Lost in Blue is too hard for a kids' game.

So I bought Animal Crossing and Lost in Blue yesterday because it's that time of month when I give in to temptation regardless of cash and expand my game collection. I started out with LiB first because I figured an adventure game would be a bit shorter, especially since I am way beyond their target age; I also know Animal Crossing is one of those games that you can sink in zillions of hours without realizing. 17 hours later, I am now on day 30 of Lost in Blue. Turns out the game is *&$&*&@^# HARD!

In the game, you are Keith, a young guy who gets shipwrecked and stranded on an island. You must then use various skills (such as pressing L and R alternatingly, or blowing into the microphone) to ensure your and a fellow strandee's survival! Following my time honored gaming tradition of "not reading the manual and letting the game tutorial teach me" I discovered there was no tutorial - no easy mode to get out of before going into the real thing. I died before even reaching the second day. Soon after, the gameplay was a mad rush of attempting to stay alive. I didn't even have time to advance any story, because I was timing and plotting my movements so exactly as to prevent death. Exploring was pretty much suicide as it wasted too much time, and I spent my precious daylight hours collecting coconuts. Eventually, I was doing pretty well with a backpack full of coconuts, a cave to sleep in, and fairly stable vitals. Then the game throws your accomplishments out the window by forcing you to make long journeys away from the safety of your cave. One day of exploring goes through a backpack full of coconuts like it was nothing, and when you come back you don't have any food to eat. So, the day went: wake, collect coconuts, eat coconuts, sleep. It took a VERY long time to get out of this cycle.

Now on day 20, I have bows, arrows, spears, fishing poles, makeshift beds, shelves, and other things. I've become too good for coconuts, and now I eat fish and deer meat. Surviving has gotten much easier, somewhat like real life - you get stranded and in horrible condition, but if you can make it past the torture days, over time you can adapt. Still there is very little time allowed to explore own, as you are CONSTANTLY occupied with basic necessities. My next task is to collect enough logs to build a raft across some lake I discovered, and let me tell you..if you're an obsessive collector or you tend to overlevel your guys in RPGs, this game will be hell for you..and if you're not? Then you can't beat the game. I absolutely refused to make progress unless all my shelves were stocked with the highest quality fish, my weapons were the highest quality material, and my health vitals were all 100% - I figured I was going the extra mile..a power gamer compared to the younger kids who would be playing this game. Even with that attitude, I still only barely managed to succeed in my earliest tasks.

And yet..it's fun as hell for some reason I can' t understand. As a Civiliation and Sim City player, as well as mudder, I suppose I've become used to super-repetitive tasks in games that build on abilities and camps. Every time I add something to my cave, the feeling of success is just so good. But as far as my expectations go, this went the other direction. I wanted a "stress-free kids game" that I could just breeze through for a bit of fun and a story. This was an incredibly slow game. It may not be "hard" in the traditional sense, but the sheer amount of time and patience and repetition required can wear down anyone. I can definitely see how this game could suck with a slightly different mindset. Don't buy this unless you equate frustration with fun. Like me :)

Heh, I don't even know when I'm going to get started on Animal Crossing.

Posted by Paranda at January 25, 2006 11:18 PM

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