I picked up Balatro because of this thread and I agree, it’s a great game and something a little fresh, but slay the spire is still probably the best.
I agree about the “more like a game” element. Baltoro feels more like playing cards than playing a video game. I think it’s cause I’m using the same odds/play styles as when I play real life card games.
They’ve definitely added things to it over the year or so it’s been out. Not sure if enough to make it worth it for you. It’s also possible I’m just bad at it, as I haven’t beaten it (although only 12hrs on it).
Wildfrost is a really good one. It’s got a lot of different play styles and has a pretty big learning curve.
Also on android there is Pirate Outlaws. It feels like a slay the spire clone, but has a good amount of content and does enough different to be worth mentioning.
Not exactly the same cause it’s not a deck builder, but has a similar feel is dicey dungeons (both steam and android). It’s a lot simpler and luck is a larger factor, but it’s got a decent gameplay loop and being able to play on Android helped scratch that itch on the road.
It was such a unique twist on the tactic rpg genre, nothing quite like it. Plus it had great music (including a musical cameo at the bar), good progression, and a decent story.
I think Fallout 1 & 2 have a lot of parallels. The first two fallouts are a lot more like ttrpgs, it was when Bethesda bought them they became FPS rpgs.
Oviously older, but they hold up pretty well and certainly a different setting.
Haha I appreciate the comment and the ability to call them out even though you like them.
I just wish I felt the same. The longer they’ve been out the more I realize that we probably won’t get a more traditional zelda ever again. I think the thing I liked about zelda up to BOTW was that the world itself was a puzzle. Figuring out how to navigate and open up new areas was part of the fun and challenge to me. Not to mention dungeons being larger and more intricate puzzles than anything you come across in BOTW and TOTK.
I’m really confused by all of the story comments in this thread. It’s fair to criticise HL’s story, but at least there is a story and characters. What story does TOTK even have? What characters have more than a line or two? While Zelda has never been big on complex narratives, at least previous entries (before BOTW and TOTK) could develop a story since they could have a linear progression. A couple of flashback scenes really doesn’t tell a great or compelling narrative and really disconnects the gameplay from the events going on.
I’m curious, what open world games do you rate as a 9 or 10? I’m not saying Hogwarts did anything revolutionary, but it did most things pretty solidly. It’s been a while since Ive played an open world game that does a good job on making the world actually feel alive.
I’m kinda curious in what way Zelda (assuming TOTK) has more depth. Combat wise HP has stealth, an attack typing system, comboing, special moves, and more if I recall correctly. TOTK does have a variety of weapons and you can craft weapons, but it generally boils down to just whacking away at things. You could also mention the ability to make vehicles/automaton, but the time to build things (until you find ultra hand?) mixed with limited resources made that more of a pain/chore than fun.
I could go into other mechanics, but ultimately I think TOTK would be rated worse if it wasn’t for the Zelda branding carrying it.
I’ve played it a bit on the Xbox and it’s even laggy on that. It may just be too much for the switch to handle ¯_(ツ)_/¯.
If it’s warning about too many buildings you may have too many things for the switch to track and display, so best bet would be to remove some things. It sucks, but that’s always an issue with open world games like that.
So I was curious about this and looked it up and there are technically 8 regular enemy types (bokoblins, moblins, lizalfos, chuchu, keese, octoroks, wizzrobes, pebblits, lynel). There are then also the different types of guardians, 2 overworld bosses (Talus and Hinox, I don’t count Molduga), and the yiga.
Depending on how you cut it there are then 8 up to 13 overworld enemy types. However, the real issue is you typically only encounter 3 maybe 5 (bokoblins, moblins, lizalfos / keese, chuchu) while running around.
I think the thing people forget when talking about variety is it matters how you use it. BOTW and TOTK basically have a few set grunt types that are what you predominantly fight, and it gets boring fast (in my opinion).
Edit/Note: I didn’t count stal/cursed enemies as they’re basically the same with slight modifications.
I agree, when I first picked it up I couldn’t get into the rhythm of the game and hated it, but once it clicked it was a lot of fun. You can’t really go in expecting to play exactly like Doom (2016).
I mean, TOTK is almost copy pasted BOTW. Yeah there are some new mechanics, but it still has all of the flaws of BOTW.
Crafting and the building mechanic add some fun, but the farming required for all of it is tedious (and I even used duplication glitches for items).
Itll be curious to see how people’s opinions of BOTW change over time because I think it took Zelda in a bad direction (unfocused gameplay with simpler puzzles).
Yeah N64 and PS1 just have this element of jank from the transition to 3D. While a great time for games, none of them have aged as gracefully as the 32-bit games from the previous era.