Opinion Your experience with an unfamiliar genre (Positive or Negative)

[MegaApple]

Tell the genres/type of games you are familiar/accustomed with and then share your experience.

Could be game(s) or meeting a person/community.
It can that

1. you got into a genre unfamiliar to you before
2. Couldn't get into it but appreciate from far
3. Had a negative experience and don't want to go near it

My story:
I've mostly been single-player action-adventure, story based adventure, shooter, semi-RPG/JRPG kind of person who also likes non-pure platformers (ie metroidvania where there isn't much dependence on platforming), racing games (arcady) and some rhythm games.

There are many hardcore genres out there that aren't newcomers friendly. One of them is Simulation Racing. I dabbled into them with a demo game (can't remember name) where you needed to take care of your ABCs and Gearbox to even move the car. And Need for Speed Shift after that. I did try Gran Turismo 4 on PS2 but I never got that far and only ended up fiddling with quick races.
One day when reading about racing games on a whim, I saw rFactor being mentioned a lot. When I checked it's Steam page, I saw it has a demo. Since it was less than a GB, I downloaded it and gave it a go.
The main menu was ugly as sin, and the huge amount of keybindings was dizzying. This game requires a wheel. But I mapped them to my X360 controller as best as I can. Then took my practice car, made the transmission automatic and went for the track.
Somehow the game clicked with me. I was sailing across the track and I had a very good feeling like flying. I could sense the weight of the car and sense of speed even though I knew the controllers weren't the ideal experience. I then understood the appeal of such games and when they are so tough to get into. Although it's not the kind of game I can play regularly, I can appreciate it from far.

So what are your experiences?

 

[Panda Pedinte]

Interesting topic. When I was younger I had no patience for strategy games until I bought Civ V or Endless Space and I was hooked to it, later I got CK2 gifted and many hours were spent. I still suck playing this genre though.

Fighting games is a genre that I appreciate and I like to watch, but all I know is mashing buttons.

 

[MegaApple]

Interesting topic. When I was younger I had no patience for strategy games until I bought Civ V or Endless Space and I was hooked to it, later I got CK2 gifted and many hours were spent. I still suck playing this genre though.

Interesting.
I've heard CIV5 to be gateway into strategy games. That's quite an achievement.

Have you tried real time strategy games?

 

[prudis]

I've heard CIV5 to be gateway into strategy games. That's quite an achievement.

for me it was Age of Empires 2 (for RTS) and Civ 3 and Heroes of MM 2 (for TBS)

 

[Panda Pedinte]

Interesting.
I've heard CIV5 to be gateway into strategy games. That's quite an achievement.

Have you tried real time strategy games?

I never tried RTS games properly. Actually I must have a copy of Warcraft 3 lying around somewhere but I never played it. lol

 

[MegaApple]

I never tried RTS games properly. Actually I must have a copy of Warcraft 3 lying around somewhere but I never played it. lol

If you liked Civ5, I really recommend you give Rise of Nations a try. It's got the overworld aspect of 4X + your usual RTS fare. And it's really good.
Otherwise Age of Empires II for something more simpler.

 

[gabbo]

My attempts at grand strategy have mostly ended in failure because I can never keep track of all the menus and how to do things because there is so much of it. and the tutorials tend to end very prematurely.
I had fun in the limited time I've put into Crusader Kings II, but I just don't have it in me to really nail down the game mechanics and really dive in.
Maybe also trying to be the King of Sweden and take over parts of the Middle East hamper my abilities, but I wanna do what I wanna do.

 

[MegaApple]

My attempts at grand strategy have mostly ended in failure because I can never keep track of all the menus and how to do things because there is so much of it. and the tutorials tend to end very prematurely.
I had fun in the limited time I've put into Crusader Kings II, but I just don't have it in me to really nail down the game mechanics and really dive in.
Maybe also trying to be the King of Sweden and take over parts of the Middle East hamper my abilities, but I wanna do what I wanna do.

I believe Ireland or one of the Scandinavian countries is one of the best places to start.

And I find with hardcore games, (games with extensive "core" rules, so it's "hard" to get into them) it's much better to watch a good Let's Play. A somewhat different example : I watched Dark Souls Let's Plays by EpicNameBro and it helped a LOT in the game.

 

[gabbo]

I believe Ireland or one of the Scandinavian countries is one of the best places to start.

And I find with hardcore games, (games with extensive "core" rules, so it's "hard" to get into them) it's much better to watch a good Let's Play. A somewhat different example : I watched Dark Souls Let's Plays by EpicNameBro and it helped a LOT in the game.

Dark Souls was also a game I never got past the initial skeleton in the graveyard, but I got that for free somewhere, so I had less incentive to gitgud. I should checkout a lets play of CK2, i've used them for other games when Im stuck maybe it would help dig into the core a little better and I could rule continental Europe with House Gabbo

 

[MegaApple]

I could rule continental Europe with House Gabbo

All the best!

