December Abandonment #1 (Backlog)
Played on EpicWalking sims are weird; some are extremely captivating such as Firewatch and Tacoma, and some are a slog that sometimes are worth it (Gone Home), and many times are not (Suicide of Rachel Foster, Dear Esther). But Ethan Carter was the first one I abandoned. The game tries to take pride in leaving you to your own devices, i.e. providing no direction, and while it is a fine approach, it starts to become frustrating really quick.
I was able to hit certain cutscenes locked behind puzzles, but the puzzles were so aimless that I was wondering what was expected of me. I eventually stumbled upon the mine maze and I felt I was just going around in circles, no idea what to do, no idea how to progress the game, and really not connecting with any semblance of a plot or place.
After 1h30m of aimless wandering, I decided it was enough. I might watch a playthrough on Youtube, but most likely not. What baffles me is that I've seen this game being recommended quite often, and I cannot for the life of me understand why. Maybe I'm the problem, not the game, but I'll wait until someone proves that
I agree! I love when someone can take a simple genre and make it unique and captivating like Firewatch. This one has good reviews but it was so frustrating and boring! I also dropped it.
I watched a full playthrough after the fact and was dumbfounded. On many important parts, I had no idea what the devs expected of the players, or better, how they expected players to figure things out. I feel usually devs teach players how their game works - where they can and cannot go, what things can be interacted or cannot, etc. This game violates so many of these implicit design rules. And the plot, really, is weak.
Have you played Tacoma? I think it’s the best walking sim I’ve played, even better than Firewatch. I have “What Remains of Edith Finch” on my wishlist, but kind of not letting my hopes up after playing this one