15/04/2017

A bunch of games I couldn't play


To my utter dismay, I've hit a bit of a dry gaming patch lately. I've been unlucky enough to encounter not one, but three games in a row that didn't click with me and that I ditched around the three-hour mark, utterly blasé and disgusted. I'd be tempted to attribute that stroke of bad luck not to a temporary failure of my ever-dependable gaming instinct, but rather to the fact that the involved games were cheap digital-only PSN games, and such games are pretty much hit-or-miss propositions. Without further ado, here are the offenders, along with the reasons they failed to enthrall me:


Vagrant Story: I grabbed that subterranean Squaresoft cult classic for a couple of euros; and at first, it seemed like an inspired purchase. I was extremely fond of that game's claustrophobic vibe, in medias res introduction à la Dark City and vaguely menacing eroticism reminiscent of '70s exploitation films; and although the gameplay first conjured horrific memories of Tomb "Them controls are too fussy" Raider, Vagrant Story's physics were sleek and polished enough to make me quickly forget that first impression. On the other hand, I was not so enthusiastic about the fighting system, which struck me as dreadfully boring. Instead of treating us to some hack-and-slashy goodness, Squaresoft introduced a tedious extra step in the fighting process: enemies must first be locked on, after which you have to choose the body part that will get the most damage. Whether Squaresoft chose those mechanics for the sake of being original or because automatic aiming with melee weapons was not possible at the time, said mechanics take all the urgency away from combat. On top of that, killing foes is busy work: they don't grant XP and they drop loot once in a blue moon, so you're basically killing them just to clear the way. But the dealbreaker was the fact that each weapon is efficient only against a given type of foe and that weapons must be levelled-up and switched on the fly if one wants to progress smoothly. The though of spending hours of my life levelling up weapons filled me with such dread that I wisely decided to give up on the game. I really liked Vagrant Story, but I'm not sure I can ever muster the courage to touch it again.


Siralim: I had an instant crush on this game, to be honest. It boasts everything I love: nostalgia-inducing 8-bit graphics, a simple and fast-paced turn-based fighting system, randomly generated dungeons that are a joy to explore, tons of missions that give perfect incentives to roam&grind and, last but not least, the possibility to run solo. With such a perfect list of features, there was absolutely no reason for me to lose all interest in that game after a mere three hours of play, was there? And yet, that's exactly what happened, and that untimely defection can be blamed on two factors. First, the number of dungeon floors is actually infinite and there is no definitive end to the game; and that killed all my drive to crawl on the spot. If it's up to me to decide when I want to stop crawling, I might as well save myself some time and not start crawling at all, all the more so as I've never been fond of sandbox games with no grand finale: I need a goal, a challenge to keep me playing. Give your dungeon 500 floors if you want, but make it finite. Secondly and most importantly, Siralim uses level scaling, which makes level-grinding entirely pointless. This means that the only way to overcome difficulty spikes (the first one being pretty early on at floor 5) is to farm all sorts of materials to improve your weapons and spells; and I dislike farming, which I deem too random and unproductive. All in all, this game is an exercise in sheer, utter laziness. The developers dispensed themselves with implementing a balanced difficulty curve, thought-out difficulty spikes and a seamless progression towards a final boss; instead, they threw in a bunch of algorithms for random dungeon and mission generation, level scaling and difficulty spikes and called it a day. I don't see why I should play that lazy excuse for a dungeon crawler when there are dozens of better dungeon crawlers available.


