Roboquest

Mostly PC, but console and mobile too
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Leisher
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Roboquest

Post by Leisher »

To be fair regarding what I'm about to say, this game is still in Early Access. Something I was not aware of when I DLed it. It came as part of a Humble Bundle.

A rogue-like FPS that has charm, a good mix of enemies, a ton of unique weapons, has a clean and gorgeous look, and is simply fun to play.

I look forward to reviewing this game again once it's out of Early Access, but as it stands right now, I have to give it a thumbs down for two reasons.

First, the grind is brutally slow. Is this a game or a job? Now the grind wouldn't be so bad if not for point 2...

Second, there is no save feature for story line progression. Now listen, there is an argument to be made that grinding constantly to become powerful enough that you can rip through the game in one sitting is a design choice and appealing to some gamers. However, this means you are playing the same levels over and over and over again. There simply isn't enough variety in the game in the enemies or level design to make this repetitiveness combined with the slow grind interesting enough to keep playing. It WILL be for some, but not most.

I get not wanting to allow gamers to get through the story step by step IF the story isn't that long. Makes total sense. However, if that is the case, then more variety is needed in the level design so that when players are playing through the repetitive grind, it's less repetitive.

Everspace is a fantastic game that pulled off this type of design rather well and managed to have great game play, a grind that wasn't "too slow", and levels that were varied and interesting enough that it never got boring.

If you cannot provide that, then most gamers are going to quit playing and have a negative experience. This is the same issue that afflicts many mobile games that make a "grind" central to their game.

Also, why hide data logs that are so valuable (5 wrenches), and then punish players for searching for them by having their play time count towards their score?

Still, there is a good game here and I hope the devs are able to resolve these issues for the final release.
“Every record been destroyed or falsified, books rewritten, pictures repainted, statues, street building renamed, every date altered. The process is continuing day by day. History stops. Nothing exists except endless present in which the Party is right.”
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