Templar just uninstalled The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. Not even sure If I write the name of the game properly. I don't care.
Not only that, but Templar is enraged enough to log into his blogger account and write this post.
Yesterday, Templar played Firewatch. Finished the game in about 5 hours. Was pleased. Not overwhelmed, but kinda close.
Today, after reading tons of positive reviews, Templar downloaded The Vanishing.How can two games, so similar in terms of genre and game design be so different in my eyes, you ask?
I'm gonna tell you. I suppose we all know that feeling of irritation and helpless rage that we get when we play quests. When you can't find that freaking item or that shitty place where you're supposed to go. Then you walk around in circles, checking the same locations over and over again, until your brain goes numb. Then you open your browser and check the walktrough. And you're like "Oh...so that's what I was supposed to do...".
The same mistake over and over again. It seems that people who design (if you can call this "design) quest games never learn. Is it because nobody tells them? I wonder where all those positive reviews for games like The Vanishing and Broken sword come from.
And here is the greatest problem of each and every quest game out there: the things you're supposed to do are not logically connected in any way. More often than not the in-game world and your actions in it don't suggest what you're supposed to do next. You try to think and you fail, because the logical connections are not there. The only option left is to walk in circles mindlessly until you find that item you need or a way to get into that location in order to proceed with the game.
And this is precisely why The Vanishing fails to deliver to such extent that I was forced to uninstall it within an hour of installing it. It is not how a game should be played.
It would also seem that in order to make good quest games you gotta be smarter than the average ape out there. Mediocre intelligence, it seems, is not enough to design a good quest game. It might work for shooters, or even strategy games... Quest, as it seems, are a whole different matter.
I thought about describing some of the nonsense things that the game had me do so I could advance, but I decided against it. Don't wanna touch this shit ever again.
Not to mention the complete lack of logic and sense in all of the things you're supposed to do. It's like the game was designed so you would HAVE TO randomly stumble upon the right action, instead of deducing it.
Firewatch, on the other hand, is exactly the opposite. Completely void of any puzzles or point-and-click brain-numbing find-that-item mini-games it's a smooth and relaxing experience about a middle aged fat guy in the woods. No dumb puzzles, no shitty games. No need for a walktrough. The opposite end of the spectrum.
I am yet to see a good quest game that can ACTUALLY be completed by someone with ordinary intelligence (such as me) without going in circles for hours on every second scene or giving up and reaching for the walktrough.
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