So ... how do you play this game?

[Redguard]

Would you consider the game boring if not played on Nightmare difficulty? It's weird, because you can tell without reading the Rock, Paper Shotgun article that the game was meant to be a roguelike, so playing it on "Normal" seems like it makes it too easy. Losing your items just to recover them where you died doesn't seem punishing enough - a roguelike is meant to deprive you of your progress. But, playing this game as a roguelike from the getgo seems too punishing.

I suppose there's the middle ground - have so many lives and once you lose them, game over. But it still seems to be missing something.

[Redguard]

Well, I guess there's incentive to stay alive because the visiting merchant will give you rep for surviving,, essentially just giving you free stuff if you make it long enough. So maybe that's the "something" I was missing. I'm open to any thoughts you guys have.

[樹皮]

I don't consider the game boring on Normal mode. Hard and Nightmare mode certainly make things more interesting, but if you're looking for a first playthrough I gurantee that Normal is your best option.

[MazyRun]

I like the structure of the modes. I like how you can progress through each mode until you feel ready for permadeath.

Starting out on permadeath can be pretty brutal so it's good to have the option to train up to that level.

I do see the game as a rogue-like survival horror (normal/hard mode are like practice modes for it), permadeath really does tie all the games mechanics together nicely.

When you get to a certain level of experience in the game any death you incur is entirely your fault so permadeath keeps it replayable by maintaining some pressure and intensity in each playthrough.

[Steelpoint]

One issue I find on Normal and Hard is the disincentive to use more rarer or expensive equipment over using melee in even some of the more dangrous of circumstances.

On Nightmare you are fully incentivised to use your Shotgun, Pistol or similar in many circumstances you would not do so in Normal simply because you know you won't wake back up alive in your hideout.

[Antorius]

Not sure of the extent to which procedural generation applies, but I'm not really seeing "rogue-like" in this game. Just saying.

[Steelpoint]

The 'rogue-like' qualties come from the combination of (optional) perma-death and the randomly generated maps. Each game the layout of the map, positioning and even the rotation of buildings, is random.

Edit: I'd argue the game has rogue-lite tendancies, its not intended as a true rogue-like game.

[MazyRun]

Good point, I often forget to mention the procedural generation when discussing replayability. I find the procedural generation is almost as important as the permadeath option in making the game highly replayable.

You'd be surprised how much shifting the locations around each playthrough can subtly change things. Mostly it changes the pacing of the run or the rate at which you accumulate loot (& level up).

For me it also changes my strats slightly and/or the order in which I complete various story paths/side quests..

For example, on day one I have a set of tasks that I try to complete within the first day just to be able to set up the next 2 days and the rest of the playthrough (IF I really want to loot up & level up at the fastest possible rate).

..If these tasks are completed before nightfall you can basically craft a shovel on day 2 and craft a pistol before day 3 has ended..

At the start of every new playthrough, on day one, I have no idea where all the key locations are that I need to get to, it's always a fresh start, this is how it should be, a set map would be boring.

Sometimes wolfman camps will spawn near your hideout, other times they will be on the other side of the map. This can affect your playthrough because ideally you want be trading with him everyday (mostly so you can buy up to 2-3 red eggs a day).

..If you luck out and get 2 wolf camps a small distance apart you can easily travel between biomes making pitstops for eggs (and whatever other items wolfman sells that the trader does not sell).

Sometimes one of the main story progressing locations will spawn near your hideout, other times they will spawn so far away that you wont find them for days. Most notably the key locations in each biome (e.g, the village, docs house, junkyard etc), the sooner you find them the sooner you reach key milestones.

Basically my daily scavenging routes always change with every playthrough, sometimes you can get a really optimal set of spawns which always seem to keep you moving through new parts of the map without having to waste much time and stamina backtracking through already visited areas.

..Other playthroughs you wont get so lucky but it doesn't matter, you can mix it up with a different set of daily routines.

[Redguard]

Originally posted by MazyRun:

For example, on day one I have a set of tasks that I try to complete within the first day just to be able to set up the next 2 days and the rest of the playthrough (IF I really want to loot up & level up at the fastest possible rate).

..If these tasks are completed before nightfall you can basically craft a shovel on day 2 and craft a pistol before day 3 has ended..

Uh ... what?

I'm on Day 13, I'm in the silent woods and I'm just able to piece together the pistol parts, if I trade for them. I've been working with melee weapons this whole time. And I just found the key covered in chicken feces

I don't want you to necessarily tell me and thus spoil how you were able to do that; I just don't understand at all.

[MazyRun]

You don't need to be able to craft a pistol early (I just do it as a challenge)..

Basics (no spoilers)..

Getting a staff gives you a shovel component (use rep to buy the rest of the components).

The shovel gives you access to diggable piles (optional).

Weapon parts gives you pistol components (use rep to buy the rest of the components).

The components may seem expensive but you find many sellables in the first couple of days..

..any shiny stones you find are a bonus (also remember you get rewards in dreams, so gather mushrooms to trigger them)

[Redguard]

To avoid a big block of black here, I'm just going to mention for any newcomers that there are spoilers in my next comment, starting in the paragraph beginning with "Second -"

So ... I've fallen victim to lax thinking.

First - I bought the axe head when I can only craft the shovel. I didn't know about the restrictions on my workshop and just assumed before I looked that I could craft the axe. Felt very foolish now that I have this axe head and nothing to do with it.

Second - after doing the Piotrek quest, and getting the items he gives, I meant to buy the handgun frame. Instead, I absent-mindedly bought another stupid set of weapons parts. I used alt+f4, but when my game loaded again, Piotrek was gone. I discovered in the wiki that he'll return in chapter 2 ... which I find interesting considering I'm still in chapter 1 though I've put some considerable hours into this game. Also, the dude had a map of the next area, which probably would have told me the location of the third hideout and maybe where he's "building his rocket ship" but whatever.

Also, I foolishly gave some of my shiny stones to the Night Trader dude; this is dumb, considering he just gives you free stuff for surviving the night. I could have used the stones on the wolf man for his toolboxes.

I'm beginning to feel less and less that this is a roguelike. There's no way I'd make it nearly this far with permadeath or three lives on the first playthrough.

This game is pretty fun, but mistakes are punished pretty hardcore. I don't typically have the attention span to play through a game twice, so we'll see if this one is any different (once I've played through a story, I find it very hard to be motivated to play through the exact same story again)

[zenjestre]

I survived 8 nights on normal difficulty, then stopped and restarted on Nightmare. This is how the game should be played. I don't even typically like difficult games, but playing this game on anything but Nightmare is missing out on the real experience.

Definitely start your first run in normal or hard though. Nightmare is too brutal to dive into immediately.

[Redguard]

I'd say that even doing that is too brutal. Maybe I'll eventually work my way up to Nightmare, but after getting as far as I've gotten, there's no way I'd attempt nightmare before finishing the game first. It's way too long. In fact, this might be the one game I beat on normal, then bump it one difficulty to hard, then bump it one difficulty again. You have to be adept at playing so as not to die. I usually put games on hard difficulty first also, but this one is too difficult.

[mcSlothalot]

For me personally the game is about its story and characters. Therefore I played it on normal so I dont have to worry about starting over again.
In addition the gameplay itself is not that good so I just want to get as quick as possible through the game (I still want to explore the world but I dont want to waste too much time on fights or collecting ressources)

If I want a challenge I play other games like Dark Souls instead.

[Nero]

I appreciate the art style and ambience so much its even fun on the easiest difficulty. Usually once I know the game I go up in difficulty so I can play it twice.