A Dangerous Precedent

Hey all,

So, I was watching a friend of mine (also a game designer) play The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and he had various... complaints. Complaints that I thought were not... accurate.

He was complaining about how the game wasn't telling him how to solve the puzzles, where to go exactly, what room to be in, even to the point that the camera wasn't accentuating certain waypoints enough.

One token example, he was stuck in Dodongo's Cavern, unaware that he needed to drop bombs into the eyes of the giant Dodongo skull, despite there being a sign cryptically saying that the Giant Dodongo needed to see red to open the path, and there being holes in the bridge directly above the eyeballs, and the camera looking down (admittedly slowly) when the player walks near said holes. He had just acquired the bombs, the dungeon treasure, and had seen that the bombs explode in a red cloud.

The game was giving him the pieces, but didn't tell him EXACTLY what to do; the game led him to the location, but didn't tell him the solution, you know, a puzzle.

I still enjoy this dungeon.

So after talking to him about these complaints thoroughly, I came to a conclusion that a lot of younger designers fall for a particular design paradigm. The paradigm that I'm talking about, to avoid being vague, is...

"The player must know everything" or "The player must be told everything".

Modern video games have a tendency to overexplain and overcompensate in detailing scenarios and puzzles, in an effort to maintain the game's flow and minimize the player's boredom.

I disagree with this style of design, for many reasons, but primarily it goes against one of my game design rules:

Exercise the Brain: Learning is fun!

Players do not like to be talked down to, especially in a puzzle situation. How many times do you remember when people made fun of Fi from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword? Getting all of the puzzle solutions and directions really killed the mood, at least for me, and a large portion of the internet.

"Master, a playtest in Japan shows that you have a 46% chance to solve this puzzle that you just saw on your own, so let me tell you the answer."

Disclaimer: I don't hate Skyward Sword, I just think there are some dumb things about it.

Why do I think that learning is fun? Good question. To me, I like to explain the fun of learning in this way: Remember the first day of school or work? Everything was new, including the trip there, and it certainly wasn't boring, now was it? That's because the human brain is good at consuming new information, in fact, it loves it! Learning new mechanics, learning about new countries or regions, or even learning about the trip to work, to your brain, it's all interesting, because it is LEARNING. Now, what about the 100th day of school or work? You need to find distractions away from your trip, because you know everything already, your brain doesn't want to waste precious energy on seeing the same stuff. Heck, you can probably do your trip without looking!

That's called "grokking", by the way. Also, that's why backtracking tends to not be fun.

For more details about this, I highly recommend reading Raph Koster's "A Theory of Fun for Game Design", it's a fast read and full of information.

Anyway, players like new information, and being told everything about a game, puzzle, etc. is the antithesis to that.

The goal should be to give the player just enough information, and then GUIDE them towards the solution.

A great example? Super Metroid. Remember the door that looked ominous and you couldn't get through without the High Jump Boots, well, without bomb jumping? That searing memory that you KNEW you needed something to help you through there? That was the hand of the designer leading you, not TELLING you!

Gunpei Yokoi will be missed.

Imagine how different this moment would have been if the game told you that you needed the boots here, or once you got the boots, told you to come right back here? Getting through would not have felt as good, now, would it?

You didn't know everything, and that was fine!

It's okay to not know everything about a game, in fact, I recommend it. But what things SHOULD the player know? In my opinion:

The player should know just enough to know what can be done, and enough to infer what needs to be done.

Great examples include:

• Super Metroid
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: Dodongo's Cavern bomb puzzle
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: Forest Temple's painting puzzle
• Catherine
• Dark Souls 

A bad example would include:

• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

If I had to summarize this post, it's that treating your players like they have no memory, nor awareness, is not fun, for you nor the player. Leave a little mystery in there, players will love you for it.

Anyway, it took me forever to write this post, and for that I'm sorry. I've been busy handling Studio Kumiho stuff, you can check the website here. We have some exciting developments coming up, and I'm excited to share it with you all.

Next post will be another design focused one, and it's in everyone's favorite format: a top 10 list! /sarcasm

Thanks,
Jimmy

The Idiot Box

Hey all,

There's something that's been in my mind lately, and I really can't hold back talking about it anymore, so here goes.

It really goes without saying that we live in an incredible time, we can communicate across the world, can look up information at the moment we think to look up something, and can project our opinions out to the world, as bad as they may be. (See what I did there?)

But there's a concern that I have, and I'm not the only one to feel this way.

We carry devices in our pockets everyday: idiot boxes.

Idiot boxes aren't designed to enable their users to create, they are merely designed for their users to consume: apps, news, entertainment, opinions, etc. Idiot boxes enable people to be more connected than ever, yet lonelier than ever. Idiot boxes allow us to embrace superficial relationships over real ones. Idiot boxes make people available at someone else's beck and call. Idiot boxes enable people to look up other people's opinions on subjects to avoid forming an opinion of their own.

What is an idiot box? You're probably reading this post using one right now: it's called your cell phone / tablet. Combined with the internet, idiot boxes have allowed people to engage in the behaviors I mentioned earlier.

