Shrine reward intended purpose?

[AliceTheGorgon]

(Being a bit vague to avoid accidentally spoiling anyone.)
Just wondering what the general purpose of the shrine rewards is actually supposed to be (from a game design perspective)?

I happened to get the one from Gale Cliffs first, and was rather excited when I realized how good it was. But then most of the other shrines were very lackluster (especially since my boat was fully upgraded before I buckled down and actually did the shrines), and so I'm kind of confused over what they're intended for. Especially since the best one being in the "second" area of the game kind of throws out the idea that they're intended to be useful for players who scour each area before moving to the next.

I will say that I do very much like them thematically, but the actual effectiveness leaves me puzzled as to their intended purpose and general time they're intended to be found.

Edit: Stumbled across a post mentioning their effect on the chance of aberrant fish. This effect would be useful for completion hunting, but the generally mediocre effectiveness of the shrine rewards still seems odd.

[bsg_joel]

From a game design perspective: they offer unique combinations of fishing tags for their size. For example, there is no other rod in the game that provides both "Coastal" and "Shallow" for 2 squares. They're supposed to act as additional options for loadout optimization.

[leafy loaf]

ok, so i get what you are saying but also that really isnt a good reward.... at least, with all the redundancies it doesnt feel like a good reward. i never lacked for either of those types after i got past blackstone and aside from oceanic i havent lacked for any of the tags at any poit in the game. it would be better to get something valuable than something with only a very small optimization, you know? at least, it would feel nicer since upgrading the boat negates most of the need for that (heck, adding a couple tiles of off-boat storage space instead would be an insanely good reward, just like say you found an old tackle box or footlocker or something. you get those tiles but they are 'safe' from monsters and so have a higher value than boat space which can be taken away by one errant hull breech)

[Aethrys]

The rewards are a bit lacking because there's no niche for them to fulfill in the game. The reward for completing the devil's spine tablet quest in particular was something of a letdown considering it's alluded to being some all powerful civilization saving thing and then it's just... yeah.

[Necroscourge]

They also ever so slightly make it easier to catch Abberant fish

[biomike]

Originally posted by Aethrys:

The rewards are a bit lacking because there's no niche for them to fulfill in the game. The reward for completing the devil's spine tablet quest in particular was something of a letdown considering it's alluded to being some all powerful civilization saving thing and then it's just... yeah.

The powerful civilization thing is just poking fun at the Archimedes death ray

[TowerWizard]

Originally posted by Necroscourge:

They also ever so slightly make it easier to catch Abberant fish

The way to catch aberrant fish (at least, for the achievement) is to use the bomb special ability, no other ability is needed .

[Blackspectre]

Originally posted by TowerWizard:

Originally posted by Necroscourge:

They also ever so slightly make it easier to catch Abberant fish

The way to catch aberrant fish (at least, for the achievement) is to use the bomb special ability, no other ability is needed .

Never needed to use it for that, the other tools did more than enough fortunately.
I actually never liked that thing lmao, only used it twice.

[Malc]

each island had a shrine, and each shrine was good for providing a special gear item that was either good for the area you found it in or in the next area. each has their uses, and their place depending on the build. I use 2 of the 5 quite frequently, and simply use the others as I need or want. its also about the collecting factor, gathering these items together, personally I found achievement in simply earning them.