I’m back to talk more about Steam Next Fest. I went on at length about this sub-genre of Hidden Object Games (HOGs) that is shoving hundreds of the same object in tthe background (in this case, cats), which I find to be boring unless there is some other hook in the game.
Today, I tried out a few more demos. I am not going to name them beacuse I did not enjoy them, and I don’t think it’s fair to give them negative pub before the games actually come out. I will say though that one of them was by a developer who did a game I liked waaaaay back when, but found quite frustrating. I played their second game, which was so buggy. I liked it and tried to push through, but I ran into a bug that made it impossible for me to continue. I gave up on them after that.
This one, there were no bugs. What I did find, though, was something that is a pet peeve of mine, and it happens a lot in indie games.
Clarification: Before I go any further, I want to say that I realize indie devs are doing the best they can with very little. I know that they are running with a very bare crew. Again, I’m talking about indie teams that are under twenty people. I try to give them the benefit of the doubt because they don’t have the money or the people or the time that bigger devs do. Seriously. I will overlook many things.
One thing, however, I have a really hard time looking over is a tutorial that doesn’t tell me how to actually play the game or what the controls are. Or how to exit to the menu. I think this is pretty basic info, and I don’t see why it would not be the first thing they did.
I also don’t like it when puzzles don’t tell you how to solve them. I don’t mean they’re supposed to give you the answer, but they should give you some hint that you have actually solved the puzzle. I did this one puzzle, and I thought I had it right. Except, the game did not make any indication that I had done the right thing. There was a blinking light bulb button, and I thought it was to give a hint. I didn’t want a hint, but I couldn’t see anything else to do.
I hit the button, something flashed before my eyes, and then the puzzle was done. Did it solve the puzzle for me? I was mad about it, so I restarted the game and quickly got to that part again. I did the puzzle once again (and it was a clumsy puzzle. Very much did not like it), and still, nothing to indicate what I should do. I checked a playthrough, and I was, indeed, supposed to hit the button I had hit before.
That was actually the way to ‘submit’ the puzzle, apparently, but there was nothing to show it. This is one of those little things that really annoy me, and it doesn’t seem like it’d be that hard to fix. This is me knowing nothing about coding, though.
I tried another demo, which had a cat as a detective. I loved the idea and the art style was excellent. However, once again, there was no indication what the controls were. I had to experiment to find out that I could not use my mouse. I had to use the keyboard. Then, I realized that I could use a controller.
Once I had that under control, it was pleasant game for the first few minutes. But then, it got frustrating. Here’s another thing that I’m not sure small devs do: QT. I bet it’s not easy or cheap to QT, but it’s necessary. If I’m frustrated in the first two minutes of playing a game, I’m not going to continue.
I have heard people argue that in some games, you have to wait a certain amount of time before the game gets better/going. I can accept that if it means the game has a slow beginning or the story doesn’t really get going for a few hours. I can’t get with it if it means that I can’t actually play the fucking game.
If I can’t figure out the controls; I’m out. If I can’t figure out what I’m doing; I’m out. If I can’t actually move in the game; I’m out. If I can’t figure out how to quit the game; I’m out. Again, I think these are pretty basic things to ask for in a game, but maybe not.
I will probably check out more demos tomorrow, but I’m tired. I’m not asking for anything much, I don’t think. I just want a chill game that engages my attention for a few days. I would not mind if it was a HOG, but I haven’t really found one that has captured my attention in a while. I have said in past posts that I’m tired of them.
Look. I don’t mind my casual games to be reiterative. I am not asking for anything to be radically different. I am just asking for a game that works, is somewhat intuitive, and allows me to vibe out. That’s the fuck all I want from a game at the moment.
Oh, also, a map if need be. Ever since I played Elden Ring, I will accept nothing less. One reason I did not like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as much as other people did is because it didn’t have a map at all. I had seen an interview with one of the developers, and he said that he wanted to go back to when men were men and games were real, yo. None of this fake gamer shit where devs hold your hand. I’m being sarcastic, but he mentioned that he did not want a map beacuse it made things too easy. He wanted players to explore and discover things on their own.
Which would be fine if the game actually had decent levdown the el design and I didn’t keep getting loss going down the same path over and over again. And over again. And yet a-fucking again. By the end of the game, I was hating the level design so much. I really resented how shitty it was. Like, astonishingly so.
They cited FromSoft as one of their inspirations–wait. I’m not suree they actually did, but one of thein devs was a Sekiro speed-runner, so I assume that they are FromSoft fans. I would say it’s apparent in their attempt at level design. Am I being mean? Yeah, but it’s also how I really feel. I really don’t get how people spoke so highly of the game, especially the level design and the story, but this is not a post about that game so I’ll leave it at that.