Bastion: This highly praised title crystallizes everything I despise about indie games. With its anaemic, simplistic and unpolished gameplay craftily hidden under a thick coating of gimmicks and edgy aesthetic choices, Bastion is the perfect illustration of the expression "style over substance". Alas, the game's flashiness and apparent originality wear off very quickly. The gimmick of the levels assembling themselves as you progress is just like the 3DS' 3D effect: it wows you at first, but you stop noticing it entirely after five minutes. The narrator gimmick could have been a neat one, if the developers hadn't been dumb enough to reveal said narrator's identity after ten minutes of play. The baroque, colourful art style is undeniably gorgeous, but there's so little variety to the levels that it becomes boring after a while. The story is told in a disjointed way for mystery's sake and ends up being totally incomprehensible in the process; and last but not least, the bleak atmosphere à la Limbo becomes seriously depressing after a while. All this arty varnish wouldn't be an issue if the gameplay were satisfying, which is unfortunately not the case: Bastion's real-time fighting system is sloppy, unprecise and frustrating. There are often so many mobs attacking at once that the only way to progress is to slash and shoot blindy while running around, dodging and chain-healing; and while these hectic one-against-hundreds battles are undeniably thrilling at first, they quickly become irritating. Enemies also feel a bit too insubstantial to be really pleasant to slaughter, and that's all to blame on their wobbly hitboxes. Hitboxes are everything in Action-RPGs and can make or break a real-time fighting system; in the case of Bastion, they don't utterly break the fighting system, but they certainly don't help its case either. Once I got bored of the fancy gimmicks and fully realized the gameplay's utter lack of depth, there was no more hope for Bastion and I dropped it just like its two predecessors.

There's at least one good thing to be found in this series of unexciting games: if I lose access to my digital games once the PSN bails out, I won't shed a single tear for these three. Needless to say, Siralim and Bastion reinforced my natural aversion to indie games, and I don't think I'll purchase many more of these in the future. For one gem like my beloved Rainbow Moon, there are ten turds like Siralim and Bastion that rely on lazy algorithms and attention-grabbing gimmicks to get by. I have a couple of digital indies left to play, such as Titan Souls and Hotline Miami, and I wouldn't be surprised if I end up hating them as well. But hey, only play will tell! And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to dig up a REAL game from my precious collection to compensate for that festival of mediocrity. (Yeah, I know; that jibe's easy and cheap, but it feels so good). Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!

11 comments:

  1. Bastion is really short, I beat in two days. But if I wasn't so dedicated to beating as many games as possible I wouldn't have finished it either. The gameplay didn't put me off like it did you, but the story didn't pull me in either, and by the end of the game I felt no connection to it. The only part I remember is the part where the enemy invades your home base, and I only remember that because you pets/enemies that you adopt, die defending your home. Cheap shot game, cheap shot (; . ;) Yeah, I get attached to my virtual pets very easily, and that part guaranteed that I would never replay the game. It comes out of nowhere, so you had no fair shot at defending the poor things. Very unfair.

    I have Siralim on the Vita but haven't tried it out yet. Mostly because of the 8 bit aesthetic but even if I look past that, no goal at all? Infinite dungeons? Pass. The only no goal game I play is the sims, every other sandbox game has no appeal to me. Siralim doesn't even let you build your own stuff, which is the appeal of other sandbox games like minecraft and Terraria, so what's the point? No really, what's the point of Siralim? I bought it for dirt cheap on sale, so I didn't do much research on it.

    As for Vagrant Story, games that don't reward you for battling are a no-no too. What were you thinking Square? Isn't battling at least half of the game? Why the heck would make that feel unrewarding? Oh, it was a warm up for the unrewarding battles of FF13? I see you haven't changed that much at all Square.

    Anyways, dry patches in gaming suck. I've been stuck in a rut for almost a year, especially when it comes to RPGs. I've been picking games that are way too long and grindy, like Soul Sacrifice and Tales of games. Platformers have been annoying me with either cheap deaths or stages that take way too long to complete (namely The Blob, very fun and relaxing, but it takes an hour and a half for each stage). I just don't have the patience for large games or long gaming sessions anymore, but I don't like leaving games incomplete either. But a long patch of mediocre games have sucked the enthusiasm out of me. I'd play a good game like Stranger of Sword City, but for some reason there's no news of Europe getting the "revisited" version and it's been two months since America has gotten it. I don't want to play an incomplete game. Gosh, I hate being an European gamer so much! Come on Experience Inc, let NISA port that version to Europe if you can't get past the stupid ESRB by yourself.

