"It gets better later!"

pkmin3033

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    I write this as I force myself to play Xenoblade Chronicles 3 wondering if this will be true, remembering how it definitely was not true for Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

    Many games, particularly those with a strong focus on narrative, require a lot of time and patience on behalf of the player to live up to their full potential and become experiences worth your time. How many games have you played that you haven't thought much of initially, only for them to become something you enjoyed far more than you thought you were going to? What is your tolerance for early-game setup, and how do you determine when a game is worth continuing, and when it is time to drop it? Have you ever played a game that hasn't gotten better over time as you expected?
     
    I'm often slow to warm up to games, even with franchises I enjoy.

    Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam was the worst. Played it all the way until the final area, and lost my copy when we moved houses. Kept hoping it would get better, but it never did.

    I didn't even feel sad.
     
    More recent Kirby games. Spends most of it steamrolling enemies and investigating any suspicious spot for secrets. Generally only fights back at the end.

    Maybe the N64 Paper Mario? Begins fairly predictably. Moves a little slow. Cannot use Action Commands (timed button presses) until after the tutorial area and a long walk. Lacks many badges for interesting decisions at that point. Improves as your options increase.
     
    How many games have you played that you haven't thought much of initially, only for them to become something you enjoyed far more than you thought you were going to?
    Click to expand...
    This was me with Xenoblade 2. All the systems were overwhelming to me at first (the Blade gacha, then core chips, then the affinity chart, etc), but I continued and enjoyed it much more than I was expecting. It's so slow to start lol, pretty sure I didn't have full freedom until Chapter 3.
     
    For me, a game that got better after a while was Persona 3 FES. The game hooked me within the first thirty minutes, but after that it has a lot of build-up. I could have put it down after like 20 hours because the story is kept rather vague, and the whole high school simulation was not my appeal. Normally I would have stopped playing after a while since I prefer RPGs that get the ball rolling in terms of narrative (like SMT), but I could not stop thinking about the first thirty minutes because it shows off the power you will eventually get. It was not until a 1/3 of the way through that the game really takes off, but I enjoyed it and it became one of my favorite games of all time. My final playtime was like 144 hours, and a third of that time until it got interesting... I see why people would rather skip it and go straight to 4 or 5, even if I think 3 is better than 4 (have yet to play 5).
     
    Sands of Destruction.
    It has that sort of 'old skool RPG' start, but once you get through the set-up stuff it gets really good.
    One of my favorite games of the old DS era.
    It holds the title of "A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one" for the system.
     
    Another game that just came to mind would have to be the first Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game. It was the first Pokemon game I ever played and owned at the age of 6, and I had no idea what the game was about. Becoming a pokemon and going into a world ruled by pokemon caught me off guard since I was used to how the show depicted Pokemon. I remember not liking the game and dropping it after Thunderwave Cave, the 2nd dungeon. I would occasionally play it from time to time but never get invested in the story. Only playing it while I was bored. Then I got to the part where you are accused and blamed for
    Spoiler:
    .

    As soon as that happened and the music got dramatic I was now hooked. The game got more serious as a result, you learn about your role coming into the Pokemon world, and start taking on legendary pokemon and try to clear your name. The game even had an amazing ending that I remember made me cry as a kid, and to this day I would say the 1st Mystery Dungeon is a must play. It's a slow-burn and dated compared to the later installments, but I still love it. It's the one mystery dungeon game I keep coming back to on repeated playthroughs.
     
    Well there's the Trails in the sky trilogy. It starts off as what I could describe as a slice-of-life guild based story which eventually keeps expanding its scope and delivers some great characters and moments with some phenomenal music.

    The entire slog feels more than worth it for the phenomenal results.

    The trails games are all directly connected into a long sequentially placed timeline...so that is also intimidating
    Basically, you cannot play sky 3 without playing sky 1 then sky 2.

    But you can play zero or cold Steel separately.


    Speaking of Sky 1. It takes toooo long to get interesting.
    I had played one of the later games first so I could make myself go through some slogs but I couldn't see myself getting into Trails had i started with sky.
    If Sky 1 is your introduction to the series,
    then good luck!

    I tried getting a few people into the series through sky but all of them were bummed at the pace of storytelling and progression.

    The other entries in the series (Zero, Cold Steel, Cold Steel 3) begin the game from a section of the story at a critical plot point midway through the story then take the player through a rewind to actually start the tale.
    This is their way of keeping the player hooked to find out more.
     
    I played a bit of Digimon World: Next Order, assuming it was going to play out like the Digimon Story games.

    It did not. I'm not that used to virtual pet simulator mechanics, especially in my JRPGs, and it's kind of hard to track how much progress you've made when you have to constantly replace your two partners because they have limited lifespans. It doesn't help that what the game treats as "Normal" difficulty is actually "Hard," and it's made Next Order a bit more of a slog for me.

    I haven't made much time for it lately, but I'm hoping I'll make some story progress.

    Even though fighting games don't emphasize story much, I find it hard to sink my teeth into them as well. I've never fared well with motion inputs and frame-perfect tech, if my experience in Smash Bros. (or at least my Pro Controller) is anything to go by.
     
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