Review: A jaw-dropping world inside a frustrating game

[thunda]

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/review/scorn/

So yeah, its pretty trash. Shame, because the art design and graphical details is top notch.

[spigias]

Same story with "agony"

[Ryan]

Originally posted by spigias:

Same story with "agony"

yes, i got Agony vibes with this, you would think these developers would have learned from that.
put in a story, put in aliens, put in cutscenes, put in some horror and you might have got yourself a "game".

[Chocos Ramabotti]

Gamers are nowadays too much spoiled with convenience, they don't appreciate a game which you have to slowly puzzle out for yourself, where you can get stuck because the designers have confidence in your intelligence (sadly it's proven too often that the players don't deserve that confidence cause intelligence is exactly what they lack)

This is finally a game that tries out something new where it's atmosphere isn't just a coat of paint, too bad so many people lack the appreciation. The target group of "sophisticated gamers" is still too small how it seems.

[Mocado]

The very first puzzle (when I finally found which device I was even supposed to interact with to progress) killed all my motivation to continue. Way too time consuming and totally immersion breaking. Such a disappointment.

[Ryan]

Originally posted by Mocado:

The very first puzzle (when I finally found which device I was even supposed to interact with to progress) killed all my motivation to continue. Way too time consuming and totally immersion breaking. Such a disappointment.

are you talking about the one where you have to operate a crane and move eggs/sacks around? because i'm at that point and i have just lost all interest.

[1337Dude]

Imagine being a reviewer tasked with having to get past the first hour of the game.

[thunda]

Originally posted by Chocos Ramabotti:

Gamers are nowadays too much spoiled with convenience, they don't appreciate a game which you have to slowly puzzle out for yourself, where you can get stuck because the designers have confidence in your intelligence (sadly it's proven too often that the players don't deserve that confidence cause intelligence is exactly what they lack)

This is finally a game that tries out something new where it's atmosphere isn't just a coat of paint, too bad so many people lack the appreciation. The target group of "sophisticated gamers" is still too small how it seems.

Did you read the review? No. Are you trying to paint yourself as some kind of "sophisticated gamer" (lmao) ? Yes.

If you had read it, you wouldve understood that the issue isnt the lack of direction. Its the total lack of direction or any kind of hints. Thats not good game design, its just lazy. And this IS supposed to be a video game, not an interactive art gallery.

This is clearly one of those games whose central premise is that the player has been dropped into an unfamiliar world and has to figure out what to do. And on paper, other games like this have succeeded, going all the way back to the likes of Myst.

But the best examples of this are games that subtly and subconsciously guide the player through their journey, making them feel like they’ve done it all themselves when in reality they’ve been given the gentlest, feather-light nudges in the right direction throughout. That isn’t the case here.

Instead, most of Scorn is spent stumbling around, looking for parts of the scenery that might be interactive. Even when you find one, you can’t always interact with it – you’re often shunned with a tiny ‘no’ symbol and have to move on because apparently it’s not the right time to use that bit for some reason.

[Chocos Ramabotti]

Originally posted by thunda:

Originally posted by Chocos Ramabotti:

Gamers are nowadays too much spoiled with convenience, they don't appreciate a game which you have to slowly puzzle out for yourself, where you can get stuck because the designers have confidence in your intelligence (sadly it's proven too often that the players don't deserve that confidence cause intelligence is exactly what they lack)

This is finally a game that tries out something new where it's atmosphere isn't just a coat of paint, too bad so many people lack the appreciation. The target group of "sophisticated gamers" is still too small how it seems.

Did you read the review? No. Are you trying to paint yourself as some kind of "sophisticated gamer" (lmao) ? Yes.

If you had read it, you wouldve understood that the issue isnt the lack of direction. Its the total lack of direction or any kind of hints. Thats not good game design, its just lazy. And this IS supposed to be a video game, not an interactive art gallery.

This is clearly one of those games whose central premise is that the player has been dropped into an unfamiliar world and has to figure out what to do. And on paper, other games like this have succeeded, going all the way back to the likes of Myst.

But the best examples of this are games that subtly and subconsciously guide the player through their journey, making them feel like they’ve done it all themselves when in reality they’ve been given the gentlest, feather-light nudges in the right direction throughout. That isn’t the case here.

