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Does having to eat and drink in games improve the experience for you?
- Thread starter Kaeden
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I don't mind it if survival resource management is meant to be a core part of the game. It feels a little off to me in Fallout 76 though because I've never really thought of Fallout as that sort of game (outside of some Hardcore mods).
This is a great example too. It works there because eating is basically the main goal of the game.
Survival games (eg Don't Starve) are one of my favorite genres, and in those games I really like having to think about where my next meal is going to come from. Even better when you add in different foods and recipes giving different amounts of hunger meter, and when spoilage is a thing so you can't just hoard and forget about it
Conceptually I like it in something like Fallout, where I'm sort of RPing in my head that I'm surviving in the wasteland. Looking at FO76, it was very cumbersome and I just blindly slammed whatever was in my inventory when I started to get hungry. Not great.
Been playing a lot of Astroneer and No Man's Sky lately (which I wouldn't call survival, but again you can get into that mindspace playing these games). Both games make collecting materials very easy, and have elements of various rarities. I would very much appreciate a hunger bar in these games, and I think it would fit well*. In particular, I find the idea of setting my engines to pulse in NMS to fly towards a planet, and eating a meal while I wait and look out at the stars. Almost like something out of Cowboy Bebop.
*They just added a food crafting system to NMS, but I don't have any experience with it yet.
Conceptually I like it in something like Fallout, where I'm sort of RPing in my head that I'm surviving in the wasteland. Looking at FO76, it was very cumbersome and I just blindly slammed whatever was in my inventory when I started to get hungry. Not great.
Been playing a lot of Astroneer and No Man's Sky lately (which I wouldn't call survival, but again you can get into that mindspace playing these games). Both games make collecting materials very easy, and have elements of various rarities. I would very much appreciate a hunger bar in these games, and I think it would fit well*. In particular, I find the idea of setting my engines to pulse in NMS to fly towards a planet, and eating a meal while I wait and look out at the stars. Almost like something out of Cowboy Bebop.
*They just added a food crafting system to NMS, but I don't have any experience with it yet.
It's weird, I like it when you can harvest and collect food items and there are cooking systems to find new meals, but hate if it's all in service to a hunger meter. This is one point of DQB2 I don't like, I feel like the hunger meter is just a pointless annoyance. I'd be fine if meals just gave stat boosts or other effects.
It was great in witcher 2 whereou sat down and drank/made potions. Really cba for it in anything else.
Ultima IV and VII definitely had it, never played V, but VI is my fav precisely because it didn't have it.
Hey, I just looked it up and you needed to eat in VI to gain back health while resting apparently? I never rested, I would just cast heal spells/return to Lord British to heal.
The way hunger meters are implemented often bug me, too. You shove 3 loaves of bread down a character's throat and they're near death half an irl hour later when it's been maybe one and a half in game days.
I do tend to avoid a lot of the more survivaly games, so maybe it's better implemented when it's a main draw and not a feature tacked on to a game that otherwise doesn't really need it.
I do tend to avoid a lot of the more survivaly games, so maybe it's better implemented when it's a main draw and not a feature tacked on to a game that otherwise doesn't really need it.
If it's just to regain health, I'm okay with that.
If it's to add "survival elements", I'll most likely hate it. The only game I can think of with survival elements I can tolerate is Minecraft.
If it's to add "survival elements", I'll most likely hate it. The only game I can think of with survival elements I can tolerate is Minecraft.
Eating Mechanics is one of the primary reasons I stay away from survival games. For me it feels like busy work that hampers my enjoyment. But eating in general for random bonuses/cutscenes in like Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy, etc is all fine. As long as I don't have to constantly keep track of my hunger to make sure I don't die, then we're good.
My biggest problem with hunger/thirst mechanics is if you have food or drinks on you your character should automatically consume them when necessary instead of dying of thirst or hunger with water or food in inventory.
If you're working at your desk with a glass of water, you unconsciously sip it when thirsty. You don't have to consciously instruct your body to perform every step of the act of consumption. It's daft.
If you're working at your desk with a glass of water, you unconsciously sip it when thirsty. You don't have to consciously instruct your body to perform every step of the act of consumption. It's daft.
