Author Topic: Post your favorite video game. BUT! YOU MUST TELL A FLAW IN THE GAME. (Read 10616 times)

Charles Barkley · December 30, 2016, 12:26:23 AM

Quote from: McJob on December 30, 2016, 12:22:00 AM

I really, deeply love Ratchet & Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal, but there's three critical problems that would need to be addressed for it to be up to the par of current game design generation.

I'm going to take this a bit more seriously than you guys, as this is my actual profession and I've had to think deeply on this subject.

Problem 1: Difficulty Tuning
Until Deadlocked, Ratchet & Clank did not offer difficulty settings. It was complaints in R&C3 that awarded the switch over due to it being "too easy", but I feel that's the wrong direction to solving the problem.

Prehistoric game design was static. Everything was tuned was exactly as intended to the designer's whims, which was a problem when you have no playtesters, and you become so good at your game that you keep cranking up the difficulty as you feel players will get bored, even though you've been playing from Day 1 of development whereas they'll be new to the experience. This is where the term Nintendo-Hard spawned from; NES games in particular are noted as being particularly brutal and unforgiving.

Classic game design, the period in which R&C3 was developed (and lived as an anomaly) was choice-driven. Things were still static, but you gave power to the player to customise the experience to what they would think would be suitable for them. In theory, it sounds alright; players who want to coast through can go on Tourist-Mode/Easy, whereas the more valiant of us could try out the hardest settings. The problem, however, is that players don't know what's good for them. A player who thinks their balls are bigger than the mountains might rush into the hard mode, get frustrated with how much they're failing and quit the game forever. Similarly, a competitive player may select a more casual mode to relax with, only to become bored and give up half-way through the experience. This is not ideal; games NEED to straddle the line between Success/Challenge, as their player's retention depends on it. Furthermore, while there is a level of choice, it still relies on their being multiple pre-tuned game tracks, all of which can be completely out of tune if the designers aren't playtesting with real players.

Ratchet was ahead of its time; it matched the Modern period of design in which learning and psychology have become key aspects of the game experience. Games of this era have advanced learning and recognition systems in place which study data from a player's session, and adjust values to produce meaningful questions that keep the player hungry for more. While the designer must still set the base and minimums/maximums, with a strong ruleset for tweaking, an adaptive difficulty system can be far more enjoyable and really push players to try just a little bit harder and have more fun.

So, what was Ratchet's issue? Ratchet never adjusts up. Ratchet & Clank 3's tuning system works by tracking the amount of times the player has died. It's not enough data to make valid judgements on for a start, but the data isn't used in a very good way either. Rather than affect enemy health/damage or behaviours, the adaptive difficulty system simply increases crate spawns and decreases enemy spawns in future, pre-selected segments/levels. If you don't die in these levels, then the game will appear to get harder, only because future levels will then stay at their default values. There's no method to track if a player is succeeding too much, nor if the player is sticking to one weapon far more than they should.

By increasing the amount of data collected and playtesting far more advanced rulesets which are capable of affecting every part of the experience (in the same way that the Bolt Drop system works, which is extremely complex and adaptive to deliver a VERY carefully chosen amount of bolts towards your progression in the game), the Adaptive Difficulty system could really be something to learn from.

Problem 2: Anti-Progression Mechanics
Ratchet & Clank is all about Questions. Every scenario, enemy, puzzle and challenge is a question, and you are expected to supply an answer, which is then immediately judged and results given. It is like a school exam, but where a school exam relies on pre-hand written study, games like Ratchet rely on kinaesthetic learning and test-as-you-go, which far more people actually learn and commit from. What's absolutely crucial to TAYG is that every single question in the learning process follows a direct chain of logic; one thing should flow naturally into another. A player should never be expected to make too far a logic jump, nor should they ever be expected to do something that is outside of the practised and thematic set of mechanics.

