If there’s one thing I’ve learnt the past year, it would be: don’t be put off by really slow starts. The two games that I’ve completed on the PC and Xbox are Sable and Tunic, and both start really slow, giving into the slow burn dedicated to world building and exposition. In the case of Sable, you walk around to get to know your clan in your settlement, getting to know a bit of the lay of the land, before finally assembling your bike and embarking on your journey of self-discovery. Stick around awhile longer and the game will have you climbing up some really exotic locations, and uncovering an intriguing backstory.
With Tunic, your little fox hero wakes up by the seaside only to find a stick which you’ll need to hang on to for awhile (and getting owned by enemies) before eventually finding a sword. The game has some really interesting puzzles and an endgame that will have you invested. Truth be told, I’ve fallen asleep on the sofa or on my Secretlab gaming chair while playing either games. I might have even dozed off while livestreaming Tunic on the PC. Eeek!
The experience is different when it comes to AAA titles, as they tend to put players right in the thick of action from the start. Some examples of these would be the Halo or Battlefield games. Games of this stature need bombast, being the cash cows that they are, in order to keep players engaged, and leading to more sales. This is pretty much like watching a MCU movie.
Heaven forbid having to spend the first 5 minutes of a Halo game walking around weakly with no sidearm, no Mjolnir armor, no Spartan enhancements and having to talk to civilians to get your bearings.
Much like indie films, indie video game titles on the other hand are pretty much anything goes, depending on the developer’s tastes. Hades however managed to avoid the slow-start syndrome exhibited by Sable and Tunic with a combination of being colorful with an interesting cast of supporting characters. The game succeeded in being intriguing from the start thanks to its Greek mythology background.
Some Indie developers may not see slow starts as a problem, and even if they do want to overcome them, they are probably constrained by budget and/or technical capacity. As a gamer, you may want to consider what I’ve learned and stated in the first line of this post, try not be put off by slow starts and power through, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised by the entire experience.
