On the one hand, I’m glad this game is still going. On the other, I have PTSD after 1500 hours of playtime.
It’s been years since I last played, but back then you could tell the devs genuinely loved their game and were passionate to build it up. I hope the same is true today, and considering the game is still actively developed, I’d imagine it is.
I’m too old for Warframe. I still can’t figure it out. Had 1100 hours in Destiny 2 but Warframe seems to take a sadistic pleasure in making things confusing.
I’ve played both, and they’re fundamentally different kinds of games. Warframe is all about movement, mixing shooting with melee, and collecting mods and frame parts to boost your utility and lethality. D2 is more of a standard FPS with class-specific magic abilities.
D2 has a decent intro level to get you up to speed with how to play, but you don’t really grasp what Warframe is about for maybe 20-50 hours, and you don’t grasp the meta until maybe 100-500. There’s a lot going on. Joining a clan is an absolute necessity, because that unlocks pretty much the rest of the game for you.
I had a fun time with it, and it’s probably one of the best F2P models out there, but I don’t have any plans to ever pick it up again.
I made it as far as joining a clan and getting access to the dojo and blueprints. I’ve got an archwing and a surfboard (or whatever it’s called in free roam).
I’ve been stuck on the mission where you have to offer some kind of medallion to a statue and it transports you to some asteroid. You deplete the boss’s shield a few times to kill it, but I always get wiped.
I guess my main complaint is that it all feels the same. Missions on different planets have the same strategy and same enemies with the exception of those elder tree/virus/God things Father/Mother/Sister/Brother/etc.
Seems like I play long enough to figure pieces out again and then lose interest in the grind.
Yep, that’s pretty much it. The grind + unique movement system is the game, and maybe the appeal isn’t for everyone. I had a clan mate who came from D2, got maybe 800 hours into Warframe, but ultimately would always go back to D2.
The grindy pieces can be fun, especially with the amount of meta builds to make things easier (like Eidolon fights), but a bad team comp can make a mission harder (via a vis the medallion thing you’re talking about).
I had a hard time in the beginning, and I put the game down several times, too. I agree that it can be very confusing. And yet, it still called me, and I wound up putting in 1000 more hours; having a very active guild helped with that, too.
But if it’s not for you, that’s totally fine. It’s visually very pretty, and the fact that you can earn premium currency with some sweat equity is unheard of in F2P games, but you are right that how combat works is pretty much the same for every mission. What makes things different is the frames and mods.
Thanks so much for taking the time to explain some of the nuances. Despite it’s flaws, I’ve still been impressed by the depth to Warframe considering its humble free-to-play status.
I also follow this game remotely, but didn’t play for at least two years. The multitude of systems is so confusing, I wouldn’t even know where to start.
Just start by shooting enemies in the face. When you feel ready just have a look at one of the system and learn to use it to improve your ability to shoot enemies in the face. Repeat until you understand all the systems.
That’s what I’ve been doing for the past 10 years and it’s been working rather well!
I mean I played the game for 383 hours (amazingly). But I stopped following until they introduced the… I don’t even know how to call it, the update with the hoverboard and the planet. I started doing a little bit of hunting for the big guys on that one plain, but never quite figured out how to do it properly.
So now the question would be, what should I check out? Is there maybe a guide with overview with all the different game “activities”?
The in-game codex will likely give you an idea of the features available to you. Alternatively, you might want to have a look at your profile and view the weapons and warframes that interest you that you have yet to unlock/master. From there you may have a look at the wiki to view how to obtain them. Some such warframes, such as Hildrin, will require you to interact with some extra systems, such as unlocking the ability to equip an archwing weapon in regular missions.
Nice, 1 second of gameplay and the rest just animations.
