Games you've recently beat - Retro & Other Gaming Forum - Page 278

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@FuriousMachine I agree, especially on the annoyance of poor checkpointing in combat encounters. Especially if there’s long cutscenes involved or long sections to get back to the encounter(s). Having 3 FromSoft games under my belt (and currently playing my fourth) as well as finishing Returnal (before the added save options and difficulty nerfing updates) has trained me to be less frustrated by the drag of having to repeat sections if I die before being victorious and reaching a save point. Still… it make it no less aggravating when those things happen. In the From games it’s all part of the intentional gameplay loop, and the game almost provokes and mocks the player with the idea of “You will die a lot and in the most unfair feeling ways possible.” Having just started Dark Souls 2, the introduction has this old hag giving you a little exposition as you start and she all but says that to you as she cackles away, clearly enjoying the thoughts of you pending misery.

But that’s all part of the core design of Soulslikes and people know what they’re getting into. At least now they do, with the notoriety of the genre. I hear there’s less long treks back to the encounter where you die in Elden Ring so less ‘lost progress’ and more it’s therefore more approachable.

But yeah, despite my better tolerance of the ‘long trek to a place, including unskippable cutscenes, followed by a quick cheap death’, I think it ruins some games when the design isn’t conducive to repeat play. Recently for me, I really appreciated the fact that Insomniac had very forgiving mid-boss checkpoints in Spider-Man 2, where even if you die during phase 3 of a long boss battle that you respawn just at the start of that phase, and with full health. In FF16 also, it was quite forgiving that the game even refilled your health items as well so you got to start right back where you left off with a full stock. For a narrative driven adventure I prefer that approach where you don’t get bogged down for hours