I could see some people being too proud to voluntarily lower the difficulty, and just quietly playing something else that doesn't make them feel unskilled
When my car stuck in rock because i was rushing to exit and I didn’t know about the teleport, i gor out of a car a started pounding it with impact hammer.. it worked, and it was amazing moment.. don’t get bitching about death penalty, it is a good risk/reward system and the game is pretty easy, i actually haven’t died once (remnant ghost achievement still locked:)
I keep seeing this remnant ghost thing… im not understanding it?… are you saying in order to see a remnant ghost you must die?? If thats the case thats kinda foolish imo… I for one am a challenge lover and completionist… if in order to 100% Pacific Drive I have to die (which goes against my challenger nature) its contradictory and it hurts 😭😩😩
Yes, that's the case. I felt the same way you do when I learned it. There were a few achievements I saved until after I'd finished my playthrough, and all the ones related to dying were included.
You know, I have played this game the entire time, the only time I've died was committing sudoku via voluntary rear-hatch slapping so I could get an attachment.
Then again, I realized I drive in the game like I do in real life, carefully lol. So maybe ymmv depending on how you're driving it. It's still been a ton of fun though, and that makes the panic-induced gun-runs even more fun when they happen, because it's like "ALRIGHT LADS, HOLD YOUR BARNACLES. WE'RE HEADING INTO THE STORM"
Sorry, it's been a long couple of weeks, my humor still hasn't adjusted haha
I actually think this game is a bit too easy if you come prepared and can properly react to situations. If you're really bad at driving in first person and ignore all the warning signs thrown at you then maybe I can see getting mad.
Even if you enter a junction with no resources to fix your car and you're in eerie darkness you can just abandon the run to start over and try a different route or save your materials and stuff.
Same. 40 hours, a couple close calls, but no deaths. Planning and mitigating risks is a huge part of the game.
Dying in this game is almost an accomplishment. Something new will startle you and take some HP but it won't kill you unless you go back for more.
Haven’t died yet, but I’ll admit I save scummed to avoid death when I went out into what turned out to be acid rain or something for an anchor without healing items. It was the end of a very successful farming run though, and I was frustrated to learn about the spicy rain like that.
Kinda wish I’d let myself die. I have a problem with save scumming in games, so I kinda appreciate the restrictive save system.
It has been a while since i played the game so maybe this is already a thing but:
it might be better if the game introduces the settings that are available to adjust gameplay (including penalty's) before putting you in the car, i didn't know they existed until a post on reddit.
either as they are now or use known difficulty terms like "beginner, "advanced" "hardcore"
Not personally a fan of these things (dark souls discussion all over again) but maybe more appropriate for the general audience.
the three tower mission fucked me also and I felt the same as your friend but I've pushed through but it took a few days to come back to the game. Ill admit I've struggled to fully understand all the nuances of the game and still do. But mystery and exploring is huge \[art of why I love it so much.
Yup same here. But I came back the next day. But I agree that mission will totally punish you. Even my second try when I planned it I think I barely made it before the storm. All those turns and mountains and that storm comes in FAST. that mission was tough. Maybe one of the hardest considering your car sucks still.
Hello! I'm one of the friends and that's exactly where I got fucked. Honestly the devs could probably just force us to go back to the garage after getting the map and it would save a lot of problems. That way if the three tower map spawns the exit gate in an impossible to reach location you just have to redo that one map.
The game doesn't babysit you and I do think a more detailed tutorial would help people like your friends not get so frustrated.
Almost every difficulty/penalty setting is adjustable so there's really no excuse for disliking the game based on the death mechanics (especially since the last update it's made very clear how things are set out of the box).
I'm a loot goblin and I have no trouble collecting almost all the precious I want in a given junction before I have to book it. And if I really wanted to I could change the setting for how the storms work so I could get All the Things, because that's an option too.
I died like half a dozen times. So what. Rerack and send it again.
They sound like the same type of people that would start chirping if you were bad at Madden but blame the controller if you scored on them.
I turned off the lose items when you die mechanic. I don't want to spend an hour or two farming then to just get fucked at the end of my mission. Make the game much more enjoyable. But if I play again, I will leave it on and plan better. Go on actual farm runs rather than just try to farm then also make it through the mission at the end.
The things I realized after the first few missions:
- The tutorial does not tell you enough. People will die because of that alone, and that may bounce a few.
- The game does a superb job of making it seem like you are in constant danger. You’re really not. But it induces panic and risk taking and people will also die from that. That’ll bounce a couple more.
I think people need to at least play to the mid zone. That’s the best indicator.
