Today I was skimming through gamespots review for Megaman X8(cause the game is pretty awesome), and I noticed that the reviewer was complaining about trial and error game play. I began to wonder, what game doesnt have this?
My two big examples are Metal Gear Solid 3 and Resident Evil 4. In both of these games you start out with infinite lives, and when you die you start at the "scene" where you died. So now you must go through the particular "scene" in a certain way as to complete it with the most ideal outcome. The game gives you an infinite amount of time to do it the right way. Is this not trial and error? Yes, it is. They key difference is that in those games it doesnt punish you for failing whereas Megaman does.
Why is this a bad thing? Is it that big of a deal for someone to be punished for their failures? Perhaps because the designer of the game expects you to think a little more before you jump? Shouldnt this risk make the game more exciting? None of you run out into the middle of a bunch of guard willy nilly expecting to make it through, so why should you when playing a platformer? Perhaps its the mundane ness (is that even a word?) of the task that makes it so frustrating. "I just have to jump over these stupid spikes!" A task as simple as jumping is more frustrating than say, knocking out 3 guards? Why is this I wonder?
I guess the whole "Cool Factor" plays in. A game like MGS or RE4 plays to our nerd sensibilities more than Megaman; certainly killing guards, being stealthy and or running from zombies is more interesting than killing arbitrarily placed robots. I guess in a sense its more believable, you are more involved because of the fact its loosely tied to real life and a previously established film genre.
So what does this all have to do with trial and error? Some of it could be an immersion issue, but I believe its mostly due to the harshness of limiting continues (mixed with the "I already beat that part why must I do it again" syndrome). I think this type of gameplay is all we have until AI can think, and isnt something that should be punishable in terms of evaluating game design. Learn to think before you jump and dont blame the game for your recklessness.
My two big examples are Metal Gear Solid 3 and Resident Evil 4. In both of these games you start out with infinite lives, and when you die you start at the "scene" where you died. So now you must go through the particular "scene" in a certain way as to complete it with the most ideal outcome. The game gives you an infinite amount of time to do it the right way. Is this not trial and error? Yes, it is. They key difference is that in those games it doesnt punish you for failing whereas Megaman does.
Why is this a bad thing? Is it that big of a deal for someone to be punished for their failures? Perhaps because the designer of the game expects you to think a little more before you jump? Shouldnt this risk make the game more exciting? None of you run out into the middle of a bunch of guard willy nilly expecting to make it through, so why should you when playing a platformer? Perhaps its the mundane ness (is that even a word?) of the task that makes it so frustrating. "I just have to jump over these stupid spikes!" A task as simple as jumping is more frustrating than say, knocking out 3 guards? Why is this I wonder?
I guess the whole "Cool Factor" plays in. A game like MGS or RE4 plays to our nerd sensibilities more than Megaman; certainly killing guards, being stealthy and or running from zombies is more interesting than killing arbitrarily placed robots. I guess in a sense its more believable, you are more involved because of the fact its loosely tied to real life and a previously established film genre.
So what does this all have to do with trial and error? Some of it could be an immersion issue, but I believe its mostly due to the harshness of limiting continues (mixed with the "I already beat that part why must I do it again" syndrome). I think this type of gameplay is all we have until AI can think, and isnt something that should be punishable in terms of evaluating game design. Learn to think before you jump and dont blame the game for your recklessness.