“Second, the captivating storyline.”

“I must say, the storyline is a huge plus for ‘Ghost General 2.’ It not only presents the plot elements from ‘Ghost General 1’ that were difficult to showcase before in a more complete way, making the entire IP more comprehensive and valuable, but it also makes the PVE part of the game full of fun, more likely to attract players to continue playing.”

“Many of the warlord settings and plot elements in the game are amusing while also feeling quite reasonable within the story background.”

“For example, during the Battle of Red Cliff, first, the Phoenix Bloodline Pang Tong offers a strategy to modify Cao Cao’s dark magic warships; then Zhuge Liang borrows the east wind at the Seven Star Platform, launching a missile barrage; finally, the Lone Shadow Swordsman Zhou Yu pursues and kills, but is blocked by the demonized Xu Chu, while the Dragon Clan Martial Saint Guan Yu intercepts Cao Cao at Huarong Road…”

“The stories are adapted from history and the Romance novel, but they feel logically consistent and even have a sense of dark humor.”

“So it turns out that Zhuge Liang didn’t borrow the east wind, but rather East Wind missiles; and Cao Cao adopted Pang Tong’s strategy because the Phoenix Bloodline could indeed greatly enhance the defense and power of dark magic warships, but Pang Tong deliberately concealed the fact that the Phoenix Bloodline would be activated by the power of flames… Looking at it this way, Cao Cao’s defeat at Red Cliff wasn’t unfair—his intelligence wasn’t reduced, it wasn’t that Cao’s army didn’t try hard enough, it’s just that Sun-Liu had Gundams!”

“These plot elements make one can’t help but exclaim that the creator of the ‘Ghost General’ IP is truly imaginative!”

“Of course, we must also recognize the important role played by lead designer Yu Fei. Since ‘Ghost General 1’ was just a card game, the initial version barely had any descriptions of the warlords, just a set of card images; it was Ma Tianqiang, the current head of Endpoint Chinese Network, who added a storyline background. But even so, this background was still relatively rudimentary.”

“Yu Fei, as an excellent online novelist, expanded the rudimentary background, perfectly combining historical allusions, modified backgrounds, and warlord abilities, resulting in such an engaging storyline!”

“In this regard, lead designer Yu Fei deserves great credit, which also proves that Mr. Pei has a discerning eye and didn’t choose the wrong person!”

“Looking back now, what did ‘Ghost General 2’ lack? Professional design concepts? Obviously not, because Tenda’s gaming department is the most elite game design team, and each veteran designer could serve as a lead designer at other ordinary game companies and stand on their own. In this situation, even if Yu Fei hadn’t managed anything, these veteran designers could have handled their respective duties and created solid game basics.”

“But in terms of storyline design, Yu Fei is unique and irreplaceable!”

“He had already demonstrated excellent potential during the development of the ‘Eternal Cycle’ DLC. Writing novels and designing game stories are completely different things, but he happens to excel at both! Mr. Pei obviously considered this when insisting on having him as the lead designer for ‘Ghost General 2,’ because the storyline is precisely the finishing touch for this game—the key to breaking through boundaries!”

“Finally, the appropriately simplified operation mode and level-clearing mechanisms.”

“The simplified operation mode both simplifies players’ combo inputs while preserving the basic joy of executing combos.”

“If players could just continuously press the A and B buttons for the computer to automatically execute combos, they would become mindless button-mashers, never improving their skills or experiencing the true joy of fighting games.”

“While the simplified combo system still maintains a certain entry barrier, it allows persevering players to experience the unique joy of fighting games. When borrowing the east wind at the Seven Star Platform, isn’t it exhilarating to personally execute a super special move? This is a pleasure that mindlessly pressing A and B buttons could never provide.”

“Complementing this simplified operation mode are the game’s boss battle clearing mechanisms. Being bad at controls doesn’t matter; as long as you properly interact with the map mechanics, you can still defeat the boss. This official ‘shortcut’ mechanism is the legendary ‘Mercy of Mr. Pei,’ which maximizes the gaming enjoyment for players with poor controls while ensuring the game’s potential to break through boundaries.”

“Lastly, the influence on the broader environment.”

“This point can’t be evaluated by looking at ‘Ghost General 2’ alone; we must consider Tenda Group’s other games as well.”

“Everyone must have noticed that in recent months, Tenda games have been emerging like a geyser. Within half a year, Tenda’s gaming department released ‘Eternal Cycle’ and ‘Ghost General 2,’ Shangyang Games made ‘Safe and Civilized Driving,’ and Chi Xing Studio created ‘Real Estate Agent Simulator.’ Additionally, I’ve heard that the new project being developed jointly by Tenda’s designers and Tianhua Studio is also complete and about to launch.”

“Why is this happening?”

“Some might say it’s because Tenda has high efficiency. But the key point is that Chi Xing Studio isn’t a Tenda subsidiary, and Tianhua Studio even less so—it’s purely a cooperative partner with Tenda.”

“In reality, Mr. Pei is very generously sharing his ideas with these studios, guiding them in game development!”