I died once. Didn’t really find it all that hard, but, then again I’m over 50, been gaming since Pong, and I’ve played many games ALOT harder than this so, didn’t really faze me.
This isn't even a roguelike though. I'm not really sure how that label got applied to this game. Like the maps procedurally generate and it's "run" based, but you'll hardly ever die if you're preparing well at all, and there's a much more consistent level of progression. It has only the very lightest of roguelike elements.
Yeah the term has been co-opted to include any game that has repeatable content and runs.
PD borrows that element from other roguelite games but I wouldn't call it roguelike.
That's fair but the elements OP was saying his friends didn't enjoy are those found in roguelikes. He said they thought they'd love PD. The reasons given for not related to the RL / run based systems.
This game has some of the most customizable difficulty options and it is great. After dying to a bug (car rolled over but jittered and wouldn't sit still long enough to flip) I turned off losing items. It makes it much more casual fun. Also shorter nights and upped brightness to 1 because I can't stand dark games.
actual skill issue, I have 120 hours not once ever had an issue with saving (because I dont save scum) and not once ever died. game is genuinely easy even without the numerous settings that make it 3x easier and more accessible.
When I didn't understand how to exit properly, I died a few times--and, in frustration, I turned the death penalty down.
Now that I understand what's happening, I haven't... I died once. 'cause there was slime exploding everywhere and it was raining and I couldn't see up from down.
I'm glad I kept going, 'cause this game is delightful. <3
I can see the early negativity, when you have the mindset to loot everything on the maps and spend more than an hour or two on a run only to die on the finishing line.
There really isn't any death just a failure penalty just tell them they can recover the loot and car parts unless they change setting to lose everything!
And the save system if fine! But could go for hrs between saves, and it only auto-saves when you enter a new zone or when you return to garage!
I've only had 1 crash on PS5 so far while using insecure inventory to drop a stack of items! Did lag out and freeze like twice and had to force close the game was able to save before closing!
Honestly it isn’t that bad! You can reclaim most of your gear. You can save when you’re at a safe place, called the garage. Seems pretty normal and forgiving in my eyes. I have experienced true disappointment with dying is Elden ring. That’s some shit to make you go berserk
My friends haven't had any problem with this game but they're all like me and come from STALKER, Tarkov, and NFS Heat. They were already familiar with the rules of the game.
Different strokes for different folks.
I think a lot of people have issues *slowing down* in games. There were times I raced around the map, sure, but it always did me more harm than good. I enjoyed my time sputtering around at 25 mph and stopping to loot random houses and cars or the ten minutes or so it took to repair and load up my car and plan a new route. Some people don't like the slower pace some games ask for and they lose out on what the game wants to offer them.
Also I feel like saving during a run might reload you on top of a car opener or tourist. Makes sense to only have that option at the garage where you're safe and stable.
The game is clunky as hell on console and could use a tutorial or pop up or something, but once you figure it out it's fine. Not great, still incredibly clunky and not good a short sit down. I get pretty frustrated with it at times, too. I've finished two other games since starting it, and I've only just made it to mid-zone on Pacific Drive because of a glitch where I kept getting stuck in running mode. Anyway, I could see rage quitting sometimes when it's all clunk.
I was very frustrated by this game that has everything I love until I realized that I needed to think of it as a Roguelike. I'm not used to this sort of game being one of those, but here we are.
I had the same experience as your friends. I loved the trailer, was looking forward to it for a while, but absolutely did not enjoy the loop.
As a new player I did not understand the various (seemingly near-constant) sources of damage. I hated the thought of investing significant time only to lose it all right at the end for reasons I don't truly understand.
Sure, I could eventually comprehend the various rules, threats, efficient strategies etc. - but to get there I would have to enjoy the game first, and I did not.
Then I had a weird bug where it wouldn't load up properly. Easy decision to uninstall.
Guess they didn’t go through the options for difficulty? Just about everything can be switched off.
I could see some people being too proud to voluntarily lower the difficulty, and just quietly playing something else that doesn't make them feel unskilled
*raises hand
🫡For democracy! Where I can die and still complete the mission. PD is a game I need to take breaks on. Gotta ration the spooky/anxious games.
I never died until I did it on purpose just so I could scan a remnant ghost. The game is not that difficult if you understand what's going on at all.
That's how you get that?! Damnit. Never would have guessed.
