Games where preparation is very rewarding

[MickZan]

I'm talking about games like Monster Hunter, where setting up the items you are bringing and type of gear you wear really matters. For my personal tastes it can go even further. I love it when get absolutely wrecked in a battle or scenario, only to think about it, prepare, come back and it gives me that slight edge to nudge it in my favour.

What games do this well?

 

[SJRB]

Easy answer: Witcher 3.

Reading up on the monster you're about to slay, preparing the right potions, all that stuff really helps in the upcoming battle.

edit: please don't quote me anymore with replies like "but witcher 3 is easy as fuck". For me the mechanics in W3 were rewarding.

 

[RestEerie]

MGSV: Phantom Pain

 

[T-800]

Fortnite.

 

[Rosenkrantz]

Mass Effect 2? Getting the best ending without your crew dying felt awesome.

EDIT: Eh, seems like I misunderstood OP, oh well.

In that case, my answer is SWAT 4, not exactly similar to games in the OP, but I personally never played games with more preparation-reward than the old-school tactical shooters.

 

[MickZan]

Easy answer: Witcher 3.

Reading up on the monster you're about to slay, preparing the right potions, all that stuff really helps in the upcoming battle.

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I like you enthousiasm, but Witcher 3 was way too easy even on the hardest difficulty. After a couple hours of playtime every fight could just be done with your basic spells.

 

[Panou]

MGS V, Death Stranding, Monster Hunter World, the Hitman series...

 

[Coen]

Decent rally games.

 

[MickZan]

MGS V, Death Stranding, Monster Hunter World, the Hitman series...

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Maybe i should give MGSV another go. Death Stranding scratched that itch indeed, especially in later parts of the game.

 

[Greywaren]

I'm playing Hitman 2 right now and it's super fun to set up a complicated murder and pull it off perfectly.

 

[Jawbreaker]

Death Stranding.

 

[VanDoughnut]

Death Stranding involves lots of planning.

Planning routes, setting up infrastructure, checking the weather, what type of gear is best suited for the job, there's a lot of factors to prepare for.

I also like the route planning in classic Resident Evil games.

 

[CasualsareFilth]

Easy answer: Witcher 3.

Reading up on the monster you're about to slay, preparing the right potions, all that stuff really helps in the upcoming battle.

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First thing that came to mind. It's essential really.

 

[TheBiInBilingual]

Few examples:

- Horizon Zero Dawn. Scanning the machines for weaknesses, setting up traps around their area, thinking of strategies etc.

- Personally, God of War. The Valkyries. I somehow had a feeling that each Valkyrie was going to be different from the other. Preparing for Sigrun was great fun.

 

[Deleted member 15428]

Final Fantasy XII

 

[Deleted member 19924]

-

 

[Aurelioking]

Any fighting game, the feeling of learning a matchup and being able to counter your opponent is amazing!

 

[Deleted member 61326]

Yeah, Death Stranding. Laying roads, filling your truck to its limits, driving around making people happy. Build zip lines in a beautiful mesh allowing you to visit anyone barely touching the ground. Feels good.

 

[BizzyBum]

Death Stranding is the latest game to give me this feeling.

Souls games can do this well too when you prepare for a boss and repeatedly get destroyed and go back with new strategies in mind.

 

[Yuntu]

Final Fantasy XII.

"The game plays itself" ... yeah after you told it exactly how to do what you want it to do.

 

[Deleted member 61326]

I like you enthousiasm, but Witcher 3 was way too easy even on the hardest difficulty. After a couple hours of playtime every fight could just be done with your basic spells.

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Yeah I agree. Loved the game, but you could button mash yourself through the whole thing.

 

[Panou]

Far Cry 2/3 when getting ready to take over an outpost.

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Makes my think about Ghost Recon: Wildlands.
If you really "roleplay" the game, you have to prepare everything before attacking an outpost/entire base, and that works very well!

 

[Mexen]

Death Stranding.

 

[Neptonic]

Most open world games can scratch the itch but man I can sit in MGSV's Deployment Screen for hours

 

[Henchman]

Surprised no one mentioned Darkest dungeon already. The very core of this game is anticipation and preparation.

 

[MickZan]

Surprised no one mentioned Darkest dungeon already. The very core of this game is anticipation and preparation.

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I loved that game, but the random nature of the game gave me the exact opposite feeling. It made me feel like however i prepared, the game always threw a curveball.

 

[azeke]

Slay The Spire is "Preparation: The Game".

Literally the first choice already forces you to plan ahead for ALL Elites of Act 1, Act 1 boss, and potential Act 2, 3 and 4 bosses. And each subsequent choice MUST be aware of the eventuality of all future encounters. Or you die.

 

[Henchman]

I loved that game, but the random nature of the game gave me the exact opposite feeling. It made me feel like however i prepared, the game always threw a curveball.

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I totally get your point but I would take it the other way around : it's because the game is random and can put me in a tight situation that I have to prepare for this case scenario.

 

[BrunOz]

Death Stranding
MGSV

 

[Muntaner]

Probably Death Stranding.

Preparation is core gameplay,

 

[Couscous]

Easy answer: Witcher 3.

Reading up on the monster you're about to slay, preparing the right potions, all that stuff really helps in the upcoming battle.

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The Witcher 3 is really easy after the first two or thee hours, even on the hardest difficulty. You didn't need any oils or bombs, because Geralt is already OP with good spells and Witcher gear.

 

[Rassilon]

MGSV

And the previous MH titles if you haven't tried them.

 

[Dodoow]

Octopath Traveler, MGSV,

 

[LightKiosk]

Surprised at all the Death Stranding mentions. I maybe built a handful of structures at most, always auto-arranged cargo, and maybe planned a route 2-3 times for certain deliveries when I had a shortcut in mind.