Dark Souls was also a game I never got past the initial skeleton in the graveyard,

You... weren't supposed to go there.

 

[gabbo]

All the best!

You... weren't supposed to go there.

I haven't played it in ages, but it's the starting area. I run through a derelict castle door way on a hill and down in a graveyard at the bottom, skeletons. everything was skeletons. I never found an alternate route. Did I mess up the intro?

 

[MegaApple]

I haven't played it in ages, but it's the starting area. I run through a derelict castle door way on a hill and down in a graveyard at the bottom, skeletons. everything was skeletons. I never found an alternate route. Did I mess up the intro?

Welcome to Dark Souls. You always go the wrong way.

When you are at the Firelink Shirne bonefire facing it, face the opposite direction and go to the left side beyond the well. You should find undead humans (not skeletons) and stairs leading you into a narrow tunnel like bridge.

 

[gabbo]

Welcome to Dark Souls. You always go the wrong way.

When you are at the Firelink Shirne bonefire facing it, face the opposite direction and go to the left side beyond the well. You should find undead humans (not skeletons) and stairs leading you into a narrow tunnel like bridge.

I'll have to install it again and see if that works.

 

[TheLetdown]

I wish I could really get into 4x strategy games. I love the idea, but just don’t have the patience. So I branch out or start shit too soon.

And then I get to spend some hours slowly watching my ass get kicked.

 

[SRossi]

I haven't played it in ages, but it's the starting area. I run through a derelict castle door way on a hill and down in a graveyard at the bottom, skeletons. everything was skeletons. I never found an alternate route. Did I mess up the intro?

As the others said, you can go there from the start (and there are reasons to do so if you know what you are doing on your third or fourth run through) but its definitely _not_ the starting area for a first run.

 

[Panda Pedinte]

If you liked Civ5, I really recommend you give Rise of Nations a try. It's got the overworld aspect of 4X + your usual RTS fare. And it's really good.
Otherwise Age of Empires II for something more simpler.

How is the micro management part in Rise of Nations?

 

[MegaApple]

I wish I could really get into 4x strategy games. I love the idea, but just don’t have the patience. So I branch out or start shit too soon.

And then I get to spend some hours slowly watching my ass get kicked.

Civ5's tutorial maps are one of the best places to start. Civ4's tutorial is almost as good, but its a very different game than 5.
Takes approx 20-30 minutes, but you'll know enough to get moving.
Another method is watching a good commentated Let's Play. Should help you get up-to-speed with stuff like where to make buildings or how to deal with barbarians.

Post automatically merged: Jan 27, 2019

How is the micro management part in Rise of Nations?

In terms of difficulty? I can't say because I have grown up AoE styled RTSs and they are almost a second nature to me.
I'd say turn down the difficulty and you'll be able to manage some encounters that you wouldn't on other difficulties.

In terms of variety, it's very feature full. Every civilization has its own kind of military (for every age) as well as buildings with corresponding stats. Aside from combat, you'll need to see to resource gathering and territory expansion, as well as upgrading to know age when you meet the requirements.
Really on easier difficulties, you'll only need to manage troops and not think too hard on production/upgrade.

If you want to practice a bit, there are skirmishes. They should get you familiarized with this stuff.

 

[fsdood]

I tried getting into bullet hells like Ikaruga and Blue Revolver, but I keep getting stuck and it becomes unfun for me to play. I know there's an option for unlimited continues or easy mode, but I don't feel it's the proper way to play them

 

[MegaApple]

I tried getting into bullet hells like Ikaruga and Blue Revolver, but I keep getting stuck and it becomes unfun for me to play. I know there's an option for unlimited continues or easy mode, but I don't feel it's the proper way to play them

I don't know about the others, but that's definitely how I play them. If talking only in the context of Ikaruga, Easy, Medium, Hard modes feel more like 3 different game modes rather than traditional difficulty levels. As for unlimited continues, what I did was increased the availabile lives with each game over.
I incrementally got better (that's how any arcade game is played) and went from dying to the boss of the first stageover and over again, to almost reaching the 3rd stage boss.
Although, the dual polarity nature of the game is very tough to adapt after you get used to the usual shmups.

Also I highly recommend giving Crimson Clover a try. It's comparatively much beginner friendly, and also have loads of options for highly skilled players.

 

[MegaApple]

I tried getting into bullet hells like Ikaruga and Blue Revolver, but I keep getting stuck and it becomes unfun for me to play. I know there's an option for unlimited continues or easy mode, but I don't feel it's the proper way to play them

One other game you can try is Dariusburst. Probably the most feature and content rich shmup on Steam right now.

 

[fsdood]

MegaApple, thanks for the responses, man. I'm currently not gonna buy any new games (trying to finish my backlog) but I'll look into these games in the future. In the meantime, I'll probably gonna stick with Blue Revolver and learn to memorize patterns and try to improve

 

[MegaApple]

No problem

I'm currently not gonna buy any new games (trying to finish my backlog)

Backlog is a more brutal bullet hell than any actual bullet hell lmao