Travon Wimberly
Apex Legends
Despite its popularity as one of the top battle royale games on the market, Apex Legends is a hardcore shooter at its core. Yes, its colorful cast of characters and lore is very inviting, but if you’ve ever played a game of Apex, you know that it’s unforgiving for new players. Unlike other shooters with aim assist, Apex players need to be accurate with their weapons but also understand the proper ranges and situations that their weapons excel in. Obviously, this is true for most shooters, but throw in character abilities and new players must learn the powers of an ever-expanding cast. In games such as Overwatch, this is frustrating, but you’re allowed to respawn relatively instantly in arena shooters. With Apex, the Battle Royale genre that it’s in means that most new players will die within 1.5 seconds of landing and have to wait for another match. Does this make Apex a bad game? Of course not! Apex has some of the best shooter mechanics in the business. But most players can’t deny that your first few matches of Apex are going to be rough if you’re jumping in three years after the game’s initial launch.
Tekken 7
Do you realize that the Tekken franchise is roughly 28 years old? That’s older than the average Fortnite player. This means the king of 3D fighters is a staple of not only the fighting game genre but also gaming as a whole. And for the unaware, the series is extremely proud of its history; so much so that certain moves that are in the latest entries (and will more than likely be in Tekken 8) have been around for two decades. This means that there are players who have years upon years of muscle memory, match-up knowledge, and overall experience with the franchise. Even before Tekken 7 was released, newcomers had a mountain to climb that consisted of dozens of combos to learn for just one character. Not only that, but Tekken 7 itself has been out for over half a decade at this point, so there’s nothing but noob killers online who are constantly training. One thing that may help new players that attempt to climb the game’s ranking system is that you are matched with people relatively close to your level, but it’s still a challenge to climb up the ranks. Nevertheless, the gameplay, characters, and overall hype surrounding the franchise constantly attracts new players, so don’t let the challenge of learning the game’s mechanics scare you away.
Rainbow Six Siege
In 2015, Rainbow Six Siege took the world by storm with its intense and tactical gameplay. Sure it had a rough start but the game quickly soared in popularity and now its a stable within the industry. Overall the core gameplay is one of the most intense experiences you can have in gaming. However, Rainbow Six Siege has one of the fastest time-to-kill ratios within the FPS genre, meaning even seasoned players are kocked out of play lightning-fast. Not only that, but the game encourages a more methodical playstyle, and the successful player often makes use of footsteps and map knowledge. Unlike Call of Duty, there are no traditional team deathmatch modes for players to practice on in R6 either, so new players are thrown to the wolves for the most part. In the game’s defense, there is a newbie playlist for a player fresh to R6, but with countless operators in the game at this point, a new player is unlike to feel confident in their abilities for a while when jumping in. Similar to Apex, players are also forced to wait for a new round to begin after getting killed. Sure, players will naturally learn from their mistakes, but the slow-paced nature of the game can scare away players who want to get back into the action.
Destiny 2
Destiny 2 continues to be a game with amazing gunplay, worlds, and interesting concepts. But for players who have not been on board since the release of either the original title or its sequel, this game is extremely confusing for new players. Fresh fans need to buy countless expansions to remain up to date, and the story is a mess for people who aren’t willing to watch 3-hour lore videos on YouTube. Yes, there are cool characters in the game’s narratives, but the themes and overall plot aren’t told in the clearest way. However, this is a first-person looter-shooter. People are here for intense battles and awesome guns and armor. And admittedly, when you’re blasting enemies away, the game is great. But as soon as you open menus or interact with the convoluted interface, players new to the game may not even understand where to go and what to do next. The overall user interface just feels cluttered for these players because they are bombarded with tons of optional content and things that get in the way of the onboarding experience.
Dead by Daylight
Dead by Daylight is one of the most unique multiplayer experiences available. The adrenaline of being chased by a player-controlled killer is unmatched. From the music cues to the iconic cast of movie and videogame slashers, DBD is a dream come true for horror fans. And yet, while the basic goals for both killers and survivors are straightforward, the game has been around for a very long time. What that means is that there are countless metas for new players to quickly learn, and whether you’re a killer or survivor, experienced players on both sides are generally really skillful and can outplay newcomers regardless of the power dynamic in the match. Another strike against the game is the somewhat complicated leveling system that’s in the shape of a spiderweb. Players are given the chance to upgrade their survivor or killer by spending their leveling-up currency on various upgrades. For each level you gain, you can select different perks and items that will benefit you in a match. While all of them are useful, it’s easy for an inexperienced player to select perks that go against their playstyle or character strengths. Likewise, leveling itself is not hard per se, but knowing how to spec your character can become complex without the use of a guide.
