This is going to get some heat but I need to get this off my chest.
I’ve posted about this in more niche subreddits to negative reaction, and I expect some of the same here but I want to be clear - I am not looking to shit on anyone’s friend group for having fun with this game. I just want to have an honest discourse about game quality and opportunism.
This weekend we tried Big Walk, a game that was sold to us - by podcasts, videos, and Reddit threads - as a cooperative puzzle adventure.
IN MY OPINION\* only one of those words describes the game honestly, and that is NOT a positive thing.
Big Walk is a game that costs $25 but is only playable as intended if at least 4-5 people spend that money - it’s not a cheap indie game that you can pick up and throw away, it’s an investment for your friend group.
In return you are offered puzzles and adventure! A massive journey for you and your friends to embark on! Which is true - If by massive you mean time consuming, and by journey you mean the walk between kid’s puzzles.
4/5ths of this game is waking from one puzzle to the other, getting lost and spamming the jump button to traverse “unity asset” style rocks and trees. There is some decent sound design, but it’s often lost on the noise of jumping and grunting to try to get toward the next interesting thing.
At least you are rewarded with a good puzzle at the end of your hopping, you may think. No.
Without spoiling anything for the unfortunate souls who have paid for this already, but the puzzles are simple enough that by the time one of your friends has announced the terms of engagement, another has solved it, and you can proceed to go through the motions of enacting the solution mindlessly as you chat about how you all felt about Obsession or Odyssey and which should win best picture.
This game is, like many another friendslop\\ games, background noise to what you are already doing - chatting with your friends.
That is not inherently bad. But to spend $25 per person for the exact same experience you can get for $5 on Pico Park and a bag of chips is astounding.
Did you enjoy Big Walk or did you enjoy the chat you had while you mindless slugged through it? Is it truly a GOTY contender or is it a recycle of PEAK with some children’s puzzle scattered throughout to break the monotony?
\* the game is truly cooperative - you can’t move forward without at least $75 of expenditure to make sure you can figure out to right click on each other to reach the conveniently-out-of-reach button.
\\ friendslop is a real term, it’s used in the industry and please don’t come at me with “you don’t have friends that’s why it’s bad!!”
The point is, my friends can joke and laugh and chat without spending $25/pp to do so.
Give us something worthwhile. Don’t capitalize on a trend and convince us your game is good because it made us talk and laugh.
League of Legends can do that for free, and that game fucking sucks.