It is with tremendous shame I come forth to say I've actually given Codename Entertainment ten of my dollars and god-knows-how-many hours in exchange for an extremely predatory game where you do almost nothing.
This game, and likely any other idler but especially those with microtransactions, is just bad for your brain as it'll degrade you into a bizarre type of addict you didn't think you could become. This game capitalizes a shit-ton on problems it creates for itself and, especially with the introduction of seasons, FOMO.
The companies running these games are basically drug dealers and know exactly what they're doing, which is trying to milk you for every dollar you're worth in exchange for as little as possible. I got hooked when Epic Games, as its free game that week, offered a “value” pack of chests and characters and other useless shit that I was being told I was lucky to have gotten for free (the first hit always is!).
It doesn't take long before you reach that “slowing down” part of the game. I'm talking about that point where you're out of the tutorial and into the game, and you wonder why you're just not making progress all too fast. You'll see there's so many missions to explore, but you only have one party and it's a slow-going one. Want a second party? You need at least twelve more characters, one for each slot, before you can split! Do your heroes have only white gear like peasants? There are chests for each character with the chance to unlock better gear in the premium store! Sick of constantly clicking to do assisting damage for your party? You should buy familiars that click for you! The ones you can earn take weeks of grinding per familiar, but don't worry, there are dozens to buy!! Is the slow game going slow by design?? Buy SPEED POTIONS!!
You see where this is going?
So what do you “do”? Very limited team management. You'll build a preset you like for that campaign's grid pattern, and at the beginning of each level you'll click it to deploy your familiars and assigned party members, then alt-tab out to do anything else. You'll check back in every so often to upgrade your party, then you're alt-tabbing out again. It's an idler, you obviously don't “do” much.
You'll soon reach the previously-mentioned tedium point where your usual dose just doesn't hit the same anymore, and so here's the fork in the road: quit now, with a lesson learned and only some time wasted... or get your wallet out. Unfortunately, I chose the latter, but I'm alive and here to tell you it'll get you nothing but regret.
They got me for 10 bucks, I bought season one's pass. With that money spent, I unlocked more gear (gear that would soon disappear into theDisney Codename vault -- again, FOMO) and probably didn't get my money's worth. But as they do, the season ended, and it came time to buy season two's pass. It was, at a glance, an even worse value. I didn't buy it. I had a moment of clarity, playing that second season without a pass, where I finally asked myself “What the fuck am I doing here?” and I just stopped playing.
I reopened the game up before writing this review, they're now in season four but it's still the same nasty “game”. They're pretty generous drug dealers: there's always an event going on to get a couple free characters/loot and the seasons have freebies anybody can get. They seem generous... but then you look at the store. Packs of chests for $50, three familiars for $17 (this is “on sale”), five heroes with chests (again, these have the chance to have good items) for $55, a single hero with gear for $10 (remember: you need twelve heroes for that second group!). The freebies are only there to help work you into the sunk-cost fallacy and have “spend some money” make more sense.
You are not here to have a good time. You are here to spend money.
There are so many games out there you should be playing instead of this. At a certain point, this game is really only for people with a findom fetish (which no one should have).
If this game has you in its clutches, I recommend just cutting it cold turkey. I know you've got a backlog: play anything else from it, now. This is not a game, this is an eventual money sink.
This game, and likely any other idler but especially those with microtransactions, is just bad for your brain as it'll degrade you into a bizarre type of addict you didn't think you could become. This game capitalizes a shit-ton on problems it creates for itself and, especially with the introduction of seasons, FOMO.
The companies running these games are basically drug dealers and know exactly what they're doing, which is trying to milk you for every dollar you're worth in exchange for as little as possible. I got hooked when Epic Games, as its free game that week, offered a “value” pack of chests and characters and other useless shit that I was being told I was lucky to have gotten for free (the first hit always is!).
It doesn't take long before you reach that “slowing down” part of the game. I'm talking about that point where you're out of the tutorial and into the game, and you wonder why you're just not making progress all too fast. You'll see there's so many missions to explore, but you only have one party and it's a slow-going one. Want a second party? You need at least twelve more characters, one for each slot, before you can split! Do your heroes have only white gear like peasants? There are chests for each character with the chance to unlock better gear in the premium store! Sick of constantly clicking to do assisting damage for your party? You should buy familiars that click for you! The ones you can earn take weeks of grinding per familiar, but don't worry, there are dozens to buy!! Is the slow game going slow by design?? Buy SPEED POTIONS!!
You see where this is going?
So what do you “do”? Very limited team management. You'll build a preset you like for that campaign's grid pattern, and at the beginning of each level you'll click it to deploy your familiars and assigned party members, then alt-tab out to do anything else. You'll check back in every so often to upgrade your party, then you're alt-tabbing out again. It's an idler, you obviously don't “do” much.
You'll soon reach the previously-mentioned tedium point where your usual dose just doesn't hit the same anymore, and so here's the fork in the road: quit now, with a lesson learned and only some time wasted... or get your wallet out. Unfortunately, I chose the latter, but I'm alive and here to tell you it'll get you nothing but regret.
They got me for 10 bucks, I bought season one's pass. With that money spent, I unlocked more gear (gear that would soon disappear into the
I reopened the game up before writing this review, they're now in season four but it's still the same nasty “game”. They're pretty generous drug dealers: there's always an event going on to get a couple free characters/loot and the seasons have freebies anybody can get. They seem generous... but then you look at the store. Packs of chests for $50, three familiars for $17 (this is “on sale”), five heroes with chests (again, these have the chance to have good items) for $55, a single hero with gear for $10 (remember: you need twelve heroes for that second group!). The freebies are only there to help work you into the sunk-cost fallacy and have “spend some money” make more sense.
You are not here to have a good time. You are here to spend money.
There are so many games out there you should be playing instead of this. At a certain point, this game is really only for people with a findom fetish (which no one should have).
If this game has you in its clutches, I recommend just cutting it cold turkey. I know you've got a backlog: play anything else from it, now. This is not a game, this is an eventual money sink.
rundeer
10 months ago