Frequent bugs, official apology: Can "Hetero Ring" break free from the script of "Tower of Fantasy"?
Text by | Beiguoshu
Edited by | Guofu, Liu Shiwu
On April 28th, just five days after the game's public beta, the official team of "Different Ring" had to issue an official apology letter to address the many doubts and controversies the game faced among players.
In the letter, the official team announced the subsequent optimization plans for functions such as storytelling, gameplay, and game bugs, and distributed self - selectable S - tier permanent characters to all players as compensation.
The official apology letter of "Different Ring"
There's no way around it. Although nowadays people say, "A second - generation game without controversy at launch is not a good second - generation game," the problems and pain points exposed by "Different Ring" after the public beta are really... too numerous. For example, the numerical system design is unreasonable, the plot reviews are mixed, and there are countless and unrepairable game bugs. From the game's gacha system to various designs in the urban game, there are more or less defects.
As the first "urban - themed second - generation game" to emerge in China, before the public beta, "Different Ring" had continuously received extremely high attention. Its first - exposure video has so far received tens of millions of views on Bilibili - almost no second - generation game can reach such high figures. And in the public beta preview, the official's statement of "earnings from labor" even detonated the emotions in the player community.
The preview live - stream of "Different Ring"
However, overly high expectations often lead to a rebound, or even a backlash - regardless of whether it comes from the players' "unauthorized" expectations.
After its launch, the frequent problems exposed by "Different Ring" have triggered multiple controversies in the community, and critical voices have continuously emerged. Some players complained about the official's false advertising. The so - called "free gifts upon launch" did not exist. The actual expected time to obtain benefits was even much longer than that of other second - generation games of the same period, which completely did not conform to the current trend of reducing the grind and in - game purchases in this category. Even worse, due to the countless bugs, some players even joked that "the fun of logging in every day is not playing the game, but seeing what new bugs the game has."
Although in recent days, in addition to the official apology, the official team has also carried out high - intensity hot - fixes one or two times a day, it may be difficult to reverse the current public opinion trend before the problems are truly solved. The so - called self - selectable S - tier characters are just a temporary solution.
In fact, "Different Ring" is not the first time Perfect World has been dealt a "good hand."
The last time this established game company caused a similar stir in the industry was with "Tower of Fantasy" in 2021. It also launched with a high - profile under the concept of an "open - world second - generation game" and also received a very high number of pre - orders and expectations in the early stage. However, the market performance of "Tower of Fantasy" after its launch can be regarded as a mirror for today's "Different Ring."
Tower of Fantasy
Around 2013, the core self - developed team of Perfect World, Zulong Studio, was spun off and became an independent company, Zulong Entertainment (which successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2020). This spin - off took away a large number of self - developed talents. For a long time after that, Perfect World was actually in a state of "self - development interruption." There were almost no new self - developed masterpieces to follow up, and it mainly relied on the authorization of existing IPs, overseas business, and the agency business of Valve's games in the Chinese mainland (CS, DOTA2) to maintain its basic business.
"Tower of Fantasy" was a product through which Perfect World tried to prove itself again in the field of self - developed masterpieces, and it targeted the most popular second - generation open - world theme in the market at that time.
However, similar to "Different Ring," "Tower of Fantasy" also faced dissatisfaction from many players in the early stage of its launch due to issues such as controversial character design styles and insufficient plot completion. The project team gradually repaired its reputation through continuous version updates, but this process took nearly a year. "Different Ring" inherited the technical accumulation of the Tower of Fantasy studio, but also encountered almost the same situation after its launch. This is not a coincidence.
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It's undeniable that even with the current problems, "Different Ring" is still a product with a decent level and many commendable aspects. For example, in terms of the plot, the story side - quests of characters like Xiaopa and Baizang basically reached a relatively high level of creation in the industry. And their decision to offer benefits and break away from the common gacha model in second - generation games to find a commercialization model acceptable to different players also requires a certain degree of confidence and courage in both the market and product aspects.
Most importantly, "Different Ring" is willing to be the first product to emerge in the second - generation open - urban game track. After all, no one can be sure that the first person to eat the crab will definitely get the perfect crab meat instead of getting their mouth scratched by the crab shell.
The competition in the current second - generation game market is quite fierce. For a slightly mediocre product, the future is likely to be a bottomless abyss. The "2025 China Game Industry Report" shows that in 2025, the actual sales revenue of the domestic second - generation mobile game market was 28.281 billion yuan, a year - on - year decrease of 3.64%, marking the second consecutive year of decline.
2025 China Game Industry Report
The market is tightening, but new products and new versions will not stop emerging. Just around the public beta of "Different Ring," new products such as "Roco Kingdom: World" and "Arena of Valor: World" were launched, and old products like "Arknights: Endfield" and "Honkai: Star Rail" also had version updates.
