Like the map not showing words.
At some point yesterday I guess I fell into step with the story's pace and Aloy's combat ability. Once you learn to use stealth to lure enemies to you and if you decide to stop wasting ammo on small fry and just melee everything that isn't much taller than you.. WAIT.. that's all Ark survival tactics!
But yeah once that's all down.. the game becomes easier. But the mind then starts falling on the little things that break immersion.
The map not showing words when you hover over things isn't a very big thing. Just why? Why can't it keep telling me what each icon is for and why I might want to go to something, like if there's an associated quest. As well only being able to set one waypoint is annoying because it is very easy to get side tracked.
It might be impossible to go back to Ark though after riding around on a horse in HZD that tries to avoid falling and hugs roads.. roads... and I'm going to pretend that it avoids running into trees like a real horse. It even climbs up rocks that would normally get a huge Rex stuck. Just little pathfinding things that Wildcard could have added to the game at any time over the last year if they gave a single fuck about polish.
The further I get into this game the more polish and detail there seems to be.
She asked me how far I got into the game and if I was enjoying it. Right now I'm just considering all the detail and attention Guerrilla put into certain things and not others. Some parts of the game world are really over detailed but that I suppose makes sense because the most detailed places should be human settlements. There's continuity in it though like this Bandit Camp Alarm fueled by blaze. It looks like three testicles. Blaze, I'm wondering, if it is one of the better currencies. You can carry stacks of it and it sells for a reasonable amount. At least after you're done crafting everything that requires it. In one mission Aloy notes that while Nora tribespeople burn the stuff, it is explosive. Seeing them burning it is cool. Short of having a fluid system, cloth system, and full resource system and workers that would make those bags and fill them with fluid. Like Ark this game makes me wonder what a game with this type of insane detail would be like without a menu system and with nothing baked in, nothing just taken for granted. Can the world run like an RTS and still have the player be able to run around doing all of these dynamic story based quests. OR you know without the story because at least for now I don't see the point in the story. The world and its mechanics sure.. but the story is almost at odds with what was built.
So I shot it with an arrow.
And it started to drain. SO CLOSE.....
But then nothing happens!
WHY?!?!?
It just sits there burning away anyway.
So I don't know how to answer that question since the first day with the game was all about these small little things that were bugging me.
But I suppose eventually the game becomes compelling enough. I still have issue with the inventory system.. but not in the same way as Destiny. I run out of room to hold more resources but it's easy enough to expand carrying capacity. Once it is all expanded, once it is full again, chances are there's something else that can be upgraded. But once everything is upgraded its time to stop collecting crafting material and just focus on things you can sell and doing mission objectives in a path that has merchants along the way.
I'm still thinking that the game is missing something for balance because it doesn't take much to take down things like Bellowbacks I told her. She's like just wait. You're bound to come across even nastier things. I tried to tell her that after dealing with an assortment of asshole creatures in Ark.. most recently Rock Elementals and Wyverns.. I didn't expect this game to have much challenge. It doesn't really but Aloy is SO squishy! I figured buying better armor, upping her stealth and getting the best weapons would help. Maybe in the long run but everything is really expensive so for a while at least Aloy is stuck with sticks and stones mostly. Her little toothpick spear is plenty reasonable enough.
Expect if one is meant to fight a giant SIVA gator. When you're stuck in some kind of giant amusement park gone horribly wrong.. Maybe some real armor would be nice.
Went at him like a regular sawtooth with melees and a couple of traps.. then a sawtooth tagged in. Sigh.
Found that it had dropped a Thunderlord. Might have been useful for causing damage.. oh well that is what I meant by extra firepower. It sucks you can't run around with one like you can in destiny (or 29 other weapons including seevral heavy weapons..). Where do guardians even hide such a massive arsenal anyway?