Player Lin, on 06 January 2018 - 07:37 AM, said:
Maybe I understand what you mean, but the problem still exist, if I cannot try it about some minutes, then how to I try to stick on it few hours? I'm not a "forcing play games that I didn't like/no interest" kind of player...
Well, this is going to be long but hey, it will be on topic by the end and who cares anyway?
I get it but you know, there are a lot of great games out there that just can't pull you in instantly. The last game like that was Alien Isolation for me: I started out on hard because normal seemed too easy from what I could gather. I hated the game with a passion because the start was very-very slow and easy yet once things started to get interesting I was just crushed by the xenomorph. The damn thing found me everywhere, no matter what I did and I was like "wtf, this is garbage, the thing is just a big wallhack". Then I read up on how the AI works, that when and where it appears is not scripted and basically has a mind of its own, it's very smart and it can find you even randomly sometimes if you've made some mistakes previously (for example you were too loud or got away slowly before so even though you managed to hide and it doesn't know where you are it can still try a few possibilities like looking into hiding spots that are near the last location where it sensed you). That's what hard difficulty unleashes on you: it gets rid of certain AI limitations so you get an intelligent predator that feels like a living creature. "Okay, that is interesting, maybe try experimenting with stuff", I thought to myself and after a few hours of progress constantly trying new things I found myself at a spot where I became a very clever prey. I figured out stuff I would have never got on lower difficulties and it became a super intense game of cat and mouse. When that clicks and you can not only avoid the alien reliably but also lure it out if needed to get rid of guards standing in your way you end up with a masterpiece... and I thought that masterpiece was terrible for hours.
Classic RPGs are kinda the same: Fallout 1 starts slow because you have to build up your character so the game can't really throw anything substantial at you in the beginning. The beginning of Fallout 2 is even worse because you don't only face that limitation but bad game design too: the first segment of the game, the "Temple of Trials" is just terrible and for a first time player it takes around 1 hour to complete (a character with specific skills can avoid that part though but being able to do that is not common). It's combat in a maze, a very long and boring tutorial section that tries to show you what you can do in a very-very "not fun" way. After that you get to Klamath, a very boring town with even more dungeon crawling. Then you get to the Den where the game starts to show its teeth: it's an interesting setting with a nice set of choices, good quests and "fallouty" world building + you get your car and that's when the game really opens up. That's the point where your character can look out for himself so you can explore a large chunk of the settlements, you get to interesting places like New Reno, Gecko and Vault City and it becomes amazing... after 6-8 hours of bad game design and mediocrity.
Fallout 1 starts by a boring old guy telling you that they need a new water chip, then you start the game in a boring cave with rats, you go to the boring town of Shady Sands (well at least if you know the lore Shady Sands won't be that boring because that's where the NCR originates from and you get the vibe that "yeah, these guys are organized and smart, without the raiders they'd really have a chance to get some proper civilization going here"), then Junktown gets interesting and the game gets awesome at the Hub. Compare that to how Fallout 3 starts: character creation is not just a spreadsheet but it's integrated into the gameplay and the story very nicely, from the first minute there is a serious conflict, you get to explore Vault 101, and at the end of the intro Bethesda visually remade the part of F1 when you first see real sunlight.... in F1 that was just a piece of text. Knowing how to start a game in a way that pulls the player in is an art of its own, Bethesda does an amazing job at it while the classic games are pretty much terrible at that if you look at it through modern eyes... but that's not the meat of the game, just an introduction.
Prey 2006 provides a great example that helps in understanding that difference (and hey, we're back on topic!
![;)](https://forums.duke4.net/public/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
). The introduction is just perfect: you meet "real tough guy" Tommy in the bathroom, you have fun in the bar, meet the characters, listen to some awesome music then the aliens come in the full glory of the Doom 3 engine, the conflict gets drawn up quickly and you're good to go. You get a great first impression but the game has not even started yet: you know nothing about the gravity mechanics and the portals, you saw nothing of the game's interesting weaponry or of its "no death" mechanic. Those provide the meat of the game, that's why you stick to it and enjoy it, not because of the nice introduction.