Simpler Sometimes Better In Videogames?

Thanks to NTSC-UK for their editorial discussing why more simple gameplay does not necessarily make a videogame worthless. The piece argues: "So why are there so many howls of derision when a game like Dead or Alive tries to make the concept of fighting entertaining with a button bashing, quick and easy style? [...] Just because an artificial intelligence can come back at you and outplay you on your own terms, is the game inherently more enjoyable?" The piece concludes by praising simple titles such as Super Monkey Ball and Wario Ware Inc., and suggesting: "The important thing, though, is that a game's worth cannot and should not be judged purely on its perceived 'depth' or complexity... there can be no argument that one game is better than another solely because it will take months to learn all there is to learn of it."

Comments

Re:Dead or Alive

[Black Hitler]

It's Team Ninja's baby, and with such great gameplay achievements such as 'Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball' to emphasise the point, it's easy to see why the DoA series gets criticised.

The funny thing about DOAXBV is that the creator actually admitted the gameplay was so simplistic you could play it with one hand. His explanation was that he wanted it to be easy enough for his 5-year-old daughter. Uh huh.

Re:Wisdom of Miyamoto:

[Slashdot Insider]

Incidentally, one of the titles praised in the story--Super Monkey Ball--follows that formula exactly. In fact, once you get past the menu screens and into the actual game, the analog stick is the only thing that you need. Despite the simple controls, the game is maddeningly difficult, especially on the expert levels (or master levels, if you ever manage to get there--I haven't).

Re:Deus Ex vs Deus Ex: Invisible War

[unclethursday]

My review of DX:IW. I compare the two games throuought the review for people who haven't ever played the first (which you can find, if you can find it, for $10 brand new for the PC).

DX:IW is in no way a bad game, but, it certainly isn't as good as its predecessor.

The first Deus Ex, in case you didn't know, had a lot more RPG elements in it, as well as being a FPS game. Experience points, skill building systems, etc., all made Deus Ex much more than a simple FPS game. If you ever played System Shock 2, Deus Ex was designed by the same people, and improved upon the greatness that was System Shock 2.

DX:IW got rid of the experience points, the skill system, the individual body part health, and actually got rid of of the more outdoor-type areas that permiated the original (which were great, even if they were smaller than they may have looked).

I still gave DX:IW an 8 out of 10. It's a very good game, overall. But, compared to the original, it just isn't quite the same sort of feeling as you go through it. The original Deus Ex is a 10 in my book, even on my shitty PC that barely runs it (more to do with the video card than anything else).

Re:Deus Ex vs Deus Ex: Invisible War

[murdocj]

I would agree that Invisible War isn't nearly as good as Deus Ex. It seems like they concentrated on stuff like "real world physics" and lighting effects that are cool for about 5 seconds, but they got rid of the depth of play.

One important point is that even though the original game had a lot of depth, it was not complicated to learn. Also, the game "flowed" really well. You never felt like you were "finishing a level", you felt like you were exploring the world. Invisible War feels a lot more like a plain shooter. It also seems a lot harder to sneak around in Invisible War... seems like you are required to treat it as a shooter rather than an RPG.