Renault on 12/5/2011 at 21:38
Agreeing with Potato on the above. (OK, that sounded funny). Following the "Gameplay 101" textbook isn't always a winning formula or even fun.
Anyway, one other bit of criticism leveled here that I would question would be the assertion that Frictional is "going to the well" too often. That's kind of laughable, there are tons of companys/franchises that do this (so many to name, but think id's games, Resident Evil, Final Fantasy, Grand Theft Auto, and even Thief FMs) - and really, why not? If a game is fun once, invoking similar gameplay a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th and more times isn't a bad idea. Wouldn't you love to have played System Shock 5?
As long as the game is entertaining, the more encores the better, as far as I'm concerned.
Digital Nightfall on 13/5/2011 at 07:21
Do something simple extraordinarily well. I think that's the Heinz ketchup motto or something. ;) It's a good strategy in some cases.
Part of the problem may be that my gameplay pattern has been like this...
Play a bit of Amnesia,
... play Dead Space 2 instead.
Play a bit more Amnesia,
... play Gemini Rue instead.
Play a bit more Amnesia,
... play Red Faction Gurrilla instead.
Play a bit more Amnesia,
... play Portal 2 instead.
Play a bit more Amnesia,
... play Hydrophobia instead.
That's over the course of several months. With the gameplay experience broken up so much, it's no surprise that I am not getting much out of it. I think this type of game really benefits from playing straight through without stopping for weeks in between sessions*. But.... if I were enjoying it more, I would not be doing that.
* Kinda funny though, every time I stop playing Amnesia and return to it a few weeks later, I've forgotten where I am, what I was doing, what my goals are, and why I should care. So I fumbled around for ten minutes trying to reorient myself and rediscover where everything is and what I need to do next. It's like my character not only has amnesia, but short term memory loss as well! It should be a deeper, more authentic experience for that, right? Pffftthahaha.
Renault on 13/5/2011 at 15:15
Hmm, never heard of Hydrophobia. The youtube clip looks sorta cool. Not to derail the thread too much, but how is it?
Koki on 13/5/2011 at 16:59
Game quality aside, word on the street is it's a horrible port with major performance problems.
Digital Nightfall on 13/5/2011 at 17:22
I'd describe it as a problematic port with some performance issues.
I'm finding it to be rather nice, in spite of that.
Keeper Beege on 14/5/2011 at 06:06
Are you kidding, COC: DCOTE was positively frightening. The combat element was a bit superfluous and annoying, but it was a better game than Amnesia. I would urge all taffers to play it if they haven't.
I did like Amnesia though, it had some great parts, but it just wasn't as good as I thought it'd be. I actually enjoyed Penumbra a lot more.
