A little late, but some thoughts

Kudos Kudos 2
1

Wow, I had no idea this game even existed, and how long has it been? I adored the original Kudos and Rock Legend, and it doesn’t seem like so long ago that I discovered them…but I somehow managed to miss the release of Kudos 2 entirely, and have just now started to enjoy it.

That said, there are a couple of things that I’m not especially thrilled with…and while I have no idea if a third installment is or ever will be in the works, I know that I like to get honest feedback on my own creative endeavors, so for what it’s worth, here’s what I think!

THE GOOD!

  • The graphics are very nice, much better than the original without getting too visual-intensive. It remains a text-based game, but with art that’s quite pleasing to look at.
  • I like the addition of pets, in theory at least. I’ve only had the dog so far and I’m not sure about all of the details, but there seems to be a nice balance of benefits and cost.
  • I like the idea of different menu items in the restaurants (the implementation’s not perfect, see below)
  • I like the fact that once you have…enough kudos? a good enough job? enough friends? that friends will sometimes understand when you have to decline their invitations. I don’t remember if this existed in the first one, but after being dropped so many times after choosing ONE evening class over another bowling match, it was so nice the first time someone said they understood!
  • The whole game seems brighter, more upbeat, and even when you’re not doing so well it never seems like there’s no way to get out of that position (at least, so far, I’ve only played two characters so far!)

THE NOT SO GOOD… :frowning:

  • The cars. This has been mentioned before but it just doesn’t seem like the balance between taking the car or the bus is enough to make there be much of a choice. The cheapest car is the only one I’ve been able to get so far… it gives me a confidence boost, which makes sense…but that’s it? If it only cost a little more than the bus, five points of confidence might make it worth the extra money in certain professions… is there ANY difference in relaxation? I was hoping there would be, but if so it’s not enough to allow me to learn ANYTHING at the night school, read any books, etc. I think it IS more relaxing to drive home in your own car than to take the bus…and wouldn’t that extra stress from being stuck in traffic happen sometimes with the bus or the cars? I also understand the cars costing money to maintain even when you’re not driving them, but I’ve lived in a couple different countries, urban and rural areas, and in none of the places I’ve lived does it cost $40 a day to make a 20-mile commute. Even in this economy.
  • The game…doesn’t end? I guess the fireworks on my birthday marked the 30th birthday? But I want some kind of ending screen…it’s fine to be able to play beyond that, if you want to keep shooting for that dream job you couldn’t quite make by age 30, but I at least want something telling me how I did as far as career and social life and whatever else. At the very least a pop-up window to tell me that this IS my 30th birthday, and a graph of how my stats have changed or something?
  • Like others, I would also like the option to be married. I know that there are stat-related benefits to having a romantic partner, but it would be nice to be able to focus on that…a third option maybe, as opposed to focusing on career or trying to get as many friends as possible, focusing on that ONE relationship and trying to balance it with work (maybe certain partners wouldn’t want to marry a waiter no matter how great the relationship is, or would want you to have however many kudos, etc?) Even if this wasn’t something to be done IN the game itself, it could be a part of the ending. If you’d had a long, successful relationship, it could be mentioned in whatever kind of ending that your character married their partner, or that they broke up soon after the 30th birthday party if things hadn’t been going so well! Of course marriage would bring extra stress sometimes, but you’d also be less lonely even if you stayed at home, and your spouse could provide extra income, etc?

Just a few thoughts, if anyone cares or would like to discuss. In general I’m liking it very much!

2

Ah, I forgot to expand on my thoughts on the restaurant menus!

I like the idea in general. But some of the menu items seem to have no benefits over any of the others? For example, there’ll be two items that give almost the same benefits, maybe the exact same happiness and health, but one of them both increases weight AND costs more than the other. I don’t understand that…because there’s no reason to ever order that, is there? If one of the choices was less expensive, but more fattening, and the other was more expensive, but less fattening, there would be a choice to be made.

I’m also not sure what the benefits of alcohol are, unless you have friends who like to drink. Sobriety is obviously a good thing for work and job interviews and classes…but drinking doesn’t seem to increase relaxation or excitement or confidence, at least no more than any other activity does? I never choose to drink at the restaurants because it just doesn’t seem like there’s any benefit to it. Might be nice if drinking wine or champagne upped your culture too…a wine and cheese evening does, so why not a glass of wine at a restaurant (I wouldn’t expect more than one point or so, but a little would make sense?)

Again, just some thoughts and it may be that I simply haven’t spent enough time with the game yet to understand all of the benefits.