"Simple" Bullet Hell Shooter

"It's a pixel art style game?"

Liu Liu was a little surprised.

After all, pixel art games weren't very common in the market these days.

"The graphics are actually pretty good..."

Hearing Liu Liu's mumbling, the bullet hell shooter comments were filled with question marks—

'Is sis high?'

'One second: pixel art, the next second: good graphics'

'Hahahaha you call these mosaic characters good graphics?'

'You guys don't get it, you fake fans. Compared to Golden Wind's first two games, the graphics are even better now, aren't they?'

'That's true. After all, the first two games had stick figure drawings and character models clipping through each other right in front of your face...'

'Hahahaha that's a unique perspective'

'I can't even refute that'

'A small improvement with each game, right?'

'Hahahaha if you say so, maybe Golden Wind will release a next-gen masterpiece in the future?'

'Just give them a little more time...'

'...'

The comments chuckled and chatted.

However, even though this game used a pixel art style that looked rather crude.

It was also as that comment said, compared to the poorly drawn Mario Bros. and the hilariously buggy Who's Your Daddy, this Vampire Survivors did show some progress.

"But this art style doesn't feel like a silly game,"

Liu Liu said while downloading the game:

"The games Golden Wind released before were all more and more abstract. Did they change their style this time?"

As she spoke, the game finished downloading. Its file size was small, as usual.

And as the game launched!

The music started!

Liu Liu's eyes immediately lit up!

The dynamic 8-bit music, with its retro vibe, washed over her, like opening a dusty old book, instantly taking her back many years.

"Wow—"

Liu Liu was very pleased:

"This music is great! It feels a bit like Famicom style!"

Liu Liu was indeed an old-school gamer.

That's right!

For this Vampire Survivors, Gu Sheng had specifically used 8-bit music from the Famicom era to match the retro style!

The rhythm and melody style mimicked the once immensely popular Contra.

Moreover, the entire track was an original composition by a master of game music from the Game Factory.

This single track alone cost nearly a third of the budget.

Finding new ways to burn money, Gu Sheng had plenty of tricks up his sleeve.

Of course!

Such thoughtful details naturally garnered appreciation and resonance from countless viewers in the comments—

'Got goosebumps, feels like I'm back as a kid'

'Fun, fun, this soundtrack is something else'

'Very immersive, I'm already starting to input up up down down left right left right B A'

'Keep it on, it's interesting (wacky face)'

'Pixel art with 8-bit music, Golden Wind is really committed to retro'

'How many years has it been since I've seen a pixel art game?'

'The key is that this game looks really high quality'

'So thoughtful, this designer really knows their stuff'

'Indeed, they know how to be wacky and how to be serious'

'Just for this music, I'm voting for it'

'...'

On the bullet hell shooter stream, the viewers were incredibly surprised, their first impression was excellent.

Meanwhile, Liu Liu also entered the game—

On the screen, four character options appeared: a warrior wielding a whip, a mage using a staff, an assassin throwing daggers, and a runemaster attacking with strange rhombus runes.

Which character should she choose?

"Zhuang Zhuang, who did you pick?"

Liu Liu asked her younger brother on the voice channel.

"I picked the mage, it's pretty useful, just a bit slow on attack speed... Hey, hey, hey, don't touch me, don't touch me!!!"

Over there, Zhuang Zhuang had clearly already started playing.

It sounded quite intense.

Liu Liu felt a bit impatient and casually chose the first character, "Whip Bro":

"I'll go with you. Basic character, theoretically, this type of character should have balanced stats, suitable for starting out."

Saying that, she clicked confirm and entered the game.

The screen flashed.

In the top-down perspective view, a pixelated character holding a whip appeared on the grassland, looking a bit dazed.

The next second, she saw him draw the whip from his waist and swing it through the air, cracking it against the air with a snap.

"Huh?"

Liu Liu blinked:

"Auto-attack?"

She hadn't pressed anything, yet the character had attacked on its own.

"Then what do I need to do?"

As she spoke, Liu Liu tried to move the joystick.

Whip Bro also swayed left and right.

Beyond that, no matter how many other buttons Liu Liu tried, Whip Bro didn't perform any other actions.

"What the—???"

Liu Liu was shocked:

"This game, I can only control up, down, left, and right?"

She just said this game wasn't a prank! And now it gives me this kind of setup?

"Zhuang Zhuang! This game can only move up, down, left, and right?" Liu Liu was incredulous.

She had never played such a... simple game before.

"It's more than that," Zhuang Zhuang's voice came through the voice chat, "Can't you also move diagonally in four directions?"

Liu Liu: ...What's the difference?

"This game... isn't it too simple... rudimentary?"

Liu Liu truly couldn't believe that a designer could be this lazy, even making the attacks automatic!

It looked pretty boring, to be honest!

With no controls, what am I supposed to play?

Just as she was about to complain!

She saw several vampire bats swarming towards her.

Interrupted, Liu Liu quickly moved the joystick, dodging to the side.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

As she dodged and weaved, the whip lashed out, killing the surrounding bats, and several blue gems dropped to the ground.

At the same time, even more bats swarmed in from all directions.

Although their speed wasn't very high, their numbers were not to be underestimated.

Liu Liu quickly picked up the blue gems.

Ding!!!

As the experience bar at the top of the screen filled up, the game paused. Amidst a flurry of gem animation effects, a pop-up window appeared in the center of the screen!

"Huh?"

Liu Liu was startled:

"What is this—?"

She saw three equipment items appear in the pop-up window—Duplicator, Peace Dove, and Candlestick.

"You get gear drops when you level up?!"

Liu Liu exclaimed in surprise, "This game is way too easy."

As she spoke, Liu Liu chose "Duplicator" from the three options, which duplicated one attack.

However, as soon as she made her selection!

Three bats lunged at her!

"Ah!"

Liu Liu let out a short yelp and took half a step back.

Unexpectedly, three more bats swarmed up from behind her!

This is bad.

Liu Liu's heart tightened.

Blocked from the front and pursued from the rear, the sudden increase in monster numbers made it difficult for her to cope.

However, just as she had nowhere left to retreat and was about to collide with the monsters!

Crack!

A whip's shadow suddenly appeared behind the whip guy, instantly killing the three bats!

"Ohhhhh—!!!"

Liu Liu was overjoyed!

"Duplicator! Holy crap! This Duplicator is so powerful!!!"

The duplicated attack instantly helped her out of her predicament!

Seeing three more experience gems drop to the ground, Liu Liu quickly walked over to collect them!

"I get it, I get it, everyone!"

The visible improvement made Liu Liu start to enjoy the thrill of leveling up:

"This game is simple! It's just level up and pick one of three! Once I'm high level, I'll just whip them left and right..."

Before she could finish!

Liu Liu's surprised voice got stuck in her throat.

Because in the next second, countless bats appeared around the screen, dozens of them!

From all directions, they swarmed towards her with great momentum!

At this moment!

Liu Liu suddenly remembered the inconspicuous tag on the game's download page—

bullet hell shooter.