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Do people actually like key items taking up limited inventory space?
- Thread starter Chaos2Frozen
- Start date
if a key item doesn't take up limited inventory space then why even limit the inventory space? Yeah, I like it, and games that don't have it feel like they're sending a mixed message, like the devs just made the inventory space limited because "that's what games do" and didn't figure out how game balance works.
If you stop carrying everything you can with you and start worrying about inventory management you won't need to backtrack so much.
Also, the need to backtrack adds path planning, specially If you know that you'll have to pass through the same place more than once, then you decide If it's worth to kill X zombies there or not to make things easier.
It's way better than hoarding and adds another layer to the game.
Yup, games that leave key / quest items in your inventory (i believe Witcher 3 did) suck - even worse if you can't sell these items :P
I do believe that, a game like RE benefits from key items blocking a slot in your Inventory. These games benefit from the feeling of scarcity - and pocket / satchel space can be a limited resource as well.
Like "fuck, i gotta carry these 3 huge gem stones - i gotta drop my shotgun" - sacrificing protection for progressing the story.
OP
OP
Well the difference between a weapon and a key item is that you can still deal with a situation without it.
If you didn't bring the shotgun you're not completely screwed out of progression- there are other ways you can deal with a problem. But if you didn't bring that crank, you have no choice but to go back and get that crank.
You forget Resident Evil's have moments where a weapon opens a door.
I don't like it as such, but what I do like about those kinds of games is how they force you to build out a mental geography of the environment and make note of the different bottlenecks and get punished for not dealing with threats properly with all the forced backtracking. You get to know the Spencer Mansion and RPD in a way unlike a lot of other game environments. The sense of place in Resident Evil is one of the reasons why REmake 1 is one of my favourite games and I'm glad that RE2 hasn't held back in this regard with all the inventory restrictions.
Edit
The other thing as mentioned is the game trains you to not take too many supplies to baby your way through the game. Like take the shotgun for security but maybe don't take backup ammo. The game might reward or punish you for this decision and that's where the fun lies for me as well
Edit
The other thing as mentioned is the game trains you to not take too many supplies to baby your way through the game. Like take the shotgun for security but maybe don't take backup ammo. The game might reward or punish you for this decision and that's where the fun lies for me as well
Not necessarily, depending on how the game handles equipable items, item stacking, item size etc.
A lot of thought goes into (some) inventory systems.
OP
OP
You'll have to remind me which part because I don't remember ^^;
Yes. In a game about resource management, being able to stockpile health items, weapons and ammo would remove a lot of the tension. 7 and 2 are pretty generous about giving you additional inventory space compared to the old games, so I don't really see the issue.
It's comical that a key takes up as much room as a shotgun, but it's part of the weirdness of video games that I more often like than not.
One of them in Remake, kill the big spider and you have to slash the webbing covering the door with your knife. An example the first time I played I didn't have the knife at that time as I didn't know I would need it. My inventory was full and I couldn't pick up the knife provided in the room so I had to run back to the box to make space.
When it makes sense? Absolutely.
It makes sense in Resident Evil, so yeah.
It's a SURVIVAL horror, OP. Not a JRPG.
It makes sense in Resident Evil, so yeah.
It's a SURVIVAL horror, OP. Not a JRPG.
It works because inventory management is a core tenet of classic survival horror game design. You have to decide whether to take the key or the fuse or the crank now on the off chance it's needed soon and potentially have to leave behind a weapon, herb or ammo you come across later, or remember its location and try to come back again when you've found out what it's needed for, even though the path to get there might be perilous.
It doesn't necessarily work in other genres - I hate in RPGs when they have a really low item or weight limit, but in survival horror like Resident Evil or Dead Space it absolutely adds to the game design.
It doesn't necessarily work in other genres - I hate in RPGs when they have a really low item or weight limit, but in survival horror like Resident Evil or Dead Space it absolutely adds to the game design.
OP
OP
I mean, Silent Hill is a survival horror too... Just saying, doesn't have to be a genre standard.
Online video game discourse has this horrible disease of talking about game mechanics in vacuum, like they can be objectively good or bad just by themselves and not a part of a complex machine of different mechanics and design decisions that all inform prop each other up, or someting bring each other down.
To the op, I don't like it in something like Witcher, where there's lots of loot to collect. But RE games FUCKING BREAK FUNDAMENTALLY without it. Entire point is that you are supposed to memorize the area, routes and constantly deal wiht the same zombies, deciding, which ones to kill forever and which ones to bypass cuz you only plan to go through here a few times. Re1 and Re2 fuckign don't exist without this mechanic. they just don't.