    At least there's been a lot of new games announced for the 3DS, which was a shock to me. Especially that America is getting the 3rd version of Yokai Watch 2, Psychic Specters, and most likely Europe will get it by next year. Frankly I'm worried about that, I was hoping they'd skip that version and give us Yokai Watch 3 already...I hope by the time they do get to it, they don't choose not to release it because the 3DS is dead in the west by that point :/ Also, no news about Etrian Odyssey V, which is definitely suspicious by this point. But at least we're getting monster hunter stories, maybe I'll finally be able to enjoy a monster hunter game! Miitopia looks exactly like the type of lighthearted fun I need by now. And Ever Oasis still looks awesome. I'm glad the 3DS still has some life, now I just hope that life sticks around long enough for Atlus to bring over Etrian Odyssey V and the Radiant Historia remake, and for level 5 to bring over Yokai Watch 3 and Snack World.

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    1. Oh, and I forgot to say that I have Titan Souls too. That game is the master of difficulty, so play it when you're in the mood for that. I remember enjoying it a lot when I played it almost two years ago, but now, with my patience for games being pretty much dry, I know I'd hate it if I had played it last month. But that game is pretty much a pure boss rush, so it can be relaxing to spend a while mastering a boss's pattern to beat it. No annoying in-between stages full of cheap deaths to annoy you. So there's that, and the lack of story makes it easy to pick and play, beat a single boss, and put it down again. Just don't try to beat it all in one shot if you lack the patience (AKA don't play like I play nowadays).

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    2. A year-long dry gaming patch sounds horrible... Honestly, I've dropped consoles entirely for less than that back in the days. How about taking a long, good gaming break until your gaming drive comes back and appetizing games pile up? If you keep forcing yourself, you'll only end up disgusted of gaming, and I'm sure you wouldn't want that. ^^

      I'm sure glad to see that the 3DS is still alive and kicking, because I expected developers to move en masse to the Switch. Looks like Nintendo's promises to keep supporting their ageing system for a while after the release of their shiny brand-new system will come true for the first time in history, which can only delight me as a Switch non-owner. :P

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    3. I honestly don't see myself ever getting disgusted with gaming, it's been my main free time activity since I was 3. Especially since I don't care for TV and movies and I'm currently on an art break. I think what I'm really sick of is the way I'm gaming. Ever since I've become a working adult I've put most of my money towards games, and my backlog exploded thanks to that. Since I'm not wealthy, I feel immense guilt over the hundreds of games I've not ever even begun to play, much less finish. This started my quest to complete games en masse, and in the past 2 years and 4 months I've finished 158 games.

      But I'm sick of it. Since most of those are RPGs and I tend to do post game stuff, a lot games take forever and I start to feel pressure to finish them ASAP. I also pick up a lot of shorter games I'm not in mood for just to finish one extra game and clear my guilt. And I won't even mention how guilty I feel when I want to replay game. I feel it's a "waste" of time, even if I would really enjoy it and it would probably help my gaming mood. As expected, it's gotten really tiring, and now I miss the days when I had only 40 games when a console's lifespan was over, so I poured my heart and soul into each one and got to enjoy them or drop them without guilt when I got annoyed with them.

      I think that's what I need to do nowadays. I want to continue building my collection through sales, but I should really drop my backlog all together. With that in mind, I'm gonna replay Devil Survivor for the 16th time. I'm not even gonna try one of the extended routes in the 3DS remake I haven't done yet. Nope, gonna go for the good old Naoya/Chaos route like I always do. Speaking of Megaten, Atlus better bring over the 3DS remake of Strange Journey as well. That's been one of the games I've been itching to replay as well, but I could wait for a remake.

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    4. Indeed, getting disgusted with gaming is highly unlikely if gaming has been your main hobby since the age of 3. That's what I call passion. ^^

      The idea of separating one's backlog from one's collecting, which you allude to in your comment, is the key to avoid viewing gaming as a second job of sort - a state that threatens to engulf every gamer that creates a backlog for themselves. For one thing, collecting is a pleasure in itself; for another, it's much more comfortable to approach a gaming collection as a realm of entertaining possibilities than as a mountain of work to get done.

