why does bhvr play it too safe with the designs for long waited licenses?
idk if this was ever asked before but i felt like i needed to.
both five nights at Freddy's and Jason are long awaited and probably the two most requested licenses in the game's history. yet when they finally arrive we get huntress but with axe and huntress but with a metal spear.
i know people will argue that these powers aren't similar and that X killer does this and Y killer does that. but in the general picture these powers seem really close and way too safe in design.
for some time i thought bhvr was running out of good killer power ideas but we just recently got the first and soon getting the judgment which made me think bhvr still got it in them but then we get jason and we go back to same old same old dash/range design area. why??
Springtrap axe is a bit understandable since he doesn't really have a power in the games (i think) outside fan made ideas but the cameras could have been such a fun and unique mechanic however they barely offer anything meaningful to Springtrap outside of teleportation which is inconsistent on many maps especially indoors due to their spawn logic and for survivors they have no reason to interact with them.
and now Jason who's known to use a multitude of different weapons to kill people in creative ways just gets a spear and the other weapons are left to his mori, again why??? after 10 years of dbd a step up in power designs is to be expected but this isn't it and it's a bit of a let down (except his teleportation it's awesome).
just wanted to rant a little and see what you guys think.
Comments
Ask the IP holders, they have a huge say in what the power is
The game is really quite limited in what they can actually do. Overlaps in powers are inevitable at this point
Jason doesn't feel like they are playing it safe at all. He is incredibly fun and, although it may not seem like it on paper, unique.
When they try to do something unique, it sometimes comes out unpopular.
Like Xenomorph for example. One of the most iconic horror movie characters in history and one of the most requested to come to the game.
And nobody likes it. Survivors hate playing against it because of how oppressive it is in chase, and killers hate playing it because of the flamer turrets. A killer both sides hate in equal measure.
(I'm saying this as a p100 Xenomorph by the way, I like how it plays, most people don't)
I don't blame them for just taking things which worked well in the past and combining them for other long-awaited killers. They can save the more unique designs for more niche licenses.
For Afton, Scott is known to be a somewhat difficult person to work with given that he is effectively the only person responsible for FNAF's success other than YouTubers who gave the game a shot. I don't think Afton is flawed, I think he deserves buffs to the doors and their efficacy and essentialness but its not a bad idea at all. The axe is a nod to fan theories and fan content, Scott has historically loved to include those aspects of the FNAF community into official work.
Jason, however, is a jumbled confusing mess from a licensing standpoint and the lack of CCL and Pamela and Tommy being mentioned overtly is most likely due to said mess. HOWEVER, the idea of versatility, brutal kills, and being everywhere at all times is fundamental to his identity as a Slasher and no matter how much people whine that he's simply X,Y,Z killers blended together (aka half the cast added in the last 5 years), they accurately portrayed his personality and mannerisms through the power they cooked up. It deserves tweaks, bug fixes, and maybe a QOL buff or two but on paper, its great and its 100% Jason Voorhees.
i just can't shake this feeling that something is missing with his design
they did manage to adapt the idea of him being everywhere really really well his tp is so fun but when it comes to chase power it's so eh
i would have settled at least for like a big axe he could use to break things faster kinda like carnifex or that gas can from his mori which he could use as a trap at breakable walls or pallets
maybe i fell a victim of my own expectations but i really thought they wouldn't do yet another range ability for THE Jason Voorhees game is already bloated with this type of design and the last one was fairly recent.
@Zakon05i think you brought up the worst example imo
cuz Alien chapter was truly stripped of of any original idea and almost any relation to the movies no acid blood no facehuggers nothing that makes xenomorph a xenomorph and we just got nemesis 2.0 Alien has truly been the most disappointing license adaptation in this game and this isn't a rare opinion.
overlaps in power designs have been happening for quite some time and i don't mind it usually cuz sometimes bhvr can cook up a really cool overlap/ combination of old powers like with dracula and ghoul.
but if that overlap is eventually going to result in recycled powers with new paint then they need to rethink their strategy because that might not hold up for too long and a community fatigue might start to show like how it already happened with dash abilities/dashslop.
Your feelings about the adaptation have nothing to do with the killer's popularity. If the killer was fun to play, people would play it anyway.
And again, I think it is fun. But the overwhelming majority of people hate the flamer turrets to the point they can't derive any enjoyment out of playing the killer. Whenever you hear people talk about why they don't play the xenomorph, the turrets are always the reason why.