I call these devices "idiot boxes" because they are not used to create, these devices are used for consumption, a lot like TV. Frankly, I think people use these devices as a crutch to consume content, to not think for themselves, to avoid critical thinking (hence "idiot").

Now, I'm not saying to throw away your cell phone, I use one everyday, if only because of work.

I pose to you a few questions:

• How many of your friends on social media are your "real friends"? How many of them would care if you were feeling down, not superficial "I'm sorry" caring, but really feel for you? Will these friends hurt if you are hurting, and vice versa?
• How many hours a day do you spend on YouTube, Spotify, Buzzfeed, etc.? How many hours of productivity have you lost?
• Have you noticed that your attention span has shortened, even to the point that sitting and doing nothing for 10 minutes is agonizing?
• How many times has someone asked you a question (via text or social media), and then expected you to reply almost immediately?
• How many times have you been to dinner and noticed that a LOT of people are on their idiot boxes, not engaging with the people literally around them? 
• How many times have you looked up a film review or game review and formed your opinion on said subject based on the review?

Idiot boxes and social media have turned people into a product, where people show only their best sides to the world, it's incredibly hard to make real friends in this way. "Friends" is simply a number that goes up based on your popularity. When times get rough, if all someone has is their social media "friends", that someone may not want to expose such feelings to the world, it can create a feeling of loneliness. Connected, yet lonely.

Having unlimited entertainment at our fingertips has given us instant gratification, we don't have patience anymore. We have grown accustomed to always having something playing, entertaining us; so much so that not having something around is the exception, not the norm.

Always being connected has allowed people to contact us at any time, for better or worse. People may expect an answer from another person immediately after sending a message, even when that person may be introverted or may not want to talk. We have become a product for other people to consume.

In some cases, people don't even pay attention to those around them, instead they choose to consume media from the idiot box. I don't know about you, but when someone does this to me (at dinner or something), I feel lonely, boring, or inadequate. Frankly, I find it rude.

Lastly, it's easy to avoid thinking critically when you can simply look up someone else's opinion and borrow said opinion.

All I ask is that every once in a while, break away from your idiot box, pay attention to those around you. Be understanding, be kind, and care for those immediately in front of you, they're people too. Spend time with your friends in the real world, talk with them over lunch or dinner. Take a few minutes out of the day to just exist, no entertainment.

Who knows, you may notice something you didn't before.

Jimmy

P.S. I find it amazing that we can communicate as much as we can now, just be sure to interact with the real world every once in a while.

P.S.S I want to make a game surrounding my feelings on this subject someday. Frankly, I hope by the time I get to making the game, my concerns are addressed and then I won't need to make the game at all.

P.S.S.S Don't form your opinion based on mine, think for yourself.

A Very Angry Mighty No. 9 Review

 Hey all,

(Please forgive me, this is more of a collection of notes than anything, I just wanted to post my thoughts.)

So I just finished Mighty No. 9, lovingly called the "Most disappointing game of all time" by IGN.

Mighty Number 9 follows Megam- I mean, Beck, as he defeats his corrupted comrades and tries to save the world from some sort of hacker. As you can see, I'm an expert on this game's story.

Along the way, Beck collects the powers of the bosses the player defeats and is able to use them at any time.

For an early warning, this game is so bad, and I plan to make it cry like an anime fan on prom night. (GET IT?!)

But enough of that crap, let's get to me ripping it apart! :D

Coherence / Following the rules: "The game must be coherent and consistent, game objects / characters must obey the rules that the game designer sets early on in the experience, no exceptions."

This is perhaps the best part of Mighty No. 9. The game establishes that you will be jumping, shooting, and dashing for the entirety of the game.

There is an exception though, one mission in the game involves the player commanding Call as she utilizes stealth in infiltrate a prison. It's a complete juxtaposition to the rest of the game, and sticks out, in a bad way. The mission doesn't punish the player for not using stealth, and enemies cannot be defeated like they have been for the rest of the game.

Now, I'm not saying that they can't change up the game a bit, but this particular mission seems arbitrary and unnecessary, and seems to just pad out the rest of the game. I'm not kidding about the padding part, there is a part where the player must use Call's hover ability to navigate some deadly spike traps, but the player hasn't been taught how to use this ability / mechanic. It requires a tremendous amount of trial and error to pass this part of the level, which is at the very end. If the player loses all of their lives (and believe me, they will.) during this part, THEY HAVE TO PLAY THE WHOLE LEVEL OVER AGAIN. That's what I mean by padding, that part I just described is designed to steal lives from the player so that they'll have to play the level over again. Oh, I forgot to mention that the boss fight happens right after that "puzzle".

Speaking of padding, the final boss fight feels like it was designed to do that as well, taking roughly 25% of your health per hit, leaving the player with not much time to figure out how to fight it before having to start the level over. Of course, the final boss is a two part fight.

The thing is, with Megaman (Which Mighty Number 9 claims to be a successor to), was that parts that were designed to steal away your lives were fairly few and far between levels, and usually in the middle of levels, not near the end. These life stealing mechanics also came with a warning, by teaching the player the mechanics of the death traps BEFORE the trap has a real chance to kill them. Mighty No. 9 sees this and misunderstands the comcept (SEE WHAT I DID THERE?!) by making almost every level have some sort of life stealing mechanic.

