I’ve been revisiting anno 2205, infamously the ugly duckling of the Anno series of RTS games. I don’t mind so much the fact that it’s different, lacks customisation and random map generation - I’m bothered because the game is so slow to progress through on challenge settings, and it feels like a game designed just to artificially waste your time; in other anno games, you can always pull tricks to dig yourself out of economic crisis - selling off assets and surplus goods, completing quests for other parties, or taking loans. 2205 is very very confined in terms of what you can do to financially recover in the early game and forces you into a lot of military events.
Expedition 33. I’m not a huge turn based fan anymore but gave it a shot because of the rave reviews. And initially I liked it a lot actually. It had the UE5 default realistic look I loathe but the combat was fun.
And then it became unfun. Severely so. I started to dread every major combat encounter.
But the reviews were so positive so I pushed thru, I hated playing the game but told myself I’ll see it through to the end, and I did.
I regret that. Having to keep playing despite disliking it probably soured my experience way more than if I had just stopped playing. On the other hand I now have the full picture of the game and know it doesn’t get better and it’s not worth finishing.
The worst combat encounters were the fights where the attack itself is a minute long cutscene, then without warning you get 150ms to time your party perfectly, or you die and restart. Unforgivable.
Bah
Yes quick time based combat for that group fighting dynamic isn’t a good match. If a game asks you to command a whole group of people, like one after the other, it’s a good idea to make it more of a puzzle or “carefully select the right moves” experience. See: Occidental Heroes
Again, always seems to me that shiny new games which focus on aving great graphics are letting people down 🤔
Initially the parry and dodge mechanics are great. They’re presented like an option for higher skilled players who are used to tight timings to get an advantage in combat while people more accustomed to the traditional “trading blows” style can still enjoy combat that way.
But the game never tells you that perfect parrying and dodging are actually not an option but the required style of combat since taking any damage later on is basically instant death. You’re just not gonna be able to tank a full combo while ignoring the dodge and parry mechanics.
Oh and then the enemies do that Elden Ring delayed attack thing. I like ER but seriously fuck that game for introducing this style of attack pattern. Yeah let me just swing my giant sword but mid-swing take a coffee break… ER wanted to present a challenge to the absolute wizards who play Dark Souls SL1 no-hit, so why did E33 copy that?
You can absolutely play without dodge, parry, and even attack triggers. You have to build you character for it obviously. I’m terrible at reaction your stuff and just tanked the whole game. I even learned that the telegraph was easier based on sound but still I’m so slow I just continued to build tanky.
I generally enjoyed the game, But found myself disappointed by the story.
Tap for spoiler
It’s bookends. At the beginning you see what terrible tragedy Lumiere is suffering, and wonder what sacrifice you must achieve to save them.
Ending: Oh, Lumiere is fucked either way, either today or very soon. Now it’s just a question of who you want to torment.
Yeah the story absolutely didn’t grab me. Spent most of the time confused and asking myself lots of questions, then the big twist happens n I’m like yeahnah this ain’t it chief. And the ending ugh.
spoiler
I wanted one outcome in the binary choice and accidentally chose the option which gives me the ending I didn’t want xD
Easily the most controversial comment in here. I don’t think e33 is considered very difficult unless you do the optional content which has ridiculous stuff. I loved the story and characters and think it’s one of the most enjoyable and memorable RPGs of all time.
I found parry difficult to learn (but once it’s down for an attack it’s muscle memory) and I play fighting games where people count frames, where you have to make 300ms reactions out of multiple incoming prompts, and where you have 2 frames parry windows as opposed to E33’s 16 frames (I believe).
The most frustrating thing is that the telegraphing is just not that clear. I actually wish they increased the FOV change so that it’s more apparent when it’s at its maximum.
I’m also a fighting game player and I think that’s why I found it not too difficult compared to what’s required to Parry six frame normals and what not. Fighting game execution is so complicated that I find almost all genres are comparatively easier to handle.
the screen zooms a bit when you’re about to get hit. It helps a lot with learning timing
The telegraphing was a sound more than visual. Learning that made things much more manageable. But I’m terrible at even that so I just made no dodge/parry builds and just tanked it all.
Yeah, the two main cues are a sound (“swoosh” sfx) one and a visual (FOV rubber band) one.
… That’s smart, why didn’t I think of making a tank build, lol.
Because it’s not particularly encouraged by the game. Like you can, they give you the tools, but theres a bunch of stuff you can get earlier with perfect parrying, or is gated behind it entirely, so you feel like you should be doing it.
Personally I found a mod to make the parry and dodge windows a little longer so I could reliably hit them, after which it became much less frustrating.