Dragonball FighterZ
Do you enjoy getting hit one time and instantly dying from a long and flashy combo? Welcome to Dragonball FighterZ in 2022. FighterZ shares the same DNA with other tag team fighters such as Marvel vs Capcom 3, forcing players to learn the combos and special movies of multiple characters in each fight. You have to know the abilities of all six characters on the screen along with how to properly synergize your team. The game demands a lot from new players that want to be successful, and they’ll need to truly learn the mechanics of the game. On that same note, if you’re a newcomer and attempt to play this game online in its current state, you’re going to have a bad time. This isn’t because the game mechanics are bad, but because you’re going to be slaughtered by other players. While it might not take new players weeks to find a decent team of characters to learn, the players still playing in 2022 are dedicated. They know all the potential matchups they may face and understand how to counter every single character. Nevertheless, the game is still an extremely fun fighting game that pays amazing homage to the iconic show. Just understand that the players online all have power levels that are over 9000 at this point.
League of Legends
League of Legends remains one of the most popular games in the industry. From fostering one of the biggest player bases ever to having a stellar Netflix adaptation, the franchise remains relevant years after its release. LoL helped usher in the era of MOBA games and its influence can be felt across multiple genres and generations of games. With all of these accolades, you would think that LoL would be the perfect springboard for new players interested in the lore. However, this is far from the truth. It would be easy to blame this on the complex mechanics of the game along with the staggering amount of characters, but instead it’s because of how toxic the community for this game can be toward newcomers. The reason that the community has a toxic representation is largely due to the dedication and obsession of its player base to the game and established ways of playing it. Because the game is a team-focused experience that demands a lot of time from the players for each match, one wrong move from a teammate can set off other players who play the game religiously. The same goes for the game’s metas. If someone goes off-meta, they have a high chance of being called out in the chat. Much of the community expects players to fully understand their character and role within the meta and new players are not sparred. There’s also the fact that the game allows players to see how those they’re playing with customized the abilities of their characters. Players can easily access the loadout of their teammates and tell them why they’re not contributing to the team enough, or how they’re going to be the downfall of the team. Obviously, this is very off-putting for someone attempting to learn a complex game such as LoL on the fly.
Titanfall 2
Titanfall 2 is difficult for new players to enjoy for many of the same reasons as other entries on this list. The title has high skill gaps, unique guns, titans, and an advanced movement system that players must learn. Not only that, but despite the game being treated as royalty within the FPS community, TF2 is over six years old at this point. What this means is that not only is the player base lower than it once was, but only sharks remain on the servers. TF2 is also prone to hackers or being taken down due to the game’s age and lack of support from EA. Because of this, new players could feel discouraged from getting good at a game that’s obviously not receiving as much love as it deserves from its publisher. Not only do they have to overcome the high learning curve, but also the fact that the servers could go offline at any moment and that they truly don’t know if another player is better or just cheating. Regardless, TF2 is still one of the greatest shooters of all time. It has the perfect campaign, and there’s a reason that you will find dozens upon dozens of videos that talk about the game’s excellence all the way into 2022. New players are just going to have a ton of growing pains if they decide to jump into the game at this point.
Final Fantasy 14
FF14 has one of the most compelling comeback stories of all time. After launching to disaster, the game was overhauled and came back stronger than ever in 2013. Releasing on the PC and PS3, the game has spanned multiple console generations with constant new expansions. For years now, players and critics alike continue to praise the game’s story along with the world, mechanics, and overall sense of community. And, unlike other titles on this list, the onboarding process is pretty smooth for most players despite the game being years old at this point. Tons of in-game tutorials exist for newcomers, and the game will not throw players headfirst into the deep end on their first playthrough. Instead, the pacing is the key culprit that makes FF14 near-impossible to penetrate for new players. While FF14 has tons of great content further in, the content that is accessible during a character’s first 50 levels or so feels like padding in comparison. A player’s pursuit of reaching the original level cap will see them going on countless fetch quests. The design of these early quests is extremely boring, and will turn most people off from the full experience. While handholding is necessary for most games, FF14 takes things to a new level as players must play dull content for their first 40 hours. Even the development team wants to improve the first few levels for players and plans to rework the entire beginning section of their game. But if you can manage to survive the initial grind, you will experience an MMO like no other.
Eve Online
Released in 2003, Eve Online is an anomaly within the gaming community. Just comprehending the game’s mechanics, scale, and lore is kryptonite to casual gamers. Eve is a game for the hardcore of hardcore gamers. If you ever wanted to roleplay as the captain of a spaceship, and I mean truly roleplay, this game has you covered. The roleplaying in this game is so intense that you often hear horror stories about players losing thousands of dollars in spaceship battles. Of course, new players are not expected to fully roleplay by the community and they do not have to technically pay a dime to play. But Eve Online is a game that gets better the more and more you invest in its lore and economy. This means that if you want to be competitive and really get somewhere, you’re likely going to spend some cash to truly enjoy their experience. But for players brave enough to sink their teeth into Eve, this game offers an experience like no other. It’s one of the only MMOs where players can govern themselves and shape the narrative into anything they want. Just do not expect to become Picard the first time you load up the game.
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