Kotaku: "WasteLand2 too Complicated" , rofl

@wis3boi

It needs less clutter and less abstract systems. There actually is such a thing as Overcomplicated, it happens all the time in movies that try to be too clever, and games are no different. making simple tasks complicated doesn't make for good game design. Its just a nimber crunching simulator.

I mean the game says it out right.... Having the right tools before battle matters more than what you do in the battle. This trailer simply tells the player that its Trial and Error, you go in blind... Die... Then come back with a solution..... BORING !

It wasn't explained because it's just not true. My D:OS party was a 1 handed warrior and a mage that didn't have fire magic and beat the game all the way through just fine.

Anyways to the topic who cares what kotaku thinks? I mean, obvously the mouth breathers who visit that site do, but they are not the audience for these types of games anyways.

"the seemingly infinite options in designing a squad, only to then show how a poorly designed squad will instantly be cut to pieces in the game. It's almost designed to scare players away."

Goes well with

"games are over"

Here is an idea how about you GTFO of gaming and leave it to actual gamers.

The nonsense about us been afraid they gonna steal our hobby when they cant even participate unless its a interactive movie.

Someone who doesnt half half a brain with the intelligence of a monkey and wants something more out of rpgs and gaming in general than being interactive movies with pseudo hollywood narrative that gives them emotions to cover p the fact the game is as generic as it can get.

If you are taking mainstream gaming websites seriously then you are doing it wrong . Most of these journalists are just casuals brought on board thanks to mindless games . And now they act like they know everything about games and every game should be made for kiddies , otherwise it "sucks" .

Gaming is for gamers , not for everyone . Why should those who have been playing for ages should pay for poor skills of others . They need to do more practice to catch up . Otherwise watch movies .

In real world , when we say "game" , it means sports . Which is all about challenge and defeating your opponents . In "video games" , the concept is exactly the same . The only difference is that your opponents aren't real humans and instead you are trying to beat AI (or players in MP games) .

Interactive media =/= Video games . Both are different .

OH man this looks awesome. can't wait.

Disagree hugely. Gaming is a form of media that is (or should be) welcome to everyone. There is no "one true path", I want little kids and casual gamers to have their easy colourful games alongside the dark brutality of the Souls series, for example. If either of those game types no longer existed, gaming would be smaller and poorer for it.

The word "game" doesn't imply sports. It implies "play". All the goofy nonsense that kids get up to count as games. They certainly aren't sports though! Different people want different types of play. You might want nothing but challenge. I enjoy that too, but sometimes I want a game where there is NO challenge but it can still be excellent fun (Sim City with infinite money for example. I get to be creative, which is hugely enjoyable to me.)

We all different, we all want different things, and we all have to right to play what, how and whenever the hell we want. Trying to force "one true path" onto a hobby that 100s of millions enjoy sounds unrealistic and arrogant to me.

@locopatho

Trying to define "Play" is much more difficult than trying to define what a game is.

I agree. I wasn't trying to say "play is x". Just trying to say that games include play, and aren't just competitive/challenge.

Bollox, and has nothing to do with Kotaku.

@locopatho

Yep.... Its a head scratcher.

and you wrong.

Hey tomb raider a game about climbing stuff and avoiding traps, lets turn it into a interactive movie.

Hey rainbow six a game about tactics and realism, lets turn in into a casual shooter.

Hey survival horror games, too scary lets turn them into action games with cover systems and give em coop.

Do you see where i am going with this?

They KILLED entire franchises to appeal to NON FANS and destroyed the game's soul for the fans which lead into flops.

Now all games focus either on mp or having a uber scripted "cinetmatic experiance" nonsense as if i am playing an interactive movie.

You saying that there is no one true path and one way of doing things and games are about playing. Yet the gaming industry of today ressembles what best is described as a select few titles that play and control alike and get endless sequels because those games sell and god forbig anyone makes something diffrient for a special diffirent audience that doesnt fit the mass crowd appeal of casual samey games, because that move will not get as much money as appealing to everyone does.

To the suits that make the calls, gaming isnt for everyone, there are a few specific games, and all games must be like them to sell, there is no room for special experiances.

As for the whole "game" i dont think games nowdays are about "playing" they are more about being cinematic and let you interact with em a bit. The story or should i say the movie factor of it is far far far more important from start to finish to the developers and the audience they are aiming that the actual gameplay being interest from start to finish.

