Games you can't make up your mind about

All other video games not related to the main farming series - Pokemon, Stardew Valley, My Time at Portia, and other indie-developed games.
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Kikki
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Post  Posted:

Related to the new difficulty level...
Spoiler:
why is it that some people feel the need to decry the addition of an easy or casual mode? THEY DON'T HAVE TO USE IT. It's gate-keeping at its snobbiest, imo. Like...hey, if you're not good enough to play the game on the same level *I* first played it, then you don't deserve to play at all! What, does it take away from them somehow, to let people complete the game on a more casual level?

A lot of people want to follow the story and not be bothered by all the quests. Some of the quests are full of story and great, adding to the world's lore, but even Xenoblade has its fair share of meaningless fetch quests and pointless bounty hunting. Lots of folks want to be able to skip questing at their whim, to be able to mainline that compelling main story in big, hard-hitting glups rather than teeny sip by teeny sip.

I feel like the people who complain about a lower difficulty mode being added are really juvenile gamers who want to keep their club elite so they can go on flattering themselves about how much better they are than others. I find it super annoying. And I did finish it multiple times on the original difficulty, so I'm not saying that as one of the scorned 'casuals' they sneer at, in this case.
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Bluie
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Post  Posted:

I was literally just saying to my husband yesterday; "In today's day and age - if a game has a baby mode, I'm freaking playing it on baby mode."

It's not to say I don't mind a challenge, and I DO feel like certain games that are competitive shouldn't have handicaps (ie: Monster Hunter, Fortnite, Street Fighter, ect), but if it's a damned story driven JRPG, an easy mode is hurting NO ONE - it only benefits. The self proclaimed 'gamers' get their panties in a twist because the horrid 'casuals' are ruining gaming because how dare they want to have an experience different than them! Everyone should suffer together like some dumbass unwritten game code. 'Git gud' should only ever apply to the games where there's actual skill involved and is particularly catered to to competitive crowd. EVEN IN THAT CROWD, there are people who go out of their way to help more casual players so they can enjoy their experience rather than get snooty about someone's playstyle.

A niche JRPG cannot be stupidly hard or complicated in today's gaming community, especially on the Switch, or it will not be received well. Innovation is fine and good, but not for everyone - especially seeing the Switch has garnered less of the gaming crowd and more of the casuals/family group. If you want to make money outside of your fanbase, you add that easy mode and allow everyone to experience you title at their own pace - not lock it behind something the average Joe is more inclined to drop for it being too difficult.

It's not bloody rocket science, it's marketing, and Nintendo likes the money of the masses rather than the losses of a few outspoken butthurt children.
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Kikki
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Post  Posted:

Well, I'm glad it was added...I think now I can get my bro-in-law to pick it back up! He really liked the original, until he hit...well, a certain point of the game, where more enemies gain damage-reflecting abilities (called 'spike'). Unlike when the 'soul read' ability is introduced, the game tells you nothing about it, it just suddenly becomes so much easier to die before you even know what is going on, and you'll be left wondering what the heck went wrong.
Spoiler:
My bro-in-law actually has better innate gaming skills than I do. He's pretty well coordinated, for example, which I am nooooooooooooooooooooooot. (My entire blood-related family is kinda slow and uncoordinated, I'm afraid.) But he always wants to play the story. He follows it like a bloodhound, ignoring everything else. He always has trouble with even Zelda games because he doesn't even do enough questing to get a bigger wallet, or optional weapons, more defence, etc.

My sis has scolded him repeatedly when he gets stuck, telling him that it's because he ignored most of the game again and didn't get any of the stuff he needs along the way, because he shoots straight from Point A to Point B in the plot. He's grown out of that a little by now, thanks to her, but it's still his natural tendency, even though he's grown to like more meaningful bits of 'optional' content. It's not because he isn't good enough to play with skill...it's because he doesn't want to. He wants to experience the whole story, point to point, and not be distracted by side-stuff.

I think that's fine. I mean, I'm not like that myself, and I think that many games give you a richer experience if you try to do at least a moderate amount of side-content, but he enjoys his games, and he was really liking Xenoblade until he got stuck. I told him how he could deal with spike...material grind to make anti-spike gems...and what level he needed to be at to have an easier time, but to him that was just a chore. I regret that he lost interest because of that.
So, yay. Casual mode for XenoDE! I'll try to lure my bro-in-law back with it. :)

~

I hope reviews start coming in for Journey to the Savage Planet. I won't be able to decide if it's the right game for me or not until I can get a bit more info. Though this review is definitely telling me some of what I want to know.
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Mikodesu
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Post  Posted:

To difficulty mode
Spoiler:
The noisiest gamers are definitely the snobbiest bunch of them. I feel like more than anything they don't want their "hardcore games" to be "sullied" by baby modes, because « Harvest Goddess » forbid somebody not THEM enjoy something they enjoy.

The only solid argument I could accept against new difficulty modes is one on development time. (Developer intentions are important, but there's a reason these things are buried in menus.) In Xenoblade's case I don't see how it would take much time or effort to get a properly balanced easy mode. Not to mention Monolith Soft knows that the game is well known for its story, so of course there'll be players who just want to experience that. Not spending a couple of days catering to them is just foolishness.
Have you looked into video reviews for Journey to the Savage Planet, Kikki? Those were out earlier this year. (Unless you're waiting for ones that include DLC in the review...that I haven't seen.) It seems like a pretty decent little game - if you can enjoy or ignore its sense of humor.
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Kikki
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Post  Posted:

I tend to avoid video reviews in general, as I'm just not fond of listening to people talk their reviews. I can get turned off if they narrate their video in a way I don't like, or depending on what clips they show, etc. Some give away more than I want them to, too, which I less frequently find to be true with text reviews. Generally not my thing. (I'm not one to watch game streaming at all, actually...I've never liked watching Let's Plays or anything like that, either. They taint my experience a bit.)

The review I linked was fairly informative, in that it gives you an idea of the game's mood (wry, reality based humour that is fresh enough to actually be funny) and overall gameplay balance (mostly exploration with a moderate portion of light puzzle-solving or puzzle-platforming and shooting monstery-things.) As someone who is a bit more horrified by the idea that we are destroying the planet than by the idea that we are destroying ourselves, the theme might be a bit stressful for me. I'm also NOT fond of sci-fi, though this is a fantasy form of sci-fi, imo, which is pretty tolerable.

It's also useful to know that the reviewer completed 67% of the game in about 6 hours. It not being a behemoth of a thing makes it more suitable to fill a gap...doesn't feel like as much of a commitment. I'll probably get JttSP, though not right now, as XenoDE is releasing in a few days. Still, learning about it has pushed it up to second place on my list of games under continual consideration, behind FFVIIR, but now ahead of FE:TH. (I really don't think I'd want to play more than one route, so I'm not sure the game would be worthwhile for me.)
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