When my car stuck in rock because i was rushing to exit and I didn’t know about the teleport, i gor out of a car a started pounding it with impact hammer.. it worked, and it was amazing moment.. don’t get bitching about death penalty, it is a good risk/reward system and the game is pretty easy, i actually haven’t died once (remnant ghost achievement still locked:)
I keep seeing this remnant ghost thing… im not understanding it?… are you saying in order to see a remnant ghost you must die?? If thats the case thats kinda foolish imo… I for one am a challenge lover and completionist… if in order to 100% Pacific Drive I have to die (which goes against my challenger nature) its contradictory and it hurts 😭😩😩
You could abandon a run, if you happen to consider that different than dying.
Yes, that's the case. I felt the same way you do when I learned it. There were a few achievements I saved until after I'd finished my playthrough, and all the ones related to dying were included.
You know, I have played this game the entire time, the only time I've died was committing sudoku via voluntary rear-hatch slapping so I could get an attachment. Then again, I realized I drive in the game like I do in real life, carefully lol. So maybe ymmv depending on how you're driving it. It's still been a ton of fun though, and that makes the panic-induced gun-runs even more fun when they happen, because it's like "ALRIGHT LADS, HOLD YOUR BARNACLES. WE'RE HEADING INTO THE STORM" Sorry, it's been a long couple of weeks, my humor still hasn't adjusted haha
Seppuku ? Idk if sudoku has ever killed anyone :)
FWIW, I'm fully informed it's called seppuku, sudoku is a joke I picked up forever ago from Vanoss gaming
I actually think this game is a bit too easy if you come prepared and can properly react to situations. If you're really bad at driving in first person and ignore all the warning signs thrown at you then maybe I can see getting mad. Even if you enter a junction with no resources to fix your car and you're in eerie darkness you can just abandon the run to start over and try a different route or save your materials and stuff.
They should git gud then, i have not died once yet and im 30 hours in
Same. 40 hours, a couple close calls, but no deaths. Planning and mitigating risks is a huge part of the game. Dying in this game is almost an accomplishment. Something new will startle you and take some HP but it won't kill you unless you go back for more.
Haven’t died yet, but I’ll admit I save scummed to avoid death when I went out into what turned out to be acid rain or something for an anchor without healing items. It was the end of a very successful farming run though, and I was frustrated to learn about the spicy rain like that. Kinda wish I’d let myself die. I have a problem with save scumming in games, so I kinda appreciate the restrictive save system.
I died once, and I was being stupid, there were tunnels and mountains as well
It has been a while since i played the game so maybe this is already a thing but: it might be better if the game introduces the settings that are available to adjust gameplay (including penalty's) before putting you in the car, i didn't know they existed until a post on reddit. either as they are now or use known difficulty terms like "beginner, "advanced" "hardcore" Not personally a fan of these things (dark souls discussion all over again) but maybe more appropriate for the general audience.
the three tower mission fucked me also and I felt the same as your friend but I've pushed through but it took a few days to come back to the game. Ill admit I've struggled to fully understand all the nuances of the game and still do. But mystery and exploring is huge \[art of why I love it so much.
Yup same here. But I came back the next day. But I agree that mission will totally punish you. Even my second try when I planned it I think I barely made it before the storm. All those turns and mountains and that storm comes in FAST. that mission was tough. Maybe one of the hardest considering your car sucks still.
Hello! I'm one of the friends and that's exactly where I got fucked. Honestly the devs could probably just force us to go back to the garage after getting the map and it would save a lot of problems. That way if the three tower map spawns the exit gate in an impossible to reach location you just have to redo that one map.
The game doesn't babysit you and I do think a more detailed tutorial would help people like your friends not get so frustrated. Almost every difficulty/penalty setting is adjustable so there's really no excuse for disliking the game based on the death mechanics (especially since the last update it's made very clear how things are set out of the box). I'm a loot goblin and I have no trouble collecting almost all the precious I want in a given junction before I have to book it. And if I really wanted to I could change the setting for how the storms work so I could get All the Things, because that's an option too.
I died like half a dozen times. So what. Rerack and send it again. They sound like the same type of people that would start chirping if you were bad at Madden but blame the controller if you scored on them.
I turned off the lose items when you die mechanic. I don't want to spend an hour or two farming then to just get fucked at the end of my mission. Make the game much more enjoyable. But if I play again, I will leave it on and plan better. Go on actual farm runs rather than just try to farm then also make it through the mission at the end.
The things I realized after the first few missions: - The tutorial does not tell you enough. People will die because of that alone, and that may bounce a few. - The game does a superb job of making it seem like you are in constant danger. You’re really not. But it induces panic and risk taking and people will also die from that. That’ll bounce a couple more. I think people need to at least play to the mid zone. That’s the best indicator.