“This sufficiently demonstrates that Mr. Pei is no longer satisfied with Tenda developing games on its own. Because no matter how much Tenda expands, its teams are ultimately limited, and development speed isn’t that fast.”

“But if they can collaborate with other excellent domestic game design teams while ensuring high game quality and keeping the direction on track, they can turn these ideas into actual games more quickly, bringing more excellent game works to players.”

“Moreover, Tenda’s design philosophy will influence these companies, gradually affecting the atmosphere of the entire domestic gaming industry.”

“Chi Xing Studio is a good example: it’s a company specializing in VR games. Although its leader has experience working at Tenda Games, Tenda doesn’t have absolute control over it, only advisory rights, and the core design team at Chi Xing Studio is mostly newly recruited.”

“However, the games made by Chi Xing Studio still have the same style as Tenda games—authentic without any deviation!”

“This sufficiently proves that Mr. Pei is very selective when choosing partners, and Mr. Pei’s game design philosophy is extremely influential.”

“Mr. Pei is consciously distributing projects that are less difficult and easier to monetize to partner studios. On one hand, this develops more works in the same timeframe, saving time; on the other hand, it also influences and guides these studios, correcting their previously incorrect game design concepts.”

“Games like ‘Animal Island VR,’ ‘Real Estate Agent Simulator,’ and Tianhua Studio’s new project all fall into this category.”

“As for those extremely difficult and high-risk projects, such as ‘Mission and Choice’ and ‘Ghost General 2,’ Mr. Pei directly assigns them to his elite force—Tenda’s gaming department—to tackle head-on!”

“So, please don’t ridicule ‘Ghost General 2’ for having sales and influence that don’t match ‘Real Estate Agent Simulator’ and ‘Safe and Civilized Driving.’ This is because from the very beginning, they were never on the same track!”

“Alright, that’s the end of today’s analysis. After watching this video, do you still think ‘Ghost General 2’ is a failed game? Will you still judge heroism solely by sales?”

“I hope that as rational, tasteful players, your vision won’t be so narrow, fixating only on sales and profits. If we only focus on money-making, then compared to GOG, all games would be garbage with no reason to exist.”

“We should learn to observe and analyze games from multiple dimensions, as well as the significance of a game’s existence.”

“Finally, I want to say that ‘Ghost General 2’ is really fun! Many players don’t touch it once they see it’s a fighting game, which is clearly a loss.”

“Many people think, ‘Oh, I’ve never played fighting games before, how can I play without any foundation?’ On the contrary, precisely because you’ve never touched fighting games before, you should play ‘Ghost General 2,’ as it’s the best entry option for getting into fighting games!”

“‘Ghost General 2’ has only been released for a short time; it’s too early for a final judgment. Please patiently let the sales fly for a while. I believe that smart and inclusive players will definitely give it an objective, fair, and comprehensive evaluation!”

“In addition, I have a bold prediction: don’t have too many preconceptions about Tianhua Studio and Longyu Group. Since Mr. Pei is willing to cooperate and has sent designers, this new game will likely also be full of Tenda flavor and worth looking forward to. Let’s wait and see!”

“I am Qiao Laoshi, returned from suffering and reborn. I wish all viewer daddies a happy Spring Festival in advance. See you in the next episode!”

…

After watching the video, Yu Fei’s mouth hung open, unable to close for a long time.

His face was full of shock.

So… that’s what it was about?

“Ghost General 2” seemed ordinary, but there were so many intricacies behind it?

Qiao Laoshi was right; he had indeed been narrow-minded.

As the lead designer of this game, Yu Fei had only focused on its sales and popularity, without seeing the deeper aspects. He had also never understood why Mr. Pei insisted on making a fighting game.

Although he wasn’t sure if Qiao Laoshi’s analysis covered all of Mr. Pei’s motivations, it was at least the most reasonable explanation Yu Fei had seen so far.

And the reason Mr. Pei kept trying to retain him was also obvious: Tenda didn’t lack game design talent, but it did somewhat lack people like him who could make a game’s storyline outstanding, turning it into a highlight.

Yu Fei couldn’t help but be surprised: “Could it be that with the ‘Ghost General 2’ project, not only did I not make a mistake, but I actually made a significant contribution?”

He opened his previous Weibo post again and found that there were already a large number of comments, all trying to persuade him to stay!

It was evident that many of them had come from Qiao Laoshi’s video.

“What? You can’t leave! ‘Ghost General 2’s’ poor sales are due to the game category issue—it hasn’t started breaking through yet. Please be patient and wait! You did very well with the storyline; don’t underestimate yourself!”

“Exactly, Mr. Pei has high expectations for you, and we players also hope you can stay!”

“Look, the lead designer put his heart and soul into it without getting returns and is planning to leave. Why aren’t you all going to buy ‘Ghost General 2’ to boost sales? Don’t let him bleed and cry!”

“Thousands sign in blood to keep Yu Fei as Tenda Games’ lead designer!”

This turn of events made Yu Fei quite embarrassed.

Originally, he wanted to create some public pressure, making his intention to leave public, thereby getting Mr. Pei to approve his resignation request.

But he never expected it to turn out like this!

If he continued to insist on resigning now, it would be inappropriate!