Here are a few of the rare examples from when R&C3 broke their commitment to careful learning progress;

The Spiderbot: The Ratchet & Clank franchise has relied on gadget puzzles since the very beginning. While the puzzles aren't necessarily the main bread/butter mechanics, they add to the game's pacing and introduce a different layer of learning, similar to how you learn different classes and subjects at school. One of the best gadgets in the R&C franchise is the Refractor; a simple tool that can reflect laser beams, either to damage enemies or to power up slots which can open doors or do other things. The introduction course to the Refractor is fantastic; a slow, ramping set of puzzles that build player confidence in how the gadget can be used. Unfortunately, this is spoiled by one rogue puzzle; you must direct a small little robot from the floor, up to the wall (it can walk on walls) and reflect a laser off it into a slot on the opposite wall. Aside from the fact that the slot is hidden from player view, it's never made clear that objects will follow the laser, and the behaviour is never used again. Many players are left frustrated, especially though who disable the hints and who don't see the spider texture on the wall, hinting at where the spider needs to go. While all other gadget mechanics are systemtic and can be learnt immediately from the design of the environment, this puzzle is just not taught well, and not useful to the rest of the game.
Holoshield Glove: Ratchet & Clank 3 is a shooter, moreso than the previous games. Sporting a lock-strafe mode and with almost no platforming puzzles remaining, the game is very carefully balanced towards teaching and refining quick movement. Every scenario has carefully placed units of breakable, minimal cover, to encourage continual movement and speed. It is therefore unfortunate to see the return of a tool, the Holoshield Glove, which produces static shields for you to stand behind, which goes completely against this trend and encourages staying still. Even worse, this tool is outdated by another shield gadget in the game, the Shield Charger, a bubble that covers Ratchet and takes far more damage, while also dealing much damage to enemies as well. Inconsistency and redundancy can easily break the learning process, and it doesn't help matters that it's one of the most painful weapons to upgrade, as you need to let it take ridiculous amounts of damage before it reaches the high levels, and grinding was completely against the design of the game (for the most part, ignoring the mining segments).
The Biobliterator Battle: There's a hotbed of discussion in game design; Anticlimax. That is, the point where the final challenge is a game is super easy to demonstrate how powerful the player has become. While it is a nice story sentiment, it can leave the player feeling a bit awkward, as the challenge they experienced all through the game suddenly is sucked through a vacuum and they are robbed of the reward they felt they are owed. Proponents suggest it is the reward, but I digress. Ratchet & Clank 3 has two boss fights. The first one is against Dr. Nefarious, and no question in my mind is one of the greatest boss fights in gaming history. It perfectly straddles the line of Success/Failure. It questions every single combat tactic you have been required to master throughout the game, and gives you the perfect amount of breathing time before cutting you on another onslaught of tough questions. It's a real pain, then, when this fantastic rush to end the series is not the last thing left on your mind, but instead the game rushes you into one other challenge, where you must fly around in a ship shooting a fat robot. This behaviour is not taught anywhere else in the game, and the leading challenge in this segment (avoid the missles) is both completely unfair as opposed to previous examples of missle avoidance gameplay, and also extremely easy if you know how to cheat the system's shoddy player tracking. It's completely breaks all the tension and excitement of the Nefarious fight, and is a sour note to finish the exam on.

I'll leave with that list; I would have also mentioned the Qwark Vidcomics and the Snowbeat Award-Winning Missile Launchers (separate to the ones used in the Biobliterator boss, and only frustrating when playing as Ratchet without a vehicle), but I would have been reiterating points I've already made. Realistically, more time spent in the design, prototype and playtesting phase would have allowed for these issues to have been solved.

Problem 3: Life Relevancy
This is probably the hardest one for most people to sympathise with, but I think it's the most important one.

So much care in this game was put towards the learning and progression. People worked really loving hard to make this experience fantastic for the target audience (children). Unfortunately, that's what the big let-down might just be; nothing you learn in Ratchet & Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal has any relevance to the rest of your life.

This is a broader issue in video gaming, but it really stings when it comes to kids games. While there is a place for non-constructive fun, when you have such a great base to work off of, it's a bit tough to see that everything a kid has spend 20+ hours learning, revising, mastering and enjoying has no practical use in the other areas of their life. While reaction times and basic critical thinking are great, these are physical skills that every game should be teaching anyway. Instead, we need to start thinking about what practical and theoretical skills and logic, however abstract a form they may be communicated in, are well flexible to be encapsulated in a game experience. Don't get me wrong, I really love the stories I have to tell about my experiences playing the game, but none of that helps me, or anybody else, get anywhere in our lives (unless you're a game designer who needs stuff to study and criticise).

