Capturing Gaming Feel Not All About Complexity?

Thanks to GameSpot for its 'GameSpotting' column discussing the largely indefinable 'feel' of a videogame, suggesting: " I'd much rather play a very simple game with a great feel to it than a highly complex, sweeping game consisting of a huge variety of different elements, none of which are terribly good in and of themselves." The writes goes on to compare the "polar-opposite types of game design philosophies" displayed in Ikaruga ("I think of [the game] essentially a flawless masterpiece") versus Morrowind ("I think of [it] as being great mostly through the sum of its many parts"), before concluding: "Games shouldn't take on extra features for the sake of it... Quality of gameplay is ultimately what matters most to people who avidly play games, and high-quality gameplay comes from having the right feel, rather than the other way around."

Comments

A little too complex...

[jammac]

I had been anticipating the release of Morrowind for quite a while before it finally released. The complexity and non-linear style of gameplay seemed to be exactly what I thought I wanted. However, after purchasing and playing it for several hours, I realized that despite the apparent complexity of the game, it was in fact TOO open-ended, so much that I felt lost and overwhelmed at times.

What I'm trying to get at is that for myself I would rather see a simple, yet potent game (Ikaruga is a great example) than a more complex do-whatever-the-hell-you-feel-like style game. A complex game like one of the Baldur's Gate games is much better than Morrowind, as the latter's complexity is better suited as a MMORPG.

Re:A little too complex...

[Lynxara]

However, I think the poster's original point is that a game like Morrowind is basically unplayable until you've decided upon which of the range of offered goals you want to pursue. If you aren't the sort of player who goes into a game like that knowing what general sort of thing you'd like to do, the range of choices is more confusing than empowering. This phenomenon is why I inevitably put "sandbox"-style games like Morrowind down after tinkering with them for a few hours... I have fun, but just don't care enough to invest a lot of time or energy in picking what I want to do out of all the options the game gives me. As a gamer, I respond more to Ikaruga-style games where the task to be achieved and how to achieve it are very strongly defined, and the challenge is actually getting the job done.

Re:A little too complex...

[Lynxara]

This conversation makes me really, seriously wonder if there aren't just two basic sorts of games, and two basic sorts of gamers who will tend to prefer one type of game over another. I can acknowledge when a "sandbox" style game is good, but it's not my preference; similarly, you acknowledge that Ikaruga is good for the sort of game it is, but it's obvious not your preference.

The two big trends in American gaming now, as far as I can see, are retrogaming and MMORPGs/"sandbox"-type games. I wonder if most of your big retrogamers aren't pretty much like me, gamers who prefer definition and simplicity, while the crowd following your MMORPGs and big "sandbox"-style titles are essentially like you, preferring something complex and evolving with lots of possibility. I imagine a lot of has been written about these basic game-style preferences, but I wonder how seriously the gaming industry has taken it. While I think people who prefer "sandbox" games are well taken care of by current trends in game design, I wonder if what's fueling the retrogaming demand is the simple fact that gamers who prefer simplicity don't have a whole lot of new, highly publicized material to pick from these days. I certainly don't buy very many new games anymore, despite really loving gaming....

Best Example

[eamonman]

Would be Tetris. I like all the simple versions like the Arcade and the Nintendo (NES, GB) versions. I've tried the Xbox version and I think it's BS (you shouldn't be able to keep re-flipping a piece to keep it from sticking,) but my point is that the simple, set rules of gameplay have made it into classic game that I can still pick up and play at any time, even though I've been playing it a little more than half my life.

Games are complex nowadays

[superpulpsicle]

If someone showed me wolfenstein enemy territory back in 1980, I'd think the game has an unacceptably difficult learning curve. Basically only very extreme geeks could understand it enough to play it.

If someone showed me wolfenstein enemy territory in 2000, I'd think it's no complex than any other game in the market.

What does that say? Alot about the complexity of games in general in the market going up and up.

Too many games offer hours of boring gameplay

[kc78]

One of the main gripes with video games is that they aren't long enough. I hear this all the time from people. However, I hate it when I play a game and it makes me go through the dumbest hoops just to make the game longer. For example, I recently started playing Champions of Norrath. There's one level I just finished where you have to fight through this ant hill of giant ants until you get to the bottom and kill the boss queen ant that's plaguing the city. I must have killed ants for an hour just going around in a circle until I finally got to the end of the level and then had a tedious fight with this ant. All with no save areas in between. (Granted I could gate out and save at least.) I was so bored and I don't know how many times I screamed, how much further is this stupid thing. Same thing happened when I was trying to make my way through Lord Vanderhosts' castle in that same level. A game that does it right however is Knights of the Old Republic, which I'm also playing right now. I've already played for 11 hours on it (which is a lot for me) and haven't gotten bored once. The levels are laid out, at least so far, with common sense in mind. There's no intricate dungeon just for the hell of it. When you're in a base, it makes sense to be in the base and going through the rooms you're going through. I love this game, and haven't gotten annoyed with it even once. It's not overly difficult, but the story is amazing, and the gameplay is great. I'm not even sure I'll go through the hassle of finishing Champions of Norrath, but I'll play KoToR until my fingers bleed.

Re:for example

[Anonymous Coward]

Whether it was an improvement or not is debateable, but the key with Ocarina of Time was that they maintained the outstanding feel of the gameplay. But even so, there weren't many truly new features in Ocarina of Time. The gameplay was for the most part consistent with that of Link to the Past.

well duh

[Kent Simon]

am i the only one who thinks this whole thing is just a little ... obvious?