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- Sep 1, 2020
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- 1,458
Preferably games that don't have specific Iron Man mechanics or not intended to be played like that by the majority of players.
I was recently reminded of how good my Iron Man experience of Fallout New Vegas was. What made it special was:
- Freedom to chart your own course through the game. The playthrough is different depending on your choices.
- Combat that is not too spastic or random, leading to a frustrating early demise.
- Ability to plan your actions based on your own calculation of risk and reward (e.g. questing in a town vs. raiding a cave with valuable loot and dangerous monsters).
- Sense of adventure, which may include many things. I like scouting terrain, inventory management and roleplaying things like sleeping and resting at appropriate locations, sitting down to drink a beer, etc. I know a lot of people find this boring.
- Survival mechanics (related to above). Some games profit from it, others don't.
- Big enough that I don't know every detail about it and can still be surprised. I hate speed running and everything related to it.
I've also enjoyed playing Kenshi this way, although according to the main dev, it was always intended to be played like that.
Before someone asks me to give a precise definition of Iron Man, you can use the broadest definition possible. Some games I've enjoyed playing "semi Iron Man", like the Piranha Bytes games, where I forced myself to save only at resting locations (empty room with a bed) with no quicksaving. I wouldn't go full iron man, as the combat is too spastic and deadly unless you fully master it, at which point I'd rather play something else.
I was recently reminded of how good my Iron Man experience of Fallout New Vegas was. What made it special was:
- Freedom to chart your own course through the game. The playthrough is different depending on your choices.
- Combat that is not too spastic or random, leading to a frustrating early demise.
- Ability to plan your actions based on your own calculation of risk and reward (e.g. questing in a town vs. raiding a cave with valuable loot and dangerous monsters).
- Sense of adventure, which may include many things. I like scouting terrain, inventory management and roleplaying things like sleeping and resting at appropriate locations, sitting down to drink a beer, etc. I know a lot of people find this boring.
- Survival mechanics (related to above). Some games profit from it, others don't.
- Big enough that I don't know every detail about it and can still be surprised. I hate speed running and everything related to it.
I've also enjoyed playing Kenshi this way, although according to the main dev, it was always intended to be played like that.
Before someone asks me to give a precise definition of Iron Man, you can use the broadest definition possible. Some games I've enjoyed playing "semi Iron Man", like the Piranha Bytes games, where I forced myself to save only at resting locations (empty room with a bed) with no quicksaving. I wouldn't go full iron man, as the combat is too spastic and deadly unless you fully master it, at which point I'd rather play something else.
