Mixed Frustrations

I have a sad folks. I had been on a chain of playing games by the studio Spiders, because I found the thing that they were doing shockingly compelling. I greatly enjoyed Greedfall which lead me to try out Technomancer… which ultimately lead me to finish Mars: War Logs. However there was a game that happened between Technomancer and Mars War Logs, and last night I did my best to get engaged with it. I failed miserably because there is just something about the game that feels like a slider was pushed too far in the wrong direction. As a result I just couldn’t bring myself to continue playing for more than a few combat sessions.

The other games by Spiders that I have played have not had what I would call amazing combat. They were fine for what it was, which was largely mash an attack until the monster dies without being super tricksy about it. Greedfall definitely had some particulars to the flow of combat but for the most part it felt fairly fluid and intuitive. Combat in Bound by Flame it seems as though they were trying to branch out in a different direction and the end result just feels cumbersome and random at the same time. Games struggle often with trying to find that balance between fun “Arcade” combat and an attempt at realism, and generally speaking I will always land on the pure mashy arcade side of that line.

Part of the arcade formula that makes games feel good is that you are actually interacting with only a handful of encounters at the same time. When you play a brawler you will always see a line of encounters waiting at the edges of the screen for you to finish your encounter with the current pair that you are sparing with. Sure this is unrealistic but it also keeps you from being completely overwhelmed. In Bound by Flame I found myself trying to deal with monsters blocking my attacks while at the same time getting pot shot by every archer at the same time making it feel like I was paralyzed between either taking no action and surviving the encounter or taking action and watching my health bar evaporate.

A Spiders game is best when it is focused on the story and their unique spin on the Bioware-esc genre. My hope is that they view Bound by Flame more or less as a failed experiment, because both Technomancer and Greedfall didn’t seem to try for any of the things that this game is. I just feel a little sad however that I won’t be continuing my journey downwards into their back catalog. I still however feel like the three games I did finish are worth playing. I wholeheartedly recommend Greedfall and I still recommend Technomancer and Mars War Logs but with some asterisks included to make sure you are understanding that they are going to be slightly awkward experiences.

In other news I attempted to start the new Destiny season last night and more or less bounced out. I am not sure what is going on with me and Destiny right now, but it seems to be failing to hold my attention for more than a few minutes at a time. This also makes me sad because from all appearances they are doing a bunch of really interesting things. I think the problem is that much like Final Fantasy XIV, I feel completely overwhelmed at all times with too many things that I could be doing and yet at the same time nothing I necessarily have a strong burning desire to complete. Sometimes there are just too many different brands of ketchup on the shelf, and I am feeling deeply distracted while playing.

I think the biggest problem I am having with Destiny is that it feels like I need to be playing it as my only game to really get the most out of it. I only made it to like level 65 of 100 on the seasonal track last season and it feels bad to know that I stranded various things that I will never be able to acquire. So when confronted with what seems like an insurmountable wall of busywork in front of me, my instinct is to just give up and go do something else that doesn’t require as much from me. Grinding out the Seasons of the Undying forced me to play in a manner that was unsustainable for me and my attention span. If I knew that all of the content was waiting on me to finish at my own pace I don’t think I would have the strong desire to “nope” out of it when being forced to play on someone else’s schedule.

The Irony is that I am looking forward to playing Diablo 3 this weekend as the new season opens. The difference there being that it takes me a weekend or two to get through the entire seasonal journey in Diablo 3, and then I can comfortably put the game to bed for another three months. Destiny 2 on the other hand takes a constant level of grinding that I am unwilling to commit to, and as such I end up just feeling like a failure for not ticking off the various check marks before the timer runs out. Putting something on a timer that feels unattainable without extreme levels of focus will always reduce my enjoyment and willingness to engage with it.