Meanwhile, on an Earth in some unknown parallel world.
A game preview stream, which should have proceeded as planned, took a subtle turn.
This Earth was born with a natural affinity for ACG culture.
Game characters here were more eye-catching than the most popular celebrities.
Even in supermarket sales, snacks featuring ACG characters would sell out first.
In such fertile ground, ACG culture wielded extraordinary influence.
Spy-ACG= Anime, comics, and games And today, the focus of that influence was squarely on Mihoyo.
Their new title, Honkai: Star Rail, which had been polished for years, was about to launch its final open beta preview stream.
With a full half-hour to go before the broadcast officially began, the number of online viewers across all major streaming platforms had already surpassed ten million.
A dense torrent of bullet comments cascaded down the screen, completely obscuring it.
The tedious wait wore on the audience’s patience, so they decided to hold an impromptu “tea party” in the chat.
[I’m begging you, Mihoyo, please change my luck!
I’ve already turned into a charcoal ball from all the losses in Genshin!] [Bro, calm down.
Pulling gacha isn’t the goal, the game itself is!!] [No way, right?
It’s already 202X, and people are still playing turn-based games?
The combat is so slow, there’s no thrill at all.] [The one above is pretending.
If you’re not interested, why are you camping here waiting for the preview?] In fact, every popular game is like this.
Where there are fans, there are haters.
Where there is eager anticipation, there are those who throw cold water on it.
But players all know in their hearts that the more controversy and discussion a game generates, the more it proves it’s worth playing.
Hype means people are paying attention, people are willing to spend time and effort on it.
Even if it’s negative traffic, it’s still traffic, which is better than being ignored.
Conversely, if a game doesn’t even spark a single argument before its launch, it’s basically no different from being dead on arrival.
“Honkai: Star Rail” was no ordinary game.
Before its release, Mihoyo had already created a myth in the ACG gaming world with “Genshin Impact.” With such a precedent right before their eyes, everyone’s anticipation for “Honkai: Star Rail” had already reached a fever pitch.
They hoped it would continue the glory of “Genshin Impact,” yet also longed for it to forge a different path and add another spark to the ACG gaming world.
[Even a dog wouldn’t play a turn-based game.
Anyway, I won’t touch it, unless the characters are good-looking enough.] [Is that “Wild Monster Bro” again?
Last time he said “Genshin Impact” wasn’t fun, but his UID was skyrocketing?] [Stop pretending to be a big-tailed wolf.
Whether it’s turn-based or open world, aren’t we all here for the waifus?
Who’s actually here to fight monsters!] [That’s right, bro!
The one above said it perfectly.
As long as the character models are good and the plot isn’t a mess, I can accept turn-based combat too!] [Stop arguing, stop arguing!
It’s starting, it’s starting!
The live stream screen is lit up, look quickly!] The screen first flashed an image of the train speeding through the brilliant sea of stars, the clanging sound of wheels hitting the tracks transmitted to the audience’s ears through their headphones.
Immediately after, the melodious sound of a violin slowly rose, and the familiar figure finally appeared in the center of the screen.
The players’ old friend, Brother Da Wei, was holding a violin and sitting by the train window, feigning elegance while playing.
First came a beautiful audio track, then his real sound.
The melody, which should have been smooth and melodious, was dragged out with interruptions, sometimes out of tune and sometimes stuttering, making listeners cringed in embarrassment.
Yet Brother Da Wei himself looked utterly serious, his gaze intensely focused, and the sheer contrast directly turned the bullet chat into a sea of joy.
[No way, bro, I’m dying of laughter!
Do you only play the same spot on the violin string?
Brother Wei, are you just pretending, or do you really not know how to play?] [Brother Da Wei, aren’t you embarrassed?
I’m cringing for you through the screen.
How about you stop playing and let’s just get straight to business!] [Hahaha, Brother Wei is really trying to put on a show this time.
He used to just chat in casual clothes, but this time he even brought a violin to max out the sense of ceremony.
It’s just that his skills didn’t keep up!] Just as the bullet chat erupted in laughter, a teasing voice-over suddenly came from off-screen: “Brother Da Wei, if you keep playing like this, I’m afraid the viewership ratings of our live stream will be in danger.” Brother Da Wei finally stopped playing, cleared his throat, put down the violin, and flashed his familiar smile at the camera: “Ahem, hello everyone, Trailblazers.
I am your old friend, Brother Da Wei.” With those two opening remarks, the live stream finally got back on track.
The live stream first played a brand-new PV.
After the PV ended, Brother Da Wei began to introduce the game’s gameplay, positioning, and turn-based strategic combat one by one.
The “Light Cone” and “Relic” development systems, as well as the unique map features of different planets.
