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Blog Banter: A Nit to Pick
By Corvus | April 30, 2008
It’s time once again for BS Angel’s monthly topic-oriented blogging affair, Blog Banter. Like our very own Round Table, Blog Banter invites people to post on a monthly topic. Unlike the Round Table, all the posts go live on the same day and around the same time. If you’d like to join in, or have any questions, be sure to contact her. A list of fellow participants will appear at the bottom of this post later today. Be sure to swing by and give them a read!
This month’s topic requests that we:
Discuss one game you quit before completion because of a particular perceived flaw it had. What was that flaw and how could it have been fixed where you would have finished the game?
I have stopped playing far more games within two hours of play than I have ever completed. Despite any and all arguments that a game must be played fully through in order to accurately judge it, I firmly hold to my conviction that if a game’s first two hours are not an accurate reflection of the entire game… it’s a poorly designed game. So, when faced with this question I have to wonder… where do I begin? Galleon’s timed underwater level that so frustrated me by highlighting the game’s control weaknesses (and pushing my own aquaphobia buttons)? The Witcher’s consistent misogyny? Insecticide’s split design-personality? Morrowind’s plot destroying Assassin Guild bug? Scarface’s boring design and interminable cut scenes? Arx Fatalis’s broken dialog and quests? Mass Effect’s verbosity?
The list goes on and on. Frankly, I feel a little trapped by the request to discuss “one game” But I’ve decided to touch on a game I recently rented, knowing it wouldn’t last but wanting to poke at it anyway–Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements. There are any number of nit-picks I could bring up about the game, related to both plot and gameplay. But leaving all of those aside, there was one specific element that killed the game for me.
After the first training level, you find yourself sent on a mission to bring a crystal to someone who lives in a nearby city. You set off on horseback and arrive at the city just as its being attacked by undead forces. For some reason that I cannot determine you find yourself on the outlying city streets without weapons (I chose the assassin template, surely I’d have daggers on me at all time?), fleeing the attacks of undead goblins while trying to make your way to the castle ramparts.
Asleep yet? I almost was.
After finding your way to the ramparts and being tasked with firing a ballista at the undead cyclops (did I mention the undead cyclops?), you manage to put an amazingly quick halt to the necromantic siege and descend into the city proper, picking up an array of conveniently placed weapons as you make your way down through the guard barracks to the city streets. You are, of course, looking for this wizard who needs the crystal you carry and there’s also rumor about a treasure trove in someone’s attic. I began to wander the streets, looking for the right houses, chatting with a guard, stopping by the inn, attacking a combat dummy and… You failed. Try again?
Wait a minute? What? I, I failed? Was I not supposed to attack the combat dummy? What else is a combat dummy for? All right, I’ll try again…
I made my way down through the barracks, picking up weapons, finding the information about the hidden treasure and got to the city streets. I made my way towards an obviously looking arch, stopping to check a door or two along the way and… You failed. Try again?
Um… no, that’s all right. I don’t think I will try again, thanks all the same.
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Tagged:blog banter, dark messiah of might and magic, game flaws. |
April 30th, 2008 at 8:57 am
Yes, I noticed this in the XBox version of the game, it’s certainly not there in the PC version. (and, as near as I can tell, DMM:Elements is just DMM for PC slightly cleaned up, with a few new irritations added).
I never did figure out why I kept dying/failing in the main town. But I never had any problems with it afterwards. My main complaint was the voice acting (and my roommate who had played further along telling me what to do).
April 30th, 2008 at 9:04 am
As someone who has limited time for games, if a game doesn’t show improvement PDQ I’m going to walk away from it.
We’ve been on this cycle long enough for game designers to know what not to do. Slog, misdirection, grinding to get to anything interesting, etc. The first two hours of the game do not have to be the worst.
The flipside though is that while the first 2 hours may be fantastic, that doesn’t mean the game will continue to stay that way.
I don’t really think badly of someone who criticizes a game but doesn’t finish it if the game failed to grab them from the start.
I do wonder why we continue to see the same mistakes.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
I rarely even give a game 2 hours! There are too many amazing games out there to worry about the lesser ones.
April 30th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
That certainly is frustrating!
Its always painful spending money on games only to realize that now its spent on anger management therapy ^_^
April 30th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
It sounds like the missions were not exactly crystal clear, eh? How frustrating. I very much agree with you (and Jason and Kiera) that a game needs to draw you in within the first few levels. It’s really no different than a movie, or a book, or any other piece of media we consume. If it drags on for too long, obviously we are going to cut our losses at some point.
April 30th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
OOohhh, cardinal sin of game design! Always make the player aware of his objective. In the case of that game, if it was a time trial then there should have been a clock ticking down and a big red dot on a map to show you where you should be going. I’m not saying this is the only way buit this solution is the road more traveled.
The game should really say “You failed when you bought this game, now go resell it on ebay”.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
You know, the PC version of the game didn’t have this problem, yet it the early sections were still directionless, especially finding the guy’s house. That business about failing… Good for you for dropping it fast, no one deserves that.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
I have never played that game, but I know I would have quit just like you if that had happened to me.