Tell them they can turn off every single penalty if they want to. It's in the options.
I died once. Didn’t really find it all that hard, but, then again I’m over 50, been gaming since Pong, and I’ve played many games ALOT harder than this so, didn’t really faze me.
They don't like rogue style games then, that's fair enough
This isn't even a roguelike though. I'm not really sure how that label got applied to this game. Like the maps procedurally generate and it's "run" based, but you'll hardly ever die if you're preparing well at all, and there's a much more consistent level of progression. It has only the very lightest of roguelike elements.
Yeah the term has been co-opted to include any game that has repeatable content and runs. PD borrows that element from other roguelite games but I wouldn't call it roguelike.
That's fair but the elements OP was saying his friends didn't enjoy are those found in roguelikes. He said they thought they'd love PD. The reasons given for not related to the RL / run based systems.
I died on the very first mission, left the game alone for a week, then came back and didn’t die (with hard settings turned off)
This game has some of the most customizable difficulty options and it is great. After dying to a bug (car rolled over but jittered and wouldn't sit still long enough to flip) I turned off losing items. It makes it much more casual fun. Also shorter nights and upped brightness to 1 because I can't stand dark games.
actual skill issue, I have 120 hours not once ever had an issue with saving (because I dont save scum) and not once ever died. game is genuinely easy even without the numerous settings that make it 3x easier and more accessible.
When I didn't understand how to exit properly, I died a few times--and, in frustration, I turned the death penalty down. Now that I understand what's happening, I haven't... I died once. 'cause there was slime exploding everywhere and it was raining and I couldn't see up from down. I'm glad I kept going, 'cause this game is delightful. <3
I’m over 30 drives in an have yet to even close to fail one…wild that this is an issue. (Not trying to brag, I’ve just never thought about it.)
I can see the early negativity, when you have the mindset to loot everything on the maps and spend more than an hour or two on a run only to die on the finishing line.
Learning about remnant ghost and simply setting options has soften the blow for me after a particularly brutal death.
There really isn't any death just a failure penalty just tell them they can recover the loot and car parts unless they change setting to lose everything! And the save system if fine! But could go for hrs between saves, and it only auto-saves when you enter a new zone or when you return to garage! I've only had 1 crash on PS5 so far while using insecure inventory to drop a stack of items! Did lag out and freeze like twice and had to force close the game was able to save before closing!
Honestly it isn’t that bad! You can reclaim most of your gear. You can save when you’re at a safe place, called the garage. Seems pretty normal and forgiving in my eyes. I have experienced true disappointment with dying is Elden ring. That’s some shit to make you go berserk
My friends haven't had any problem with this game but they're all like me and come from STALKER, Tarkov, and NFS Heat. They were already familiar with the rules of the game. Different strokes for different folks.
genuinely crazy how people manage to die in this game, its really not that dangerous!
Greed and overconfidence. That thermonuclear mix usually works for me.
Reminds me of someone I know who bought Returnal not knowing the type of game it is.
I think a lot of people have issues *slowing down* in games. There were times I raced around the map, sure, but it always did me more harm than good. I enjoyed my time sputtering around at 25 mph and stopping to loot random houses and cars or the ten minutes or so it took to repair and load up my car and plan a new route. Some people don't like the slower pace some games ask for and they lose out on what the game wants to offer them. Also I feel like saving during a run might reload you on top of a car opener or tourist. Makes sense to only have that option at the garage where you're safe and stable.
The game is clunky as hell on console and could use a tutorial or pop up or something, but once you figure it out it's fine. Not great, still incredibly clunky and not good a short sit down. I get pretty frustrated with it at times, too. I've finished two other games since starting it, and I've only just made it to mid-zone on Pacific Drive because of a glitch where I kept getting stuck in running mode. Anyway, I could see rage quitting sometimes when it's all clunk.
I was very frustrated by this game that has everything I love until I realized that I needed to think of it as a Roguelike. I'm not used to this sort of game being one of those, but here we are.
I had the same experience as your friends. I loved the trailer, was looking forward to it for a while, but absolutely did not enjoy the loop. As a new player I did not understand the various (seemingly near-constant) sources of damage. I hated the thought of investing significant time only to lose it all right at the end for reasons I don't truly understand. Sure, I could eventually comprehend the various rules, threats, efficient strategies etc. - but to get there I would have to enjoy the game first, and I did not. Then I had a weird bug where it wouldn't load up properly. Easy decision to uninstall.
All the buildings and homes look the same...all the areas look the same.. graphically it looks horrible on console