Alright so, Lets get this out of the way first. Surface level, this update was pretty damn fantastic. Finally let us play what we wanted to play, which is Jurassic Park. I can probably count the people who wanted Jurassic World themes on my fingers but we know why it had to be done. The skins are fantastic, the compys are adorable, the Pteranodons are great, even if kinda limited, it will do until the sequel i suppose.
However, I have one huge complaint I have to level. I'm having trouble even parsing how to present this because its so damn layered. But lets just say what my issue is in it's simplest.
When playing Challenge mode in JP Era, I am limited to the JP only dinosaurs. While this makes sense in the campaign, It makes less, albeit some, sense in Challenge. Now, I hear all ye milksops say "Why dont you play Sandbox then, all dinosaurs are available in Sandbox regardless of Era, apparently". My answer to you is I bloody HATE Sandbox. I dont feel like I'm achieving anything, It feels like im playing with cheats like back when i was a dumb kid, ruining my own experience with a game. Even turning on the Hammond foundation fee just doesnt do it for me. Hell, all Dino DNA and Research is completed in Sandbox so Im literally struggling to achieve nothing. Challenge is the true playthrough experience for me in this game, but I am now forbidden to use dinosaurs I've paid for, in an Era I've paid for, in a game I've paid for, that's all about building your dream Jurassic (Park) World with all the tools at your disposal.
Similarly, I'm somewhat miffed about things like Botany not being in JP Era even though we very much know they were and the original mechanic was inspired by things mentioned in the original JP. Also a bit annoyed that we lose things like the viewing platform and tower, I see no real reason we should outside of the campaign. I can stomach that a bit more given how good the tour gets with binoculars but is still limiting and the absence of so many things, large and small kindof cheapens the whole thing.
But really, to get back on point. The game has now become virtually unplayable for me. I do -not- enjoy Sandbox in the least and never will. I only play campaign for the unlocks. I do pretty much exclusively Challenge. And now, I want to play in JP Era because of the great new buildings and fences and all the mostly good changes, but if I do that, I am massively limited in my choice of dinosaurs, which once again, I've paid money for. I own every piece of DLC for this game and now i feel like I'm being shown a big ole middle finger.
Please Frontier, If nothing else, just remove the dinosaur limitations from Challenge mode, I beg you. I don't want to play JW Era because it's not just about the dino skins. JP Era allows so much more diverse replayability just by the simple act of letting you place down your own entrance, where JW Era always forces you to start from the same bloody location. Then theres the fact that the whole decoration, or "Signs" tab just doesnt at all feature in JW Era, and smaller things like, god, even the fences are so much better.
If you manage to get a JP skin for the viewing tower and platform, and even the greenhouse so we can have a mechanic (which again, we paid for) back, that would be icing on the cake, but the above is just killing me.
However, I have one huge complaint I have to level. I'm having trouble even parsing how to present this because its so damn layered. But lets just say what my issue is in it's simplest.
When playing Challenge mode in JP Era, I am limited to the JP only dinosaurs. While this makes sense in the campaign, It makes less, albeit some, sense in Challenge. Now, I hear all ye milksops say "Why dont you play Sandbox then, all dinosaurs are available in Sandbox regardless of Era, apparently". My answer to you is I bloody HATE Sandbox. I dont feel like I'm achieving anything, It feels like im playing with cheats like back when i was a dumb kid, ruining my own experience with a game. Even turning on the Hammond foundation fee just doesnt do it for me. Hell, all Dino DNA and Research is completed in Sandbox so Im literally struggling to achieve nothing. Challenge is the true playthrough experience for me in this game, but I am now forbidden to use dinosaurs I've paid for, in an Era I've paid for, in a game I've paid for, that's all about building your dream Jurassic (Park) World with all the tools at your disposal.
Similarly, I'm somewhat miffed about things like Botany not being in JP Era even though we very much know they were and the original mechanic was inspired by things mentioned in the original JP. Also a bit annoyed that we lose things like the viewing platform and tower, I see no real reason we should outside of the campaign. I can stomach that a bit more given how good the tour gets with binoculars but is still limiting and the absence of so many things, large and small kindof cheapens the whole thing.
But really, to get back on point. The game has now become virtually unplayable for me. I do -not- enjoy Sandbox in the least and never will. I only play campaign for the unlocks. I do pretty much exclusively Challenge. And now, I want to play in JP Era because of the great new buildings and fences and all the mostly good changes, but if I do that, I am massively limited in my choice of dinosaurs, which once again, I've paid money for. I own every piece of DLC for this game and now i feel like I'm being shown a big ole middle finger.
Please Frontier, If nothing else, just remove the dinosaur limitations from Challenge mode, I beg you. I don't want to play JW Era because it's not just about the dino skins. JP Era allows so much more diverse replayability just by the simple act of letting you place down your own entrance, where JW Era always forces you to start from the same bloody location. Then theres the fact that the whole decoration, or "Signs" tab just doesnt at all feature in JW Era, and smaller things like, god, even the fences are so much better.
If you manage to get a JP skin for the viewing tower and platform, and even the greenhouse so we can have a mechanic (which again, we paid for) back, that would be icing on the cake, but the above is just killing me.
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