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[tsumake]

I think a good way to describe “fun factor” of a game is to describe the gameplay loop and overall strategy. I’ll try with a game I’m currently playing - The Sinking City:

The Loop:

- Pin clues to the map

- Travel to said pins on the map, either by foot or by boat

- Use your supernatural sense to find clues

- Combine clues to form a conclusion in the Mind Palace

- Report conclusions to key NPCs to advance story

General Strategy:

- Resources are limited, learn to run from monsters

- Focus on finding clues and resources

- Plan your routes on the map - there is no GPS

- Make sure to have enough resources to craft ammo, traps or med kits. Depending on the situation you may want to wait to craft ammo for a specific weapon depending on the enemy encounter

Now, this is based on my experience with the game, so there may be better strategies and approaches to the game. Overall, I like it. You have to take your time and sometimes the clues are too vague, but you can usually push through.

How would describe the gameplay loop and general strategy of a game?

 

[WellSheet]

I think a good way to describe “fun factor” of a game is to describe the gameplay loop and overall strategy. I’ll try with a game I’m currently playing - The Sinking City:

The Loop:

- Pin clues to the map

- Travel to said pins on the map, either by foot or by boat

- Use your supernatural sense to find clues

- Combine clues to form a conclusion in the Mind Palace

- Report conclusions to key NPCs to advance story

General Strategy:

- Resources are limited, learn to run from monsters

- Focus on finding clues and resources

- Plan your routes on the map - there is no GPS

- Make sure to have enough resources to craft ammo, traps or med kits. Depending on the situation you may want to wait to craft ammo for a specific weapon depending on the enemy encounter

Now, this is based on my experience with the game, so there may be better strategies and approaches to the game. Overall, I like it. You have to take your time and sometimes the clues are too vague, but you can usually push through.

How would describe the gameplay loop and general strategy of a game?

this is an awesome topic!
I just came back to Sinking City earlier this year - along with Vampyr - and both clicked. Sinking City I truly hope gets sequel! There’s so much gold to mine from the initial game, I’m excited for Frogwares to (hopefully) get another go!

 

[tsumake]

this is an awesome topic!
I just came back to Sinking City earlier this year - along with Vampyr - and both clicked. Sinking City I truly hope gets sequel! There’s so much gold to mine from the initial game, I’m excited for Frogwares to (hopefully) get another go!

Thanks!

What did you think of the gameplay loop of Vampyr?

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

This sounds like a far better way of doing game reviews compared to what most outlets offer now.

I don't care how the game made you feel. I want to know how the game functions.

 

[tsumake]

This sounds like a far better way of doing game reviews compared to what most outlets offer now.

I don't care how the game made you feel. I want to know how the game functions.

I agree. A gameplay loop describes the common actions you’ll be doing in a game, giving you an idea of what you’d be doing.

For that reason, I’d love to hear you guys describe the gameplay loops of games you’re playing.

 

[WellSheet]

Thanks!

What did you think of the gameplay loop of Vampyr?

Vampyr

- The Loop -

talk with NPC to gather pertinent quest/data.

explore and usually gather intelligence on characters to make morality judgments for character building.

but inside that very simple loop we’re these constants:


explore discussed area for clues/story progression. combat: think blood-borne lite was usually heavily featured inside of the exploratory zones. This fed into a constant mini-loop of exploring/questing into combat which felt as natural as it could for the style
Of game. As an aside, there was a crafting system but it wasn’t obtuse or overly shoved in.

typically a quest would end in clues/details being uncovered about the characters/character you had done it for leading to your decision to feed on them or not.

the feeding mechanic directly tied into the health of the games main 5(?) districts...this would affect vendor prices and NPC interactions
As well as enemies encountered and difficulty.....but, if you wanted to be a vampire god and have access to a lot of powerful techniques you’d have to often times make decisions to feed on characters because they were the biggest and best sources of XP.

so every quest turned into a dirty exploration of not just the city for cool weapons, new environments or story moments but also explorations of the 60 plus well-crafted NPC’s who could be your next level up...but at what cost? So you’re always doing a morality vs role-playing meta game.