3 ms·

That may very well be why I find the game so tedious. I want a roguelike to offer me tools/equipment/power ups that offset the difficulty such that I don't con

by zzalpha 10y ago

That may very well be why I find the game so tedious. I want a roguelike to offer me tools/equipment/power ups that offset the difficulty such that I don't constantly feel abused by the game. Spelunky isn't designed that way. You can't stack items so all you can do is pick those items that best match your play style. Beyond that it does very little to help you... it's deeply and fundamentally unforgiving. Combine that with the lack of variability in level design (while the levels are individually procedurally generated, each major section of the game feels very similar from run to run), and whenever I play I find I'm just waiting for my next jump to not be quite precise enough, leading to YASD. So I suspect for those that really revel in highly precise platformers with zero room for error, Spelunky is probably a great game. For me it's just game after game of deep frustration. Edit: BTW I'll happily admit that what I call bad luck is probably just a lack of skill. Unfortunately I doubt I'll ever develop the level of timing and precision necessary to play Spelunky well. And because the margins of error are so small, it feels like bad luck when I die... again...

chongli 10y ago
I guess you have a different idea of tedious than me! :) Things are tedious to me only when they aren't challenging. If something is frustrating and really hard, it only makes me want to try again and again and again. If something is easy but just takes many steps to get done, I find it tedious and boring! NetHack was my first roguelike and I absolutely adored it when I was learning it. I found it very intense and challenging and exciting going for my first ascension run. After having done it more than 10 times, I now just find it tedious. There is so much stuff to do that doesn't take any skill at all such as: item identification, Sokoban (same puzzles over and over for years), castle wand, magic marker, reverse genocide silver dragons, writing tons of enchant scrolls, doing the invocation ritual... It feels more like filling out government paperwork than playing a game.
- zzalpha 10y ago
  Yeah, I get that. I actually find BoI hits pretty good sweet spot in that regard. While I enjoy an OP build, most are playable (as evidenced by the challenges), so it doesn't feel like checking boxes on a spreadsheet, but it also feels like the game rewards you as you progress. For me I find Spelunky just swings too far the other way. But to each their own! I know plenty of people who love it. And talking about it now, I'm tempted to take another crack at it... :)
  - chongli 10y ago
    Haha, if you do: take your time and really pay attention to your surroundings and make a plan before you proceed. Leave the speedrunning to people who play the game thousands of times in a row! Enjoy! :) I think I'm gonna play some Tales of Maj'Eyal (another box ticker I can't seem to stop playing)!
PhasmaFelis 10y ago
Yeah, it sounds like platformers just aren't your thing. Which is totally legit! Platformers are very much my thing, so finding a platformer with the depth and complexity of a roguelike blew me away.

by zzalpha 10y ago

chongli 10y ago

I guess you have a different idea of tedious than me! :) Things are tedious to me only when they aren't challenging. If something is frustrating and really hard, it only makes me want to try again and again and again. If something is easy but just takes many steps to get done, I find it tedious and boring! NetHack was my first roguelike and I absolutely adored it when I was learning it. I found it very intense and challenging and exciting going for my first ascension run. After having done it more than 10 times, I now just find it tedious. There is so much stuff to do that doesn't take any skill at all such as: item identification, Sokoban (same puzzles over and over for years), castle wand, magic marker, reverse genocide silver dragons, writing tons of enchant scrolls, doing the invocation ritual... It feels more like filling out government paperwork than playing a game.

zzalpha 10y ago
Yeah, I get that. I actually find BoI hits pretty good sweet spot in that regard. While I enjoy an OP build, most are playable (as evidenced by the challenges), so it doesn't feel like checking boxes on a spreadsheet, but it also feels like the game rewards you as you progress. For me I find Spelunky just swings too far the other way. But to each their own! I know plenty of people who love it. And talking about it now, I'm tempted to take another crack at it... :)
- chongli 10y ago
  Haha, if you do: take your time and really pay attention to your surroundings and make a plan before you proceed. Leave the speedrunning to people who play the game thousands of times in a row! Enjoy! :) I think I'm gonna play some Tales of Maj'Eyal (another box ticker I can't seem to stop playing)!

PhasmaFelis 10y ago

Yeah, it sounds like platformers just aren't your thing. Which is totally legit! Platformers are very much my thing, so finding a platformer with the depth and complexity of a roguelike blew me away.