When I play a game like Devilian I feel sort of guilty about it. I
like zoning out and slaying hordes of monsters in an action-role-playing
game by just standing there spamming the attack button. But sometimes I
wonder if I couldn’t be playing something that’s more stimulating. The
chase for better loot can seem like a treadmill that doesn’t help you
lose weight.Devilian Gold
But these games engage the right parts of my brain and I like seeing
damage numbers get higher as I play. I can put on music or a podcast and
relax as I watch numbers fly off my enemies.
At their best these
ARPGs make getting the loot the fun part and the rewards act as
evidence of the fun things you’ve achieved. But they rely on a strict
work-for-reward cycle that keeps you engaged. If the work isn’t fun the
rewards are meaningless; if the rewards stink the work feels unfair even
when it’s fun.Devilian (out now for PC) doesn’t find the right balance.
The work is only marginally fun and the rewards are mediocre. And
without these elements working in tandem it feels like a big waste of
time.
Dungeons act as Devilian’s core. As you level up your
character by doing quests you’ll run into a few dungeons usually to kill
the boss monster inside. My first dungeon took me about 12 minutes but I
figured later dungeons would become more intricate as they do in other
ARPGs. But even as I approached the endgame where players start going
back through older dungeons on higher difficulties to grind for better
gear I never put more than 15 minutes into a dungeon usually finishing
them in less than ten minutes.
The Wall