That's not a complaint, by the way.
I played the game "for real" for an hour this morning at the gym. I found it "frustratingly fantastic". This is the first RPG game I've played on my phone that is an actual challenge, that requires thought and careful planning, that made me feel like I was actually playing real D&D (sorta; it's solo and not turn-based).
My experience with ARPGs on mobile so far...
First, discard 90%+ without trying them due to bad reviews, silly graphics, advertising, obvious P2W setups, being made by companies I consider to have bad reputations, etc. Included in here are games that aren't really games, just Skinner boxes with RPGs painted on them.
Second, discard 75% of those I actually try because I realize they fall into the above categories only after playing.
The ones that get to this point are usually like this:
Some of these also turn out to be Skinner boxes with more subtle camouflage. But often they are just .. dumbed down. There's little real challenge.
By way of example, I started another ARPG a couple of days ago. In appearance it is similar to EK, but that's it. I started with ridiculously simple quests -- I mean like "here's a blah, can you go take it over to my friend standing in the corner over there?". Each time I finished one of these "quests" I was flooded with largesse: a stack of 100 healing potions, a stack of scrolls to instantly teleport me to the nearest town, etc. I was bored before I even left the tutorial.
Now my experience with this game, which I started but never really got into until today:
And so on.
I won't claim that this hasn't been frustrating at times.. especially being unable to complete beginner quests. But this is kind of what being a newbie should be like. And I'm sure part of it is being so used to the "lap of luxury" games.
And I think I do see what people mean about cleric being hard early on. I have so few mana points that I'm not really a caster yet -- I can't afford to cast more than 3 spells or something before my bar is gone, I get only two recharges per day, and it seems the most effective way to use those points is healing myself while meleeing. So I'm just a really bad warrior right now who can heal a bit. I'm sure that will change later, but right now that's all I have.
Reminds me of my first wizard in D&D in the 1980s, casting my two Magic Missiles per day and then hitting stuff with a staff and trying not to die.
Anyway, just some early impressions. I am honestly not sure how I am going to get far enough down the learning curve to be able to get some real armor and do even the low-level quests I have now. But I think figuring that out is part of the point.
I played the game "for real" for an hour this morning at the gym. I found it "frustratingly fantastic". This is the first RPG game I've played on my phone that is an actual challenge, that requires thought and careful planning, that made me feel like I was actually playing real D&D (sorta; it's solo and not turn-based).
My experience with ARPGs on mobile so far...
First, discard 90%+ without trying them due to bad reviews, silly graphics, advertising, obvious P2W setups, being made by companies I consider to have bad reputations, etc. Included in here are games that aren't really games, just Skinner boxes with RPGs painted on them.
Second, discard 75% of those I actually try because I realize they fall into the above categories only after playing.
The ones that get to this point are usually like this:
- "Thanks for playing our game! Here's a pile of really good gear to get started."
- Newbie quests that aren't just simple, they lead you around by the nose (flashing arrows and so forth.
- Spellcaster? Cast all you want! Maybe some cooldown timers. Or mana, but it always quickly regenerates.
- Gold that showers down like King Midas standing over you in a rainstorm. Or player/player trading that lets you just buy whatever you need.
Some of these also turn out to be Skinner boxes with more subtle camouflage. But often they are just .. dumbed down. There's little real challenge.
By way of example, I started another ARPG a couple of days ago. In appearance it is similar to EK, but that's it. I started with ridiculously simple quests -- I mean like "here's a blah, can you go take it over to my friend standing in the corner over there?". Each time I finished one of these "quests" I was flooded with largesse: a stack of 100 healing potions, a stack of scrolls to instantly teleport me to the nearest town, etc. I was bored before I even left the tutorial.
Now my experience with this game, which I started but never really got into until today:
- "I have to rest to get back my mana points? I better be careful what I use them on."
- "It gets dark in this game at night. I probably shouldn't be wandering in the dark."
- "It costs that much to use an inn? That's 20% of all the gold I own!"
- "I have no armor. Wow, I can't afford to buy any."
- "What was I supposed to be doing again?"
- "Okay I guess I can kill some zombies. *dies* Wow."
- "Let's try this quest. Nope, can't do that either."
- "I guess I'm going to have to kill goblins for a while until I can level up or get some gear?"
- "Let's try going over here... oh a spider. Level 8?! RUN!"
- "It's almost dark, I've explored enough countryside, best get back to town, I don't think I can make it to the next one."
And so on.
I won't claim that this hasn't been frustrating at times.. especially being unable to complete beginner quests. But this is kind of what being a newbie should be like. And I'm sure part of it is being so used to the "lap of luxury" games.
And I think I do see what people mean about cleric being hard early on. I have so few mana points that I'm not really a caster yet -- I can't afford to cast more than 3 spells or something before my bar is gone, I get only two recharges per day, and it seems the most effective way to use those points is healing myself while meleeing. So I'm just a really bad warrior right now who can heal a bit. I'm sure that will change later, but right now that's all I have.
Reminds me of my first wizard in D&D in the 1980s, casting my two Magic Missiles per day and then hitting stuff with a staff and trying not to die.
Anyway, just some early impressions. I am honestly not sure how I am going to get far enough down the learning curve to be able to get some real armor and do even the low-level quests I have now. But I think figuring that out is part of the point.
