What a ♥♥♥♥ show, coop ruined for refund protection

[Dan Fury]

I wishlisted this game because it sounded like a nice coop game.
Invited a friend over, started to play and had him sit there for HOURS BECAUSE THE GAME BLOCKS COOP UNTIL THE 3 HOUR MARK.
I tried rushing through the single player part, but after 2 hours of rushing through dialogues and running through unexplored maps we gave up.

I have never refunded a game and won't do it now either, but man do I regret buying the deluxe edition.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ up coop to protect against refunds is the worst practice I have seen in a while an makes zero sense.

I will remember this XSeed/Three Rings, your reputation has been sullied and your games won't be bought blindly again (unless Ys).

[Tatsumasa]

Instead of going on a whining tirade on the forum you could just contact steam support and explain situation. They do make exceptions when you don't come in swinging and actually rationally explain your argument.

[smacd]

since when was coop a selling feature in a JRPG? I really doubt they put some side feature at 3 hours just to prevent the one guy on the entire internet who cares from refunding.

[Melodia]

Considering the game wasn't even released on PC until seven months later, there's a 0% chance that "refund protection" had anything to do with it.

[Dan Fury]

If this mechanic isn't integrated as refund protection, then why block coop until you have 3 characters?

Is that really just an awful design choice?

You get access to a second character in the first 10 min before any real fighting.
Having to defeat three dungeons and bosses alone before it unlocks coop doesn't make any sense to me otherwise.

[Melodia]

Originally posted by Tatsumasa:

Instead of going on a whining tirade on the forum you could just contact steam support and explain situation. They do make exceptions when you don't come in swinging and actually rationally explain your argument.

Also this. I got a refund once for something over two hours.

[Dan Fury]

Like I said I would never refund a game, it's not about the money.
I was just really pissed yesterday that my friend had a bad time sitting around for hours while I rush through a game I want to enjoy.
Today I unlocked the Coop part and wrote a guide so other people know it is not unlocked from the beginning.
I think if I had that information beforehand I wouldn't have been so pissed.

[NormireX]

Originally posted by Dan Fury:

Like I said I would never refund a game, it's not about the money.
I was just really pissed yesterday that my friend had a bad time sitting around for hours while I rush through a game I want to enjoy.
Today I unlocked the Coop part and wrote a guide so other people know it is not unlocked from the beginning.
I think if I had that information beforehand I wouldn't have been so pissed.

Wow, common sense and logic is straight out the door for you zoomers huh... You begin the game solo so you shouldn't expect co op until you have more characters. You also could have done some research or asked in forums and someone could have let you know.

Not the devs fault you assumed something.

[Dan Fury]

You unlock the second character straight up in the first 10 minutes before fighting any bosses, making you wait 3 dungeons and bosses until the third character is unlocked is just bad design.

[NormireX]

Originally posted by Dan Fury:

You unlock the second character straight up in the first 10 minutes before fighting any bosses, making you wait 3 dungeons and bosses until the third character is unlocked is just bad design.

No its not. People are such whiney brats these days geesh. There are plenty of RPGs that have co open where it doesn't open up right away.

[artimid]

Originally posted by NormireX:

Originally posted by Dan Fury:

You unlock the second character straight up in the first 10 minutes before fighting any bosses, making you wait 3 dungeons and bosses until the third character is unlocked is just bad design.

No its not. People are such whiney brats these days geesh. There are plenty of RPGs that have co open where it doesn't open up right away.

"Right away" and "3 hours in after you completed several dungeons" is very different. I'm fine-ish with forcing me through a basic tutorial to unlock co-op, but I'm not fine with needing to assemble an entire team before I'm allowed to play with a friend. If the idea is not letting us unlock co-op until we have enough characters for four players then... that's not ideal and needs to be stated early when attempting to choose a co-op mode.

So I'm quite thankful for this post. The idea of "Who plays a JRPG for co-op" in a world of online co-op games is ridiculous. I check if EVERY game is co-op, and if a game flags as co-op and looks good then is pushed high on my list of games to buy and play. After all, who doesn't want to play fun games with friends?

[smacd]

3 hours is barely starting in a JRPG, and often still in the tutorial. The idea that 3 measly hours is a dealbreaker and just meant to prevent refunds is pretty ridiculous. Is this your first JRPG or something? I mean seriously, JRPGs are very, very slow to build up. Can't imagine your complaints about the time-to-slime in the original DQ7 (about 3 hours to get to the first battle) for instance, among others of the past.

[DrMadnar1977]

Hey OP have you ever played a game called secret of mana????

In that game you could play 3 person co-op but you had to get the other chars first and depending on how quick you were it could also take a couple hours to get all 3.

Also honestly thinking they place a feature like that in a game to stop you from refunding makes ya sound crazy man lol. like the other guy a few posts above stated the game came out in Japan September 15th of last year steam was not even on the devs minds.

[Viie]

Originally posted by Dan Fury:

Like I said I would never refund a game, it's not about the money.
I was just really pissed yesterday that my friend had a bad time sitting around for hours while I rush through a game I want to enjoy.
Today I unlocked the Coop part and wrote a guide so other people know it is not unlocked from the beginning.
I think if I had that information beforehand I wouldn't have been so pissed.

I mean fair, the game doesn’t inform you beforehand but surely you could have improvised something such as taking turns playing until the co-op unlocked? Your main gripe is that you made your poor friend sit idly for HOURS yet you didn’t think of passing over the controls? That’s kinda on you bro lol

[Dan Fury]

I did play Secret of Mana 30 years ago, but forgive me for not remmbering the unlock process there.
And I am not 100% on this, but couldn't you play coop as soon as you unlocked the second character?

Just looked it up, in that game 30 years ago you get your second party membner in 10 minutes and can immediately play with him. No need to wait hours to unliock the full party.

Originally posted by https://twinfinite.net/guides/secret-of-mana-co-op-multiplayer-how-to/:

In order to access co-op and have your friends join in on all the fun to be had in Secret of Mana, you’ll need to first get roughly 10 to 15 minutes into the game solo with your first party member, Randi. When you approach the Water Palace for the first time, go and talk to the third solider on the left twice to trigger a cutscene that will lead you to encounter your second party member, Primm.

After Primm’s agreed to join Randi on his quest for redemption, pause the game and select the multiplayer option from the menu screen.

[Dan Fury]

Your main gripe is that you made your poor friend sit idly for HOURS yet you didn’t think of passing over the controls? That’s kinda on you bro lol

I didn't expect the unlock to take three hours, was prepared for a few minutes of tutorials. That's why I made this post and the guide, because if you know beforehand it will be fine.