Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery just came out on smartphones recently. It's an RPG set in Hogwarts as you play through the life of a student. You attend classes, explore the castle, learn spells, and live out your student life. They're even going to be adding stuff like dating and slice of life elements, basically making this the Harry Potter RPG we've always wanted.
Except... it's not. You see, this game is free to play, which, most mobile games are, so that's okay. Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery functions on a principle of giving you "energy"- you require energy to perform even the slightest actions, and you always have a limited pool. Energy regenerates over time. Again, this is standard fare.
This is where it gets bad, though. Your pool of Energy is not adequate for the tasks the game gives you. In fact, most of the times, your Energy runs out halfway through you doing whatever you are supposed to be doing. At that point, you have two options: either you stop playing, or you spend money to buy more Energy.
But wait! You can't actually wait for Energy to regenerate, because a lot of the tasks are timed, where you are required to complete them within an hour or so- and your Energy doesn't regenerate fast enough for that. So, either you purchase Energy- or you fail the task.
But wait, there's more! If you could earn ways to buy Energy in game, this wouldn't be quite as bad. Except, nope, it's either you pay with real world money, or you don't buy Energy. There is no way to earn any currency to use towards Energy in game- you either pay, or you fail.
And what happens when you fail? Why, you get a lovely animation showing your character on screen failing, which can often be as pleasant as watching a Devil's Snare strangle your 11 year old kid character to death.
It's lovely.
I know mobile games are free, and I know a free game needs microtransactions to support itself- but this is ridiculous, sorry. Microtransactions are a necessary evil for free to play games, but when they are compromising game design and balance to this degree, and basically becoming just a way to hold your actual game from ransom- well, fuck them, and fuck the game.
Harry Potter is one of the most popular and beloved properties in the world. This shit is going to blow up and become big, like Battlefront did. Even though this is free to play and not RNG, the actual extent of microtransaction implementation is so egregious, it will blow up in their face nonetheless.
Except... it's not. You see, this game is free to play, which, most mobile games are, so that's okay. Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery functions on a principle of giving you "energy"- you require energy to perform even the slightest actions, and you always have a limited pool. Energy regenerates over time. Again, this is standard fare.
This is where it gets bad, though. Your pool of Energy is not adequate for the tasks the game gives you. In fact, most of the times, your Energy runs out halfway through you doing whatever you are supposed to be doing. At that point, you have two options: either you stop playing, or you spend money to buy more Energy.
But wait! You can't actually wait for Energy to regenerate, because a lot of the tasks are timed, where you are required to complete them within an hour or so- and your Energy doesn't regenerate fast enough for that. So, either you purchase Energy- or you fail the task.
But wait, there's more! If you could earn ways to buy Energy in game, this wouldn't be quite as bad. Except, nope, it's either you pay with real world money, or you don't buy Energy. There is no way to earn any currency to use towards Energy in game- you either pay, or you fail.
And what happens when you fail? Why, you get a lovely animation showing your character on screen failing, which can often be as pleasant as watching a Devil's Snare strangle your 11 year old kid character to death.
It's lovely.
I know mobile games are free, and I know a free game needs microtransactions to support itself- but this is ridiculous, sorry. Microtransactions are a necessary evil for free to play games, but when they are compromising game design and balance to this degree, and basically becoming just a way to hold your actual game from ransom- well, fuck them, and fuck the game.
Harry Potter is one of the most popular and beloved properties in the world. This shit is going to blow up and become big, like Battlefront did. Even though this is free to play and not RNG, the actual extent of microtransaction implementation is so egregious, it will blow up in their face nonetheless.
