Terraria has been my family's go-to game for a while. While it's natural to assume that two little boys would absolutely love this game, my sisters and their kids love it as well. We've celebrated birthdays, we've hunted bosses, we've built gem farms and moss farms together. It's been a lifesaver over this tumultuous year, especially for Balin. He's such a social creature. Being away from his friends and teachers at school has been hard for him.
It's funny how quickly we've latched onto this game. I remember when the boys came home from gymnastics. Their friend Asher had told them about Terraria. "It's like a 2D Minecraft!" they exclaimed.
I, however, was unimpressed. I hate Minecraft with a passion. I hate the mindlessness of it and the sheer laziness of the developers (No quests? No bosses? No worthwhile NPCs?). I hate feeling inadequate when I play. I hate the lack of progression (Again, no quests? No bosses? No worthwhile NPCs?). Most of all, I passionately hate Creepers with their horrible hissing and explosive bodies. They have ruined many houses.
But, to please my boys, I (begrudgingly) played Terraria. And I was pleasantly surprised. The game exceeded my expectations. It was fun to play. Although there aren't any quests, there was enough of a progression to keep me entertained. So far, we've netted over 1000 hours of play and we're still going strong.
When I find a game I like, I'll often check out similar games. Why not make a good thing even better?
Alas, apparently you can have too much of a good thing.
Starbound popped up during my search. I was interested. The boys were excited - hooray! A new computer game! We bought it and took it for a test run.
I hated it.
The boys love the game. They want me to love it. And because they love it so much, I really, really want to love it, too. After all, the game shares many elements with Terraria: fun weapons and items, building and constructing, plot progression, interesting NPCs, and customizable characters. I should love it, shouldn't I?
I couldn't get into it. The game has too many of the same problems as Minecraft. It's impossible to enjoy a game I feel so terrible at.
Starbound has quests, but I have yet to not fail an actual quest. I attempted to help an Apex get from point A to point B. Along the way, I accidentally singed her fur with my flamethrower when I was being attacked by hostile creatures. She started shooting at me. Then I ran away and I think she was mauled. Fail. Then I tried to help out a Floran. Her sparing partner had been kidnapped by bad guys. I rescued her partner, but he ran behind her and now I can't talk to her. Fail. Balin told me he's never completed a quest either and that's just how the game works. Bullshit, child. That's bullshit.
The enemies in Starbound are insanely tough. They knock me on my ass and 1/4th of my health is instantly gone. I tap them with my energy stick and they lose five HP out of a million. Then they chase me into pits I can't get out of and fall on me for the fun of it. Oh, man, was I thrilled to get a flamethrower. It's leveled the playing field, but not by nearly enough.
There are a lot of things in this game that scream lazy developers to me. The most glaring? Different species don't have unique qualities. Different species don't like or dislike other species. Why bother having different species if you aren't going to flesh them out a little?
Argh!
The boys insisted I keep with it because...fossils! You can collect small, medium, or large fossils by solving a puzzle! You could create a massive museum displaying all of said creatures! It sounds like so much fun. So the boys and I went fossil hunting. I found a fossil. I dug it up. And it was enjoyable. But honestly, even this little activity isn't enough to keep me interested. Fossils are so hard to get. I went to three different planets and found nothing but more animals that wanted to crush my delicate robotic body. Discouraging, to say the least.
Needless to say, I can't play Starbound for hours on end like I can Terraria. As much as I want to like this game, it's not going to happen. But for my boys, I'll try again. I'll give it another shot.
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