Yesterday I spent $60 on a new game that is receiving pretty mixed reviews across the board. I read and watched the reviews, experienced a few boring gameplay videos, gazed on as Tom bounced off the game for an hour or so of his stream, read what other players were saying, and delved into a developer AMA to see what was being promised… and almost none of it excited me. But by the end of the day I still pulled out my wallet and slapped some plastic down nonetheless. Vampyr was now mine, and I’m really hoping to extract something special out of it that most other people don’t seem quite as enamoured by, a promise of something new.
What sold me on the game was the idea that the developers were delivering a new gameplay experience. Not necessarily the best one if reviews are any indication, but a serviceable one that does a competent job of showcasing this brand-new form of gameplay I just had to try. And that’s what really sold me, a promise that it would quench my growing thirst for fresh systems, gameplay, and twists on existing formulas. In this case, Vampyr promises a very deep and interconnected NPC Social System.
This is supposed to mean that what affects one NPC (such as death) will ripple outward and affect many others in deep, interesting, and sometimes unexpected ways. Every interactable NPC–not counting generic trash mobs that exist in the world just for killing–in the game was supposed to be special in some way, and their continued existence or loss would have at least some impact, above and beyond some simple faction system that marks you as an enemy or friend of whatever group you happen to be doing quests for or against, as is common in other RPGs.
As I play more games I find myself being drawn more and more to those specific games that are treading unbroken ground. I mean, sure, new stuff has always been a draw, especially when amazing ideas are packed into small indie titles whose modest (and rail-thin) production budgets can barely scrape a passable game together to serve as a foundation for new and brilliant ideas, but I’m finding myself prioritizing new experiences over polished and refined experiences more and more as of late. I need to take some time off from the 20th re-hash of my favorite online competitive shooter and really see what big new ideas might be buried in places I wouldn’t have thought to look before.
And with that, I’m wondering, what games do you especially appreciate for trying something new? Did they succeed at it? I know in my case the the jury is still out for Vampyr, but I have high hopes. And in Vampyr’s case, they even have a brand new difficulty system that ties directly into the leveling system, which also ties directly into this brand new take on an NPC Social System that the devs are so proud of; and this particular feature is something I’ve already seen some debate over here and other places. It seems to really click for some people, while putting others off all together.
So which games do something particularly unique or new that really makes them stand out for you? Or can you think of any games that put some wonderful twist on a formula that clicked with you immediately? They don’t need to be games that invent some new genre or the like, and the features themselves don’t have to be so significant as to build a marketing campaign around, it could even be as simple as introducing an elegant new UI or inventory system for ARPGs or something. But I am curious, because I’m always willing to follow a game down some untrodden path.
In the end, while a new system will almost never save a bad game from being a bad game, it usually can make playing a mediocre game worth my time. And I do want to emphasize that polished and refined retreads aren’t necessarily bad, or worthy of a lower rating, they usually can’t sate my hunger for newness. So don’t think of this as an attack on AAA polished refinements on some 15th entry in a popular game series.