In contrast, the "urban open - world" that can differentiate from current second - generation games has become a track that major game companies are betting on. Among them, "Different Ring" is the fastest one.
From its first exposure in 2024 to the public beta, "Different Ring" only took less than two years.
This benefits from the team's technical accumulation in their previous work, "Tower of Fantasy." In the 2.0 version of "Tower of Fantasy," the team added a cyber - city called "Mirror City" to the game. The similar development experience enabled them to more efficiently construct a more extensive and complete urban world in "Different Ring."
The story background of "Different Ring" is set in a modern city called Hytro, where supernatural phenomena occur frequently. According to the setting, Hytro seems to have an inner and outer world. On the surface, Hytro is no different from a real - world city. However, beneath its orderly appearance, Hytro is also troubled by supernatural phenomena. Players need to play as "Anomaly Hunters" who solve these supernatural phenomena and go on adventures in this city with their partners.
Game screenshot of "Different Ring"
The metaphor of the inner and outer worlds corresponds to the two gameplay modes of the urban and combat systems in "Different Ring." The combat system of "Different Ring" is basically the same as that of other second - generation games in terms of the framework. What really makes "Different Ring" stand out is its rich urban system.
The city in "Different Ring" is highly similar to the real world. There are shops on the roadside selling ice - cream and roast ducks, and citizens are walking around the city. Players can enter any shop on the roadside at any time to shop or chat. To enhance the sense of immersion, they have also achieved seamless loading technically to create an urban experience that is as real as what they see.
Game screenshot of "Different Ring"
The second - generation elements that are deeply integrated with the urban worldview have also earned "Different Ring" a lot of praise.
If you are an ACG enthusiast, you can easily find many anime Easter eggs on the streets of Hytro. As early as the first test, some players found many scenes in Hytro that were similar to famous anime scenes. The empty lot with the cement pipe from "Doraemon" and the water train from "Spirited Away" can all be found in Hytro.
In addition to popular works, there are also Easter eggs from classic works like "CLANNAD" and "Black Jack." Even during the second test, "Different Ring" had a collaboration with "MyGO," one of the most popular girl - band works at present. The characters would cover the classic song "Lost Star Call" from "MyGO" in the quests, and after the quests were completed, the collaborative song would also appear as in - car music.
Game screenshot of "Different Ring"
These elements that are difficult to integrate in traditional second - generation games set in wilderness worlds are easily incorporated into Hytro. The experience of "finding the game in the Easter eggs" has also attracted a group of ACG enthusiasts who may not be interested in "Different Ring" at first but are willing to try the game because of the Easter eggs.
These elements that are difficult to integrate in traditional second - generation games set in wilderness worlds are easily incorporated into the whole city of Hytro. The experience of "finding the game in the Easter eggs" has also attracted a group of ACG enthusiasts who may not be interested in "Different Ring" at first but are willing to try the game because of the Easter eggs.
It's undeniable that the "Urban Tycoon" system, which coordinates the entire urban gameplay in "Different Ring," also destroys the core experience of players to a certain extent. In the game, the official added the setting of "Urban Vitality." Every time players play a mini - game, they will consume a certain amount of Urban Vitality and obtain the corresponding currency "Fangs" for that gameplay.
Game screenshot of "Different Ring"
Fangs are not used for character cultivation but are similar to a general currency in the city. Players can use them to buy houses, cars, and other items. At the same time, obtaining Fangs can also increase the player's urban level, thereby unlocking more functions and gameplay content.
However, from the actual experience, the introduction of Urban Vitality will greatly destroy the players' gaming fun and distort their gaming goals. Players are likely to subconsciously associate the weekly - restored Urban Vitality with the "stamina" system commonly used for dungeon - grinding in second - generation games.
Game screenshot of "Different Ring"
That is to say, when playing the game, players are likely to understand "consuming vitality" and "obtaining Fangs" as a daily grind rather than a natural reward for experiencing urban life. And when the numerical growth curve of the Urban Tycoon is not very reasonable, the official's act of distributing a free S - tier character in stages according to the Urban Tycoon level further amplifies this perception. When players go fishing not for the surprise and fun of catching fish, then fishing itself is just a "dungeon" for consuming vitality.
Of course, it's easy to understand that the series of urban designs in "Different Ring" are essentially aimed at providing players with a more long - term experience option and preventing third - party studios from having an irreparable impact on the game. However, in this way, "Different Ring" has not really broken out of the second - generation game framework and found a long - term operation design that truly suits the urban theme.
In this way, it can also explain the current difficulties faced by "Different Ring": why even though it has achieved differentiation and has many interesting details, it still hasn't received relatively high evaluations.
Even though players often like to compare "Different Ring" to a "second - generation GTA," the reality is cruel. Most players actually don't expect a direct copy of the GTA design. For a long - term domestic game, this is neither realistic nor can it achieve ideal commercial results.
