My issues with the Trickster
Okay, so I finally got around to writing this out. Mostly because I got bored of waiting 62 years to get into a game.
I personally am not a fan of the character and worry about the shift in tone the game is starting to take. This post is going to be a breakdown of everything I don't like about The Trickster, so if you do like him, this probably won't be something you'll enjoy reading. So maybe don't?
I've seen several posts from people voicing their disapproval with the character, only for some "supporters" to bite back with insults saying things along the line of "just another whine post". It's not constructive and doesn't give the rest of the community a good image. I don't agree with all their points, but believe it's important that all opinions are heard, good and bad. If we only ever compliment the designs of characters, the Devs won't truly know if they're heading in the right direction. If you like the character, great, but not everyone has to agree.
Some of the points I've read several times focus on the bright colour scheme of The Trickster. This is one of the points I don't agree with. There are many characters with bright colours and from what I understand, the back story of the character always incorporated some flamboyance. It makes sense to me that after turning insane, he's still wearing the outfit from before. Personally, I don't read the back stories, they don't interest me. But even if his default outfit was black, bright colours would be an alternate choice that most would use anyway.
As a kind of side point, I don't personally much care for the back stories of the characters. They've only ever been cool little tidbits to read about when bored. So this can be as short, or as long as the devs want it to be. As long as I'm not forced to read about it. However, it didn't escape my notice that it was one of the longest, only beaten by The Twins, and only just. Not important, just wanted to say.
However, that is the only good thing I have to say about the design. Overall, it's extremely uninspired. As you've probably heard before, very easily compared to Leto Joker and BTS. There's nothing that feels original about the character, like it was simply copy pasted from some edgy fan-made anime. I feel like so much more could have been done with the design. Give him The Joker treatment (the good one), and have him cut off hit face, and staple it back on. Maybe have him carve his kill-count into his exposed chest, tallying his slaughter spree. Or maybe have his body wrapped in wires that cut into his flesh, incorporating some sort of modern metaphor of technology having a stranglehold on people's personality. This is off the top of my head, with a bit more thought, I'm sure better could thought up. I'd also take away the fourth wall breaking. I personally find it cringy, and not in a good way. Not as in "oh this creepy character just looked at me", but rather "oh, look, like Deadpool.." At the very least have him wear a mask. He's also just not scary. I've read someone say that he looks like he would be easily overpowered by the 4 Survivors, which is argued against with “Real serial killers look normal”. But this isn’t a simulation of Survivors trying to escape an unknown serial killer. The killer is really obvious, and this isn’t real life. Which is why a lot of people are disappointed with The Legion, a lot of people thought their design would make it not so clear.
The theme of nearly every previous character was something less natural. Something you wouldn't see walking the street. A being with clear corruption, whether it be mutation, deformed creatures, undead, towering intimidation, etc. I've seen The Trickster get compared to The Pig, Ghost Face, and Legion. First of all, I don't think he should be compared to licensed characters. The design team can't really change a character they didn't create. The only real comparison then is The Legion. But that leaves a weak argument, if the only character The Trickster can be compared to, is (and I think it's fair to say), the most disappointing addition up until now. But at least The Legion wears a mask (and so do the others), giving that anonymity, like the antagonists from The Purge. A horror film.
His ability is so generic and boring. He throws knifes. He's Like the Huntress, but faster. he can also throw them even faster, at the cost of some movement speed. I don't think it's overpowered, at all. But I don't think it's underpowered either, like a lot of people seem to believe. If his power needs some attention, then I think other characters deserve it first. However, I do think it needs to change.. completely. The design team was so focussed on making his ability appeal to anime fans, it feels like they forgot to make sure it was interesting. One of many reasons I think the character is just pandering. Here's a few ideas off the top of my head, that might make sense with the name "Trickster". Have his power transform him into another Survivor, a copy of an existing one in the Trial, hiding his Terror Radius and Red Mark, but preventing him from attacking. or having him "trap" generators so they look like they're at 90%, but when a Survivor interacts with it, it instantly explodes, setting it back to its actual state. Or maybe have a short period where all perks do the opposite. Better Together shows a random Generator, Dead Hard causes the Survivor to stop moving, Quick and Quite highlights the Survivor, Prove Thyself slows down Generator repairs, etc.
Since I've brought up his name, I want to say I'm not fond of the name "The Trickster". I've heard many different people bring up the name "The Idol", and with the lack of any tricks, it makes sense to me, and just sounds better. Some have defended the name by saying, he tricked his fans, to kill them. But that would be like calling The Trapper: The Heir, or The Son. Or calling The Spirit: The Student. I don't really care what he's called, just believe The Trickster could have been given to a character that has tricks for the ability.
It's quite noticeably inspired by anime, even down to the sound design. But in a more realistic setting, rather than a cartoon, it feels out of place. Every action The Trickster does is accompanied by a grunt sounding like he's having his colon stretched by his own bat. Yun-Jin Lee's vocals are particularly grating too. She doesn't even have the highest pitched voice, but it makes me want to turn the sound down or completely off. In a lot of BHVR's surveys, it seems to suggest they'd like the players to be immersed in a horror setting. But I'm completely pulled from any immersion when The Trickster is running around talking. It would be like if The Clown started telling jokes while reloading bottles. It would be funny, not scary.
I don't think it will be long before that Starstruck perk gets abused by more experienced players too. The Meatplant, big Terror Radius, and Infectious Fright. Almost like having a permanent noed, and at least that’s a HEX Perk, but people still say noed needs a nerf. The only good thing is the 60 second cooldown. I had a alternative solution to body blocking. I'm sure I've read others come up with similar too. while carrying a Survivor, all Survivors within 6 Meters are exposed, the effect last for 4/5/6 seconds after leaving the radius, or if the carried survivor is Hooked. No cooldown needed.
Before The Trickster was revealed, I was convinced we was getting a killer from Resident Evil, or Outlast. I didn't know what, but I had high hopes. I'd even seen some really cool ideas from fans. A killer that could move between lockers, similar to how The Demogorgon goes between portals, and if there's a Survivor in the locker, they're instantly grabbed, maybe pulled through the portal to the Killer's locker. Or a spider related Killer that could put webbing down that slows Survivors, maybe stopping them for a moment, and instead of a traditional Terror Radius, you see spiders covering the floor and walls, getting denser as the killer gets closer, which is also accompanied by a scuttling noise. How about a ghost that could "possess" Survivors, watching where they go, seeing the others, and maybe even controlling some button inputs? Or a killer than could use the crows, cause a large selection of them to fly off scaring the Survivors, or have one fly off from near the killer into the direction of the closest Survivor.
Overall, I'm extremely disappointed with The Trickster. More could have been done to make him an interesting character, better characters have already been designed. But mostly, he just feels like he was designed to pander to anime fans.
I know this has nothing to do with the Killer, or at least, it's not The Trickster's fault. But it's something I'm getting a lot. The Killer, when playing The Trickster, will hook me by a locker, then throw all their knifes at me, while I hang there. Reload, then do the same again. Sometimes never leaving, just repeatedly doing that. Totally unjustified too, I didn't loop for ages, I didn't tbag, or do anything cocky. I'm not good enough to do any of that. Anyone else noticing this?
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