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MTZehvor on 07 January 2016
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shenlong213 said:
MTZehvor said:

This is going a bit off topic, so hopefully people won't mind too much, but I'd be curious in asking and getting the opinion of someone who really likes X. One of my biggest problems with X thus far (and honestly what's really keeping me from enjoying it immensely) is the pacing of the game; how it routinely forces you to do side quests/place a bunch of data probes before it lets you accept story missions. I've found this particularly frustrating when combined with the fact that the game consistently reminds you in story missions after Chapter 5 that you've got a limited amount of time to find the Lifehold before humanity dies out. One particularly agregious example that comes to mind was before Chapter 11, where the game forces you to track down someone's cat before you can proceed to the next mission. It feels like an extreme clash of narrative and mission design; on one hand, the game is telling you to hurry things up, while simultaneously forcing you to take part in fetch quests and side quests before you can proceed. Is this annoying for you, and if so, how big of a problem is it?


It was more like a challenge to me

And I always like challenge game with non linear gameplay so I found it's really fascinating

...I think something got missed along the way.

I was more referring to the way the story constantly tells you to hurry up, which serves as a constant encouragement to do the story missions. But the game blocks you from doing the story missions until you do one or two affinity missions and go around surveying a high enough percentage, creating what was for me a rather annoying gap inbetween narrative and mission design. On the one hand, (spoilers for Chapter 5 and beyond) humanity is going to die if I don't hurry up, so clearly I should be dedicating all my efforts to finding the lifehold. On the other hand, the mission design dicatates that (spoilers for a couple required affinity missions, the last of which is before chapter 11) I have time to help people find a present for their date and retrieve someone's cat, to name a few examples.

I don't mind playing through less serious missions, though I do think the ones requiring you to explore a certain percentage of the territory in order to proceed is rather arbitrary. What I find jarring is the disconnect between the story consistently telling you to hurry up, while the missions required to continue with the story communicate that you have a good bit of free time.