I've always found the Uncharted 4/The Last Of Us/God of War 2018 to all be decent, but all those games are kinda lacking in imteresting gameplay and are basically the video game equivalents of "Oscar bait"
I've always found the Uncharted 4/The Last Of Us/God of War 2018 to all be decent, but all those games are kinda lacking in imteresting gameplay and are basically the video game equivalents of "Oscar bait"
I mean is it even really developing a skill? That's the part of the Souls fanbase that drives me up the fucking wall. The AI in those games is the most barebones script, once you learn the patterns you're golden. The timing windows you have to react and avoid attacks are gigantic once you know them, deaths come from "I didn't know this was gonna be here" as apposed to clearly telegraphed but strict attacks. The combat doesn't really have room for expression outside of what you equipped prior to a fight, and even a lot of that comes down to "I'll make the game more difficult on purpose for the sake of doing so." The crux of fashionsouls is that, outside of your main weapon, the gear you've picked up in your playthrough and the choices between them doesn't matter. They might as well be color pallets.
Compare it to any decent shmup like Deathsmiles or Crimzon Clover, where a lot of your deaths will also come down to "oh fuck, I didn't know the boss could do that!" and bullet patterns tend to be static, or follow simple rules (like having to move horizontally to "stream" tracking bullets across the stream). Dealing with positioning, reacting to attacks and changing tactics is more interesting because of the score mechanic and intensity of the encounters. Do you choose to bomb because it's safer, or hold onto them for end of run bonuses? Do you edge closer to the boss to rush it down faster and get out of an annoying phase, or do you milk it for more points despite it being dangerous? Do you not give a shit about going for the perfect run and just wanna turn off your brain for 30 min? And what you develop in one of these games transfers to others in the genre. As a fighting game player, I don't think there's a ton that meaningfully transfers into that genre. You're certainly not circle strafing and healing constantly in Tekken.
And yeah, the fanbase doesn't even really want you to get into their games. You ask a Melty Blood player how to scratch your ass and they'll send you a small dissertation. You ask a Souls player what gear is good for PVP and they'll mail you anthrax. Good on them too, I wouldn't want people I care about playing these dogshit games.
FWIW, I'm pretty lukewarm on Darksouls, though I did like Sekiro.
I do like the feeling of going from getting demolished by a boss, to improving but still dying a lot, to clowning on them.
Now, the fanbase is hot garbage, their multiplayer elements are trash, and the games have some issues besides, but the feel of learning a pattern and finally '''gettin gud''' is pretty nice.
Sounds like shmups have a similar feel; that gameplay cycle certainly isn't unique to Souls-likes. Its also what I like about what I'd consider some of my favorite games, like Enter the Gungeon. Though I haven't really been able to get into shmups or fighting games really.
I guess the main complaint I'm trying to convey is after you get to "clowning them", that's kinda it as apposed to other games that can give that feeling and allow you to go further.
Acquired taste, I didn't grow up with either and it wasn't until I was in my early 20's where I even understood the appeal. It hit me when I was playing DJ Max Portable 3 on a work break, and I would "go through" rhythm games by like, clearing every song once and then just moving on. I got stuck on a version of this song for like, days and I kept trying to get through it, and once it "clicked" it felt magic. It wasn't like I just beat an arbitrarily hard boss, not only did it feel great to get the flow of that song down, but other songs were easier to clear "for some reason" after. It's what showed me the reward of "getting gud" beyond just coping with the mechanics of an individual fight in a souls game, for example. My view of the entire medium changed over the course of a lunch break, I'll never forget it.
But that's a lot to ask for and takes time that not a ton of people have. I don't think everyone has to enjoy games like that. I think that Dark Souls is a 1/5 game for a ton of reasons, but that "get gud" mentality is one of the reasons I despise it the most. It's the fucking demiurge of video game accomplishments. There's a world beyond what those games offer and associating the process of growth, personal development, and the social relationships required to progress both with "have you considered not getting strafed by the dragon on the bridge lel" is putrid.
Ah okay, that makes sense. And I'd agree, that the 'getting good' process is pretty overemphasized by people, but I also haven't had any other 3D game that gives the same vibe. The only games that give me that same 'in the zone, conquering the timing' feel are 2D games.
I guess I don't really get the same 'feel' from rhythm games (probably partially because I'm very picky about music). And funnily enough, I enjoyed shmups when I was young, but I find them very repetitive today, probably just because I don't have the time or focus for them these days.