Zero Punctuation: FTL: Faster Than Light - Exploding Spaceships

[IrisNetwork]

We already know you love FTL. Your poem on YouTube says it all.
But Yahtzee, what about Shadow Warrior? Is it a step back to the glory days of FPS or is it a complete mess?

 

[Darkeagle6]

I've been getting into Rogue-likes (and Rogue-like-likes if you wish) for the past few years. There's something I find extremely compelling about games that are both shorter-form and very intense. I appreciate that they just won't let you save-scum; every decision counts, no take-backs. Most of them feature a ton of variety, both in options and in terms of the procedural generation. And it's one of those genres where you really feel yourself getting better, where you see how skill really matters (I love RPGs, but few "standard" RPGs make me feel this way). A person who is *really* good at a game like FTL will only rarely specifically due to the RNG. While you take a character/spaceship/small naked child from zero to hero every time you start anew, it's you, the player, who grows and becomes better at the game as you keep playing it(assuming you're willing to learn from your mistakes).

I found it interesting that Yahtzee found the FTL games to be a bit too long for his tastes, since there's a game, Desktop Dungeons, that was inspired (in part) by its creator's desire of being able to play his favourite roguelike, Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, without having to forsake social life and sleep. (As an aside DCSS is free and is one of the best and most interesting, playable and accessible "traditional" rogue-likes out there; check it out, it's awesome and even has a version with tile graphics instead of ASCII). I'm bringing it up here in case the review draws players that might enjoy such a game. I've been obsessed with Desktop Dungeons for the past two years (it was in Beta until last fall, when it released on Steam) and I genuinely think it's one of the most well-designed, clever games out there. It's basically a mini-roguelike puzzle-y game where individual "runs" last about 10 to 20 minutes (with some of the truly difficult dungeons being longer). Dungeons take up a single screen and the pacing is very cleverly managed by the mechanic wherein exploring the dungeon (revealing tiles that can contain monsters, items, magic spells)is the primary means of regenerating your health and mana.

I'm curious to know if anyone else here has played it... I don't know too many people who've tried it out. I basically have to stop myself from mentioning the game in every gaming-related conversation I have, since I love the game to pieces, but it feels relevant enough to bring it up here. (Also I should probably mention that there's a free alpha version which is perfectly playable and enjoyable as its own game that gives a good idea of what the game is on the game's website.)

 

[MrJoyless]

My buddies and I write a captain's log every so often for our FTL voyages. In the beginning there was much burning to death, suffocating, getting blasted by hails of missiles. But, as we went on our voyages turned into really fun stories of hardship, sacrifice, and Kevin always getting killed by space spiders. FTL is like being an actual ship captain, sort of like firefly, sort of like star trek, sort of like Battleship.

Easily one of the best games I've ever played, ever.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

FTL is a great game. Yeah, you basically live or die by the RNG, but the experience is generally memorable no matter the outcome. Once you get better at the game, death generally becomes the result of such unbelievably bad luck that you will forever recall the time when you jumped into an system with a pulsar and an enemy with two flak guns. On the other hand, when a ship offers you the Weapon Pre-Igniter as a token of surrender, you'll jump onto the nearest forum to brag about it.

 

[Something Amyss]

Faster Than Light: Yeah, It's Alright.

I never got into roguelikes (a bad Dwarf Fortress incident soured me on them), but FTL always seemed like the kind of game that might bring me into the fold. If this content patch is worth it, I might pick it up on steam.

FTL is certainly the one that got me to try a Roguelike. That may be because of the premise, though: micromanaging equipment and the like in RPGs is tedious, but running a starship{footnote]and micromanaging it[/footnote]? Yeah, I'll try that.

I'm not that good, but it's still fun to play it.

Nope. 75% off is the maximum on this one.

I'm assuming HC means through the Humble Bundle or similar.

Why is no one angry about that?!

I'd imagine because it's not true.

Why is it a free-to-play game that's designed to be slow and painful is considered the lowest of the low in programming, but a indie game designed to be slow and painful is 'all about the journey' and 'you just don't get it'.

