Is this game hard to learn?

[Shazzi]

I have been looking at the game and it looks really fun. That with the good reviews i am considering getting the game.

Is the learning curve hard? What is it like to play?

[Larus]

Not that hard to learn but you might experience some frustrating moments because there is a lot you can do "wrong".

[VoshkaVonBadMeow]

That said, this game is not as bad as others if you do do something wrong.. unless you mess up at every possible turn there won't be a "game over" scenario..

You can nearly always recover and because you recovered, you will be better in the future.

[[Castiel]]

Not so much a big learning curve as much as there is requirement of time investment. It's sort of like Dark Souls where people say it's so hard but really, what it needs most is patience, and "learn (from mistake) and do better" attitude.

Because there is a lot you can do wrong if you use video game logic.

Oh look some trash wild animal mob near the city I started at, let me just wack them and gain some easy levels. Video game logic would have you believe you could smash a mob of wild dogs.

In Kenshi you'd get ripped apart and eaten alive and the game would continue on without you (til you reload or start a new game). Sort of like real life.. hmm.. you wouldn't go wack a pack of wolves with a iron crowbar. You'd get killed and eaten, and life along with everyone here on the Kenshi discussion forum, would carry on without you.

Hmm big boss inside with a bunch of mobs, I should just charge in like everything other game. WRONG!

Need to assess your character first and squad and see if you're up to the task. If you can't beat them group vs group, don't just give up, use your brain and think of a plan. Such as luring them out with a character and hiding behind some rocks and then ambush to avoid any indoor weapon penalty you may have that negatively affects your stats. Or have your main group lure out all the mobs and then go on the defence using "block" to fight for survival and stalling for time as your thief sneaks inside and loots the treasure. Then everyone just hauls @$$ out of the area back to the city A$AP.

Hopefully that makes you understand the game better.

[Aye Captain!]

You'll get used to the system naturally. The elements of discovery is fun in this game which makes learning curve easy

[nDervish]

Originally posted by VoshkaVonBadMeow:

That said, this game is not as bad as others if you do do something wrong.. unless you mess up at every possible turn there won't be a "game over" scenario..

You can nearly always recover and because you recovered, you will be better in the future.

Yes. Where many other computer games are "if at first you don't succeed, reload and try again because failure equals game over", Kenshi is very much "that which does not kill me makes me stronger".

[Der Liebe Frankie]

Originally posted by Shazzi:

i am considering getting the game.

Free limitted-map-size-and-some-caveats demo (see the sticky forums for the torrent) should give you a good idea of the game's difficulty and tutorial mechanism.

[daemonworks]

I just started myself, and the biggest hurdle so far is just getting used to how this game does stuff, both in terms of general gameplay concepts (Kenshi really puts the 'zero' in 'zero to hero'), and in terms of interface/mechanics.

One specific note: by default, the starting character (and surprisingly many hirables) have somehow managed to reach adulthood in a survivalist hellscape world with absolutely no life skills or attributes to speak of. In particular regarding combat, it's less level 1 fighter than level 0 hobo. It makes the game seem harder than it really is because you'll try a lot of stuff that you'd usually do in RPGs in the early game, and they won't work. It helps to think of it as a bit more survival game (and, apparently colony-builder, though i'm not there yet) than an RPG per se.

[russmiller4445]

All good advise, learn to escape (run, sneak, pick locks) & make money before you try to fight. Everyone & everything can kick your butt. I focus on range weapons before melee. It takes a lot of time to develope your skills. Be patient. Not hard to learn, worth the money & effort. Welcome to the game.

[Ploy]

The hardest part of the learning curve is learning that your lovingly crafted badass main character that you named Bloodhawk or C/\RB0|\| |\/|0nK or whatever nevertheless starts the game as a complete wimp loser and the fastest way to get better is to catch beat-downs from flea-bitten starving destitute sand farmers who are even bigger losers than your MC is.

After that, smooth sailing

[Neme]

Originally posted by Ploy:

The hardest part of the learning curve is learning that your lovingly crafted badass main character that you named Bloodhawk or C/\RB0|\| |\/|0nK or whatever nevertheless starts the game as a complete wimp loser and the fastest way to get better is to catch beat-downs from flea-bitten starving destitute sand farmers who are even bigger losers than your MC is.

After that, smooth sailing

Or superman, or immortal... hahaha