Disappointment... something every gamer has experienced. Media-hypes, peer-pressure, etc., for me it usually was an unreliable source of new gaming material. Here we go...
I Am Alive - A 'survival after Doomsday' game, I stopped playing after 27 minutes. 27 minutes! I got lured in by the promising trailer and commercials, and the previews were good either. The game didn't deliver on the drama, and for emotions, well, it did pissed me off, but in the wrong way. Unresponsive controls (oh you are not/too close enough for that action, so I'm going to do something else and get you killed), unrealistic reactions (the game tried to bring in some scenario's that looked like you had a choice, but I found out, time and time again, that there really was only one way out).
Recettear: an Item Shop's tale - Being a fan and veteran of RPG-style games, I got excited when I read about this game. Instead of playing a hero, collecting loot and experience, you are a shop owner said hero would encounter on his travels! Very original! However... you don?t have time to take it easy: every part of the day must eventually lead to an increase of your cashflow. Unfortunately, this creates rather frustrating situations. For example, you want some good-selling items, as the deadline for the current chapter is coming up, but cannot buy them from a dealer (not in stock, or too expensive). So you venture into a dungeon, slay enemies, and hope for good drops.
If you?re unlucky, you will only get bad or cheap items. So, you lost time for that day with little or no advantage. Now you need to get lucky in the store while selling the items and hope to haggle in such a way that you gain at least enough money to cover the costs for visiting the dungeon.
This counts more towards having a customer wanting a specific item: he places an order, and you need to get it before he returns. Guess what happens if the item simply won?t drop, or can?t be found somewhere else!
You cannot do anything about this ?luck? factor, or plan ahead or around it. This gets increasingly annoying throughout the game, as you start to feel the game is deliberately taunting you. Speaking of annoyances?
Recette is an non-assertive girl, has no confidence in her abilities and doubts herself every time something bad happens. This translates to annoying remarks, especially during haggling. For example, a customer comes in and wants to sell you an item you don?t want. The only way to not buy the item is to bid a very low price, have the customer disagree, and leave. Recette will always say something along the lines of ?I have no talent? or ?Can I really do this??.
It undermines the action and result of the player?s choice, and I got increasingly agitated with it.
When dungeneering (not a word, get with it), Recette cannot stop asking the hero if he?s all right after he gets hit. Every single time. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Why is this necessary? Why does she need to ask?
And boy, are you going to hear it often. The controls in the dungeon feel stiff, and despite seeing your hero hit an enemy, more often than not you will miss the creature, and get hit by it instead. Some enemies have such erratic patterns that it is almost impossible to predict their actions. Some enemies shoot fireballs that track the hero wherever he is, and will almost always result in a hit. Enough hits, and the hero gets incapacitated, you lose the items you collected so far, and you lose the time without getting anything in return.
Recettear is a broken promise, like finding a shiny, round object on the beach the size of a high value coin, but discover it to be a worthless bottlecap.
Endless Space - No tutorial. NO TUTORIAL. In a game with so much choices you have to make, it would have been nice that instead of having to go online and find an answer every time you get stuck, you would have at least gotten an introduction via the game or something. But no.
Symphony - "Symphony is one of the most music-driven games ever made. In this vertical shooter, re-experience each of your songs as it becomes a unique battlefield driven by intensity and tempo." Unfortunately, this statement doesn't agree with reality. It's just a shooter that changes depending on what songs you play in the background. I expected unique levels, based on the songs you chose, but no.
I Am Alive - A 'survival after Doomsday' game, I stopped playing after 27 minutes. 27 minutes! I got lured in by the promising trailer and commercials, and the previews were good either. The game didn't deliver on the drama, and for emotions, well, it did pissed me off, but in the wrong way. Unresponsive controls (oh you are not/too close enough for that action, so I'm going to do something else and get you killed), unrealistic reactions (the game tried to bring in some scenario's that looked like you had a choice, but I found out, time and time again, that there really was only one way out).
Recettear: an Item Shop's tale - Being a fan and veteran of RPG-style games, I got excited when I read about this game. Instead of playing a hero, collecting loot and experience, you are a shop owner said hero would encounter on his travels! Very original! However... you don?t have time to take it easy: every part of the day must eventually lead to an increase of your cashflow. Unfortunately, this creates rather frustrating situations. For example, you want some good-selling items, as the deadline for the current chapter is coming up, but cannot buy them from a dealer (not in stock, or too expensive). So you venture into a dungeon, slay enemies, and hope for good drops.
If you?re unlucky, you will only get bad or cheap items. So, you lost time for that day with little or no advantage. Now you need to get lucky in the store while selling the items and hope to haggle in such a way that you gain at least enough money to cover the costs for visiting the dungeon.
This counts more towards having a customer wanting a specific item: he places an order, and you need to get it before he returns. Guess what happens if the item simply won?t drop, or can?t be found somewhere else!
You cannot do anything about this ?luck? factor, or plan ahead or around it. This gets increasingly annoying throughout the game, as you start to feel the game is deliberately taunting you. Speaking of annoyances?
Recette is an non-assertive girl, has no confidence in her abilities and doubts herself every time something bad happens. This translates to annoying remarks, especially during haggling. For example, a customer comes in and wants to sell you an item you don?t want. The only way to not buy the item is to bid a very low price, have the customer disagree, and leave. Recette will always say something along the lines of ?I have no talent? or ?Can I really do this??.
It undermines the action and result of the player?s choice, and I got increasingly agitated with it.
When dungeneering (not a word, get with it), Recette cannot stop asking the hero if he?s all right after he gets hit. Every single time. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Why is this necessary? Why does she need to ask?
And boy, are you going to hear it often. The controls in the dungeon feel stiff, and despite seeing your hero hit an enemy, more often than not you will miss the creature, and get hit by it instead. Some enemies have such erratic patterns that it is almost impossible to predict their actions. Some enemies shoot fireballs that track the hero wherever he is, and will almost always result in a hit. Enough hits, and the hero gets incapacitated, you lose the items you collected so far, and you lose the time without getting anything in return.
Recettear is a broken promise, like finding a shiny, round object on the beach the size of a high value coin, but discover it to be a worthless bottlecap.
Endless Space - No tutorial. NO TUTORIAL. In a game with so much choices you have to make, it would have been nice that instead of having to go online and find an answer every time you get stuck, you would have at least gotten an introduction via the game or something. But no.
Symphony - "Symphony is one of the most music-driven games ever made. In this vertical shooter, re-experience each of your songs as it becomes a unique battlefield driven by intensity and tempo." Unfortunately, this statement doesn't agree with reality. It's just a shooter that changes depending on what songs you play in the background. I expected unique levels, based on the songs you chose, but no.
