by SnailsAttack » Sun Nov 20, 2016 4:39 pm
Slime Rancher is an amazing game with very fun gameplay mechanics, beautiful graphics, and mostly stable FPS.
The game progression, however, is absolutely horrendous.
Let me say that the game DOES start off pretty well. It begins fairly well paced with the player running around collecting pink, tabby, and rock, and also possibly phosphor slimes. You'll likely begin building farms and pens for crops and chickens.
But then it gets totally messed up.
The game only has 2 unlockable areas that can be accessed after obtaining a slime key (after a short grind). However, one of these 2 unlock able areas (the moss blanket) can be accessed without a slime key. All you need is a level one jetpack, which can be purchased after about 3 days of gameplay for a very low cost.
And then all of the main gameplay gets crunched into the middle area of game "progression" as the player explores the moss blanket and indigo quarry and gathers and combines their slimes. That's when the player is put into a very awkward state in the game. While they have likely earned enough newbucks to access the barn, chances are they have already captured many of the game's slimes.
By the time they gather all the resources needed to actually DO any slime science, there isn't much left to be done. Why build a teleport system to the moss blanket when you've already gotten honey slimes and mint mangos? Why build a hydro blaster when your farm isn't in any danger of tarrs? Why spend time running around collecting massive amounts of plorts and various extracted items just for a few decorational objects?
The player is then left feeling empty and incomplete. What is left to be done? Is it worth doing? Why bother grinding for newbucks when there's nothing to spend them on? The upgrades are all complete jokes when it comes to their costs. Everything is well-priced at the beginning of the game, but the price scaling is so pathetic that you can probably buy out every upgrade by the 7th day, maybe the 10th if you take it slow.
My overall point is that the game is in need of changes. Here are the things that I propose should be changed.
- You should not be able to enter the Moss Blanket without a key.
- You should not be able to enter the Indigo Quarry without something found in the Moss Blanket.
- Plort prices should be scaled according to where/when they're slimes are obtained are found in terms of game progression.
- There should be an endgame area with difficult enemies and terrain that is only accessible by finding one (or several) items in the Indigo Quarry.
- The arch island should serve some purpose, as it is basically an extended section of the dry reef as of now.
- There should be at least 2 more slime types which can be captured and made into largos.
These are my proposed changes. I could probably go on about all the messed up areas of game progression, but overall I just want to decompress the middle section of gameplay, where almost EVERYTHING ends up taking place.
Thanks for reading.