I acknowledged that you had many tools at your disposal if you're someone who likes to prepare, but I mostly ignored all of that and did perfectly fine.

 

[Voyevoda]

Currently playing Hitman (2016), after having played 2:SA and Blood Money last week.

So I'm gonna go with Hitman.

Though Death Stranding and MGS V are up there for sure.

 

[UnluckyKate]

Witcher 3 : first you investigate a monster and once identifying it, you prepare for the battle : prepare your potion to buff you depending your build and skills, choose the right oil for your blade to weaken the monster and craft the right bombs to neuters the monsters' skills or senses. I feel so good because you truly feel like a professional monster hunter and it makes the battle much easier because of your planning.

Death Stranding : choose the right gear : what is the best exo skeletton for this portion of land ? Pack offensive or defensive gear ? Choose to travel heavy with a few spare equipement to aid your traversal or just gun it a run through obstacles and enemies and trying to jump over rough terrain making you cargo take risks ?

 

[horsebite]

No one saying Dragon's Dogma? Come on, Era!

 

[MickZan]

Surprised at all the Death Stranding mentions. I maybe built a handful of structures at most, always auto-arranged cargo, and maybe planned a route 2-3 times for certain deliveries when I had a shortcut in mind.

I acknowledged that you had many tools at your disposal if you're someone who likes to prepare, but I mostly ignored all of that and did perfectly fine.

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Did you play on hard? There were many situations in which i ended up struggling to reach the end even though i prepared as good as i could. Especially in the later regions.

 

[Kanito8a]

Slay The Spire is "Preparation: The Game".

Literally the first choice already forces you to plan ahead for ALL Elites of Act 1, Act 1 boss, and potential Act 2, 3 and 4 bosses. And each subsequent choice MUST be aware of the eventuality of all future encounters. Or you die.

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This.

Any Deckbuilding game is basically like this. Preparation is usually half of the game and it's always great to build and try new synergies or combos.

 

[LightKiosk]

Did you play on hard? There were many situations in which i ended up struggling to reach the end even though i prepared as good as i could. Especially in the later regions.

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I personally didn't but my brother completed the game on hard. I asked him if he used any of the methods for preparations and he said no.

He simply took the mission, auto-arranged cargo, and would check his map from time to time to make sure he was going in the right direction just as I did.

 

[Dreamboum]

Final Fantasy XII will have hunts and espers that will wreck you so you will have to come back later being prepared with better gear, better spells and a more robust gambit setup in order to win.

Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter is all about preparation, you will get destroyed if you go through it without any knowledge of what you're doing.

 

[MickZan]

I personally didn't but my brother completed the game on hard. I asked him if he used any of the methods for preparations and he said no.

He simply took the mission, auto-arranged cargo, and would check his map from time to time to make sure he was going in the right direction just as I did.

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Hmm okay weird. I'm fairly certain if i did not check for the right exo, check for degradation, bring the right tools etc. it would be impossible to finish some trips in that game. Im not talking about auto-arranging cargo, the main prepration is the right suit, the right weapons, the right amount of PCCs vs cargo you have to transport etc. If you do nothing and bring nothing i highly doubt you can clear the game on hard.

 

[monmagman]

Death Stranding.....prepare well,delivery is easy peasy.Prepare badly,things can go wrong very quickly,lol.

 

[ThereAreFourNaan]

Hearts of Iron 4. Gearing up to war is great fun, arguably better than the fighting is.

 

[elenarie]

Easy answer: Witcher 3.

Reading up on the monster you're about to slay, preparing the right potions, all that stuff really helps in the upcoming battle.

edit: please don't quote me anymore with replies like "but witcher 3 is easy as fuck". For me the mechanics in W3 were rewarding.

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Yeap, I agree.

Especially when you play on the hardest setting.

 

[iamandy]

Death Stranding. Planning routes is really satisfying.

 

[LightKiosk]

Hmm okay weird. I'm fairly certain if i did not check for the right exo, check for degradation, bring the right tools etc. it would be impossible to finish some trips in that game. Im not talking about auto-arranging cargo, the main prepration is the right suit, the right weapons, the right amount of PCCs vs cargo you have to transport etc. If you do nothing and bring nothing i highly doubt you can clear the game on hard.

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Yeah this wasn't the case as we were both blessed with some good worlds in that there would be structures and vehicles placed at the most convenient places. It made the game a breeze to be honest.

It's possible if the game didn't have such a thing, or I played exclusively in offline mode, I would have to rely on preparations. Otherwise it didn't even occur to me 95% of the time.

 

[defaltoption]

Witcher 3 but only on the highest difficulty. That's when you actually get to be a Witcher instead of just a master swordsman. You need to read the beastiary learn potions, signs, weaknesses. Such a great game.

 

[Dphex]

Let it die

 

[Jakisthe]

I wish more games had an organic research process - by which I mean I wish more games had non-obvious lore to read up on which reveals a crucial strategic detail about an enemy, but it's not as simple as just looking up "weaknesses" in an automatically filled out enemy guide or scanner or whatever.

My go to example here, although this isn't consistently the case (which I'd say helps the effect) is [yet again] Divinity Original Sin 2; there's a book you can read which happens to obliquely mention the weakness of trolls in a passing line out of a few pages of writing. Although it's not required to beat them, it does make things a lot easier, and it feels entirely like how a medieval world might work; hearsay, unmarked info lying around among a lot of chaff, but for the discerning player who takes notes, can be used to great effect. It's not highlighted, it's not put in your journal or whatever, it's entirely about the agency of the player. More of this.