As a matter of fact, life in the game is so easy that you can learn many specialities without much effort and you can always get married and have offsprings… As for girls, there will always be many boys pursuing you, you only need to accept their invations to have a closer relationship with them… Of course, were it not for these machanisms, who would like to enjoy the game and explore numerous possibilities?
The game which enjoys an “overwhelmingly positive” review is bound to be worthy of its glory, and it is also recognized by many Chinese state-owned media, like China Youth Daily and China Daily. It also interests many of my classmates, even those who don’t care about independent games. We enjoy it, talk about it, and reflect it. The newspaper of the game was read many times, and my classmates feel curious and excited about it.
As a Chinese student, the content of the game is existing in my daily life, the pressure in preparing for Gaokao (National College Entrance Exam), the pressure from balancing satisfying parents’ expectations, and chasing our dreams. Individually, the story may not happen in Guangdong, as we Cantonese don’t have that kind of lucky money culture…we prefer to give a small amount of money to every child we know. The reality is much crueler, as every action and choice is much more complex. But as the author said, he manages to compress 18 years into a few hours with fun in rounds, so the game is very signifying rather than paying attention to each detail. The latter style can be explored in Tokimeki Memorial (Japan) and Gaokao Love 100 Days (China mainland), which are also excellent games. Consequently, Chinese players can recall their memories in their playing with fun and foreign players can have a look in Chinese education with fun as well. The compromise is not bad, as it successfully achieved the game’s main idea. The developer is also endeavoring to cover more aspects of Chinese education. Their determination can be proved by their progress in releasing the girl’s version and adding more details. There’s no doubt that the game is a miracle, and it will continually be a miracle in the near future.
As is known, Chinese parenting has been widely accepted as a problem in Chinese education at home and abroad. There are so many Chinese parents, teachers and children taking part in it with so many critics and researchers working on it hoping to find a better solution, but only the game’s developer came up with the idea of making it into an AVG to draw more attention to the topic, not just for complaining, but also for finding more constructive suggestions. As the author once said, to make the game he nearly read all books of Chinese school and family he can find. Though the art resources may not be not enough, the author managed to convey his idea through the simple but impressive pictures and fashionable words.
The method enjoys its pros and cons, and opinions rooted in Chinese culture is uneasy to be changed. A similar situation can also be seen in Japan and Korea. Of course, the system may not be the best, but evidently, it is the best one available. Luckily, the Chinese authorities are also managing to perform reforms to encourage student’s all-round development. We don’t hope to follow the tracks of an overthrown chariot of Japan’s reform in the 1980s. To avoid trapped in the Chinese way of thinking, we are also learning from the west. Additionally, as a future programmer, I am dreaming of devoting myself to the production of these independent games that reflect modern China to promote understanding between China and the world.
PS: I strongly recommend you to play GaokaoLove100Days (English translation guaranteed) which is considered “positive” as it reflects the puppy love of Chinese adolescents in China’s excellent public school. I’m sure that experiencing detailed daily life of Chinese high school students will bring you unique feelings.
