ITB - What I don't like

General discussion about the game.
Delmkorval
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ITB - What I don't like

Postby Delmkorval » Thu Jun 07, 2018 1:36 am

I *love* FTL (Adv. made it even better)! For the type of game it is (roguelike/adventure) I would rate it 10/10 for both value & enjoyment. Can easily play for over an hour at a time and several times per week. Expect to keep coming back to this game for many, many years.

But I've been very underwhelmed with this game and would rate it only 4/10. I find 10-15 minutes is about as much as I can tolerate before giving up in frustration and lack of enjoyment.

For background, I'm an older 50+ board/computer gamer and love turn based tactical games...

The simple art doesn't bother me, nor does the story concept...

In FTL you start weak and slowly build into an awesome ship and have to battle an awesome enemy. You may die along the way, but rarely (if ever) is it a result of inescapable game mechanics or randomness. Whether I win or lose in FTL, it's always fun and a rich experience. And it's rare to lose (if careful) short of the final battle. A single bad decision is rarely catastrophic, but a few closely spaced can be...

In this game, I don't see that progression. I have yet to finish the first island. You health pool is pathetically small for both the mechs and the power grid leading to incredible fragility. The powerups on the mechs are so slow/rare they might as well not exist.

The turn based combat is reasonably well done and enjoyable in the short term, but frustrating in the longer term.

Personally, I would have preferred to see a much deeper/richer progression for your primary mech, with the others being disposable and no penalty for losing. Less fragility in the main mech and less fragility in the power grid with opportunities for significant healing (similar to FTL). Maybe pilot auto-survival unless you lose all 3 mechs.
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5thHorseman
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Re: ITB - What I don't like

Postby 5thHorseman » Thu Jun 07, 2018 4:03 am

Delmkorval wrote:In this game, I don't see that progression. I have yet to finish the first island. You health pool is pathetically small for both the mechs and the power grid leading to incredible fragility. The powerups on the mechs are so slow/rare they might as well not exist.


There is no progression on the first island. At best, you get one power core from a pod and maybe one more from a level up, 2 if you're super duper lucky. 3 is technically possible but I doubt I've ever seen it. It's after that first island is complete that you actually get more cores and the chance to buy extra weapons.

Are you playing on hard? You should knock it down to normal. Are you playing on normal? Knock it down to easy. The game has more depth than the first island is showing you.

Also, try to remember back to when you started FTL and couldn't get out of the first sector and couldn't figure out how that missile weapon was supposed to work when you an out of ammo in the 2nd battle. This is like that, not how you are now where you know what option to pick on every. single. event.

Also, maybe watch a few YouTube videos of people playing. If you're consistently losing pilots and grid power, you are very likely missing out on some strategy or tactic and watching a few people who know the game well could benefit you greatly.

Is ITB as deep and full an experience as FTL? Probably not. Is it a bad game? Not by a long shot.
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stylesrj
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Re: ITB - What I don't like

Postby stylesrj » Thu Jun 07, 2018 9:05 pm

I'm with Horseman on this one.
The game is like a puzzle. You have a set amount of turns/moves to solve it and the idea is to not take damage.

Can you explain how you're playing the game? What do you do when you go into a mission? Do you look at where the enemy is attacking and push them away? Or are you only looking at the numbers? Because one big thing in the game is the whole pushing mechanic. Sometimes you don't need to do damage but to push your foe away.
It is important to know and to utilise that pushing power to your advantage.

That might help you progress better and you'll see the rest of the game open up.
Casual42
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Re: ITB - What I don't like

Postby Casual42 » Sun Jun 10, 2018 3:20 am

I suspect this game might appeal more to puzzle players than tactical RPG players. I'm not a fan of tactical RPG by a long shot, but when I learned about ITB's enemy action preview and the push mechanic, I knew I'd love it.
Do you take time to plan ? When you've made your plan, don't commit, instead think 'can I find a better outcome ?' Do that 2 or 3 times each round. Also prioritize building protection over enemy annihilation and over mech's health.
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Xenesis
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Re: ITB - What I don't like

Postby Xenesis » Wed Jun 20, 2018 11:21 am

ITB isn't very RPG-ish at all in the tactical RPG scheme of things.

It falls fairly hard on the turn based strategy/tactics only side of the genre.
jinggler
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Re: ITB - What I don't like

Postby jinggler » Wed Jul 11, 2018 5:04 pm

As an avid FTL player and "new" player to ITB (bought it about a week ago, already like 25-30 hours played) I understand your frustration, but have to implore you to revisit the finer details in gameplay: First and foremost, test out newly unlocked pilots and reuse promoted heros. I have been starting games with 5 hp and a shield on my primary mech just by virtue of choosing the right pilot.

I know this is an area of frustration for you, but if you aren't progressing past the first island, you aren't engaging with one of the most fun dynamics of this game--and of FTL: Selective upgrades and mid-round "shopping"/progression.

Another thing to consider: This game is a rogue-like, and some rounds are just plain harder than others. Be willing to lose, and ready to have rounds that are sub-optimal... But that might still be salvageable and have value as achievement runs, or test runs. I concur with a comment made on this thread already: Don't be above shifting to easy and normal modes. I am the type of gamer who likes to jump head first into "hard" on most games. Like FTL, this is not the game for this mentality--especially if you want to win and progress.

Good luck and I hope you end up having fun with the game. Definitely not for everyone, but it has absolutely scratched my FTL itch, and has been a surprisingly rewarding experience.