Because Free-To-Play games are designed to make you spend money? Where's the comparison here? Did FTL add IAPs? You can finish multiple games of FTL in the time it takes to complete one task in one of those games, for the record, which may have something to do with it. Oh, and you're an active participant.

Its a game. Its supposed to be fun.

Gaming as a media has evolved to the point where it's no longer just about fun. Sorry, but the novelty of the 90s arcade is gone. Just like Schindler's List and Law and Order: SVU probably don't make you all smiles, a game isn't required to be fun. Though it get me to play, it should be. Which brings me to the other point:

FTL is not fun.

I have fun. Seems a lot of other people have fun.

And I just checked my Steam. I've played FTL for 17 hours. And I've beat the game once and I've never unlocked something. Ever.
What a waste of my time.

So do you need to win to have fun with a game? Or is it the sense of progression? I'm trying to nail down the issue here, because it seems like you're making blanket statements about something that's different for everyone.

I think I've watched all of Yahtzee's reviews here... is it me, or do these "reviews" become more weird and have less actual reviewing content than they used to?

It's you. Or rather, some days he's more random than others. But it's not so much a progression as it is "Yahtzee being Yahztee."

as far as I recall, you unlock a new ship just by beating the game. On easy even.
Either you barely remember it, or you haven't played it at all.

There's one for winning and one for reaching sector 5, which I think is unavoidable too, innit? I mean, if you've beat the game and all....So yeah. That's...

 

[Terminal Blue]

It's kind of interesting that he complained its too long, because actually an hour or two per game is generally nothing in roguelike terms.

However, because most roguelikes are so much longer the chances of just having an unlucky game are greatly diminished. Sure, maybe one game you'll find a +5 sword of awesome and in another you'll be stuck with a mere +3 sword of mediocrity but the game is long enough that the odds are you'll be able to get something. The player can be reasonably sure that they will get enough equipment/money/whatever to theoretically prepare for any challenge, it's just a question of how long it takes them to get impatient or to overestimate their own strength or just stand in the wrong tile or whatever it is that finally finishes them off.

This is in my opinion the strength and weakness of FTL when compared to other roguelikes. On one hand, it's much more exciting. It isn't just hours and hours of careful grinding through only to see it taken away because you made a mistake, on the other hand the randomness is much more in your face, and it's possible to play well (concentrating for an hour is not difficult) and still lose to numbers.

But hey.. that's a pretty interesting tradeoff, and I respect games which go either direction.

 

[Objectable]

Does the fruit machine dispence regular badgers or honey badgers? If they're honey badgers, I'm staying away.

 

[lithiumvocals]

I have a hard time playing FTL. Not because I dislike it, but because if I start playing I won't stop until long, long after I should have.

Damn fun game, even if I've only ever beaten it once. On easy. >_>

 

[Holythirteen]

I'm an easy beater too...

Great video Yahtzee, but just not as good as your poem.

I have to find somebody to play for me while I give them orders though, that does seem like fun.

 

[EvilRoy]

I think I've watched all of Yahtzee's reviews here... is it me, or do these "reviews" become more weird and have less actual reviewing content than they used to?

Obviously I don't take them seriously or use them for actual reviews that help me decide whether or not a game might be interesting, it's entertainment after all, but apart from mentioning the update he didn't say anything about it, or the large amount of mods you can get for it (which would be relevant since he seems to be mostly a PC gamer).

Just to further disclaim and avoid useless comments; I get that you can glean whether or not he likes something and he does bring up the occasional point, but I'm curious to whether anyone else thinks this has gone a bit too far to the whack side of things.

The actual review content seems to vary in relation to how bad he hated/loved the game, plus how likely it is everyone on earth has already heard about/purchased/played the game before his review comes out. It seems to me that it gets really obvious when he wants to make a point (good or bad) about industry practice or has nothing new to say on a game (because its sequel XX or like this game, just an update), but swings the other way to in depth review analysis when he finds a game that he pops a massive hate/love boner for.

Personally I tend to use most of his reviews to inform my choices. If I can listen to him ***** about a game for 5 mins and I still think I might like it, the game will probably be a winner for me. If he gushes about a game for 5 mins and it does nothing to quell the bunging staff of my dislike, then I wasn't going to enjoy the game no matter what.

