KQ: The Best/Worse Part Of This Game Was...

[adeyke]

I'm definitely in no way saying that the cave troll is good or acceptable.

I'm just thinking in terms of what the player's actual experience will be. With the random encounters right now, there are just three possible outcomes:
1. The player lucks out and doesn't ever encounter the monster.
2. The player dies and has to restore.
3. The player walks off-screen and "escapes".

None of those is really satisfying. If you don't encounter it, it might as well not exist. If you die from a random encounter, that just tells you that the game is out to kill you, even if you're not doing anything wrong. And if you escape by walking off-screen, that doesn't feel like you've accomplished something; you're just seeing the limitations of the game engine.

In the case of the cave troll, the first two possibilities are the same; there just isn't the third one. That's not an improvement.

I also think the shark deserves special mention here. In the case of the ogre, I suppose you could make the argument that that encounter at least has the purpose of telling you who that house belongs to and give you reason to fear it until you're ready to enter. In the case of the shark, however, you actually need to swim through the ocean to get to Genesta's island, so signaling that it's especially dangerous is counterproductive.

[Tawmis]

I also think the shark deserves special mention here. In the case of the ogre, I suppose you could make the argument that that encounter at least has the purpose of telling you who that house belongs to and give you reason to fear it until you're ready to enter. In the case of the shark, however, you actually need to swim through the ocean to get to Genesta's island, so signaling that it's especially dangerous is counterproductive.

Well the shark needs a home too!

#SharkLivesMatter

[Rath Darkblade]

To be fair to the ogre, he actually do follow you across one boundary: he can appear outside his house or to the south of it, and if you move between those two screens, he'll keep chasing you. To be accurate, this doesn't always work as intended. If you run away from him on the house screen by heading south, he'll appear on that next screen in front of you rather than behind and instantly catch you.

He's a smart Ogre like that. I think you can successfully dodge him the "haunted forest" (for lack of a better word), if you use the axe.

Maybe the Ogre has Shrek as a relative?

[Semi-Happy Partygoer]

D'oh! I'm going to change my KQ4 worst to the shark randomly appearing! How could I forget that? Trying to swim to Genesta's Island is such a pain sometimes!

[MusicallyInspired]

I recently played through two versions of KQ4 and only ran into the shark once.

*shrug*

[Semi-Happy Partygoer]

I recently played through two versions of KQ4 and only ran into the shark once.

*shrug*

You're lucky. I always seem to have to reload 10 times or so to avoid it. All luck of the draw, I suppose.

[MusicallyInspired]

Too bad I couldn't get the same luck with the ogre...

[Tawmis]

I recently played through two versions of KQ4 and only ran into the shark once.

*shrug*

Was it something like this?