In response to Austin's question(or was it two different ones? not sure. Love this new column either way)
What's a game that you don't like even though on paper you should totally love it?
for me the most recent case was Diablo III. It still has the basic mechanical combat design that I liked from II with some really improved multiplayer functions and perhaps most importantly I have friends to play with who love the game. So this is something I should, on paper, really like.
The game imo is really hampered by the lack of Blizzard North's creative involvement , it honestly even today does not feel like a game they would have made from the art direction to the music to the story (although I think that was always Blizzard South's handiwork) and especially the original loot system. So much of what makes the game "good now" post Reaper of Souls is merely subtraction of bad things the Real Money Auction House's presence dictated in the base game. Much of what has also been removed were aspects of the previous game that perhaps weren't the best modern solutions (or even good ones at all) but were aspects that at least added tension to the game (i.e. limited quantities of Town Portal Scrolls and Potions, smaller inventory, skill choice selection permanence, corpse runs etc ). Now it's just kind of mindless unless you are G-rifting well into post game for a leaderboard position. Even on Hardcore mode, you don't have much to really think about other than staying alive.
I rarely ever say this, but the game is far too easy for new players. Granted having played Previous Diablo games this was probably more aggravating to me than it would probably be to someone totally new to the series. Being easy isn't a bad thing, but in this case I think it very much is, in the sense that D3's core campaign is easy to the point that game doesn't effectively teach you any of its mechanics other how to click enemies to death. I never went below half health the entire campaign save two boss fights, and the game didn't even let me ratchet up the difficulty meaningfully until I hit the level cap at the end of Act V. I'm hardly a skilled player at these kinds of games either.
Final Fantasy Xiii was criticized for having a story tunnel for a couple dozen hours, I'd argue that Diablo III is a far far worse offender as it doesn't even require you to interface with even some of the more fundamental mechanical concepts until you can turn the game up to at least Torment III. There are mobs, dmg types, techniques and skill combinations that would beneficial to know for the late game, but the dmg output of the enemies is so minimal on the level of difficulty the game will let you play on, that I ended up playing with my non-dominant hand while watching NFL Football with no drop off in results.
And of course the best kind of gear is saved for post game, which on one hand is fine, but you don't really have to learn how to read the stats or how to construct a build until you start finding set pieces and unlock Kunai's Cube. And that is a skill that does take meaningful time to learn, because the game's UI really tries to simplify their myriad Stats into 3 core stats (Damage, Toughness and Recovery) that are pretty misleading to evaluating a build properly when you get into high level play. The game for as much as it does right in most regards in the post game, does a fairly poor job surfacing the stats you actually need to weigh to the player who is attempting to clear some reasonably high Greater Rifts quickly. They are there although hidden behind a "Details" button (however they are not present when comparing weapons/armor), but you gotta really understand how everything works together to parse what they mean (and especially what they could mean if you are ambitious enough to create your own build from scratch) which requires a decent amount of elbow grease outside of the game to work out.
There is just no incentive to learn any of that in the core game, unless you have your own internal curiosity to satisfy since the game never provides you a reason to experiment. It's a little like a 3d Mario Game, if the game didn't encourage you to Ground Pound or Triple Jump ever until after beating Bowser for the first time.
There's a lot of what made Diablo great to me still in there and they still do post game play like perhaps nobody else, but it feels like only part of the formula as currently implemented works (the loot drop rate) and even that was only patched into the game basically after the initial reaction. And it takes 24-30 hours to even see any of the good stuff mechanically for the first time, and of course by then the story is over.
Can you think of a game that you don't like despite being able to recognize that its parts are totally solid-
I suppose really anything that's in a genre that I personally don't enjoy. E.g say Rhythm games of the Hastune Miku project Diva games, which seems like they put out a lot of quality rhythm games. Nothing wrong with those games, just not my thing (maybe because I'm bad at them? dunno)
For a genre I do enjoy, I'd say Grand Theft Auto games, especially post GTA IV. I really dig open world games, but I find GTA to be mechanically stiff and not satisfying to play despite tons of busywork oddball minigames and such. Games like Sleeping Dogs, Red Dead Redemption , Dragon's Dogma, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and Batman : Arkham City may not the amount of content or polish that GTA game does, but they feel far more interactive and dynamic than GTA's worlds to me, especially when it comes to the combat which is still the core play activity you do in these games (for better or for worse).
Very meticulous lovingly detailed environments in GTA! I just wish I could do more in them than just look at them or drive by them or shoot or jack some npc. The novelty of seeing a compelling place like London rendered in say the Getaway isn't enough anymore, I want having being in these places be meaningful in some way to the gameplay.
But I also get why someone would feel different and totally get why GTAIV and V are so beloved.
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