Long story shory instead of focusing on solid gameplay with challenged and variety they focus on making sure the game has scripted events every 10 minutes to keep the casual audience going. Games used to be GAMES now they are an extension of movies, they pretty much got people who like movies and told them "hey see this? you can interact with it" When in the past the same people wouldnt play games because they were too complicated and the graphics were too blocky and fake.

This is what has happened, we got sites like kotaku with people who started playing games in 2006 and think games are about being simplistic with impressive graphics and story and dont really care about gameplay and innovation or solid mechanics, but care about polished scripted events and impressive graphics and how the narrative makes them feel. The mind of a gamer is thinking on how to advance further and how to use what is available ,the mind of the casuals is keep pushing thumbsticks waiting for the next story bit to pop up.

@farrell2k

Exactly rpgs nowdays are action games with upgrades and dialogue choices.

@dakan45

Damn you're a relic of the past.... However.... You're right, thats whats been happening for the past several years.... But in this specicific Scenario... Kotaku is in the Right.... Wasteland 2 is Far Too complicated.

We've been in the post-decline era for sometime now, where AAA RPGs are action games with a few stats and dialogue selections. During the decline phase, the games were still RPGs but they became more and more streamlined to the point where the stripped-down RPG mechanics weren't contributing anything to the game and were in fact hindering the gameplay. Once the developers realized that action games with fluff was what they were actually aiming for, they could butcher the remaining RPG aspects accordingly, and voilà -- the Decline has taken place and we are on the other side of the looking glass looking in.

And Lulu, you don't even like RPGs in the first place....so........

To be fair, they kind of have a valid point, then again, saying is too complicated without even playing the game, is extremely unprofessional.

Edit.

You know what...nevermind, that video is not nearly as complicated as i thought it would be...is a damn RPG, a tactical RPG, feel shame for Kotaku if this are sort of guys you have to talk about this games.

You played it?

Oh look another inconsequential article done by loltaku journalists.

@Jankarcop

They Played It......

lol. They released a 100 page manual for anyone (not just people who bought the game). Mainstream game journalism is pretty crap these days.

@bussinrounds

So What ?

Wasteland 2 is nowhere near too complex. Giving players a lot of options to tackle various scenarios is exactly how I want RPGs like this to play like. Giving them only an I.W.I.N speech option and a violence option doesnt cut it.

Also, I would love to see these hacks try out Dorf Fortress.

Kotaku is quite pathetic so I wouldn't give much weight to what they say.

That has to be one of the dumbest things I've ever read on here.

How exactly is it too complicated, while you do have a lot of stats you also have a lot of options. Which in turn leads to a richer, more personalized experience and more replay value. And most importantly, it also leads to much greater ROLEPLAYING opportunities. Something that is lacking in these BileWare games.

Yes, if you build your team wrong you will have a hard time, but I am pretty sure that if you do build your team wrong, you will find that out really early on. And really, a team of doctors and engineers will and SHOULD not fare well in scenarios requiring snipers, heavy gunners, assaults and other combat specialists.

This forces you to actually stick to your character roles as well. Someone who has been studying maths and science all his life will most likely not run into a military base guns blazing. He will try to come up with more practical solutions.

@Maroxad

In my experience most of the time these stats are pretty much the same thing. Perhaps you'l have one skill that deal "this" type of damage and another that deals "that" type of Damage, the game tells me they are different but they practicly are the samething used the same, only difference one works one works better than the other depending on the baddy. Wasteland 2 doesn't seem any different, back in PC Gaming days I've seen this crap many times.

Besides since its based on numbers then theres going to be an optimum option, one thats just better than all the others.... Unless they can make each encounter different but that only puts us Back in The Trial and Error wheel house, if theres no consistancy.

Most of the skills in this game seem to add their own flavor or niche, and be different enough in concept and/or function to justify it being a different skill.

The large amount of speech skills in the game make sure that you wont have a diplomat to allow you to talk yourself out of every situation while still mastering 5 other fields.

Furthermore, yes, there may be an optimal solution and there is nothing wrong with this, this is usually the case with life too. However, because of the skill system and there being far more skills in the game than your party can master, you wont be able to go for the optimal solution all the time. This is not trial and error, but rather living with the strengths and weaknesses of the party members you currently have.