I think I started playing Warframe when it just came out, but only like 30 hours maybe, came back several years later and played 30 more. A couple years ago I played 30 more. I’ve always been so confused and it only gets worse every time I come back. But I like the bits where the ninja goes woosh and chop and bang, so that’s pretty cool.
I think the main reason The Second Dream hit so hard was because the game was so flat and plotless up until that point. Like, it’s a great story and all, but the “twist” would have been guessed within moments of starting it if players expected there to be any plot beyond the scraps of lore they’d been given thus far.
Though kudos to the devs for making that flatness part of the plot, as you’re basically just a machine going through the motions until you “awaken”. Still sucks from a gameplay perspective, of course.
Definitely felt like the new war was a bit of a letdown after the first few, and the whole time loop thing in the other quest was a neat premise but the execution felt a bit all over the place. Actually my biggest issue with more recent Warframe stuff is that it feels like nobody says no to any ideas. I do still drop in to see where it’s at though.
I still count The Second Dream among the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had. I agree with you that the only reason it worked is because the game was so plotless until that point, but it’s not like the game wasn’t fun until then - it was just fun for reasons other than story. If the moment to moment gameplay hadn’t been engaging, having the big reveal be tens or hundreds of hours into the experience wouldn’t have worked at all.
The game Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is another example of this sort of thing… There’s a moment near the end that hits really hard, and I feel like the whole design discussion for the game focused on that moment and the rest of the game was just a vessel to get the player to the point where it would hit hardest, and it does a great job of that. It’s only a 4 hour experience, though, not a 40+ hour one.
Oh, definitely. Warframe’s movement mechanics are second to none and the combat is sublime, albeit unbalanced as hell (though in the player’s favor at least). It went from a good game to one of the all-time greats once they added the narrative alongside handcrafted missions.
I think another cause of early Warframe burnout is needing to unlock the starchart. Its mostly linear design forces you to play several of each mission type to progress, including ones the majority of the playerbase hates. And before we got open world hubs like Cetus and Orb Vallis with activities like spear fishing, hunting and racing, there wasn’t much you could do to unwind within the game when you got bored of missions.
Warframe players fr (I have over 3,000 hours)
I think I started playing Warframe when it just came out, but only like 30 hours maybe, came back several years later and played 30 more. A couple years ago I played 30 more. I’ve always been so confused and it only gets worse every time I come back. But I like the bits where the ninja goes woosh and chop and bang, so that’s pretty cool.
I think the main reason The Second Dream hit so hard was because the game was so flat and plotless up until that point. Like, it’s a great story and all, but the “twist” would have been guessed within moments of starting it if players expected there to be any plot beyond the scraps of lore they’d been given thus far.
Though kudos to the devs for making that flatness part of the plot, as you’re basically just a machine going through the motions until you “awaken”. Still sucks from a gameplay perspective, of course.
Not to mention every quest after the second dream is also absolute cinema
Definitely felt like the new war was a bit of a letdown after the first few, and the whole time loop thing in the other quest was a neat premise but the execution felt a bit all over the place. Actually my biggest issue with more recent Warframe stuff is that it feels like nobody says no to any ideas. I do still drop in to see where it’s at though.
I still count The Second Dream among the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had. I agree with you that the only reason it worked is because the game was so plotless until that point, but it’s not like the game wasn’t fun until then - it was just fun for reasons other than story. If the moment to moment gameplay hadn’t been engaging, having the big reveal be tens or hundreds of hours into the experience wouldn’t have worked at all.
The game Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is another example of this sort of thing… There’s a moment near the end that hits really hard, and I feel like the whole design discussion for the game focused on that moment and the rest of the game was just a vessel to get the player to the point where it would hit hardest, and it does a great job of that. It’s only a 4 hour experience, though, not a 40+ hour one.
Oh, definitely. Warframe’s movement mechanics are second to none and the combat is sublime, albeit unbalanced as hell (though in the player’s favor at least). It went from a good game to one of the all-time greats once they added the narrative alongside handcrafted missions.
I think another cause of early Warframe burnout is needing to unlock the starchart. Its mostly linear design forces you to play several of each mission type to progress, including ones the majority of the playerbase hates. And before we got open world hubs like Cetus and Orb Vallis with activities like spear fishing, hunting and racing, there wasn’t much you could do to unwind within the game when you got bored of missions.
Came here for this. I bounced before I could reach that “mission thar changes everything”.