I’ve been in one of those ruts lately where you’re in-between games. The game I was really into stops holding my interest, and then I start casting about for something to take its place. For some reason I’ve lost interest in the game; either I reached the shelf point, or my mood shifted, or something; but I don’t have another game to turn to.
I was all-in with Destiny after the Forsaken update, and then one day it just didn’t appeal to me any more. I played some Civ for a while, and then I didn’t really play anything for a while, which was weird. I’ve been playing a video game pretty much daily for years now, and so to step away was strange.
But after a while I wanted to game again, I just didn’t know what to play. So I’ve been digging through old games, looking for something that will engage me. I played Skyrim for a while, but then I shelved it when I hit an unexpected difficulty bump. But it held up pretty well for a game from 2011.
Then I went to Diablo III. D3 is also old, 2012, but man, is it good. It’s like video game crack. It’s almost a throwback to arcade games of old. You run around a map with a top-down view and mash buttons to kills enemies, and while this formula may be old, it’s been perfected in Diablo III. And it just builds complexity on top of this simple mechanic without ever getting burdensome. The game can be as complicated or as simple as you’d like.
And it’s a freaking loot piñata. Enemies explode in a shower of coins and equipment, all of which is random. It’s a game built for grinding. It has an end game that is devoted to grinding. The seasonal system is one of the best solutions to the endgame problem I’ve seen. There is so much to love in this six year old game.
But while there’s plenty to chase in D3, after a while it does get a little old. So, I’ve actually gone back to Fallout 4. I got the game two years ago, and this will be my third start. I made it further the second time. Like it’s older cousin, Skyrim, I find the interface to be a little kludgy, though Fallout is a lot better, in my opinion, the advantage of being newer. Fallout’s “V.A.T.S.” system, a call back to the franchise’s turn-based roots, makes the combat more playable for me. Inventory and character management also make more sense.
The game allows you to switch between first and third person views, and honestly, I don’t know which one the game wants. On one hand, the world is vividly and fully rendered, and playing in first person gives you a deep sense of immersion, a sense which is diminished a bit if you switch to third. But first person limits your field of vision, affecting your awareness of your surroundings. A lot of first person games give you some additional awareness in the HUD, usually in the form of some sort of radar to help you get an idea of at least where threats are coming from. The Bethesda engine doesn’t, opting instead to add red threat dots to the linear compass that sits at the bottom of the HUD, and only if they are active threats, i.e., they are aware of you and are attacking you. If you’re hidden, then the dots won’t appear on your HUD.
This is a good part of why Bethesda games feel kludgy to me. A good first person shooter has very fluid combat—you’re able to run and gun. A good third person shooter has built in mechanics for aiming and taking cover. The Bethesda engine seems to want to go the first person shooter route, but aiming is really loose, especially for hand-to-hand combat. I started to get a little better in Skyrim with blocking and timing my shots, but it’s hard to gauge the distance between you and the target in first person mode because you have no real depth perception. I honestly feel that the game would be better if it used a third-person interface a la GTAV or The Division, where there are mechanics put into place to aid with aiming and getting into cover.
The other thing that gets me about Fallout is the bleakness of the setting. It’s really vivid and detailed, but it’s also pretty much grey and brown. Everything is in a state of decay. Part of what’s magical about moving about an immersive world is the sense of wonder it can convey, just the delight of finding something new, and occasionally, something beautiful. A game like this should make you stop and enjoy the scenery, every so often, which is hard to do with Fallout’s radioactive waste landscape.
In a week, Red Dead Redemption 2 will drop, and this will all be academic. But in November, Fallout 76 is coming, and while I’ve got my misgivings about both the Bethesda interface and the Fallout setting, I find the multiplayer only, no NPC idea that 76 is offering to be pretty intriguing. Besides, I’m sure RDR2 will feature lots of romping around the countryside as well. Fallout and Skyrim should make for some good practice for next week.