While I've been notorious for bashing Minecraft as a simulation rather than a game, we can't mistake the fact that is does have some pretty relevant and useful life lessons that kids have been taking to heart, and more content is constantly added to the game. Ratchet & Clank is a static experience, and its core lessons simply aren't enough to stand on for more than a timesink. A really fun, breathtaking timesink, but not one that's going to help you understand more about how the world works.

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Willco2 · December 30, 2016, 12:28:07 AM

did you really have to quote the entire damn thing

Charles Barkley · December 30, 2016, 12:30:04 AM

Quote from: Willco2 on December 30, 2016, 12:28:07 AM

did you really have to quote the entire damn thing

It wouldn't be funny without all of it

ReddBoi · December 30, 2016, 12:31:08 AM

lego star wars the complete saga but i hated trying to get all studs collected as a kid

meme related

Willco2 · December 30, 2016, 12:32:40 AM

Quote from: Charles Barkley on December 30, 2016, 12:30:04 AM

It wouldn't be funny without all of it

It wasn't really funny even with all of it

Khaz · December 30, 2016, 12:33:31 AM

Quote from: Willco2 on December 30, 2016, 12:32:40 AM

It wasn't really funny even with all of it

hey i laughed

Punished Toxicology · December 30, 2016, 12:34:26 AM

Quote from: Khaz on December 30, 2016, 12:33:31 AM

hey i laughed

no you didint

Charles Barkley · December 30, 2016, 12:37:24 AM

Quote from: ReddBoi on December 30, 2016, 12:31:08 AM

lego star wars the complete saga but i hated trying to get all studs collected as a kid

I played that game ALL the time! My favorite part was the custom character creation.

ReddBoi · December 30, 2016, 12:38:37 AM

Quote from: Charles Barkley on December 30, 2016, 12:37:24 AM

I played that game ALL the time! My favorite part was the custom character creation.

ya i remember watching yt vids on how to make certain characters in custom character creation

Filipe · December 30, 2016, 12:38:49 AM

Trackmania 2, but the environments of the game were sold as standalone titles, terrible marketing and fincancial plan, and confusing for most newcomers.

ReddBoi · December 30, 2016, 12:39:46 AM

Quote from: Filipe on December 30, 2016, 12:38:49 AM

Trackmania 2, but the environments of the game were sold as standalone titles, terrible marketing and fincancial plan, and confusing for most newcomers.

i remember watching your trackmania videos when they came out

cooolguy32 · December 30, 2016, 12:41:16 AM

Quote from: Charles Barkley on December 30, 2016, 12:37:24 AM

I played that game ALL the time! My favorite part was the custom character creation.

same

McJob · December 30, 2016, 12:42:43 AM

Quote from: Willco2 on December 30, 2016, 12:28:07 AM

did you really have to quote the entire damn thing

It's very loving annoying when you put a lot of effort into a post, only to find out that it's quickly sent to a previous page where nobody will see it.

Quote from: ReddBoi on December 30, 2016, 12:31:08 AM

lego star wars the complete saga but i hated trying to get all studs collected as a kid

Saga is one of the worst LEGO games, but it's beaten out by Indiana Jones 2, Pirates of the Caribbean and Movie Videogame. Eurgh.

They should have made the first LEGO Star Wars, been happy with that and then made other types of LEGO games. Like the good old days.

Awesomebread� · December 30, 2016, 12:44:33 AM

Quote from: McJob on December 30, 2016, 12:42:43 AM

Saga is one of the worst LEGO games, but it's beaten out by Indiana Jones 2, Pirates of the Caribbean and Movie Videogame. Eurgh.

how can one be worse than another all the tt lego games are the same

McJob · December 30, 2016, 12:46:21 AM

Quote from: Awesomebread� on December 30, 2016, 12:44:33 AM

how can one be worse than another all the tt lego games are the same

The fundamentals are the same, but the execution has varied slightly in every incarnation. Minor design/technical changes to try and "freshen" the formula. At the core, every one of them has the same issues, but some introduce new features which simply weren't ready.

And LEGO Movie Videogame was so rushed, they even broken decent features and designs from previous games. Incredible.