This might be the quickest Fin to Bin turnaround in BBLC history, lol
Alright, so this one is entirely on me. I do not enjoy roguelikes, and it’s not a problem that can be solved by playing a ‘good’ roguelike- it’s the features intrinsic to what a roguelike is that turns me off.
FTL is a good roguelike. I can tell it is, and I wanted to like it so much. Even to the point that, after suffering a frustrating death I could have done nothing to prevent- one of the keystones of roguelikes and one of the things I absolutely hate about them- I still kept playing, and even allowed myself to be cajoled into Finning the game (spoilers).
It’s one of the reasons I so strongly emphasise the fact that these write-ups aren’t meant to be reviews, at least in the traditional sense of game reviews. Because after playing the hour and deciding to continue on, I made my way to the final boss and got killed because every single one of my attacks missed and there was nothing I could do to prevent a loss. And it’s a roguelike, so that means starting over.
Making sound decisions, fighting strategically, and getting screwed over by RNG anyway is frustrating in any game, but to be punished with a restart due to crummy luck is just beyond the pail for me. I know, I know, “that’s roguelikes!”, but that’s exactly what I mean!
Fin or Bin:
I played past the hour, which by the rules of the challenge makes it a Fin, but I’ve already dropped it since. I really tried, and please don’t be put off by my words- if you have even a moderate tolerance for roguelike BS, FTL is superb. That “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating on Steam doesn’t get applied to any old dreck (well… usually, but it’s accurate here at least). I was enjoying it, for the most part, but not enough to counterbalance the frustration it brought. You can watch the gameplay stream right here.
(Steam)