Dec 12, 2021
Fae Tactics
Game Pass of the Week
Developer: Humble Games
Game Pass Release: November 18th, 2021
In all honesty, during the period between Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite I wanted something brief to fill the void that I could step away from without concern of completion. Fortunately, Humble (Bundle) Games has been dropping numerous titles since their partnership with Xbox began, and there are plenty of charming titles to dabble in. I decided to jump into Fae Tactics, a nostalgic throwback to the tactics role-playing game (TRPG) genre.
Gameplay is Queen
Right off the hop, I think it is important that I highlight that this game was a joy to play from a gameplay perspective, but a full-bodied experience is not present. The tactical combat is fun and beautiful, but the menus and interstitial spaces are functional in the most software sense of the word. I happen to think that this does not much matter and really went to highlight to me that gameplay is what does matter. This game is far from perfect and many things could be improved on a base level, but that did not stop me from enjoying what is there.
It was fun to spend some time in a genre that I am convinced that if I were to ever make a game, that this would be the space I would do it in. It is good to know that even absent much of what we consider to be standard in a game, a person can make something, sell something and have people enjoy it on the strong foundation of good gameplay.
Embrace Game Tasting
This is a game I started playing with no real intention of finishing. If it had grabbed me, pulled me into the world and demanded I complete it, I would have but I removed the self-imposed pressure of needing to finish it simply because I enjoy it. Previously, I would either play a game to completion or very quickly stop after asserting the game is not for me. I am now embracing this middle ground where I enjoy a game enough to play more of it, but likely not enough to keep playing it after something else steals my interest away.
Being able to get a taste of a game and then decide whether or not to complete a game is not novel. This use to be something reserved for games media, as access to a volume of games (or money) that allows for this is not common for the average gamer. Now it is something I think we should all start embracing if we want to play half of the things that catch our attention in the Game Pass era. I have added this new classification to my lexicon; games that are worth playing but maybe not worth completing.