I love that food continues to be a staple in the Tales series.
Although, my most enjoyable experience when it comes to food in a game has got to be Final Fantasy XV, no contest.
I have a folder full of screenshots of almost every meal/plate on my PC.
Although, my most enjoyable experience when it comes to food in a game has got to be Final Fantasy XV, no contest.
I have a folder full of screenshots of almost every meal/plate on my PC.
I don't mind if its to replenish health or get added buffs. but stuff like in RDR2? to hell with it
This would go a long way for me. If it auto consumed when needed, I'd be much more inclined to enjoy it overall, or at least not be so aware of it at all times.
I don't dislike it.... I HATE IT !
With micro-transactions, it's one of the WORST game mechanism EVER !
Yeah, looking at you Fallout 76, I hate your disgusting cram and purified water, this is NOT fun at all this forced boring micro management and not even realistic to be so hungry and thirsty all the time.
With micro-transactions, it's one of the WORST game mechanism EVER !
Yeah, looking at you Fallout 76, I hate your disgusting cram and purified water, this is NOT fun at all this forced boring micro management and not even realistic to be so hungry and thirsty all the time.
I love it in BotW and Ark. Those were the first to pop in my head. BotW made it fun with the recipes and cooking. Now that I mention it, Stardew Valley does it pretty well too.
I thought of this as an example of games I don't like it in, but it's actually not too bad. I don't feel like I need to eat every 5-10 mins. It's more like 45 mins to an hour.
I thought of this as an example of games I don't like it in, but it's actually not too bad. I don't feel like I need to eat every 5-10 mins. It's more like 45 mins to an hour.
In games like Yakuza and FFXV where food IMPROVES the experience, I'm fine with it.
Hunger meters and hunger mechanics where you die or lose HP if your character hasn't eaten recently? Those suck.
Hunger meters and hunger mechanics where you die or lose HP if your character hasn't eaten recently? Those suck.
I'm thinking that at the very least the parser would nag you and say "Iolo is hungry" "Shamino is hungry", etc. But I am probably confusing it with one of the others.
There's absolutely games where the hunger mechanic adds to the game. Though I'm thinking of more management style games like The Sims, Rim World, Prison Architect, etc.
In a lot of survival focused games, it makes sense too. I just run in to a problem when hunger is too pervasive/frequent. Minecraft is an example where they need to tone the hunger drain down. No one needs to eat 5 loaves of bread because they sprinted for 5 minutes.
In a lot of survival focused games, it makes sense too. I just run in to a problem when hunger is too pervasive/frequent. Minecraft is an example where they need to tone the hunger drain down. No one needs to eat 5 loaves of bread because they sprinted for 5 minutes.
There are only 2 exceptions I can think of where I liked the process of eating in a game. FFXV and the Monster Hunter series.
As some already said, i like it when its just optional for buffs or used as health recovery. The food systems in survival games with hunger and thirst meter becomes a boring maintnance task.
Games i really liked the food/ drinks:
Yakuza Games
Final Fantasy XV
Monster Hunter World
Dragon Crown
Games i really liked the food/ drinks:
Yakuza Games
Final Fantasy XV
Monster Hunter World
Dragon Crown
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To a certain extent I enjoy when open-world games have aspects that ground you to the world and make you follow a sort of schedule somewhat like that of the NPCs living in that world. Most open-world games just let you freely run around 24/7 and don't really make you think about time in individual days, only maybe having some aspects of the environment or NPC routines change at night. I think at the very least giving players the ability to eat and sleep, and a reason to differentiate from night and day, makes the whole thing feel more "real".
In practice though, I see it's much more annoying for most people when eating/drinking is just a benefit, not a requirement. Breath of the Wild making eating the only way to heal most of the time was a good decision because it forces you to engage with the system. Yakuza also finally figured out a good system in Yakuza 6 and Yakuza Kiwami 2 where eating periodically boosts your experience points. Most people don't seem to want a system though where your character is sort of a robot you have to constantly monitor for hunger and sleepiness. Kingdom Come Deliverance tried to offer a light version of this and I personally wasn't annoyed by it but other people might be.
I almost forgot to mention Muramasa: The Demon Blade. And generally, this all works when a game actually takes the time to lovingly render the food.
