It's been a few weeks now, but I do vaguely recalling at one point around the time of new years that I promised myself I would lose some weight and stop being such a bum...
Oh, hi fried chicken!
I don't care, it was worth it, it had been too long >_____<;;
On the topic of job searching however, I am currently aiming at a summer internship position at GameLoft, which to my incredible surprise is based in my home town of New Orleans! So as preparation for my cover letter, I went on a binge gaming session of Dungeon Hunter 4, Six-Guns, and Order & Chaos Duels, and this is my conclusion about the former two.
Oh, hi fried chicken!
I don't care, it was worth it, it had been too long >_____<;;
On the topic of job searching however, I am currently aiming at a summer internship position at GameLoft, which to my incredible surprise is based in my home town of New Orleans! So as preparation for my cover letter, I went on a binge gaming session of Dungeon Hunter 4, Six-Guns, and Order & Chaos Duels, and this is my conclusion about the former two.
While I recalled that DH4 got a ton of flack for being way too intrusive with it's freemium IAPs, the biggest issue originally was how terribly scaled the game was, which practically screamed at players that they needed to fork up some cash in order to succeed. Well, they got a pretty massive update back in June, and the pacing of the game is actually quite good now! It was very well done in the terms of waves of one shot enemies spaced with 3 or 4 hit enemies, moving on to waves of 2 hit enemies spaced with 7 to 10 hit mid bosses. It's a nice mindless grinder, and it does it job with alot of fun. As for intrusive IAPs, honestly the IAP ads in the loading screen really doesn't bother me that much, it's actually a alot nicer of a place to put it than having pop ups reminding you about IAPs.
The cash to convenience is actually pretty well done too! Where as most games will charge you rather unreasonable cash currency for skipping timers, DH4 charges very generous fees for skipping timers.
I do feel the IAP items existing inside your inventory is a bit annoying... but it does make the inventory and shop system fuse together more easily. This issue goes away in Six-Guns where there is no inventory, but just a shop that also acts as your equipment selection.
The cash to convenience is actually pretty well done too! Where as most games will charge you rather unreasonable cash currency for skipping timers, DH4 charges very generous fees for skipping timers.
I do feel the IAP items existing inside your inventory is a bit annoying... but it does make the inventory and shop system fuse together more easily. This issue goes away in Six-Guns where there is no inventory, but just a shop that also acts as your equipment selection.
Ok, so speaking of Six-Guns, I have a very similar review, except it's a much better game. I love the feeling of free exploration despite it actually not really being much of a free exploration game. Being able to kill civilians but with no reward other than armed civilians trying to kill you is an amazing decision. The IAP again actually doesn't feel too intrusive.
The thing is, the point of these games are to be mindless grinders making the player feel good by feeling unreasonably powerful. These games both exemplify this point perfectly, the player is empowered and gets to waste away some time on a mobile device for short periods of time killing things that move. And thus, the IAP are done to further the point of "feeling powerful." They are all just to make you feel more powerful at a simple cost of cash, and in a non-competitive game, this isn't game breaking in the least, they just do what they player is paying for.
Neither of these games are ridiculously hard without these IAP's, but the IAP's do feed on the desire to feel strong of players, which is fine, it's a free game that isn't exactly a skill based game. As such, they were both pretty fun experiences, I've put about 8 hours into each and had fun without ever feeling really tempted to put in any money.
TL;DR, they did freemium pretty much perfectly for a non-competitive, no-skill based game where IAP are not a necessary part of the experience. Regardless, they are both fun free games that isn't unfairly challenging, and as a on the go time wasting grind, they do the job perfectly well.
As a last note, both of these games also have great loyalty bonuses in the form of their lottery games, which is a really well done touch. This is especially amazing in Six-Guns, where with enough awareness skills you can actually pick what you're winning.
The thing is, the point of these games are to be mindless grinders making the player feel good by feeling unreasonably powerful. These games both exemplify this point perfectly, the player is empowered and gets to waste away some time on a mobile device for short periods of time killing things that move. And thus, the IAP are done to further the point of "feeling powerful." They are all just to make you feel more powerful at a simple cost of cash, and in a non-competitive game, this isn't game breaking in the least, they just do what they player is paying for.
Neither of these games are ridiculously hard without these IAP's, but the IAP's do feed on the desire to feel strong of players, which is fine, it's a free game that isn't exactly a skill based game. As such, they were both pretty fun experiences, I've put about 8 hours into each and had fun without ever feeling really tempted to put in any money.
TL;DR, they did freemium pretty much perfectly for a non-competitive, no-skill based game where IAP are not a necessary part of the experience. Regardless, they are both fun free games that isn't unfairly challenging, and as a on the go time wasting grind, they do the job perfectly well.
As a last note, both of these games also have great loyalty bonuses in the form of their lottery games, which is a really well done touch. This is especially amazing in Six-Guns, where with enough awareness skills you can actually pick what you're winning.