Gaming

30566 readers

177 users here now

From video gaming to card games and stuff in between, if it's gaming you can probably discuss it here!

Please Note: Gaming memes are permitted to be posted on Meme Mondays, but will otherwise be removed in an effort to allow other discussions to take place.

See also Gaming's sister community Tabletop Gaming.

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

alyaza@beehaw.org

TheRtRevKaiser@beehaw.org

gyrfalcon@beehaw.org

Whom@beehaw.org

The_Hunted_One@beehaw.org

chloyster@beehaw.org

remington@beehaw.org

The Plucky Squire Should Have More Faith In Its Players (kotaku.com)

submitted 2 months ago by ByteOnBikes to c/gaming@beehaw.org

20 comments fedilink hide all child comments

You see, The Plucky Squire falls prey to one of modern gaming’s most well-intentioned, but still utterly annoying, sins and overtly tutorializes everything. When it deigns to allow the player to pop out of their storybook for a 3D platforming level, the camera pans across the entirety of the stage outlining the intended path before you’ve even really set foot in the world. Even within the confines of the 2D world in the book, The Plucky Squire will often deploy humorous narration via onscreen text and a corresponding voiceover, which adds flavor to the game but also explicitly communicates what is expected of you at every turn.

At just about every step of the way, the game lacks any faith in your ability to figure out solutions and paths forward for yourself, preferring to bludgeon you over the head with answers before you can even be afforded a chance to think for yourself. It’s a frustrating wrinkle in an otherwise charming tale.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] TheDarksteel94@sopuli.xyz 31 points 2 months ago (3 children)

On the other hand, there's a lot of people who need to be handheld through the experience. Maybe this is even their first ever video game.

Ideally, it would be an optional thing, but oh well.

[–] theangriestbird@beehaw.org 17 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Ideally, it would be an optional thing, but oh well.

Yeah tons of games ask you at the start of the game, like "have you played this kind of game before?" Def seems clumsy for a game that otherwise seems pretty well thought out.

[–] DdCno1@beehaw.org 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I have seen people (in person and on the Internet) click tutorials away, proceed to utterly fail at the most basic tasks only to then blame the game and the developers, including in reviews. I don't blame developers for trying to prevent this from happening.

[–] theangriestbird@beehaw.org 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Idk if that's a useful example case. Streamers are under pressure from their audience to be entertaining, so they will frequently skip tutorials against their better judgment bc tutorials aren't fun to watch. I can't speak to your irl examples, but it's possible that there was a similar dynamic happening there. At least, I can say that I have personally felt a similar pressure when playing games while other people are watching me.

Edit: user reviews are good example, though. I could see a dev over-tutorializing bc they are anxious about negative user reviews.

[–] ByteOnBikes 11 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I don't think their implementation is the way to go. It reeks of bad UI, like Clippy in Microsoft Word.

Mario games are so accessible without the heavy handed videos/stops, because their designers think about how to best teach the player through play.

It's like teaching by giving people a hour long lecture vs hands-on experience - there's usecases for both, but in a interactive medium like gaming, one is superior than the other.

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 1 points 1 month ago

It is optional isn't it?

Minibeard is there for if you get stuck. The puzzles just aren't really hard unless you're really not used to games at all.

Honestly the hardest part was the rhythm and bubble shooter sections at the end.