In practice though, I see it's much more annoying for most people when eating/drinking is just a benefit, not a requirement. Breath of the Wild making eating the only way to heal most of the time was a good decision because it forces you to engage with the system. Yakuza also finally figured out a good system in Yakuza 6 and Yakuza Kiwami 2 where eating periodically boosts your experience points. Most people don't seem to want a system though where your character is sort of a robot you have to constantly monitor for hunger and sleepiness. Kingdom Come Deliverance tried to offer a light version of this and I personally wasn't annoyed by it but other people might be.
I almost forgot to mention Muramasa: The Demon Blade. And generally, this all works when a game actually takes the time to lovingly render the food.
I enjoy it most of the time. It's usually a fun highlight for me.
I just wish more games were like Final Fantasy 15 when it came to cooking. I really like how detailed everything looks and the characters actually eat it. Most of the time the stuff you cook is just another item in a menu you just use and that's it.
If you're going to go in-depth with all kinds of cooking and recipes you better have some good eating animations to go with it.
I just wish more games were like Final Fantasy 15 when it came to cooking. I really like how detailed everything looks and the characters actually eat it. Most of the time the stuff you cook is just another item in a menu you just use and that's it.
If you're going to go in-depth with all kinds of cooking and recipes you better have some good eating animations to go with it.
I liked it to an extent in MGS3 but I haven't actually enjoyed it much in other games. Maybe I might like it in No Man's Sky but right now it keeps crashing too much for me to make progress in that area.
Narrative eating scenes are awesome, also love narrative drinking scenes, not sure why people hate hanging out with their companions to just relax and possibly have some character development.
The lunch scenes in Deadly Premonition are awesome at this.
The lunch scenes in Deadly Premonition are awesome at this.
I don't mind it too much in NMS. I'd rather not have to do it obviously but for whatever reason, the way it's done in that game isn't too much of a nuisance to me. I think part of it is because what you need for health, oxygen, etc. is quite plentiful and very easy to create when needed.
This is why I skipped games like DayZ and Ark. The eat/drink to survive aspect is something I have never found enjoyment in, and it only makes me stressed and anxious.
I have no problem with food/drinks to replenish health, mana etc., or to give you demporary buffs like in World of Warcraft and BotW.
I have no problem with food/drinks to replenish health, mana etc., or to give you demporary buffs like in World of Warcraft and BotW.
To replenish health or grant bonuses is fine.
Mandatory "you need to eat to stay alive" is not fun to me at all.
Mandatory "you need to eat to stay alive" is not fun to me at all.
I think Yakuza is the best one along with ff15 because cooking is fun and I get hungry after looking at the food iggy makes. And Yakuza is like a cultural flavor tour especially the alcohol.
I like food and drinks for optional buffs, but I hate mandatory eating and drinking just to fill a bar. I find it incredibly tedious.
The food, drink, horse maintenance, gun cleaning, ect. Is actually what made me drop RDR2. I can dig that some people like really granular systems, but I was bored to tears by it.
The food, drink, horse maintenance, gun cleaning, ect. Is actually what made me drop RDR2. I can dig that some people like really granular systems, but I was bored to tears by it.
I like the idea of hunger and thirst having an effect on survival-type games, but most games do it poorly by making it require constant maintenance or almost a binary toggle. It should be a boost for eating well, no penalty for eating occasionally, and a minor debuff if you go a day without eating. Then only after multiple days of neglecting the mechanic should it really lead to problems or a potential fail state.
That's good to hear, I was going to consider avoiding it when I heard about it being added but I might actually try it out now.
best case scenario for me is it's unobtrusive and I just kinda forget it exists
and that's the best case scenario
and that's the best case scenario
When the food looks good, I think it's a fun addition. Like, the eating food at camp minigame in Dragon's Crown when you're chaining dungeons together I think is pretty fun, because that food looks delicious.
Most other times food items are used to just replenish health--no animations or cooking minigame or anything like that. Those are fine too, but I do like the stuff like in Dragon's Crown.
Most other times food items are used to just replenish health--no animations or cooking minigame or anything like that. Those are fine too, but I do like the stuff like in Dragon's Crown.