In the game, the radio is a crucial item.
If you're planning to trade within the game, the radio is an essential item. Information can help us survive better during times of conflict.
Even if you're not into trading, chances are you'll still need a radio.
Because in this place where there's no shelter from the cold and nowhere to hide, knowing changes in the weather is extremely important.
In the game, we need to stock up on water and wood before winter arrives. Only by doing so can we get through the long cold days with our characters.
There are five radio channels in total: Modern Music Channel, Classical Music Channel, Radio One, Today's City News, and Weather Report.
In the aftermath of war, listening to classical music can slightly adjust the characters' moods, although the effect isn't very pronounced.
As Brother Yin learned more about the game, he realized that character moods are crucial.
The entire game mainly features a black-and-white color scheme and is underscored by a suppressed background music, emphasizing the darkness of the battlefield.
This game brings the darkest aspects of human nature to the surface and chastises them.
In peacetime, even stealing is subject to moral condemnation. Can committing bad deeds during wartime truly shield oneself from suffering?
The answer is no.
Here, killing, arson, and stealing, all lower the characters' moods.
Characters will experience negative emotional states to varying degrees. Those who are more easily satisfied tend to get sad more easily.
Each person's psychological resilience is different, especially during war, where some individuals are more prone to breakdowns.
In times of scarcity, not everyone can remain unfeeling. Even refusing someone's plea for help might lead to feelings of self-reproach.
For example, not helping a child who comes seeking aid, accusing a neighbor unjustly, following others' advice to rob or steal from a hospital, all these actions can cause people to feel dejected and unhappy.
Yet, some people remain more unfeeling.
In the game, characters like Chef Bruno, the Lawyer, and the Craftsman Marin are more unfeeling, but their coldness is limited to allowing others to commit wrongdoings.
If they themselves do something wrong, they still feel remorse.
But other characters in the game are less prone to getting upset. Stealing has less impact on their negative emotions, and they are easily satisfied by doing good deeds.
But you know, even if they are cold-blooded, it's not right to treat them as mere weapons or tools in times of war, to casually slaughter outsiders.
Because even the coldest individuals will get upset if they kill too much, even ruthless killers can collapse.
When a character collapses and becomes numb, they can't go outside or be controlled. They might even run away from home, or worse – commit suicide.
And the simple way to recover their mood is by eating well.
But even eating well is a problem here.
After discovering this key point, Brother Yin liked using the minor characters, as it's easier to solve the mood issues with them, and they're less prone to problems.
Here, minor characters refer to those who in peacetime are never in the spotlight, the small fry.
Thieves, chefs, deserters... they can all thrive here, each having their own strengths that help them survive.
Because in this extreme environment, wanting to be a good person might lead to your own demise, and you might also have to deal with occasional home invasions.
And lawyers, mathematicians, school principals, even respected people in peacetime, in the midst of turmoil, they are nothing, self-preservation becomes a problem.
On the contrary, soldiers, laborers, craftsmen, even rascals, those who aren't paid much attention to in peacetime, seem to thrive.
Brother Yin doesn't remember how many people he robbed, some he killed, until the end of the game, his eyes were numb.
Isn't killing just a norm in playing games?
He had abundant resources, well-furnished facilities, enough to eat, and cigarettes to smoke every day.
His character slaughtered military camps, razed half-ruined houses.
But the three people at home, even though they ate and drank well every day, were still in a constant state of negativity.
One of them, after ransacking a "half-ruined house", for several days in a row, took supplies and ran away with them one day.
The soldier who ransacked the military camp fought with the chef at home every day, both of them getting hurt, both their emotions shattered.
Finally, one night, the chef ran away, leaving only the soldier who ate and drank well every day, enduring through countless day and night cycles, until the war ended after forty days.
After the game ended, the screen automatically displayed the post-war stories of the characters Brother Yin controlled, describing the experiences of those he had helped during the war.
Of course, if you stole someone's food, the game would also tell you their cause of death.
It was you who directly/ indirectly caused their death.
Brother Yin fell silent, looking at the photos and words on the screen. There were only simple textual descriptions.
The soldier who raided the military camp was named Roman,
[Roman survived the war, enduring the torment of past experiences. He began engaging in illicit activities and died years later due to the physical toll of drug use.
The one who raided the "half-ruined house" appeared again as the leader of a teenage criminal gang.
And the fleeing chef, he tried to find his friend at night but was shot by a military patrol during his escape.]
Looking at the various endings on the screen, Brother Yin fell into silence. He closed the camera without a word, lighting up one cigarette after another.
Whether it's the protagonist who killed too many good people or the protagonist who displayed passivity before the war's end, they often end up committing suicide in the aftermath of war. It turned out this game is not just about surviving for a few dozen days during a war.
"This game is too oppressive, don't play it if you're under 18, seriously." Brother Yin said and then directly closed the live broadcast.
He didn't say goodbye to his fans, nor did he bid farewell as he usually did.
Brother Yin silently closed the live broadcast, staring at the game's dark and monochrome screen.
Suddenly, he recalled a passage from the radio during the game.
'You can hardly find meat on the streets anymore. Be cautious when buying meat of unknown origin.'
While playing the game, he only felt the value of raw meat going up. Now that he thought about it carefully, he felt a bit nauseous.
The value of currency in chaotic times is abnormal.
People used to say "gold in times of chaos, antiques in times of prosperity."
After playing the game, he just wanted to say that in times of chaos, gold is nonsense!
The most valuable things here are weapons, medicine, tobacco, alcohol, and food!
Especially in that cold winter, fires need to burn constantly.
A diamond can't be exchanged for a bottle of alcohol or a can of meat in the game.
But a pack of cigarettes can be exchanged for 20 rounds of ammunition.
The weather on the radio keeps changing with the passage of days.
[In the coming days, the temperature will drop dramatically. It will become very cold, as if the war isn't enough.]
This indicates that winter is approaching, and the weather will be extremely cold.