You are correct in some ways, such as dedicating all your senses while giving you less on average to engage them, but are also over generalizing by saying it's always terrible voice acting, which just isn't true, it can be anime hammy, but I happen to really love well done over the top anime voice acting, which is a whole different style compared to something extremely realistic like The Last of Us. And if you don't like that style, that's okay, but it's not terrible.
I feel like biggest representatives could go to things like Danganronpa, Phoenix Wright, or Persona, which all feature choice and gameplay, and I'd say Danganronpa and Persona have good voice acting, with Persona's as excellent. I feel like generalizing that fans of the genre don't care about choice is just not correct for all fans, I personally dislike most of the choiceless VNs because they then rely extremely hard on story, for example I disliked House in Fata Morgana because that's a "reading a linear book" style of VN with no voice acting, and it's really long, and the soundtrack was not super amazing (compared to Phoenix Wright, Danganronpa, and Persona, which have OUT FUCKING STANDING soundtracks, and with a manga you're not getting a soundtrack that emotionally engages you and brings you back to listen to them long after completing the games as I have with those series.
It depends on the VN and its implementation. The existence of things like Slay the Princess, 999, Raging Loop, Phoenix Wright, AI: The Somnium Files, these are all inextricably linked with player participation and choice, as well as very dense narrative.
Then you have ones like Steins;Gate that don't have very much choice at all, that's a lot closer to a book in most respects, but as a blanket VNs are, more often than not, absolutely games.
As a counter I find the fact that VNs sidestep having to describe all sorts of setting and character related things by just showing you them instead with beautiful art work and at times voice acting.
To me that actually increases the pace instead of slows it down, if you think about what you're not having to read. I do also dislike reading VNs at a computer, though, so I'll only get them on portable systems unless it's REALLY good, like Slay the Princess, and that game would simply not be the same if it were a book, it's extremely reliant on choice.
Yeah, you would need to play it at least a couple "rounds" for it to really kick into full effect. It's a choice heavy game where most choices alter your route in ways that sort of become more and more unique the further you get, until it kicks you back to the start allowing you to make different choices, and the culmination of a few rounds results in a unique true end game.
The ways or fact that this is happening are not clear until you've gone through enough to start to see how what you do manipulates the world state, and the true story and meaning behind it all sort of slowly unfolds and even after completion requires some wonder and unpacking on the part of the player to fully enjoy.
I do find it a shame you didn't get hooked into it, it might just be one of those things where you have to come to it in just the right mood for it to really have full effect.
It's not super common, but it's been around in an essentially free form through Garry's Mod for a very very long time, so most people have had their fill of it there or in modes within other games. Roblox also has one, even Call of Duty Cold War had a prop hunt mode, so it's a lot harder for paid standalone games to make a dent, but this one does a lot more than just strict prop hunt, I think it deserves more population
Oh I saw a video of this game and it looks really fun! It's basically Gmod Prop Hunt with added modes and mechanics, this genre is a little saturated which is probably why it's not got a lot of players for how cool it is. Hopefully that changes
So if it's worse for the consumer for valve to allow class action lawsuits, then should the consumer see all the other companies who force arbitration as the better outcome?
That's a good example. You simply can't grasp optimal choices or know possible events and outcomes before going through it a great deal of times, and it's likely that you'll get killed too fast to experience much if you start on normal. You definitely end up switching to normal as you improve, learn, and unlock, but it really benefits and smoothens the learning curve to start easier.
Playing on easy doesn't mean you don't want to play. Or at least, that's not my personal experience when I put games on easy, which is not always.
I'll throw out two examples. Age of Empires 2. I suck ass at real time strategy, so I put the bots on easiest. What this gives me is the experience and feeling of building up my faction, gathering resources, making upgrades, feeling later like those upgrades were smart (which I wouldn't get on harder difficulties as my actual poor choices would backfire and punish me), and then I get to conquer my enemies with my large army.
I still got to build something up from nothing, create a satisfying army, utilize what I made to conquer. I got something out of it that I wouldn't have if I played on normal. I would've struggled and likely lost. I might've just as likely actually risen above the challenge and came away with a more satisfying, but hard fought win, but I have challenging and hard fought wins at work every day. I don't need that in a genre I'm only a tourist in at home. I have Monster Hunter for that.
I put Gundam Breaker 4 on easy, the combat is satisfying on a surface level, but too precise and finicky as the challenge rises. I enjoy the combat still, on a smaller scale, but I moreso enjoy acquiring gear and making a Gundam that looks a certain way. The things I enjoy more about the game are facilitated by easier combat, I can get to those parts more easily, but still enjoy the combat.
Are you saying that phones have good backwards compatibility? I do still remember the big iOS cleansing of 32-bit games and apps alongside older Play Store apps being hidden from you due to being developed for "a previous version of android"
It's really the kind of game that either requires a significant in-game tutorial and very long ramp up (and you're right, even with all the info in the current tutorial it's not all inclusive) or it requires someone to bounce questions off of, which is the far superior way to learn, even though it's far less accessible.
Once you've learned it, though, I actually don't think it's all that complicated, it's just such its own beast that someone coming from nothing would have a hard time wrapping their head around the whole loop and all of the systems, but once you do one time it's like riding a bike.
The pause menu in Rise is if you press start, it's the bottom option on one of the menu tabs, it'll only show mid mission, so trying to find it in the village is pointless. But if you found a workaround that works too.
Also, yes, the free game breaking gear with no clear indicators is fucking stupid. I understand why it exists, but it trivializes the experience for so many new players due to the way its implemented that I think it should never have been created. I get wanting to get to end game fast if you've done it before, but the consequences are absurd.