Guiding Philosophies
Feb 27, 2018 11:46:25 GMT -5
Post by Sarge on Feb 27, 2018 11:46:25 GMT -5
Games with "true endings" bug me. Mainly because the requirements for getting them are generally obtuse or require way too much work.
I used to be a guide hound. I'd definitely try to do everything... and then completely burn out about halfway through and either drop it, or soldier to the end with the minimum of effort. I agree with Ex that in most cases, guides can negatively impact your experience. There are a few cases where I think they can help in a limited capacity, though. Games that have very obtuse requirements on how to proceed, or coming back to an RPG that you've dropped years ago, seem like the best opportunities to use them to get back on track. Honestly, I probably would have dropped Ys I if I hadn't referred to a guide to at least make sure I was snagging what I needed, and alleviate the frustration of backtracking in Darm Tower.
Another specific case of a game with nutso player requirements that aren't explained well, yet I still love, is Valkyrie Profile. It's probably my favorite PSX-era RPG, but getting the true ending, while communicated, is extremely tricky to pull off without a guide. It requires pretty solid knowledge of the Seal system; you have to get that value low while keeping approval high enough to not trigger a game over. It's pretty wack. In hindsight, it all makes sense, but it's doubtful a first-time player would be able to suss all that out. In fact, the devs probably intended for the player to go through it again, but who has time for that, right?
Specifically related to Majora's Mask, you hit on the reasons I don't particularly enjoy that game. It's not bad, but all the fetch-questing gets quite old. I prefer that to be optional, and I suppose it is, but knowledge that the "true" ending is locked behind all the masks makes it not optional, in my mind. Plus, not enough dungeons, fairy-collecting is annoying, and keeping everything straight can be tricky. I bounced off of the game three times (getting in pretty deep with the original N64 game and the Virtual Console release on Wii) before finally forcing myself to finish it on 3DS. I had the hope that the updated version would significantly improve my experience, but it just didn't elevate the experience like the remake of Ocarina.
Lastly, Konami loved to lock the "true" endings behind the highest difficulty level. Contra III was one, and I remember Batman: The Animated Series and Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose! doing the same thing.
I used to be a guide hound. I'd definitely try to do everything... and then completely burn out about halfway through and either drop it, or soldier to the end with the minimum of effort. I agree with Ex that in most cases, guides can negatively impact your experience. There are a few cases where I think they can help in a limited capacity, though. Games that have very obtuse requirements on how to proceed, or coming back to an RPG that you've dropped years ago, seem like the best opportunities to use them to get back on track. Honestly, I probably would have dropped Ys I if I hadn't referred to a guide to at least make sure I was snagging what I needed, and alleviate the frustration of backtracking in Darm Tower.
Another specific case of a game with nutso player requirements that aren't explained well, yet I still love, is Valkyrie Profile. It's probably my favorite PSX-era RPG, but getting the true ending, while communicated, is extremely tricky to pull off without a guide. It requires pretty solid knowledge of the Seal system; you have to get that value low while keeping approval high enough to not trigger a game over. It's pretty wack. In hindsight, it all makes sense, but it's doubtful a first-time player would be able to suss all that out. In fact, the devs probably intended for the player to go through it again, but who has time for that, right?
Specifically related to Majora's Mask, you hit on the reasons I don't particularly enjoy that game. It's not bad, but all the fetch-questing gets quite old. I prefer that to be optional, and I suppose it is, but knowledge that the "true" ending is locked behind all the masks makes it not optional, in my mind. Plus, not enough dungeons, fairy-collecting is annoying, and keeping everything straight can be tricky. I bounced off of the game three times (getting in pretty deep with the original N64 game and the Virtual Console release on Wii) before finally forcing myself to finish it on 3DS. I had the hope that the updated version would significantly improve my experience, but it just didn't elevate the experience like the remake of Ocarina.
Lastly, Konami loved to lock the "true" endings behind the highest difficulty level. Contra III was one, and I remember Batman: The Animated Series and Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose! doing the same thing.