The Backlog Check-in Vol. 339: 6/29/24: The First Descendant Edition

[isthatallyougot]

I no longer need steel or armor. Just yield to the immense power in my hand...

[crimson_tide]

I just couldn't do that cool ish myself, Izzy. I don't have the find my fun mentality, I need a curated experience. It's why I keep buying crpgs and never make it beyond the character creator, I can't do the complete freedom thing, too much choice.

Also, I think my next arc is going to be mecha. I want every mecha game I am running across lately....Relayer, Megaton Musashi W and Super Robot Wars 30 are looking to be my summer games currently. Well that and SMT Nocturne. Still gotta focus on getting through that one soon. Then, all mecha all the time!

Oh and phase, I like the list of weekly games. Sometimes it's just fun to see others it lets me know when something like Rocket Knight has actually been released because they did a terrible job advertising it .

[Phaseknox]

I'm really enjoying Death's Door. It's kind of a mashup of Soulslike and Metroidvania. I've had trouble with some of the combat areas, not much room for error, but I've gotten through everything so far, which is very satisfying.

I started playing this today and I was liking it at first because you play as a crow with a sword and bow, the art style is appealing and I liked the basic action adventure design structure without a ton of tutorials, mechanics, menus and systems. But I didn’t like how you got locked into certain areas and had to fight waves of incoming enemies to proceed, what’s the point of that when the levels already have enemies in them? It slows down the pacing, and isn’t fun. There’s enough combat through the levels themselves, so locking you into little battle arenas periodically while traversing is unnecessary.

And also since the game has Soulslike elements despite being on the somewhat cartoonish side and being comedic at times, the bosses are of course difficult right from the start. The first one didn’t give me too much trouble, but still seemed a little tough for a first boss in a game like this. However, I couldn’t beat the second one even after multiple attempts and decided to throw in the towel. I just don’t have the patience and reflexes these days to deal with bosses like that in games anymore. It also doesn’t help that the bosses don’t have life bars, so you don’t know how close you are to defeating them. I hit that sucker a lot with sword slashes and arrows, and it just kept coming at me even harder. Screw that.

I’m fed up with the Soulslike trend in games these days, because it has been ruining action adventure games IMO. Every action adventure game these days seems to have to be a Soulslike in some way, and it’s annoying.

I just couldn't do that cool ish myself, Izzy. I don't have the find my fun mentality, I need a curated experience. It's why I keep buying crpgs and never make it beyond the character creator, I can't do the complete freedom thing, too much choice.

I have a lot of CRPGs to play, but I haven’t been playing them because I haven’t been in the mood for the complexities and learning curves that they require and I’m not sure that I ever will be as I tend to like games on the more basic and simpler side these days. If I feel like I need to attend a college course to learn how to play a game then it’s most likely not for me. I play games for entertainment and fun, and being difficult or feeling like work isn’t entertaining and fun to me.

I think my next arc is going to be mecha. I want every mecha game I am running across lately....Relayer, Megaton Musashi W and Super Robot Wars 30 are looking to be my summer games currently.

I get in the mood for certain types of games and buy every one that goes on sale, then I get out of the mood for them and regret buying so many. I always hope that I will get in the mood for them again, but sometimes I don’t.

[isthatallyougot]

I just couldn't do that cool ish myself, Izzy. I don't have the find my fun mentality, I need a curated experience. It's why I keep buying crpgs and never make it beyond the character creator, I can't do the complete freedom thing, too much choice.

In some alternate time line you should have married my ex-wife. She would have loved to "curate" everything for you.

[canedaddy]

I started playing this today and I was liking it at first because you play as a crow with a sword and bow, the art style is appealing and I liked the basic action adventure design structure without a ton of tutorials, mechanics, menus and systems. But I didn’t like how you got locked into certain areas and had to fight waves of incoming enemies to proceed, what’s the point of that when the levels already have enemies in them? It slows down the pacing, and isn’t fun. There’s enough combat through the levels themselves, so locking you into little battle arenas periodically while traversing is unnecessary.

