" Support level?"
Miyazaki opened the character selection menu with a puzzled look, trying to find the answer.
On the character relationships page, a "C" has been added between Roy and Marcus.
"C? Does that mean this level can be upgraded further?"
Although it's not written above, if I'm not mistaken, if there's C, then there must be B and A as well.
Looking back, the difference between this game and the previous ones was that I made sure Marcus stayed close to Roy at all times.
If anything can influence this Support, it's this one variable.
"If characters stay together at the end of the turn, can the Support level and Support score be increased?"
He could only make this simple guess for now.
However, this also brings new problems.
What is it used for?
Miyazaki had a guess in his mind.
He separated the three who were locked in fierce combat, replacing them with Roy and Marcus.
The difference was immediately apparent.
The attribute indicators during the battle clearly show that both characters' attributes have changed.
Both characters received a certain level of improvement in their attributes, with hit rate and evasion rate each increasing by 5%.
"So strong?!"
Miyazaki was completely stunned.
This level of increase is enough to sway the course of the battle.
I did a quick test, and it seems that you can get the attribute bonus as long as you are within 3 squares of the Support character.
The discovery of this entirely new mechanism instantly changed all the strategies Miyazaki had built up based on his previous gaming experience.
With this newly discovered gameplay element, the entire game seems to have become something completely different.
Deploying troops is no longer just about focusing on everyone's attack range and attributes; you also need to pay attention to the impact of Support relationships.
A mere C-level relationship transformed Roy into an exceptionally powerful figure in the team.
The already powerful Marcus has become even stronger.
Miyazaki looked at the heavily armored soldier Bors beside him, and a sudden inspiration flashed through his mind.
"They've kept it well hidden—"
Why is it that even though the heavily armored soldier Bors is also standing close to the two, he can't trigger this Support dialogue?
What makes Bors different from the other characters?
There is only one answer.
He was not Roy's subordinate.
Although Bors is one of the starting characters, his identity was revealed as early as the first chapter's plot.
He was Lilina's subordinate, but he was only ordered by Lilina to fight alongside Roy in her place.
Looking back at the conversation, it's less about some abstract concept of " Support " and more about the two characters reaching a certain level of friendliness.
Just like the character growth rate that was deliberately hidden by the production team, this Support relationship must also be some kind of hidden data.
Each character can only provide Support to a limited number of targets.
Having figured this out, Miyazaki wasn't in a hurry anymore, and simply gathered a few characters together to test it out.
The result seemed to confirm his earlier thought.
In the initial team of six, every character except Roy and Bors can initiate Support dialogue.
However, the number of rounds required differs.
The first to deploy C-level Support were Marcus and Wolt.
The two knights, Alan and Lance, were a few rounds slower.
Similarly, between Alan and Lance, and between Alan and Marcus—
Almost everyone among them can form Support relationship.
That's incredibly impressive.
Because the attribute boosts from Support effects are cumulative!
The characters progressed smoothly in small groups, and when Roy stood in front of the final boss, he had already received the C-level buffs of four people.
"Hey? Isn't this attribute bonus a bit off?"
Miyazaki looked at Roy's final attributes and felt that something was not quite right.
He tried to separate the characters and stand alone with Roy.
"The Support effects are different for different characters?"
When standing next to Alan, who is also of the fire attribute, the attack and defense boosts change from 0.5 each to +1 attack and +0 defense.
Furthermore, the critical hit rate and evasion rate have changed from 2.5 each to a separate 5% increase in the critical hit rate.
The meaning is quite clear: the fire attribute seems to symbolize concepts like "attack".
Similarly, the bonus that Lance with the "Reason" attribute provides to Roy is completely different.
That's interesting.
"Dad, do you have a notebook? I want to write these down—"
The Support is definitely an interesting mechanism in the Binding Blade that's hard to notice at first glance.
Because it requires specific actions from related characters, sometimes taking dozens of rounds to level up.
But once this lock of knowledge is unlocked, a whole new world will await the players.
Lin Lixin gave a brief explanation of the Support's functions, but remained silent about the characters' social networks.
"By the way, there's a limit to the number of Support dialogues for each character. Each person only has 5 dialogue opportunities throughout the entire game, and there's also a hidden cap on the friendship points that can be gained within each chapter."
Steve sat there blankly, staring at the questions he had prepared in advance, then crumpled them up and threw them into the wastebasket.
So after playing for so long, I still haven't even gotten past the tutorial!
And yet they still have the nerve to come here for an interview.
"Each person has 5 chances? That means—if you want to, you can only establish one A-level Support relationship at most?"
To upgrade your Support level, you must complete one dialogue session.
This seems to naturally create the concept of a "group" among the characters.
A three-person or four-person team structure that elevates relationships to the highest level to enjoy significant bonuses.
Or you could have a character build five C-level relationships, accumulating them little by little.
"This amount of content is practically a new game!"
Steve murmured.
This completely changes the logic of the formation.
The cost-effectiveness of scattered deployments has become far lower than that of coordinated advancement.
Depending on the different strategies employed by each player, multiple combat teams can be formed to cooperate and advance the game.
Even when performing mobile calculations, the Support range must be taken into account; we can no longer rely on mobility to move around as much as possible as before.
Most importantly----
This is irreversible!
It is also part of resource management.
If the Support relationship you choose during the process is unsatisfactory, you can only reload the save and start over.
At first, Steve thought the two save slots were a bit redundant.
After all, isn't one slot enough to store data?
But his experience playing it over this period of time told him...
Two are not enough!
Twenty would be ideal.
"What an amazing work—Mr. Lin, so today—"
"Don't rush, Mr. Steve."
Seeing that Steve had no more questions and was about to end the interview, Lin Lixin suddenly interrupted him, "Please allow me to introduce you to the special gameplay of Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade —the Link Arena!"