unless we're talking metroidvania. that kind of mild frustration is part of the experience.
Nah, there should be some direction. Metroid Zero Mission is MUCH better than the original NES Metroid for exampleagreed, but super metroid is better than both and it's outright goofy at a couple points.
When it comes to the King's Quest games I played, I share that sentiment - absolutely needed a hint book at times.
Nah, there should be some direction. Metroid Zero Mission is MUCH better than the original NES Metroid for exampleThe original Metroid is an extreme example because of how many dead ends there are and how everything looks the same.
agreed, but super metroid is better than both and it's outright goofy at a couple points.
When I finally beat Super Metroid (years late but still a good while ago by now), I regularly needed a guide to point me in the right direction, then on reaching Ridley, I found I just did not have the energy tanks and firepower to do it, had to grab the FAQ again to find tons of missed ones and only then could I do it. I realize thousands of gamers can do Super Metroid in their sleep now, but I could not. Both Fusion and Zero Mission clicked far better with me.I can still speed run the game while doing the bosses out of order. Demonoid can do it a lot faster.
But I did save the animals.
Since when do Zelda games require finding hidden paths? Most I can think of is a few blaringly obvious bombable walls. Those game's puzzles are as basic as can be.The first game's 'Master Quest' is pretty cryptic without a guide
Though, unrelated but sort of relevant, remember when Jet Force Gemini required you to find every single one of the hidden teddy bears to even get into the second half of the game?
The first game's 'Master Quest' is pretty cryptic without a guide
how were you supposed to know how to figure this out?IIRC there is a broken one near it, and the room it goes through clearly shows that you can go up and down from that point. That doesn't tell you how to break it but it's a pretty good clue that it can be broken.
https://i.imgur.com/TRLGNgj.png
When I finally beat Super Metroid (years late but still a good while ago by now), I regularly needed a guide to point me in the right direction, then on reaching Ridley, I found I just did not have the energy tanks and firepower to do it, had to grab the FAQ again to find tons of missed ones and only then could I do it. I realize thousands of gamers can do Super Metroid in their sleep now, but I could not. Both Fusion and Zero Mission clicked far better with me.i needed a guide my first time through as well. i was pretty young and dumb but also for a lot of games (especially older ones) i don't really see the shame in it and i don't feel like it detracts from the spoilers (unless you maybe open the prima book up to a random page and discover your happy pink girlfriend gets turned into a shishkebob about 20 hours before you were meant to). unless you're really good ridley's going to be tough with only a few upgrades. not to mention they can play like that because they've been through it thousands of times, there's really no reason to feel bad about derping up a few times on your first playthrough.
But I did save the animals.
Speaking of Metroid, there is a part close to the end of Metroid Fusion where you have to navigate through a maze of rocks. I thought I was softlocked because the paths in that maze were so unclear.i didn't like fusion much tbh. it's the one 2D metroid i didn't care for.
Also I played through the game normally but I could not beat the final boss without using a cheese method. That wouldn't be a big deal normally, but once you get to the final section of the game you can't go back, you can only fight the final boss...
Beyond NES I can't really think of a lot of games where something was mandatory to advance and had zero hints or context clues. I'm not sure I'd take confusing games over what we have now, but I will say modern stuff is far too hand holdy. And by modern I mean since the mid 2010s or so. Some people have been calling games hand holdy since the 2000s, but I think that was actually a sweet spot, where we were long past NES-style cryptic clues, but games also didn't try to wave you through every objective
They look nice but the gameplay is borderline evil. And look up King's Quest 3 lolAlso evil is, instructions for one of the spells is incorrect in some versions of the KQ3 game manual.
Also evil is, instructions for one of the spells is incorrect in some versions of the KQ3 game manual.
The original Metroid is an extreme example because of how many dead ends there are and how everything looks the same.Well, there's also one specific block that you have to use a morphball bomb for before you can progress down to...Kraid I think? There's no hint and it's not in a 'special' spot of any sort, so I would chalk that up as entirely bad design. Although, standards were different in the 80s.
They literally intended you to draw a map and trial and error your way through.
Tunic: manual being in gibberish. Thanks devs, you put a hint system that essentially requires the internet to understand. Totally not going to make kids ragequit when they get walled and can't figure out where to go next.That's pretty odd! I've played the first bit of Tunic and it's pretty sweet - how far in is that?
That's pretty odd! I've played the first bit of Tunic and it's pretty sweet - how far in is that?