Instead, most of Scorn is spent stumbling around, looking for parts of the scenery that might be interactive. Even when you find one, you can’t always interact with it – you’re often shunned with a tiny ‘no’ symbol and have to move on because apparently it’s not the right time to use that bit for some reason.

Have you ever played Myst or Riven? These games are exactly like that. I'm playing the game already and everything makes sense as long you are vigilant. Unlike you who just reads reviews from people who are getting paid to play through games as fast as possible. This is not a game for everyone and that's a good thing.

Having game helps would totally defeat the point, as you have to survive in an foreign, threatening alien world where you are on your own.

[Mocado]

Originally posted by Brenda Meeks:

Originally posted by Mocado:

The very first puzzle (when I finally found which device I was even supposed to interact with to progress) killed all my motivation to continue. Way too time consuming and totally immersion breaking. Such a disappointment.

are you talking about the one where you have to operate a crane and move eggs/sacks around? because i'm at that point and i have just lost all interest.

exactly

[adarmus47]

Originally posted by Chocos Ramabotti:

Gamers are nowadays too much spoiled with convenience, they don't appreciate a game which you have to slowly puzzle out for yourself, where you can get stuck because the designers have confidence in your intelligence (sadly it's proven too often that the players don't deserve that confidence cause intelligence is exactly what they lack)

This is finally a game that tries out something new where it's atmosphere isn't just a coat of paint, too bad so many people lack the appreciation. The target group of "sophisticated gamers" is still too small how it seems.

“Sophisticated gamers”. How about you jump down from your high horse and walk amongst the rest of us mere mortals. To me the only saving grace of this game is the art direction while the simple gameplay is just not worth engaging with even when considering the allegedly short play time.

[Chocos Ramabotti]

Originally posted by adarmus47:

Originally posted by Chocos Ramabotti:

Gamers are nowadays too much spoiled with convenience, they don't appreciate a game which you have to slowly puzzle out for yourself, where you can get stuck because the designers have confidence in your intelligence (sadly it's proven too often that the players don't deserve that confidence cause intelligence is exactly what they lack)

This is finally a game that tries out something new where it's atmosphere isn't just a coat of paint, too bad so many people lack the appreciation. The target group of "sophisticated gamers" is still too small how it seems.

“Sophisticated gamers”. How about you jump down from your high horse and walk amongst the rest of us mere mortals. To me the only saving grace of this game is the art direction while the simple gameplay is just not worth engaging with even when considering the allegedly short play time.

I haven't invented that term, that's something that is common in game-designers language. The developers of "Outward" also mentioned that term. And there need to be terms like this so more people can estimate what they are going into.

[derSanitoeter]

Mhm i have seen the game on twitch stream for an hour already and how cow i am bored.

Design / atmosphere is great but the riddles / puzzle to solve - awful, boring, very time consuming. The streamer is losing interest every now and then and you can feel that he is not enjoying it after certain time.

The first puzzle with the crane and the eggs to move - one of the worst i have ever seen.

Oh and saying that the puzzle are for those intelligent enough to solve them and if not you get stuck - that is not the case. They are designed to be awfully long and time consuming in their mechanics. Superslow crane for a very fast and easy to solve puzzle.

It is actually running around in a totally empty world and solving puzzles for whatever reason.

I am really sad because it is a mediocre game with boring mechanics around the great work of Hans Ruedi Giger. Artstyle > all in this.

[thunda]

Originally posted by Chocos Ramabotti:

Originally posted by thunda:

Did you read the review? No. Are you trying to paint yourself as some kind of "sophisticated gamer" (lmao) ? Yes.

If you had read it, you wouldve understood that the issue isnt the lack of direction. Its the total lack of direction or any kind of hints. Thats not good game design, its just lazy. And this IS supposed to be a video game, not an interactive art gallery.

Have you ever played Myst or Riven? These games are exactly like that. I'm playing the game already and everything makes sense as long you are vigilant. Unlike you who just reads reviews from people who are getting paid to play through games as fast as possible. This is not a game for everyone and that's a good thing.

Having game helps would totally defeat the point, as you have to survive in an foreign, threatening alien world where you are on your own.

The reviewer literally mentioned Myst and said the game isnt like that for the aforementioned reasons. Are you blind, stupid or both?

[derSanitoeter]

He simply didn't read anything and posted some ♥♥♥♥ he wants to read from himself. :D

[Mohammad the Defiler]

Zoomers will hate this game because you need to use your brain