Unlockable content? Or everything up front?
Re: Unlockable content? Or everything up front?
Kinda depends for me. If what you're unlocking is minor, I'm all for it. If it's a very important part of the game, and it isn't simply a new level/character/weapon that comes through natural progression, hell no. I'll use Castlevania Dracula X as an example. On the case, it says it has both Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the night on it. While I very much wanted to play both games, I was more excited for SotN as I'd never played it and heard a lot about it. Problem is, you have to unlock the entire bloody game! I looked up a walkthrough of how to get it later, but at the time I had no internet access and no clue how to do it. I can't say I was very impressed.
Re: Unlockable content? Or everything up front?
I enjoy a game more if there's something for me to unlock so Yes, I prefer if games had unlockable content.
However, I don't like it if the content is locked so much that the game becomes gimped. For example, a fighting game that has 30 characters but you only get access to 2 until you unlock the other chars.
I also hate difficult methods of unlocking, like COMPLETE HARD MODE+COMPLETE EXTREMELY HARD MODE+WIN EVERY MATCH ON PERFECT+DO A 99-HIT COMBO ON THE LAST BOSS.
Marvel VS Capcom 2, Sonic All Stars Racing, DBZ: Supersonic Warriors and its ilk had the right idea, wherein everytime you play, it just gives you points to buy extra content with, so that you only need to play the game to unlock extra content (you can even lose every fight and you'll still get points, although not as much as if you did well).
However, I don't like it if the content is locked so much that the game becomes gimped. For example, a fighting game that has 30 characters but you only get access to 2 until you unlock the other chars.
I also hate difficult methods of unlocking, like COMPLETE HARD MODE+COMPLETE EXTREMELY HARD MODE+WIN EVERY MATCH ON PERFECT+DO A 99-HIT COMBO ON THE LAST BOSS.
Marvel VS Capcom 2, Sonic All Stars Racing, DBZ: Supersonic Warriors and its ilk had the right idea, wherein everytime you play, it just gives you points to buy extra content with, so that you only need to play the game to unlock extra content (you can even lose every fight and you'll still get points, although not as much as if you did well).
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Re: Unlockable content? Or everything up front?
There is a balance that must be maintained. I love unlockable content, but I hate it when it feels like the majority of the content is locked away - especially if it's content I bought the game for.
Marvel vs Capcom 2 and Street Fighter IV were examples of taking it too far. It felt like way too many of the characters were locked away - so many that the game felt very incomplete (and boring!) if you just popped the game in without save data. It should never be this way.
Capcom vs SNK 2 and King of Fighters XI, on the other hand, are examples of doing it right. In CvS2, the only unlockable characters were boss versions of pre-existing characters. In KOFXI's case, all the unlockables were just boss characters or bonus characters ported from Neo Geo Battle Coliseum. In both cases, you weren't limited with the starting line-up. The games felt complete from the get-go.
Marvel vs Capcom 2 and Street Fighter IV were examples of taking it too far. It felt like way too many of the characters were locked away - so many that the game felt very incomplete (and boring!) if you just popped the game in without save data. It should never be this way.
Capcom vs SNK 2 and King of Fighters XI, on the other hand, are examples of doing it right. In CvS2, the only unlockable characters were boss versions of pre-existing characters. In KOFXI's case, all the unlockables were just boss characters or bonus characters ported from Neo Geo Battle Coliseum. In both cases, you weren't limited with the starting line-up. The games felt complete from the get-go.