To the op, I don't like it in something like Witcher, where there's lots of loot to collect. But RE games FUCKING BREAK FUNDAMENTALLY without it. Entire point is that you are supposed to memorize the area, routes and constantly deal wiht the same zombies, deciding, which ones to kill forever and which ones to bypass cuz you only plan to go through here a few times. Re1 and Re2 fuckign don't exist without this mechanic. they just don't.
Not really. I like inventory space limits because they force you to balance out the things you need. Forcing required items to take up slots comes across as an uncreative way to increase the difficulty in that department.
It's not always annoying, it certainly has its places, but overall I've largely not felt like it enhanced the experiences that do it at large.
It's not always annoying, it certainly has its places, but overall I've largely not felt like it enhanced the experiences that do it at large.
If key items don't take inventory space, it's not inventory management anymore. It's a loadout. You'll assign you 6/8 whatever inventory slots one way (my gun, my big gun, my ammo, my special ammo, my healing stuff and so on) however you like it, everything else don't take inventory space, and you'll never ever think about it again.
played and loved RE7.
Just finished a 6hour session of RE2 and I gotta say I have no issue with it. It works in Resident Evil tbh, I appreciate it telling me when everything that you can do with the item has been done tho via a check on the item telling you "hey you can store this or discard its no longer needed"
it adds more to the uneasy feeling like "will I take X to see if i find where it goes or play it safe and go with more healing items even tho i may have to go a second time just to use X on Y"
it works, its clean and simple to understand. Cant say i have a problem with it.
Just finished a 6hour session of RE2 and I gotta say I have no issue with it. It works in Resident Evil tbh, I appreciate it telling me when everything that you can do with the item has been done tho via a check on the item telling you "hey you can store this or discard its no longer needed"
it adds more to the uneasy feeling like "will I take X to see if i find where it goes or play it safe and go with more healing items even tho i may have to go a second time just to use X on Y"
it works, its clean and simple to understand. Cant say i have a problem with it.
Inventory management has always been an annoyance to me, and i don't see the point of it existing in games at all. I like hoarding stuff.
It's the same with durability on weapons. Adds absolutely nothing to the games other than downtime. I feel Breath of the Wild got around this though, as you never felt like you were far from another weapon if your current ones broke.
It's the same with durability on weapons. Adds absolutely nothing to the games other than downtime. I feel Breath of the Wild got around this though, as you never felt like you were far from another weapon if your current ones broke.
I think this post sums up how I feel about it.
It doesn't seem like it is, based on this response, you also mentioned Fatal Frame earlier. I think it works in the RE titles that use it and it doesn't feel overused at all.
It adds challenge and atmosphere, forcing you to think about "Maybe I shouldn't be carrying the shotgun with me because I'm going to be going through this area" or "Maybe I don't need 3 sets of merged medical herbs on me at all times"
With a lot of the items you have already crossed some locked door with an indication of the key look that is needed or some other puzzle type, so it's not always impossible to know what items to bring next. So mostly it goes "missing item needed" -> "missing item found", but of course not always in this order.
I like it if it forces me to make interesting decisions. If it is just tedious though, it can be left out.
I'm not a big fan of it, but when the game is designed around it to some degree, it's not a huge pain. The Resident Evil 2 remake can get a little bit ridiculous with the amount of key items at times tho.
In the original Alone in the Dark, your inventory was weight based. For some reason, Resident Evil chose slot based. It is absurd that a standard key takes up as much carry capacity as a loaded firearm.
Pretty sure backtracking is, like, the whole point of the game.
Silent Hill back in the day had unlimited inventory slots for everything, but you were always ostensibly moving "forward" to the next area.
Classic Resident Evil always has you running around the same areas and getting familiar with them. Like a Metroid, there's always something to check out/worry about when forced to backtrack.
You can streamline your item choices on repeat playthroughs, but you're not *supposed* to know when you'll need something or what to decide to carry. That's the point.
Silent Hill back in the day had unlimited inventory slots for everything, but you were always ostensibly moving "forward" to the next area.
Classic Resident Evil always has you running around the same areas and getting familiar with them. Like a Metroid, there's always something to check out/worry about when forced to backtrack.
You can streamline your item choices on repeat playthroughs, but you're not *supposed* to know when you'll need something or what to decide to carry. That's the point.
What's the point of limited inventory if all items do not fill it? Without key and progression items you just turn yourself into a easily healed walking arsenal like RE4. No challenge.
Its one of those things that can greatly enrich gameplay if done correctly. However, its also one of those things that some people just outright refuse to engage with because they cant stand the idea of having to switch things up or the idea of uncertainty in their items.
Like breakable weapons in a certain 2017 blockbuster.
I personally love it in the RE games.
Like breakable weapons in a certain 2017 blockbuster.
I personally love it in the RE games.