Text/Qiuqiu

"Honkai Impact 3" seems to have fallen into a phased trough.

Since the end of the first story of the game, its best-selling list has slipped from the TOP 10 high in September last year to the 45th place in the latest card pool; The number of video views on the official account of Station B also means that the game has rarely had high-profile content in the past two years...... In addition, remembering that "Girls' Frontline", which was launched in the same year as "Honkai Impact 3", has announced the suspension of operations, I can't help but worry: Why is it so difficult for content-based games to be long-term?

Don't get me wrong, Grape Jun is not trying to put a final conclusion on "Honkai Impact 3", it is already a leader in long-term operation - there are countless products that "peak when they go online" and disappear on the best-selling list in a few months; What's more, this is not the first time that "Honkai Impact 3" has experienced a trough, and it has also had a moment before when "the DAU dropped halfway through the Spring Festival of the second year".

In the past, the strategy of exceeding expectations has also helped Honkai Impact 3 achieve a lot of success. In the 8 years since its launch, it has entered the top 5 of the best-selling list many times, and once hit a new high in DAU after 6 years, and was also praised by Cai Haoyu at the staff meeting. It's just that the current state may prove that the thankless situation of content-based games has extended to the head of the track.

01

The second part of the applause

To be honest, Grape Jun is quite looking forward to the counterattack of "Honkai Impact 3" in the latest version. After all, this is the third large-scale linkage in the 8 years since the game was launched (the first two were EVA and "Genshin Impact"), and the object of the linkage is also "Honkai: Star Dome Railway" (hereinafter referred to as Honkai), which is also a Honkai IP.

And the version of "Honkai Impact 3" has also made a lot of attractive content. For example, the suspenseful live-action short film shot during the trailer linkage has received more than 4 million views on Station B, which is the most played game video in the official this year;

Another example is the crossover character Hanafire, which echoes her setting in Honkai, especially its special move, which can turn the interface of "Honkai Impact 3" into a turn-based Honkai Iron; Not to mention that the project team also created a high-burning mecha animated short film for this collaboration.

Firework nirvana animation

Collaboration Concept PV "Rival Play"

But judging from the results, these contents have not achieved good commercialization results, and some videos are slightly less popular than in the past (of course, it is not ruled out that there will be a big job ahead).

This situation has spread to more than one version. Since the launch of the second part, "Honkai Impact 3" seems to have fallen into a content dilemma, obviously launching a story from scratch, new characters, scenes, combat mechanics, and performances...... But why are these "beyond expectations" updates less effective than before?

For example, the pine bird is the main character in several versions, and the intensity, art, character design, and plot performance are online, but it still didn't help the game counterattack on the best-selling list.

02

What exactly is exceeding expectations?

In the past, Honkai Impact 3's strategy to exceed expectations was relatively focused, mainly in narrative, acting, characters, scenes, and combat. For example, the game's large-scale box garden dungeons "Sakura Reincarnation", "Destiny Headquarters", "Post-Honkai Book" and other contents bring players a new experience and maintain the lower limit of the game experience; Animated short films such as "The Queen's Arrival", "The Last Lesson" and "Eternal Burn" have detonated players' emotions and raised the upper limit of IP.

The second part of the game has been well received by many players, and it happens to be the above content: the large-scale box garden map Ouxia and Langqiu, the characters with higher strategies and operations online, and more exciting plot performances...... In other words, what caused the controversy of the second part may not be "making new content", but "moving old content".

A literary performance that has been praised by many players

Many players have reported that there are two main ways that the second part of the game affects the experience:

The first is to change the player's past experience habits. The most representative of these is that the second game changed the key position, which seems to be subtle, but it affects the player's muscle memory and combo experience formed over the past 6 years - and even the details of the experience have been changed, and the extent of the changes to other content in "Honkai Impact 3" is self-evident.

The second is that it does not give players enough security. While the second part of "Honkai Impact 3" made a lot of changes, it also overturned the impression that old players had of the game.

For example, the plot of the second part is not a simple linear narrative, the player will wake up from Ouxia, the sea of data, dance with Sinadya, and explore Langqiu...... The cost of understanding the story in the early stage is too high, which will inevitably confuse the player, which in turn will affect the relationship between the player and the game character and pay for the latter.

At that time, many players said, "Why do you want to dance all of a sudden?"

Compared with the higher threshold for understanding the story, players are more helpless at the gameplay level: the most important gameplay in the game, "Memory Battlefield" and "Endless Abyss", have been occupied by the new characters in the second part, and the living space of the old characters has been squeezed...... Everyone knows that the replacement of the old and the new is an important strategy for the long-term of the second game, but when the characters with deeper emotional links retreat from the environment, it still affects the experience of old players to varying degrees.

For example, in my lineup for the past two issues of the Abyss

Only 1 character is from the first part

In all fairness, the team at Honkai Impact 3 must have put a lot of effort into these updates. But perhaps, exceeding expectations is not just about bringing players more, newer, and more brilliant content, new for the sake of new, but a step forward after meeting the needs of players, which are always more important.

03

content-based games,

A more cost-effective way to break through is needed

In addition to the needs of players, there is another trend worth considering: it is becoming more and more difficult to exceed expectations and maintain long-term operations with high-quality content.

In fact, many of this year's new content-based game products are doing things that seem to exceed expectations, but in fact are not as cost-effective as in the past: volume art, volume appearance, and competition for high-quality content...... But the popularity of users and the ranking of the best-selling list are not as good as one another.

In this case, can we change our thinking and use more differentiated content to achieve a breakthrough? is like the popular "The Legend of Shawarma" some time ago, its songs are filled in and sung by AI, and the cost is almost negligible.

This kind of differentiation is different from the differentiation of content-based games that emphasized the theme, art, and gameplay in the past, and it is more purposeful and can make players feel the impact of content more intuitively.

Some time ago, Hontetsu's magical song "Sleeping Banana Monkey is Really Good"

It's something like that

In my opinion, this may be a way to alleviate the challenges of content-based games: when I hear people say that content-based games are not as attractive and refreshing as short videos, short dramas, and mini-games, why can't content-based games also be made in the form of the previous short and flat speed?

Perhaps, creativity and differentiation can be deeply rooted in emotional guidance, value resonance, and spiritual needs in order to give greater play to the value of this strategy. I also believe that "Honkai Impact 3" will finally find a better way to break through and meet the future highs.

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