Extremely OK Games has released the first teaser for their upcoming game Earthblade During the 2022 Game Awards, where he unveiled some of the art, gameplay, and music. Advertised on their website as a work explorer platform, Earthblade It is expected to be a successful and visually stunning successor to the studio’s previous title, Celeste. Fans of Extremely OK Games, and indie developers in general, already have a lot to look forward to in regards to the upcoming fantasy adventure.
However, with such high expectations comes concerns about what the game might achieve at launch. No game is perfect, but some concepts, mechanics, and issues have been known to ruin an otherwise great experience. Little is known about earthblade development, but fans hope the developers can avoid including any unsuccessful directions from other titles.
10/10 Frustrating checkpoint sites
In exploration adventure and metroidvania games like Hollow Knight And the rain worldThe most difficult obstacles for players are often the brutal consequences of character deaths. Games with a clear leveling structure allow for more stakes because failure usually only returns the player to the beginning of the current stage. However, games like Souls and Metroidvania can often undo hours of progress with a single mistake.
To help the player and give him a chance to advance through the story, the games have set up save points and checkpoints. However, the placement of these checkpoints is crucial to determining the difficulty of the game. if Earthblade Wanting to be tough and fair at the same time, he’ll have to avoid putting his save points too far apart.
9/10 Unfair general difficulty
Most games strive to be somewhat challenging. Video games are intended to provide a fair challenge to players, unless they are a simulation or visual narrative game. A good balance between difficulty and tolerance is crucial to a rewarding and engaging gaming experience. Some games are notoriously difficult and are criticized by those who are not ready for their deliberate challenge. Others can be quite easy and bypass player agency entirely with non-skipping tutorials.
if Earthblade followed in Celeste footsteps, it is likely to be an inherently challenging game. He must be careful, however, not to confuse fun challenges with unfair difficulty. Players need to be challenged, but there should always be a fair solution to in-game obstacles.
8/10 Reliance on the “amnesiac” trophy
Story of the Land It is still mostly unknown. The developer’s website only reveals that the player character’s name is Névoa,”A mysterious child of fate finally returns to Earth. According to the game description, the objective of the player is to explore the world, discover puzzles, and meet a large cast of characters.
From the trailer and description, it is easy to gather a mystical fantasy atmosphere from his story. What he should avoid, however, is relying on too many metaphors, particularly on an amnesiac protagonist. While there are ways to make it work – see Breath of the Wild And the one hit – It is difficult to use it in an original way.
7/10 Inconsistent learning curve
Each player enters the game with varying levels of experience and skill, but each player must be properly acquainted with the mechanics and features of the game. Some games include tutorials, while others slowly increase the difficulty as the player progresses. Well-designed games know how to teach the player the necessary mechanics without increasing the danger too quickly.
Souls-like and metroidvania games are known for their inherent difficulty, but even they must know how to scale up the game’s challenge. if Earthblade In hopes of keeping players engaged throughout her entire story, she must scale the difficulty scale appropriately. If the game starts too easy, only to increase the difficulty halfway through, it will inevitably frustrate players and create an unpleasant experience.
6/10 Empty levels and environments
Earthblade It boasts smooth exploration and countless mysteries to uncover throughout its story. The trailer for the game actually looks amazing, revealing beautiful environments and a unique set of monsters and enemies. Whether the game is a level game or a fully open world has yet to be revealed, but exploration appears to be a key feature of the upcoming indie platformer.
However, one of the biggest criticisms of games with large environments is their perceived emptiness. Filling every corner of the large map is difficult to implement, but leaving large parts of the environment empty is tedious and unsatisfying. if Earthblade In hopes of creating a rich and dynamic world, she needs to avoid leaving large parts of her map barren.
5/10 Misleading level design
Games with diverse environments and engaging exploration are fun to play, but only when the layout makes sense. A large map can be dynamic and interesting, but if the player is not told how to navigate it, they will only get frustrated. Even open-world games have narratives, and misleading environments ensure that players can’t experience the full story.
earthblade The expected size and scale are expected to be large, and as such, the developers will need to focus on directing the player to the places they need to go. The open map is a great premise, but abandoning the player without nudging them in the right direction will only spoil the experience and frustrate story-driven players.
4/10 Unclear introduction
One of the best ways a game can guide a player without overriding their agency is to create a strong lead. The beginning of the game is incredibly important for establishing the tone, mechanics, and controls. If the prologue continues for too long, players will get bored. If it’s too short, the players will have no idea how to proceed.
if Earthblade He wants to create his world and introduce new mechanics to players, he must be careful in the introduction sequence. Earthblade It claims to be full of mysteries, but how to get started shouldn’t be one of them. Instead, the game would do well to establish its story and gameplay mechanics right away.
3/10 Useless abilities and powers
part of what was made Celeste – and similar games – have been very successful in enhancing their unique abilities and personal abilities. Celeste Use creative level design to make certain stages replayable, depending on the ability equipped, in order to progress the story. Each new upgrade was important to the plot, and each achievement felt rewarding and satisfying to use.
Earthblade You will benefit from learning from its predecessor, especially in terms of mechanics and abilities. There are few things more frustrating than working towards an achievement or checkpoint in a game only to receive a useless power-up that doesn’t add to gameplay in a meaningful way. Each player has a different style of play, but some abilities may be objectively useless.
2/10 Being required to mill materials or coin
One of the most disliked elements of video games is the amount of grinding and repetition that is often required of a player to progress. Some of the games are short and bland, and only take a few hours of content to get through. Others are longer, sometimes due to a slow-paced story or a large setting. But the games that drag the repetitive gameplay just to extend the playing time are the most frustrating.
every match, Earthblade Included, it will require a certain level of grinding to make progress. But the challenge is finding the balance between what is necessary and what is excessive. if Earthblade Wants to avoid boring players and derail the gameplay, they’ll need to balance the game’s varied environment with a reasonable amount of expectation.
1/10 Incomplete launch
No game will ever be perfect, especially when it first launches. There will inevitably be problems and errors with the files Earthblade When it’s released, and the developers at Extremely OK Games will likely address it with bug fixes and future patches. However, what is not acceptable are games that are rushed for a deadline and arrive half finished but at full price.
Indie game developers have the unique privilege of avoiding some of the big corporate and corporate expectations, but there are still circumstances in which unfinished games are released. Sometimes factors beyond the developers’ control contribute, but an unfinished game that is announced as a finished product has the potential to disappoint fans, earn negative reviews, and spoil the reputation of the developer as a whole.