Vortex Gaming

The final test of 'Brown Dust 2', developed by Gamepfs and serviced by Neowiz, began on the 8th. This final test is important in many ways, not only for gamers but also for the developer, Gamepfs. This is because it was prepared to showcase the improved battle view and skill cutscenes based on feedback from the pre-experience test conducted earlier this year to gamers before the official release and to receive final verification.

'Brown Dust 2' has undergone a major transformation from visuals to the overall battle system. With the release just around the corner, we took the time to find out if the official release preparations have been completed by comparing it with the previous pre-experience test.

As the saying goes, 'Well begun is half done,' nothing determines the first impression of a game as much as visual elements. In fact, the vast majority of first impressions are determined by visuals. In that sense, 'Brown Dust 2' in the previous pre-experience test barely passed the mark.

The high-end 2D graphics that melted the sensibility of JRPG itself were not particularly flawed, but the portrait mode, the 'back-of-the-head view' that became a hot topic among gamers, and the bland skill cutscenes held it back. The narrow screen of portrait mode and the back-of-the-head view, which made it difficult to properly feel the charm of the characters, became factors that diminished the first impression.

'Brown Dust 2' has completely revamped the visuals. By adding landscape mode and improving the battle view and skill cutscenes, you can properly feel the taste of watching. Personally, I think the most primitive element responsible for this taste of watching is landscape mode. You may wonder what's so great about adding landscape mode. However, this change did not stop at convenience but brought about a change in the sense of play.

Most people will feel the same way. You'll feel more immersed when watching a game or video on a large screen than when watching it on a small screen. Portrait mode and landscape mode are similar. The screen size is the same, but there is a big difference in terms of immersion between watching in portrait and landscape. In fact, 'Brown Dust 2' gave a stuffy feeling during the previous pre-experience test. After all, the left and right sides were narrow, which interfered with immersion.

At the same time, it also gave the impression that it was too mobile-like. Mobile may not be entirely negative, but for 'Brown Dust 2', which advocates authentic JRPG, being mobile-like was by no means a good thing. This is because it gives the feeling that you can pick the character you want, pay to increase your specs, and leave the battle to auto-hunting.

The somewhat disappointing feeling disappeared as landscape mode was added. The change from portrait to landscape. It may be just that, but it has changed to allow you to immerse yourself more in the game. The platform is still mobile, but just adding landscape mode gives the feeling of breaking the mold of mobile. It goes without saying that you can see the emotional background that 'Brown Dust 2' boasts at a glance.

This is not just about the feeling of play. Not only has the UX changed to make it easier to grasp information at a glance, but the operation has also become more comfortable. Although portrait mode was designed with one-handed operation in mind, it was not always comfortable for 'Brown Dust 2', which requires you to move around the field to collect or move the character's position during battle.

The inconvenience disappeared as landscape mode was added. When moving around the field, you can move and collect comfortably with both hands, and during battle, the information of allies and enemies is displayed on both sides of the screen, making it easy to see at a glance.

Among them, the biggest change is the battle view. It has changed from a back-of-the-head view to a form closer to a quarter view. In addition, the camera has been increased from one fixed to two, front and rear, allowing you to view the battlefield from more diverse angles. In addition to the taste of watching, the quarter view allows you to see the ambiguous position of the enemy in more detail. As a seasoning to add to this taste of watching, the effect has also become more colorful. The battle has become more delicious.

The somewhat bland skill cutscenes have also been completely revamped. It's not perfect, but it's a world of difference compared to the previous test, which had some animation in the standing illustration. It's no exaggeration to say that it decorated the finale of the taste of watching.

It's not just the visuals that have changed. The battle system has also been greatly improved. In a form that maximizes the strategic nature of the Brown Dust IP. 'Brown Dust 2' started by increasing the number of tiles. The previous test had 3x3 tiles, but this time it was increased to 3x4. You may think that only 3 cells have been added, but as a result, the strategic nature of 'Brown Dust 2' has deepened.

In the existing 3x3 tiles, if you place a maximum of 5 characters, there are only 4 spaces left, so the depth of strategy was shallow. They tried to solve this to some extent by separating the attack turn and the defense turn, but even this was not perfect. Even if you devised the best placement, you would often be faced with an unfair situation where many people would be hit if the enemy used a wide-area skill. The 3x3 tile also tied up the possibility of strategy.

'Brown Dust 2' solved this limitation by increasing the tiles to 3x4. Since there are 7 spaces left, that many different placements are possible. The fact that the placement has become more diverse means that the strategy has also become more diverse. It is also possible to focus on a strong enemy or, conversely, to use a strategy to deal with other enemies except for the strong enemy. As the number of tiles has increased, you can also disperse your allies in a way that minimizes damage in preparation for the enemy's wide-area skills. It is the change created by the 3 tiles that I said were just a few earlier.

However, it is not only advantageous to allies. As the number of tiles has increased, the enemy's placement has also become more diverse, so you need to develop your own strategy to deal with them efficiently. This is where knockback comes into play. You can not only push the enemy and attack the enemy you bump into, but also adjust the position of the vaguely scattered enemies and wipe them out with a range skill if you use it well. Like Tetris.

