Core Viewpoint - The article discusses the significant backlash against the game "Mingmo: Yuanshu Zhi Yu," highlighting the disconnect between player expectations and the game's actual performance, leading to a cultural and political discourse surrounding its release [5][15][40]. Group 1: Game Quality and Reception - Prior to its release, "Mingmo: Yuanshu Zhi Yu" received positive early reviews, with IGN and GS both scoring it 8, indicating a strong expectation from players [5]. - After 21 hours of gameplay, the game was deemed to have acceptable quality, with a solid map design and combat system that encourages diverse strategies [8][10]. - Despite the game’s quality, it faced a severe backlash on release day, resulting in a low approval rating of 19% due to various operational and narrative issues [16][17]. Group 2: Reasons for Backlash - The backlash stemmed from three main issues: mismatched rewards between deluxe and standard editions, a price drop in the Chinese market that angered players, and a narrative perceived as disrespectful to Han culture [17][18][19]. - The game was labeled as "Han traitor game" due to these perceived insults, leading to widespread criticism and personal attacks on content creators discussing the game [21][22]. Group 3: Cultural and Political Implications - The situation reflects a deeper cultural memory divide, where different groups project their sentiments onto the historical context of the Ming dynasty, turning it into a semantic minefield [26][27]. - The game's marketing strategy, which aimed to leverage the emotionally charged historical context, ultimately backfired, revealing the complexities of identity politics in contemporary discourse [29][30]. - The article suggests that the game's reception is not solely based on its quality but rather on how it interacts with sensitive cultural emotions, indicating a broader trend of products being scrutinized through the lens of ideological narratives [37][40].