the Sheikah Slate was crafted using the powers of an ancient tribe."

"So this monster... Could it be some kind of ancient creature?"

"But why would an ancient creature show up at the beginning of the game?"

The viewers burst into laughter upon hearing this.

"Are you looking for @Big Tree Guardian"

"Baby Ke’s traditional art skills!"

Ignoring the comments, while continuously muttering guesses, French Fries stealthily changed hiding spots to evade the Great Octopus’s sight, eventually finding a treasure chest marked with an EX logo inside the ruins.

Upon opening it, he obtained a brand-new, deep black T-shirt.

It was emblazoned with a gold ring logo closely interlocked like the Olympic symbol.

"Hey, isn’t this ’Elden’?"

"It looks pretty good on." He hadn’t had the time to fully admire it after changing out of his worn old shirt.

French Fries then discovered a strange stone column standing behind the ruins’ wall.

Controlling Link to approach, he saw a square slot inside the column.

It perfectly fitted the Sheikah Slate.

Almost without needing a reminder, French Fries took out the ’Switch’, and the moment he inserted it into the stone,

the column rotated once, then countless blue laser-like beams, following the shallow engraved lines within the stone, charged toward the Sheikah Slate.

"Rumble rumble!!!"

Suddenly, the entire ground began to shake violently!

A spire slowly surfaced from underground, breaking the ground and nearly causing Link to stumble and fall.

At this moment, countless birds scattered in panic throughout the forest.

Pokoblins on the ground looked around uneasily.

Across snowy mountains covered in white, volcanoes oozing scorching magma, sand dunes filled with blowing sand, beaches with rippling blue waters, and rainforests alive with both vibrant life and looming dangers.

In over ten different locations, spire-shaped buildings emerged from the ground, evenly distributed throughout the Hyrule region.

"Wow!" French Fries, looking at the grand scene unfolding before him, couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

"The number one player sure knows how to create a grand spectacle!"

"Before this, I really thought we were just activating some simple little thing, but who knew high towers would rise from everywhere!"

The shock of synchronously illuminating something on a global scale was enough to make one’s blood surge.

Meanwhile, in the graphics, Link had been elevated by the rising towers to high above.

Like a towering tree that grows rapidly, by the time the player realized, they were already amidst the clouds.

They glanced down while clinging to the railing outside the high tower.

The Ruins of Time they had just been in now looked as tiny as a pile of blocks.

Nearby, the Pokoblins had shrunk into mere dark shadows.

Meanwhile, a stalactite in the shape of an inverted A dripped a drop of blue essence above the Sheikah Slate-embedded pillar.

Immediately absorbed by the Sheikah Slate,

the player gained the ability to view the map.

This area, known as the Initial Plateau, lit up on the map for the first time.

The player could use the map to determine the nearby terrain, buildings, and mark coordinates on the map.

It was like a blind person gaining sight.

Having played up to now, French Fries found this game indescribably challenging to put into words.

It was filled with an ineffable charm,

always feeling... from the beginning of the game, his curiosity never stopped...

He was always drawn to some inexplicably intriguing little things,

like the cooking pot outside of the cave and the Pokoblin outside the Ruins of Time.

Then came the damaged goddess statues, and then he encountered a Great Octopus.

Trying to avoid the Great Octopus, he accidentally opened an EX Treasure Box and got an "Elden" crossover T-shirt.

Just after changing into the T-shirt, he noticed a strange pillar nearby, flickering with a faint orange light, compelling him to explore it.

And now, being taken up by the pillar into the sky, he unlocked the map for the surrounding area.

The content was interconnected and tightly packed.

If this were a linear game, such mechanics would be considered standard.

But with French Fries having experienced many open-world games in the past six months, experiencing numerous instances of weak guidance leading to chaos,

he didn’t understand where he was, what to do, and some games, in pursuit of so-called immersion, would even forego tutorials and omit quest logs, leaving players to grope their way through,

which was incredibly frustrating for French Fries.

However, considering that "Elden" didn’t really have a quest log either but was still a great game,

he couldn’t really complain.

But players’ eyes are discerning.

You ask them to make a game; they can’t do it.

You ask them to play a game; can they not critique what’s not fun about it?

Now, having encountered "Zelda", French Fries realized:

The issue was in the guidance!

In less than half an hour of gameplay, the top player using "Zelda" demonstrated to countless players and game developers:

Weak guidance isn’t just about reducing the amount of guidance.

Rather, it is about integrating distracting guidance into the game in an immersive way!

It lets players always find something to do inadvertently.

But these things aren’t what the system tells you to do, not countless side quests leading you where to go.

It relies entirely on the players’ curiosity to explore!

Curiosity is indeed the first driving force for interest!

Clearly, "Zelda" excelled in this design aspect.

In just half an hour of experience, French Fries felt as if he were truly in the Hyrule Continent,

as if he had become Link adventuring in this vast world.

.

.

.

The Zelda section won’t be too long; probably after writing about the four Divine Temples on the Initial Plateau, I can mostly lay out the entire game design philosophy.

Subsequent content will be briefly covered; otherwise, extending it like "Elden" would be too exhausting to write.

Those interested might want to watch videos, or if financially feasible, consider buying one; I highly recommend playing Wilderness Chef 1 to newcomers because if you haven’t played the previous versions, it might be a bit confusing at first, requiring some time to acclimatize.

But this game is definitely one of the greatest open-world games in game history.

Because "GTA", "Big Cousin", and "Elder Scrolls 5" are also representatives of open-world games. (But these three games won’t be covered due to word count constraints. Writing another month in February should conclude it, around 150,000 words is just right.)