There are also various types. You can push the enemy back, and depending on the character, you can push the enemy sideways or diagonally, so you can deal with various situations. Even in the previous test, it only existed as a skill of a specific character, but now it has been reorganized so that all characters can use it without consuming SP (skill points), so you can guess its infinite versatility.

In fact, before using a range skill, I wondered how to kill the enemy most effectively, and I wondered in what order to use the knockback skill. The addition of a bomb as a gimmick that gives an advantage in battle is also a simple but interesting change. In addition to the range skill, it provides a great opportunity to wipe out the enemy. I was looking forward to the addition of objects with various gimmicks in addition to bombs in the future.

It's a bit disappointing to discuss strategy with knockback alone. 'Brown Dust 2' has added a new chain damage system as an element that decorates the finale of the battle system in addition to the increased tiles and knockback. The chain damage system can be simply described as a damage stacking system in which the amount of damage increases as the chain increases each time you are hit. If you are dealing with mobs, you may not know, but if you are dealing with a strong enemy or boss, you need to develop your own strategy on how to connect the chain. If the attack does not reach, you can somehow stack the chain with a range skill, or maximize the amount of damage by making the character with the strongest attack the last in line.

However, it is not always a good idea to focus on a strong enemy or boss. This is because the chain damage system is like a double-edged sword that applies equally to allies. If you only think about stacking the boss's chain, the chain may be stacked in reverse and the party may be destroyed in one turn, resulting in annihilation. In summary, the battle of 'Brown Dust 2' flows in a way that you gather the enemy using knockback, etc. to effectively kill many enemies at once, and think about whether to stack the chain. Compared to the previous test, the depth of 'strategy' has increased.

The battle system of 'Brown Dust 2' was generally satisfactory, but there were some shortcomings in terms of convenience. The biggest disappointment was that the gamer had to run all the mind games in the brain simulation. When Eustia deals 100 damage and Ratel deals 80 damage, you don't know how much damage is amplified by the chain, so the enemy dies faster or slower than expected, and the prediction is often wrong. When the enemy dies, it turns into a graveyard, and knockback is often blocked here.

Of course, these inconveniences and variables are not necessarily bad. An unexpected situation means that you have neglected to develop a strategy, which means that there are elements to dig deeper into. It is not necessary to add a 'preview' to see if it is running properly as you thought. Nevertheless, as an element that gives a little help to develop a strategy, I wondered if it would have been better to know at least how much the damage would be amplified if the chain was stacked in order.

As they were confident that they had completely revamped it, 'Brown Dust 2' showed a reborn appearance through this final test. Starting with landscape mode, they completely improved the battle view, which I doubted could be changed, and added new skill cutscenes. The result was successful. This is because it not only reflected the feedback from users, but also showed a really improved appearance. Some users even said that they showed a disappointing appearance in the past in order to show a dramatic change on purpose.

BM is also the same. By allowing you to obtain high-level characters just by playing the game, the burden of paying has been greatly reduced. Costumes and exclusive equipment can only be obtained through payment, but it is not a big burden. Exclusive equipment clearly increases the specs significantly, but it can be sufficiently replaced with general-purpose equipment, and costumes only add skills to expand the range of strategy, rather than becoming overwhelmingly stronger.

Like this, 'Brown Dust 2' showed a changed appearance by reflecting 100% of user feedback, but not everything was perfect. There were also some concerns. It's about the end content.

As the single-player nature is strong, the story pack corresponding to the main story and the character pack corresponding to the side story account for an overwhelming influence in the entire content, so I was worried that there would be a lack of things to enjoy after finishing the story. The Mirror War, which is an asynchronous PvP mode, and the Devil's Castle, which is a time-attack PvE mode, fill that void, but personally, I thought it was still a bit lacking to fill that void.

The pre-experience test conducted earlier this year would have been harsh in many ways for 'Brown Dust 2'. From the back-of-the-head view to the skill cutscenes and portrait mode. 'Brown Dust 2' failed to properly show the charm it wanted to show. After the end of the test, the developer announced a change in a letter, but I didn't expect much until then. I thought that at best, the skill cutscenes would change a little. The reason is simple. This is because I have rarely seen cases where feedback is properly reflected. It would be okay if it was a simple balance or numerical value, but at the time, 'Brown Dust 2' had to be completely revamped.

However, Gamepfs chose the difficult path and finally led to a successful change. Thanks to that, the gaze of gamers looking at 'Brown Dust 2' is more expectant than ever. This is because they saw that their feedback, which was only empty talk, could be reflected, and that the game could be improved as a result.

'Brown Dust 2', which has finished the final test, is scheduled to be officially released in June. I can't predict what kind of changes it will go through here, but as it has made a quantum jump based on the past feedback, I hope that it will become a real '갓겜' through the feedback from this final test.

Webzine InvenReporter Yoon Hong-man
2023-06-15