Hey, if you're reading this, thanks. I had in my mind to make this post for a while now, but my SSD died and I lost important footage. Whatever's here is the best I could come up with
Netease is a Chinese company, and they're not owned by Tencent. The company that has stock in various game developers and publishers from the west. How did they manage to make a successful hero shooter like Marvel Rivals, then come to this?
An FPS that is a hodgepodge of everything AAA and popular titles out there. You know, Spectre Divide studio just closed right now? It's so competitive out there with various studios trying so many new ideas, spicing up the usual Counter Strike and Valorant formula. I don't know how to specify where Fragpunk fits in. It's something new, yet all too familiar somehow.
That being said, I was really having a lot of fun. It takes the intense, hyper focused tactical shooting, and gives an insane wacky spin using power cards. Not only that, but various arcade modes literally shifts that to feeling like it's super versatile enough to be anything else, too.
This game has a number of crazy stories, yet nothing that tells you what it's really about. I see characters that are fantasy based, yet there's real life based weapons, lots of glitter and tech, and literal explosion of colors. Going beyond Valorant's future aesthetics.
Other branches of media exists like comic books which provides backstories of each character. Not all are worth reading, but they provide some intrigue, plus a good way to go through the time if you're waiting for a match queue. First time I even logged in, many things to claim outside the daily logins, and this was designed like a mobile game to keep you busy with rewards.
It's just full on splurge, some I didn't bother getting interested in, but with games overpricing digital content, it doesn't seem like a bad thing to after playing a couple of games. To just get rewards by simply doing anything in the game. Not entirely, but you get the point.
Now, the stuff to try out is enough to have fun. Like, remember The Finals? It thrives on silly stuff but the twist of being a tactical shooter. One of the most prominent parts is the shard cards system. You have shard points, you pick some that heals you hitting enemies or heals your team's hitting them, increases movement speed and health, turns the match into melee only brawl, etc.
The list is huge, and they factor hugely into the main mode. I was winning the match as the attackers one point, before enemy team voted to use a switch card. What I don't like somehow is the lackluster weapons choices. I don't even like how some of them sounds, but least regarding combat effectiveness, they have their uses. Each Lancer has unique abilities with many ways to use, deploy, and make the matches far more crazier.
I would advise training with each of them before picking for the match. You can easily rely on just your guns to do the talking, but there are players who know how to use them well, pretty much changed the game entirely, especially with many players playing Zephyr and screwing around thanks to her camouflaging. Can be countered, but you have to figure out how.
The map designs aren't terrible, there are areas smaller than Valorant at times, but it works multiple ways as entry, choke points, and back entrances if you know how. Though, the surround sound design could use some work. Seriously, my 7.1 headset gave me a hard time.
Now, if you're vying to play ranked, here's where it gets fun. If you lose two matches in a row, the weapons row you usually pick from will be locked out. I also can sprint, no longer needing the knife. Even crazier, if we reach a tie, we duel out. Last man standing wins for the team.
But even if the modes, their design, and reward system be fruitful enough, it's all about the main gameplay, right? Well, weapons have little to no recoil. It feels like kind of derivative with familiarities from even other FPSes, and I'm starting to realize this is becoming a thing with every Asian games. But the combination of cards, abilities, and the absurd personality just comes together nicely.
If you want more silly, look at the arcade modes. There's the usual PvP deathmatch and point capture mode. Unique ones like Mirror Clash, Sniper DTM, Oneshot, Chaos Clash, etc. Gameplay is different here, instead of Lancer abilities, you handpick for 3 cards, both passives and for deploy while saving shards. You can even run slide, without that extra fast-paced verticality from CoD.
There's just so many of these games coming out, hell, Netease even released Blood Strike not long ago. The big question is a matter of whether it can stick around or not. It had a huge playerbase to start with, and the thing is, if they can figure certain things out, I think I can be up for it.
For a F2P, it's a pretty big package. It's trying a number of unique things, other stuff like the somewhat lackluster gunplay, not-so-interesting character stories, seemingly underdeveloped progression, and the whole mishmash of stuff I can over with. It plays smooth, amazing netcode.
Likewise, it's dumb fun, and best part, the whole balance thing works out by giving you many options to work around with great counters. Not neutering the game entirely like western devs do. I can see Netease growing as a company superfast if they keep this up. Hell, giving Tencent a real run for their money. Chinese companies competing would be super crazy to see, wouldn't it?