Those areas are preparing you for a tougher version of that at the end of each section. You really have to get gud if you want to move forward. Lots of areas and bosses that require you to stay on your toes and make very few mistakes. Definitely frustrating if you're not up for the challenge.

[Phaseknox]

Those areas are preparing you for a tougher version of that at the end of each section. You really have to get gud if you want to move forward. Lots of areas and bosses that require you to stay on your toes and make very few mistakes. Definitely frustrating if you're not up for the challenge.

I’m not up for any really challenging games anymore, because I don’t like to be frustrated which I am if games are too difficult. There’s a reason most games offer difficulty settings, because they allow players to set the difficulties to what they feel suits them best to get the most enjoyment and fun out of a game. Not everyone is as good at games or have the same patience for tough challenges, so it’s nice to have the option to tone things down a bit to make the experience more reasonable and tolerable for someone to enjoy.

I’ve learned that From Software games aren’t for me because I don’t have the patience, skill, or tolerance for their punishing difficulties. But that’s their thing, so I can respect it to a certain degree. However, I don’t respect other game companies copying From Software just because it’s a successful formula for them. That’s From Software’s thing, so other companies doing it is just disingenuous copycat bullshit to capitalize on a current trend.

Games being punishingly difficult are basically unplayable for me, and it really sucks when I like a game but can’t proceed in it because it’s too difficult for me to progress. I can only try to “git gud” for so long before I reach my limit, and have to give up. But since the popularity of Soulslike games, it’s been a lot of games in the action adventure and action RPG genres. Those are a couple of my favorite genres, and I haven’t been able to enjoy as many recently due to them mimicking From Software’s games.

Death’s Door is yet another one, because I like everything about it except for it’s punishing difficulty that unfortunately is too much for me and prevents me from being able to enjoy it and progress in it. Having an easier setting would have made it so that I could, but that’s not the cool thing in games anymore. And it’s unfortunate because I’ve been less interested in gaming lately because of it. It’s hard for me to get excited about games when a big selling point of them is how difficult that they are which is a big turnoff for me.

[canedaddy]

I’m not up for any really challenging games anymore, because I don’t like to be frustrated which I am if games are too difficult. There’s a reason most games offer difficulty settings, because they allow players to set the difficulties to what they feel suits them best to get the most enjoyment and fun out of a game. Not everyone is as good at games or have the same patience for tough challenges, so it’s nice to have the option to tone things down a bit to make the experience more reasonable and tolerable for someone to enjoy.

I’ve learned that From Software games aren’t for me because I don’t have the patience, skill, or tolerance for their punishing difficulties. But that’s their thing, so I can respect it to a certain degree. However, I don’t respect other game companies copying From Software just because it’s a successful formula for them. That’s From Software’s thing, so other companies doing it is just disingenuous copycat bullshit to capitalize on a current trend.

Games being punishingly difficult are basically unplayable for me, and it really sucks when I like a game but can’t proceed in it because it’s too difficult for me to progress. I can only try to “git gud” for so long before I reach my limit, and have to give up. But since the popularity of Soulslike games, it’s been a lot of games in the action adventure and action RPG genres. Those are a couple of my favorite genres, and I haven’t been able to enjoy as many recently due to them mimicking From Software’s games.

Death’s Door is yet another one, because I like everything about it except for it’s punishing difficulty that unfortunately is too much for me and prevents me from being able to enjoy it and progress in it. Having an easier setting would have made it so that I could, but that’s not the cool thing in games anymore. And it’s unfortunate because I’ve been less interested in gaming lately because of it. It’s hard for me to get excited about games when a big selling point of them is how difficult that they are which is a big turnoff for me.

I'm generally in the same camp... I play games for fun and escape more than anything else, and I don't want to be frustrated while playing them. But there's something to be said for a good challenge that you know is fair and not cheap... especially when you get through it. That's how I felt about both Elden Ring and Death's Door. It was easy to see that I could move on if I stopped making mistakes... it wasn't just a bunch of annoying or impossible nonsense, it only took some learning of patterns and what to do in response, and then to execute that.