I totally agree with you on both points. A good introduction to a mechanic is critical to the enjoyment of most players. My girlbro and fellow craftsbro Erin actually brought up the same idea after reading the post and reference a conversation she once had with an old Rare designer who worked on Banjo Kazooie. It sounds like they were incredibly conscious of exactly when and how new mechanics and challenges were introduced, and when I look back on that era of Rare games, it’s obvious this was something they cared about. If you want to make the 90% of people who don’t want a challenge haphazardly thrust upon them feel good about progressing in your game, this is definitely something that should be labored over.

And there’s little I want more than a formal introduction to that deep insight in action games. Why these games don’t have practice modes (some of them do but it’s never the very complex ones) is beyond me. I want to be able to sit in a room with an enemy or two that either won’t die (or alternatively, continually respawn) so that I can familiarize myself with the game’s nuances in a low pressure environment. I want to learn about my weapons, learn about the enemies, try out all my mechanics, and etc. This kind of feature would eliminate a lot of the boundaries found in the attempt to play at a high level.

About this post, I have found myself considering introduction of skillsets in several games before. I think Bastion and the God of War games do a very good job of introducing the skills. Bastion’s skill challenges were great for showing off different features of the weapons (throwing melee weapons, aiming the bow through multiple enemies, etc), and the God of War games give you sets of enemies to test skills/weapons on when you receive them.

On the flipside, I wish more of the deep action games gave more insight into what weapons work best against which enemies. With Ninja Gaiden, Bayonetta, and DMC games, I usually feel lost about which weapons to use when unless I really dig in and do some research. I’d like to see more of those games reinforce higher level play (or at least hint at it) within the game.

I don’t necessarily think PoP combat is brainless but I definitely see what you mean and essentially agree. I think the main reason it’s not jarring is because you remain in the play space, and it plays and resolves quickly and stylishly; the very expectation set by the rest of the game experience.

I think what’s really going on is that the combat in PoP is simple and pretty brainless, so it works well to break up the platforming. The puzzles in GoW on the other hand can be pretty tricky or obtuse, so they require that you engage your brain on the task. I think this is the same reason why the Weird Worlds combat is unfun – it’s difficult and takes a lot of concentration, despite not being the core mechanic. It’s also way too risky for the kind of reward involved. It only becomes fun late in a game when you significantly outgun enemy ships, so you can sit back and just watch the particles fly.