I definitely see this a lot with me and my friends in that we like challenging and mechanically dense almost sim games, but struggle to see the fun in a game like Astrobot or new god of war.
@@Vanity0666 this comment blew my mind, I realize now there are 2 types of fun, playground fun where basically you have a set of toys to just play with however you want, and theme park where basically you are railed along set pieces loop-d-loops, twists turns, etc. I think probably the best games have elements of both, Half Life 2 and Half Life Alyx comes to mind, where simply interacting with the world and it's physics are fun within itself, but there is still always a rail to follow if you get tired of playing with the world. I definitely like a good balance, God of War, to reference the example, is not very fun to me because the world itself is not fun to play with. What responds to the player in that game other than enemies getting hit and premade puzzle pieces? The theme-parkiness is too evident and I just feel like I'm watching a bad movie instead of playing a game basically.
@@Aycheffe The more formal term for this would be intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation. If you get enjoyment from numbers increasing or a story that’s extrinsic. If you get enjoyment from crafting your own experience using tools you’re given that’s intrinsic. Extrinsic = external motivation Intrinsic = internal motivation
Spitting straight fax as always.
I definitely see this a lot with me and my friends in that we like challenging and mechanically dense almost sim games, but struggle to see the fun in a game like Astrobot or new god of war.
It's the fundamental difference between sandbox and theme park that you are describing here.
@@Vanity0666 this comment blew my mind, I realize now there are 2 types of fun, playground fun where basically you have a set of toys to just play with however you want, and theme park where basically you are railed along set pieces
loop-d-loops, twists turns, etc.
I think probably the best games have elements of both, Half Life 2 and Half Life Alyx comes to mind, where simply interacting with the world and it's physics are fun within itself, but there is still always a rail to follow if you get tired of playing with the world.
I definitely like a good balance, God of War, to reference the example, is not very fun to me because the world itself is not fun to play with. What responds to the player in that game other than enemies getting hit and premade puzzle pieces? The theme-parkiness is too evident and I just feel like I'm watching a bad movie instead of playing a game basically.
@@Aycheffe The more formal term for this would be intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation.
If you get enjoyment from numbers increasing or a story that’s extrinsic. If you get enjoyment from crafting your own experience using tools you’re given that’s intrinsic.
Extrinsic = external motivation
Intrinsic = internal motivation