11 years ago

Miser_Reborn

Rogue-likes (those being a game like The Binding of Isaac, Risk of Rain, or Rogue Legacy) are hard to review. Consider why they are fun. The thrill of a Rogue-like comes in not failing, which in truth is present in all game, but in the case of a Rogue-like things get a little more complicated. See, the entire game isn't played for completion as much as it is not failing. Meaning, the game is designed around you being MISERABLE. MEANING, anything I call a problem with the game can just as easily be chalked up to the fact that it's "supposed" to be that way. I had the same problem when I said I didn't enjoy Papers, Please as much as I should've. I guess I can accept the fact that the game is designed around you having as horrible a time as possible and is basically impossible no matter how right you do, but at the same time it doesn't exactly make my hobby of choice feel relaxing.

But let's give this a crack and see if this game has any undeniable flaws. Spelunky is a Rogue-like (in case you didn't catch on yet) that gained notoriety for its randomly generated levels and absurd difficulty. Ironically, though, the former is where many of the problems with this game arise from.

If you'd asked me about an hour ago, I'd try to convince you that randomly generated levels do not work, but in retrospect that was me trying to be adamant for the sake of being poetic and salty. It's not true. Hypothetically, it can work. In fact, it does work here. The benefit of a random level generation is, of course, replayability. However, thinking about it now there are much better ways of making your game more replayable. For example, you can make your gameplay actually fun. You can make your levels have secrets the player won't discover even after dozens of playthroughs. You can add different difficulty levels or bonuses or multiple endings or a ton of other ways. Of course, the easiest way to do it is to just make every level different. That way, people can't get bored of the levels in the game even if they try!



This thinking is so terrible it makes me resort to maymaes.

By sacrificing levels that are actually designed, you also sacrifice the love and care a level that someone painstakingly designed has. That being said, most games that do have randomly generated levels are centered around it. See: Minecraft, Terraria, and, indeed, Spelunky.

So to circle back to the actual game I said I'd talk about in the beginning, Spelunky is one of the few times random level generators actually work. Ye. Feel free to rub the fact that I realize I was wrong in my face, Christian. Without the random level generation, the game would be a lot less fun. You'd know where all the secrets were, what all the best strategies to use are, and would be able to practice reacting to the relative few situations you'd get thrown into. If you take away the random levels, the game basically becomes centered around the combat, and considering how weak the combat in Spelunky is (press "X" to kill shit), you can see how the game would be lackluster.

Thanks to random level generation, though, Spelunky becomes an unpredictable game where every experience feels different. Hell, I have evidence that having unchanging levels in Spelunky WOULD suck. Proof: The Daily Challenge. Whenever I play the Daily Challenge with some friends who've already gone through it, they usually tell me where all the secrets are, or what's in the mystery box, or something else along those lines. It's not as fun as it is discovering things for yourself. I still like the Daily Challenge for the competitive aspect, but it's good evidence that randomly generated levels, surprisingly, work in the game's favor.

...Except it also fucks the game over to no end.

With random generation comes luck, and with luck comes BULLSHIT ASSFUCKERY. I'm told that this game is "always beatable," but all that means is that the level is made of three tiers, each of which has a drop to the next level. It does NOT mean always fair. It's about as fair as a 16-bit Sonic game. There is some shit there is ABSOLUTELY no way you can see coming. I'm sorry, but there is no way you can defend the fact that you can't be certain you'll be able to BREAK A POT without dying. You should be able to drop from another level with the peace of mind that you AREN'T catapulting yourself to an instantaneous spike pit of death. You should be able to rest assured that you WON'T run down a long hallway into an oncoming arrow trap. In summary, THE GAME SHOULDN'T BE A LUCK FEST. To an extent, luck is acceptable in Rogue-likes, but when things go this far, shit hits the fan.

There's some other bullshit in the game. I already mentioned how the combat's pretty blech. Jumping's a little awkward, and having to maneuver yourself around ledges to kind-of wall jump is often a pain. Also, the fact that you can only hold one weapon at a time is BULLSHIT. It makes me think that this guy:



has no feeling in one of his arms. (Also, I play as that character for obvious reasons. if you don't know why, you haven't been here long enough.)

CONTINUITY ERROR IN PART THE SECOND