I’ve just uninstalled and removed Balatro after yet a near, very close 8/8 ante finish. I have been failing and failing, I’ve only ever seen and gotten to 8/8 ante twice, this being the second time. Every other run has been just insulting me to where no strategy has ever worked, I feel like a lot of it is RNG and pre-determined outcomes based on seeded runs.
And I hate that way of playing. It always feels like I’m getting smacked down by a troll bully who I can never overcome. They’d kick me down every failed run I’d have, then they give me a false sense of security the further I get. “Awwww, getting tired of being owned? Here, let me help you by giving you a few seemingly lucky breaks. SMACK Oh! OWNED YOU AGAIN! FUCK YOU! LOLLOLOL! I BANGED YOUR MOTHER, GIT GUD, NOOB!1”
I just don’t understand why these kinds of games are around, even when I have a good idea who it is for.
I hadn’t considered unlocking difficulties as metaprogression, but yea in that case I think it’s a fair mechanic (to be clear, I tend to drop these games when I get to the inevitable difficulty spike at the final area/boss, so I haven’t really experienced it, as the only one I can clear is Rabbit and Steel which has a traditional easy/normal/hard/harder selection).
Unlocking content to ease players in I think is weird and counter productive, as often even failing gets you further in the process and you might not have learned what the game was trying to teach you by delaying something. You might then be in a slightly harder game without having progressed as a player.
What I really don’t like are the permanent leveling/modifiers you find in games like Hades. I feel like they go against the basic idea of a rougelike/lite, since you can/need (depending on the game) to grind.