Chapter 883: Because of Poverty
Many people were marveling, this art style could actually look this good!
In terms of detail, it certainly couldn't compare to those realistic-style visuals. In the video, the green grass on the ground was noticeably thicker than in other games, looking as if each blade had been painted individually with an oil paintbrush.
The screen was filled with a large amount of soft light, paired with the color palette, giving the entire image a very high saturation that made people feel incredibly relaxed.
In some ways, it resembled the first impression of *League of Legends*, for example, the grass in both games looked very similar.
As for the rendering of materials like mountains, rocks, and weapons, although many details were omitted, the effect was still realistic and highly consistent with the overall environment's art style.
Under this art style, those animals that already felt a bit cute and chibi became even more adorable.
And in the intense battle scenes, players also got a glimpse of Link's wide variety of abilities.
Besides the standard shield parry, dodge, and archery, he could also create ice blocks, control magnets, shoot multi-element arrows, use a paraglider, and so on...
Clearly, going by the typical nature of trailers, there were definitely many more special abilities that hadn't been shown, waiting for players to discover.
Many players suddenly realized, this game... seemed more interesting than they had imagined?
"The visuals completely exceeded expectations! See, I told you, Chen Mo is the guy who made *Uncharted*, there's no way he'd let the new game lose points on graphics, that's just not scientific!"
"True, this style is a bit anime-inspired, but it's really beautiful, like an oil painting, gorgeous!"
"It feels a bit like a fairy-tale world, I even think these monsters are kind of cute!"
"After all, it's on the Switch, fitting the 'family-friendly console' vibe, hahaha!"
"Honestly, if you told me this was a promotional video for an animated movie, I wouldn't doubt it at all. This is clearly a super high-quality Japanese anime!"
"The monsters here all have great design, the style really stands out. I've never really seen a game like this before!"
"Feels like... is the game's plot a bit cliché? A story about saving a princess?"
"Emmm, isn't an anime theme perfect for this? /manual sarcasm"
"The effect exceeded expectations. I think I might consider buying it. At least this trailer is pretty appealing, definitely above average, right?"
"Chen Mo's work is always a 9 out of 10 or above! Hmm... I think it'd be nice to buy it and play on the Switch. I just wonder how big the price difference will be between the Switch version and the VR version. If it's still about ten times, then the Switch version is definitely the better deal."
Players were already carefully calculating how to get the best value. After all, judging by the art style and perspective, *The Legend of Zelda* should look pretty good on the Switch too. If the price gap between the handheld and VR versions was significant, many people would definitely consider buying the handheld version, since not everyone had a VR gaming pod...
For many players without VR gaming pods, Chen Mo's continuous development of major VR titles had almost turned them into "cloud players," only able to watch playthroughs on video sites...
This time, with a Switch version finally out, they could happily play on the Switch!
...
...
On August 19th, *The Legend of Zelda* launched its trial play.
Every Sunday, the foot traffic at Thunder Interactive's headquarters and experience stores in various cities noticeably increased. Especially in first-tier city stores, there were signs of overcrowding.
Only in the capital, no matter how hard players tried, they couldn't fill up all the machines, which made players from other cities incredibly envious, to the point of wanting to fly to the capital on the spot.
However, not all players who went to the headquarters rushed straight to the VR gaming experience area. Instead, a group of people headed to the Switch and Matrix Glasses experience area.
Two players bumped into each other at the Switch experience area.
"Oh, what a coincidence, you're here to check out the Switch too."
"Yeah, what a coincidence. How come you didn't go to the VR area and came straight to the Switch side?"
"Heh, probably for the same reason as you... Two people who can't afford a VR gaming pod or VR games..."
"This is such a sad story..."
After a bit of mutual ribbing, they each picked up a Switch Pro and started playing.
Basically, many players who came to the Switch experience area had this mindset—they were seriously considering buying a Switch...
If, when the Switch first launched, many people were still very skeptical and pessimistic, by now it had become a must-have for many handheld and mobile gamers. After all, the Switch's gaming performance could easily crush any phone claiming to be "game enthusiast grade."
Moreover, playing games like *Dark Souls* on a two-thousand-yuan machine offered incredible value for money compared to a VR gaming pod.
For players who had bought a Switch early on, this was a good time to upgrade; for those who hadn't bought one, they were definitely considering going straight for the Pro model.
As for whether to buy it or not... the key was whether *The Legend of Zelda* would deliver.
...
Zhao Lei was also in the Switch experience area.
Although after finishing *The Last of Us* at the experience store, he had vowed to save up for a VR gaming pod, that idea had never come to fruition.
It was expensive...
After getting married and having a child, living expenses suddenly shot up. Zhao Lei wasn't a wasteful person by nature, but many expenses were simply unavoidable.
So, the copy of *The Last of Us* that Chen Mo had given him was still sitting quietly in his Thunder Game Platform game list...
This time, hearing about the Switch Pro, Zhao Lei considered whether he should buy one for his wife and kid?
At least they could play some two-player games to spice up their daily life. If they played together, his wife wouldn't get annoyed at him for being addicted to games.
When the kid grew up a bit, there were also some educational mini-games on the Switch they could play. It felt like a great value.
The experience area had many Switches and Matrix Glasses, with two pretty front desk girls responsible for answering players' questions.
Following the girl's suggestion, Zhao Lei chose the Switch Pro and Matrix Glasses flagship edition bundle to experience *The Legend of Zelda*'s VR effect on this setup.
"Being able to actually play VR games on the Matrix Glasses is pretty incredible. I just wonder how the effect will be."
Muttering to himself, Zhao Lei put on the Matrix Glasses, connected them to the Switch Pro, and switched to VR mode.
The view before his eyes slowly darkened, and the light was completely blocked out. Zhao Lei was startled, quickly pushed the Matrix Glasses up, found a seat, and then put them back on.
"This light-blocking effect is really good... I could use it as a sleep mask in the future..." Zhao Lei joked.
Complete darkness.
Then, a beam of light appeared in his field of vision.
A horizontal golden light, with a circular halo in the middle. Countless lines radiated outward from the bright spot, coming from far to near...
It was like the light a person who had been unconscious for a long time would see when they first woke up.
A faint, ethereal voice echoed in Zhao Lei's ears.
"Link... wake up..."
"Wake up..."