Of course, even without these explanations, most of the audience already knew all this.
After all, this was already the final public beta preview for “Honkai: Star Rail.” Previous tests and leaks had been flying all over the place, and the players had already gotten more or less used to the gameplay.
The only reason they were still staring at the screen was to wait for the real meat.
For example, the gacha banner order, the public beta rewards, and those new characters that hadn’t been revealed yet.
[Oh my god!
She’s too beautiful!
That look in her eyes, that aura, I’m just…
huff huff!!] [LMAO!
The person above is completely letting loose on the internet, huh?
Then I’m not holding back either!
That is my wife!
Nobody even try to steal her from me!] [The music in the PV is also amazing.
Mihoyo’s music has never disappointed!] For an anime-style game, what’s more important: the game itself, or the anime-style shell?
Is the gameplay and plot more important, or are the characters’ looks and designs more critical?
If this question were posed in another world, perhaps there could be a debate about it.
But on this Earth that favors anime-style content, the answer is actually very clear.
The anime-style elements are what’s important, not the game.
Therefore, when Brother Da Wei began introducing the different gameplay styles and the background stories of the major factions in the game, the bullet comments in the live stream visibly decreased.
What’s the point of explaining all this?
Can you explain it more clearly in a live stream than those content creators who specialize in making guides?
It’s better to play a few more character PVs so we can look at our wives a bit more.
Some people even switched to other pages.
They scrolled through previous character screenshots, keeping only the audio, waiting to switch back to the live stream when they heard keywords like “rewards” or “gacha.” Finally, Brother Da Wei changed the subject and mentioned the content everyone was most concerned about: the gacha and rewards.
The first half of the gacha banner features the Quantum 5-star character Seele, while the second half features the Lightning 5-star character Jing Yuan.
And a selectable 5-star.
Other rewards were fine, but this “Standard Selectable 5-star” immediately attracted a swarm of Genshin Impact players, and the bullet comments were instantly flooded with “so jealous.” [Crying tears of joy, guys!
Mihoyo, tell me, are Honkai: Star Rail and Genshin Impact really from the same company?
Why is the treatment so different!] [LOL!
So Mihoyo’s optimization all went into Honkai: Star Rail, huh?
Genshin Impact players are super jealous.
When will we get a selectable 5-star!] [I declare, from today on, I am a loyal player of Honkai: Star Rail!
A selectable standard character, this reward is just too generous!] “May this journey lead us star ward.” As the words fell, the live stream screen gradually dimmed, the progress bar reached the end, and the preview program seemed to have come to a close, even going black.
The number of viewers in the live stream began to slowly decrease.
But veteran players knew that things would never be this simple.
Mihoyo always liked to hide things, a practice commonly known as “drawing a big cake.” Unlike other companies that only draw big cakes without ever delivering, Mihoyo’s big cakes were often delivered directly into the players’ mouths.
Sure enough, just as the black screen had lasted for a dozen or so seconds and another batch of viewers was preparing to close the page.
A gentle yet slightly mysterious female voice suddenly came from the screen: “May the moonlight connect you and me, I will watch over you.” Along with this sentence, the live stream screen lit up again.
It was a boundless sea of flowers, with pale blue petals gently swaying in the breeze.
In the center of the flower sea stood a young girl in a long white dress, with silver moonlight patterns embroidered on the hem, swaying gently with her movements.
Behind her, an incomparably beautiful bright moon hung in the sky, its moonlight gently enveloping her as if plating her in a silver halo.
It made her look both holy and a bit aloof.
The camera began to slowly zoom in, from the panoramic view of the flower sea, to the figure of the young girl, and then to her eyebrows, eyes, and strands of hair.
Three pairs of connected feather ornaments were adorned in her hair, and her long hair, with a purple-red gradient, fell from her shoulders all the way down to her calves.
The pure white long robe wrapped around her slender body, and her slender and fair ankles were exposed beneath the hem of the skirt, with a layer of light beige bandages wrapped from her thigh all the way down to her ankle.
Beneath her feet, she actually stepped on a crystal-clear water droplet, which hovered in mid-air.
A translucent veil covered her eyes, concealing them from view.
All that could be seen were her tightly closed eyelashes.
The bullet chat froze for a few seconds, as if everyone had been stunned by this scene.
Then, a denser stream of comments than ever before flooded the screen.
[My god…
Who is this?
She’s way too beautiful!] [Mihoyo, you hid her too well!
To think there was such a surprise at the end.
Is this girl a new character?] [She looks so gentle!
I declare, she is my new waifu now!] [May the moonlight connect you and me…
Hurry and tell us when this character comes out!
I’m definitely pulling for her!]