In fact a lot of people think the flamer turrets are so good against Xeno that it may as well be an M1 killer. If you put time into mastering the killer, they're not that much of a threat. But I definitely notice how often other Xeno players get knocked out of crawler mode, because they likely don't main it and don't have the built-up reflexes necessary to deal with them quickly.
People hate the turrets so much that they just give up on the killer and go play a different one.
And yet, despite all of that, survivors also don't like Xenomorph because the tail legitimately is one of the best chase powers in the entire game. Due to latency and survivor momentum, it's basically unreactable, even after nerfs to give survivors more time. You have to guess when the Xeno is going to tail whip and be in the process of pre-dodging, as well as hugging terrain which makes it difficult for the Xeno to use its tail at all. It's not like other killers with skill shots where they pull up their axe or whatever to give you a warning to dodge, Xeno can just do it at any time.
They tried something new: a killer with an extremely powerful chase power that has to deal with survivors having an extra weapon against it. It didn't work for the overwhelming majority of players on both sides.
I agree with everything you have said about the Xenomorph. I'm also a Xenomorph enjoyer, a P100 Xeno and a huge fan of the IP.
I think a lot of people confuse "this isn't my ideal Alien adaptation" with "this isn't a good Alien adaptation."
Calling Xenomorph "Nemesis 2.0" feels incredibly unfair when you look at what the killer actually brought to the game.
The Xenomorph is the only killer in DbD with a fully-fledged tunnel network under the map. It is the only killer whose power is directly countered by a defense system. In fact, it is the only killer in the game where survivors have to actively set up against it before it arrives. It has underground tracking through footstep detection, an alternate stance, was the first killer capable of crawling, has a map-wide traversal system, a ranged Tail Attack unlike any other power in the game, Motion Trackers and Flamethrower Turrets.
That's already more unique mechanics than most killers in the whole roster.
Does it have Facehuggers? No. Does it have Acid Blood? Technically yes, with the add-on. But a power has a limited budget. You can't realistically fit tunnels, Facehuggers, Ovomorphs, life cycle, acid blood, tail Attack, a second stance, pure stealth, wall-crawling, motion trackers and flamethrowers into a single killer without effectively designing three killers at once.
The Xenomorph does exactly what a Xenomorph would do. Everything in its kit is logical and heavily inspired by Alien: Isolation.
It moves through vents unseen, represented by the tunnels. It listens for prey, then emerges suddenly to strike with overwhelming lethality through the Tail Attack. It can be detected through Motion Trackers and repelled by fire through Flamethrowers. It's almost a carbon copy of A:I except instead of running for an instant kill, it tail strikes you. It conveys the same message though, absolute lethality.
If anything, it is one of the most faithful licensed adaptations in the game, both mechanically and thematically.
Ironically, I think the flamethrowers are one of the best examples of that. Many killer players dislike them because survivors can directly interfere with their power, but that's exactly how humans survive encounters with the Alien in the movies and in Alien: Isolation. The creature is an overwhelming threat and people are forced to prepare defenses in advance. No other killer in DbD creates that dynamic.
Where I think the criticism is actually fair is that the most unique part of the kit, the tunnels, often feels less influential than the Tail Attack. As a result, many players end up seeing Xenomorph as "the Tail Attack killer" rather than recognizing the macro-game potential and map presence that the tunnel network provides.
I think that's the real source of many complaints from both sides. Survivors focus on the Tail Attack because it is the part they interact with the most, while many killer players dislike flame turrets because survivors can directly interfere with their power, which is something almost no other killer has to deal with. Meanwhile, the most interesting and unique part of the design often gets overshadowed and underutilized.
Personally, I don't think the chapter failed at adapting Alien. Quite the opposite. Visually, thematically and mechanically, it's one of the most ambitious licensed chapters BHVR has ever made.
The Xenomorph isn't lacking unique ideas. If anything, it might be one of the most unique killers BHVR has ever designed, and that may also explain why it remains relatively niche despite its quality. Historically, many of DbD's most ambitious and unconventional killers have struggled to achieve popularity.
It's a licensed chapter what do you expect?
I'm so bored of gen gameplay I love the turrets just to break the solo q monotony. xeno is what I call a "killer designed by survivor mains" its a shame that humans don't like to play as them though so the killers just dead.
very few killers give basekit help to solo q and xeno goes unappreciated for it
I don't think a killer designed by survivor mains would have the kind of map traversal or chase power Xeno has.
Most survivors don't like playing against Xenomorph. Some people like deploying the turrets, but actually looping a good Xeno is really hard.