Oh yeah, and some bosses have one hit kill moves that either come with little warning, look like other attacks the boss has, or have a tiny window to dodge them. See the theme here about padding the game? The game thinks that difficulty comes from one hit kills and life stealing puzzles, rather than challenging your wit, reflexes, or cunning. It's sad too, since Keiji Inafune should have understood this.

Padding wouldn't be too bad if the combat was interesting, but unfortunately it just isn't. Enemies don't die in a satisfactory fashion, they just kind of disappear, unless you use the game's dash ability. To describe the dash ability, briefly, it's a move where when an enemy has low enough health (i.e. covered in blue or some other color), you can dash into them to build a combo, which only adds to your score at the end of the level.

I also can't forgive the mechanic where holding forward as Beck lands makes him do a special animation that moves a set distance. This mechanic takes control AWAY from the player and can put them into an unnecessary situation where they may lose a life.

Basically, the game has an inconsistent rule set, it's really annoying, and unforgivable.

+ Easy to understand core mechanics. Consistent in that regard.
- Call level
- Padding
- A lack of understanding of their own rules.

Score: 8/20

Do or Show, Don't Tell: "The game must show the player or make the player use mechanics of the game in order for the player to understand them. Allow the player to learn mechanics in a safe environment with minimal punishment so that the game can introduce challenges while feeling "fair"."

Looking at this category, Mighty Number 9 does nothing offensive here. The game is fairly good at showing the player the ropes of the game, albeit be with a bit too much dialogue.

The game starts with a crumbling city and the player is forced to navigate the space using Beck's abilities. The tutorial level has very few death traps and does a letting the player figure out the mechanics in a safe place.

One thing this game does wrong, however, is that it never explains the powerups mechanic, which I will explain. Some enemies give you powerups for defeating them by using the dash ability. These powerups range from being very helpful (shots got through enemies and objects) to outright useless (run faster, which messes up your jumps. You read that right, a powerup that makes things harder).

The lack of information on the above is really not forgiveable, unfortunately.

+ Easy to understand
+ Good tutorial
- Power ups

Score: 15/20

Exercise the Brain: "Learning is fun, variety is learning. Multiplayer games are great at this."

This game has no puzzles. Bosses are easily defeated by the primary buster attack, the abilities from defeated Mighties mean almost nothing in the context of a fight.

One thing I do like, though, is that abilities from defeated Mighties can be used in levels to create shortcuts or unlock extra lives, so in a way, levels have weaknesses. It's a neat idea explored in Megaman X previously, and utilized here as well.

Levels do a good job of providing the variety that the game needs, bringing in different mechanics. Some of these mechanics are not fun, however, for example, the mine level is all just death traps, and unforeseeable instant kills. See above if you want to hear my complaints about the one hit deaths.

Unfortunately, platforming is incredibly trivial thanks to the dash ability. Timed jumps? That's for suckers.

It's a real shame, too, since this game would have been more interesting with some actual platforming. I don't know why Beck can dash infinitely in the air, it just seems silly, really. Allowing the player to mash the dash button in the air doesn't really add much to the game, and takes so much away. Wouldn't you agree?

+ Level variety.
- Platforming is lame.
- Instant kills, rather than defeating the player through good design.

Score: 5/20

Content is king: "Neat particle effects does not make a great game. "Keep the great, trash the okay". A game with 10 hours of great content that the player will remember with 20 hours of padding is a 10 hour game, let's face it."

The levels in this game, full of death traps, sneaky mechanics, and other crap, are not fun. They wouldn't pass the "good" bar, at all.

To give an example:
https://youtu.be/Ri4bV3Z186Q?t=14m5s
Inafune himself says that this puzzle is TOO HARD. This puzzle is STILL IN THE GAME.

On a side note, the art style in that version of the game is better, am I right?

- Watch the video. Read this part.

Score: 2/20

Player Choice Matters: "Let decisions have weight, don't leave decisions up to the player that ultimately mean nothing, that's not fun."

This category doesn't really apply, since the game is linear and all the "puzzles" have set solutions. I will say there may be some fun in there for the speed running community, well, if they're masochists.

The player can play the levels in any order and can choose to receive assistance from exploiting boss weaknesses. The bosses in this game, like Megaman, each have a weakness to another boss in the game. Players can choose to exploit these weaknesses or not.

The game could have been made better if certain power ups in some levels would unlock extra lives or powerups, like in Megaman X. Sadly, the developers didn't think this part through, and only rewards the player for doing "difficult" jumps, which aren't difficult at all.

+ Player's can tackle the game in whatever order they wish.
- Boss weapons mean nothing.
- Puzzles are easy.
- Boss powers not fully fleshed out.

Score: 14/20

Consider this review as a collection of my thoughts as I played through the game, I didn't have fun. Very few games can make me say that I dropped the controller in surprise, and unfortunately Mighty Number 9 is the latest to claim that honor.

Final Score: 44/100