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

and here i am, foaming my mouth over the fact steam somehow screwed their own cloud save thingy and now i lost 1 month of work in that game


that being said, yes FTL is that amazing, SOMETIMES luck can screw you over but the avdanced edition content and balance changes make sure that happens WAY less often than it used to

now most deaths are your fault and your fault alone, sure losing over a mistake you made 30 minutes ago that you were unable to recover from might sound harsh, but i can get behind it, its fair and it means you must think very carefully your decisions because their consequenses can ruin you 1 hour down the line

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

This game was a huge waste! And Yatzhee said the critical line, but like every other indie lover, glanced over it. Its a game meant to be replayed over and over, but two hours is a lot of investment. YES! Why is no one angry about that?! Why is it a free-to-play game that's designed to be slow and painful is considered the lowest of the low in programming, but a indie game designed to be slow and painful is 'all about the journey' and 'you just don't get it'.
Same damn problem I had with Papers Please. I'm tired of people saying 'Its not about the game or having fun, its about the etc...'
Its a game. Its supposed to be fun.
FTL is not fun.
And I just checked my Steam. I've played FTL for 17 hours. And I've beat the game once and I've never unlocked something. Ever.
What a waste of my time.

try it now that the advanced edition is released, im sure itll change your opinion, for starters, unlocking ships is now way way easier

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I've owned this game since just a bit post-release and no matter what I do I've never once beat the flagship. So many small things added up to my ship getting trounced at the end. I am not downing on the game, it is a lot of fun but its really annoying the difficulty spike at the end, and the game seeming to punish you for not using x-ship modification.

 

[gridsleep]

There's that music again! Where the hell is that coming from?! The Capcha widget? WTF eh? And then it just stops. I'm going to strangle something when I find out what's causing this.
Anyway, I was going to write that if I had a van I'd put KNOB DRAGON on it myself just to shock the hell out of everyone in town. But my ire is kind of wasted now on that mystery music.

 

[Shim3d]

Zero Punctuation is always much more enjoyable when they're on something Yahtzee's passionate about; either games he really likes or games he really hates.
Lately there's been a lot of mediocrity and it makes his reviews seem rather weary.

So what I'm trying to say is that, to me this is the most enjoyable review of his in a while.

Also the Friedrich Nietzsche joke was pure gold.

 

[gridsleep]

Its a game. Its supposed to be fun.
FTL is not fun.

Myself and thousands of others would disagree.

That should be I and thousands of others. Do you go around saying Myself would disagree? People would stare at you.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

I'm not the biggest fan of indie games. But FTL is the exception to that rule. I love it. I've played at least 100 hours so far, and with new content I'll be playing it for even longer.

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

I've owned this game since just a bit post-release and no matter what I do I've never once beat the flagship. So many small things added up to my ship getting trounced at the end. I am not downing on the game, it is a lot of fun but its really annoying the difficulty spike at the end, and the game seeming to punish you for not using x-ship modification.

right now the game doesnt punishes you for not having x-ship modification, it punishes you for not having x, y OR z ship modification, there are many ways to tackle the same problem

you can kill the crew with bombs, mind control, fire boarding crew or anti-bio beams, you can bypass shields with missiles, flak cannons, boarding drones or hacking modules, to destroy a ship you can overwhelm then with laser fire, attack drones and beams

you will need certain equipment to face certain situations but the options in equipment are so much better now


have you trying looking up some guides for defeating the flagship?

 

[AuronFtw]

Its a game. Its supposed to be fun.
FTL is not fun.

Myself and thousands of others would disagree.

That should be I and thousands of others. Do you go around saying Myself would disagree? People would stare at you.

Myself would disagree.

OT: I definitely liked FTL, but color me in the dirty casual crowd. I play with a cheat engine on so I can fuck around giving myself unlimited missiles or drones or what have you, since I'm not the type of person who would play a game for 19 losses just for that 20th win. Props to the people dedicated enough to win legit, especially on normal/hard, but I personally enjoy the game more treating it like a roguelike sandbox via cheats.

Also love that you can rename crew now, +1 good change.