      And of course, it always helps to remember that we're gaming to entertain ourselves in the first place and to let our gaming instincts rule the game, because we dedicated gamers are all likely to take our favourite hobby a trifle too seriously at times. Despite the fact that I don't have a backlog per se and follow my gaming instinct's every whim and flight of fancy when it comes to choosing a game, there were undeniably times when gaming felt more like busy work than like entertainment. So let's never forget why we play in the first place. ^___^

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  2. I had exactly the same reaction to Siralim. I normally love anything monster-collecting, but this game made me scream with annoyance. Total waste of potential.
    Haven't played Bastion yet. I wonder why it's so revered.
    Vagrant Story is ... unique. I have the strategy guide and wow - there's a lot to master in that game. They say it's designed for multiple playthroughs, each time building on your abilities. Yea, a slow burn - but then, it's from the old school. Will I have the sheer time and patience? Only if I become obsessed with the characters, story and atmosphere. Hard to say. Looking at the guide, I get a bit of a Dark Souls vibe.

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    1. Vagrant Story's atmosphere managed to lure me in despite the fact that I loathe early 3D games from the Playstation era, so there is definitely some potential there. The character design is also quite remarkable, although I can well imagine the latent eroticism rubbing some players the wrong way. I sure hope you'll enjoy it!

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  3. Glad to know I wasn't the only one who despised Vagrant Story's gameplay. The aesthetics look great but the game itself just isn't engaging enough to make me play through it. I really wanted to like it, but it ended up being the only Square game from the PS1 era that I never finished.

    I'll echo your words regarding Bastion. It was a great experience but, looking back, those 7~8 hours could have been spent on some other, better games I have on my backlog. Bastion only got recognition due to the folks that love "artsy" games, because the game itself is flawed as hell. Gameplay is barebones (although it is fun), story is too vague for the sake of being pretentious while not be engaging enough to really care about the characters or the world and the music was just "there". At least the game is pretty short and you can buy it for pretty cheap too.

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    1. It seems we are remarkably similar in our RPG dislikes: first Xenoblade Chronicles, and now Bastion and Vagrant Story. And same as you, I really wanted to like the latter; but gosh, that fighting system is just pure punishment. I'm overall a pretty masochistic gamer, but I'm not ThAT masochist.

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  4. Was wondering what you've been up to, Isleif! Going over a week without a post is nearly cause for concern! :)

    Sorry to hear about the dry spell of good games. The RPG genre can be pretty saturated as you're well aware and a few bad luck choices can be a real bum-out. The only one I've played is Bastion and it didn't do it for me, but the other two games can be replaced with any number of disappointing ones.

    If you're looking for something to research and perhaps play, I'm currently enjoying Exist Archive on the Vita. Grabbed a brand new physical copy for $10 on Amazon Prime (not sure how that works in Iceland, however). Not a good sign having a price drop that low within six months of release but it's fun so far and I'm enjoying it.

    Also I've been trying to get into The Last Story on the Wii, not sure if you've played that but it's definitely different.

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    1. Why, thanks for the concern! :) I was in a near comatose state the whole Easter week due to gorgeing on Easter chocolates, and the week before that was soiled by these lacklustre aborted playthroughs I wrote about. Man, was it hard to find the drive to write after all that. :P

      I own Exist Archive as well, and I'm glad to hear someone is enjoying it. Hoepfully I'll enjoy it too! As for Iceland, hum... I can say without exaggerating one bit that this otherwise gorgeous island is probably one of the worst places on Earth to be a portable game collector. The very few portable systems and games available here are ridiculously overpriced, and there can be no import without forking out copious custom fees. The mere fact that I managed to accumulate a game collection of sizeable proportions while living on that import-unfriendly rock never ceases to amaze me, really. :P

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