Upgrade Loop de Loops: What Works and What Doesn’t (pitch)

1. A note on Destiny (what NOT to do)
First, a comparison of Destiny of a kind of evolution of Borderlands, and not necessarily for the better (ex: the light system, the annoying configurations of weapon attack and defense). The main culprit, of course, is RLJesus, the one sure bet when the player is #1 on his team that player at some point will have no reward and some random stupid blue dot would get a legendary.

2. Borderlands: Rundown of the “hero” mechanics (badass points, stat allocation, supers). Respecing points takes virtually no cash to do and it’s s key to testing out the play styles of every hero. The upgrades really do make the player feel like the star of the show when hammering on the special shoulder taps. Each of the characters are colorful and that goes a long way in assuming a role. The characters interact nicely with the player as their stats are upgaraded. Throw in an actual highly respectable random loot generator and these few ingredients make Borderlands into a fantastic series.

3. Fallout 4: Description of how the upgrade system meshes with the story. Basically the two benefit mutually from the other. The detail also is of note. Basically 90% of the interiors you see in the game you can make. Every item from a box of detergent, a teddy bear, a stick of gum, the 16th variation of one wooden floorboard cross-section. Except for a few boss arenas, every thing can be recreated. Players can create their own visions of “home” post-apocalypse.

4. Resident Evil 4: Side note of the Attache Case of Resident Evil 4. It’s basically like tetris and somewhat limits the player’s ability to access too many guns early on. This was a novel take on inventory management even though the player does see much of it because it’s the only way to switch weapons. Good luck!

5. Dead Space Series: An extended take on the scientific presentation of the upgrade systems, when players upgrade their gear, specifically the animations and look of the gear. The electrical projections suspended in mid air look cool as fuck. This is the kind of shit the crew of the Alien films would love to get their hands on. The later games emphasized an emphasis on crafting with various collected resources and for me that was the main highlight of the 3rd game.

6. Monster Hunter: Detailed look at the crafting in monster hunter and how it related to the whole structure of the thousands of various items to manage. It a bit of a learning curve is needed to know how to stack perks like a devious mofo. This can be gained merely through experience. The items are grouped together based on type. Every Wing Blade, and Inner Jewel, and Wyvern Dung accounted for.

7. Assassin’s Creed series: Virtually every mainline Assassin’s creed game has introduced some form of upgrade loop, something for the player to flow their resources into. The trend started with the second game, by pouring in florins and resources to make the Auditore castle shine aesthetically brighter. Brotherhood added the gang element which has it’s initial pleasures like calling in a strike of arrows that received a total overhaul in AC Syndicate. Players can upgrade their respective light and heavy units, their numbers, their tactics, their gear. AC3 had the Frontier Homestead where Connor had everyone’s back providing supplies and recruiting merchants and the dude can even hunt. He’s got your back. AC4 beefed up the ship mechanics from the third mainline game and was all the better for it since you can take on big ass behemoth ships with upgraded cannons and defenses and wind speed. All thanks to the players’ superior resource allocation abilities.

8. Far Cry Primal: Description of aesthetic improvements to Takkar’s village. His superior tracking abilities and provision skills for his tribe present a graphic and dirty picture. Takkar embarks on missions to recruit merchants that offer additional proficiency in upgrades and providing better weapons and hides and skins. All of the materials Takkar gains from his kills also go into building the defenses of his village and expanding the Wenja Clan.

[Travis TimmonsKeymaster]

Zach – interesting idea. I know it’s a completely different topic, but a lot of these games have been covered in some of your other articles. We can push this one through, but be sure to maintain a good variety of game selection. Otherwise, great work, once again!

[Author]

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