In recent years, the only game that comes to mind where I’ve done actual honest-to-god arithmetic (on paper too) is Solium Infernum. That can get a bit heavy at times.

@Gregg: It was this very podcast with Bennett Foddy I was referring to when we had that discussion at the Eurogamer Expo. I suspect the death-by-numbers approach of such games is something that will recede into the past with only dedicated hardcore left to support it, much like text adventures. While it remains a “contemporary” design mechanic, there’s something anachronistic about it. Then again, don’t stats improve the arithmetic skills of those playing them? The more we strip away…

(Another FUEL mention! I haven’t played the game for ages.)

@Matt W: I’ve not played NightSky but I suspect the the ‘ball mechanic’ in Knytt Underground is similar when I played it in Copenhagen back in April.

Have you tried Osmos? It gives me the same lonely feeling of being a ball hurtling through space, and has some of the same enforced slowness and waiting as NightSky. For some reason I don’t usually find it as frustrating when I mess up and wipe out my progress in Osmos, though it’s not like I’ve finished it either.

Ever since my brother started playing MMOs, and me watching him bash numbers out of his enemies, I’ve always wondered why modern games, particularly RPGs have to be so abstract. Thinking about it, DX:HR can kind of get away with its abstractions, the HUD, the health bar, your energy meter/battery power, radar etc. because you’re augmented with various technological devices. The hazard suit in Half-Life was kind of the same and perhaps even the Pip Boy in Fallout but generally speaking, those sorts of things usually bug me as well. And to quote Alan Hazelden: “I hate tutorials”, amen! Any game which lets me start playing without having to bash me over the head with a tutorial gets extra kudos. Vessel in particular comes to mind.

I could relate to what Jenn Frank was saying about the sparse graphics and sound equating to a lonely experience. That kind of feel doesn’t exist so much these days. I think the last game to make me feel quite lonely was probably Knytt. And Penumbra. Which reminds me, I must check out Night Sky and Saira…

I, uh, I take this back. It’s way too interesting not to have an article; I’ll get right on it. But, think: What are you climbing towards? What gets you there? What do you find there? You know, normal essay prompt stuffs.

But I am happy to admit I’m wrong down the line, these are just concerns. I think we all know how much I like to self-flagellate on this site. Don’t read that as self-fellate which is a totally different conversation.

I suppose what I meant to ask in regards to collectibles was if there was a respectable way to implement them into Dream (or something like it), or if it’s destined to be a step back no matter what.

On Dream, I wasn’t the only person to “give up” on the mazes that I saw and my concerns were more impressions from the interview rather than exactly what I saw in the game.

Maybe we should all try a Gear Up deathmatch! Although not for the next few weeks, anyway.

@BeamSplashX: Cause and effect is pretty difficult to disentangle right now. I was ill because too much was going on, but that then added to the troubles. Yay!

My worry about “collectibles” was that Dream was trying to mark out its own territory and implementing that kind of foraging achievement mechanic seemed a bit backwards. I say this having fallen in love with diamond hunting in Far Cry 2 and being a complete hidden package junkie in GTA III.

Good luck completing your watching of an incomplete Let’s Play. That sounds like some real work.

I agree that collectibles are a cheap way to encourage exploration, even if I somewhat enjoy them. But mostly they get on my nerves, because I’m always on the lookout for them if I know they exist but somehow skirt around actually ever finding them. That said, is there an example of them being done properly?

I have some catching up to do with your posts, but I’ve unfortunately done my OCD a disservice and got sucked into watching a Let’s Play of Final Fantasy XIII-2. Luckily for me, they gave up early, so I’m almost done. Then I can return to posting too-many-words comments, like this one about not posting too-many-words comments.