10-04-2013, 12:42 AM
I imagine anyone who quit has not gotten very far. It sounds like people are unsure of what they're supposed to be getting from it or was misled by how lacking the beginning of the game is.
The point of the game is to progress to new areas and get stronger weapons and utility items and fight new bosses. The aboveground/underground areas you start off with are not very interesting and the weapons you start off with make the gameplay itself pretty mediocre. That's also where the fun in the game lies, though; the further you go in, the more stuff you get that actually changes the gameplay and really rewards you with feelings of progress. As said earlier, the stuff you unlock does -not- just change the damage numbers, but your actual abilities. There are many options for combat weapons, so you get to take your pick after you get enough, and you get them at a pretty steady pace. If you think sword-swinging is boring, you can throw grenades, fling around flails, or use multiple magic spells with unique controls. Since you have multiple item slots, you can customize your character however you want. It's more fun than it sounds, if you ask me.
The utility items also improve gameplay. Your normal jump is pretty typical and boring, but then you get a double jump. Then you get a triple jump that lets you propel for awhile (think like a jetpack with limited fuel that recharges every time you land). Then you get a grappling hook. Then you get a better grappling hook. Maybe that sounds all run-of-the-mill or something, but I think it's really fun when games give you such freedom of movement, e.g. Mega Man X's dashing or swinging in Spider-Man games. And since you progress into these things slowly through your effort and they have an actual impact, you feel rewarded on a more genuine level than "yay I do 20 pts more dmg now."
The different locations are also interesting (maybe not so much visually...) and each have their own dangers and materials, which makes exploration fun. It's not just a change of scenery; it's access to a whole new set of items and new, challenging enemies. It keeps the game fresh every time you reach a new location. The game's also quite long if you pick a decent-sized map. You have some level of freedom as to where you can go, but some areas require you to obtain, say, pickaxes of a certain level before you can explore them, and some areas will probably have enemies that are too strong for you. That's really just to help guide your progress, though, and keep you from jumping from low to high level items, obviously.
The game is definitely more fun with friends. So is any game, really, but sharing the feeling of progress and reward together is really nice. There's plenty of stuff to split/share between people. Preparing for boss fights and trying to beat them together is fun too. Bosses are definitely a highlight in this game, I think.
You do sort of need prior knowledge/a wiki to make the most of it though. I'm pretty sure the method to even get the first boss to appear isn't explained very well in-game. I think the NPCs give hints, but I'd recommend just looking stuff up while trying not to accidentally spoil late-game weapons/items. It's definitely a flaw, so do have someone who knows the game better with you if you can.
When I got this game, I shared the common misconception that this game is "2D Minecraft," and they do share plenty of common elements, but the purpose/source of fun in both games are completely different. Minecraft is more creatively-based. Terraria, on the otherhand, is very much action-based. If you came to this game with the goal of trying to make something pretty, you had the wrong goal altogether, so it's only natural that it wasn't fun for you. The building and crafting in this game are almost purely for functional purposes. The game does give you vanity options and such, but really, when the game looks like this, what's the point?
The fun in this game definitely lies in action, collecting and exploration, and the beginning of the game misleads you into thinking it's much worse than it ends up being. The designers could have just made you start with better stuff, but I really think that would have diminished the "get better and better" feeling that the game gives you. The entire game is designed around it, and you'll be working up and up for a very long time, but only if you give it that chance.
/20 pg review
The point of the game is to progress to new areas and get stronger weapons and utility items and fight new bosses. The aboveground/underground areas you start off with are not very interesting and the weapons you start off with make the gameplay itself pretty mediocre. That's also where the fun in the game lies, though; the further you go in, the more stuff you get that actually changes the gameplay and really rewards you with feelings of progress. As said earlier, the stuff you unlock does -not- just change the damage numbers, but your actual abilities. There are many options for combat weapons, so you get to take your pick after you get enough, and you get them at a pretty steady pace. If you think sword-swinging is boring, you can throw grenades, fling around flails, or use multiple magic spells with unique controls. Since you have multiple item slots, you can customize your character however you want. It's more fun than it sounds, if you ask me.
The utility items also improve gameplay. Your normal jump is pretty typical and boring, but then you get a double jump. Then you get a triple jump that lets you propel for awhile (think like a jetpack with limited fuel that recharges every time you land). Then you get a grappling hook. Then you get a better grappling hook. Maybe that sounds all run-of-the-mill or something, but I think it's really fun when games give you such freedom of movement, e.g. Mega Man X's dashing or swinging in Spider-Man games. And since you progress into these things slowly through your effort and they have an actual impact, you feel rewarded on a more genuine level than "yay I do 20 pts more dmg now."
The different locations are also interesting (maybe not so much visually...) and each have their own dangers and materials, which makes exploration fun. It's not just a change of scenery; it's access to a whole new set of items and new, challenging enemies. It keeps the game fresh every time you reach a new location. The game's also quite long if you pick a decent-sized map. You have some level of freedom as to where you can go, but some areas require you to obtain, say, pickaxes of a certain level before you can explore them, and some areas will probably have enemies that are too strong for you. That's really just to help guide your progress, though, and keep you from jumping from low to high level items, obviously.
The game is definitely more fun with friends. So is any game, really, but sharing the feeling of progress and reward together is really nice. There's plenty of stuff to split/share between people. Preparing for boss fights and trying to beat them together is fun too. Bosses are definitely a highlight in this game, I think.
You do sort of need prior knowledge/a wiki to make the most of it though. I'm pretty sure the method to even get the first boss to appear isn't explained very well in-game. I think the NPCs give hints, but I'd recommend just looking stuff up while trying not to accidentally spoil late-game weapons/items. It's definitely a flaw, so do have someone who knows the game better with you if you can.
When I got this game, I shared the common misconception that this game is "2D Minecraft," and they do share plenty of common elements, but the purpose/source of fun in both games are completely different. Minecraft is more creatively-based. Terraria, on the otherhand, is very much action-based. If you came to this game with the goal of trying to make something pretty, you had the wrong goal altogether, so it's only natural that it wasn't fun for you. The building and crafting in this game are almost purely for functional purposes. The game does give you vanity options and such, but really, when the game looks like this, what's the point?
The fun in this game definitely lies in action, collecting and exploration, and the beginning of the game misleads you into thinking it's much worse than it ends up being. The designers could have just made you start with better stuff, but I really think that would have diminished the "get better and better" feeling that the game gives you. The entire game is designed around it, and you'll be working up and up for a very long time, but only if you give it that chance.
/20 pg review
![[Image: sxv5uJR.gif]](http://i.imgur.com/cqpCy.gif)