{"id":52166,"date":"2021-04-22T06:00:37","date_gmt":"2021-04-22T10:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/?p=52166"},"modified":"2021-04-21T23:17:35","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T03:17:35","slug":"factorio-part-1-the-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/?p=52166","title":{"rendered":"Factorio Part 1: The Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes. This is what we’re doing. I’m going to do a “retrospective” on Factorio. Rather than complaining about games that frustrate me<\/a>, I want to talk about a game I love. Also, I want to somehow justify the two-week binge I just went through and this seems like the path of least resistance.<\/p>\n

Is this a bad idea? Probably.<\/p>\n

Factorio is part of a small list of games that remain evergreen for me. Like Minecraft<\/i> and Kerbal Space Program<\/i>, I can come back to Factorio<\/i> again and again and find something new and interesting each time. Sometimes the novelty comes from mods, and other times it comes from self-imposed challenges or goals. You can learn the basics in a few minutes, and then you can spend years puzzling over all the layers of complexity that the game has to offer.<\/p>\n

My reviews tend to be very narrative-focused, so let’s go over that stuff first.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Story<\/h3>\n

I hope I'm a better engineer than I was a pilot.<\/div>
I hope I'm a better engineer than I was a pilot.<\/div><\/p>\n

Your spaceship crashes on an unknown planet. You build some machines. Eventually you build a rocket. You launch the rocket. You stay on the planet. I don’t know why you don’t use the rocket to leave.<\/p>\n

Okay, that’s out of the way. Now let’s talk about…<\/p>\n

The Characters<\/h3>\n

We don't know much about this character, but we DO know they default to beige \/ yellow for their armor color. (You can change it if you like.) I don't know what that tells us, personality-wise.<\/div>
We don't know much about this character, but we DO know they default to beige \/ yellow for their armor color. (You can change it if you like.) I don't know what that tells us, personality-wise.<\/div><\/p>\n

You play as a nameless, faceless, genderless, voiceless engineer in a space suit. There are no other people around.<\/p>\n

That’s it for the characters.<\/p>\n

In Conclusion<\/h3>\n

<\/div>
<\/div><\/p>\n

Other than the curious detail that your character doesn’t ever choose to leave the planet, there are no plot holes. There are no cutscenes where the player character is incompetent. There are no frustrating conversations where you’re prevented from asking reasonable questions, and you’re never forced to say anything stupid. Or anything at all.<\/p>\n

The secondary villain is the endless swarm of insect-like monsters. Their motivations (eat your face) are clear and they never act like they’ve read the script. The primary villain is your own goddamn train, which JUST HAPPENS to come screaming by while you’re crossing the tracks, killing you instantly. You can never truly defeat the train, and it will never stop being humiliating when it runs you over, but you will eventually learn to laugh about it. Or cry. Or (like me) curse at the game and pretend it’s not your fault.<\/p>\n

The tone is perfectly consistent. There are no bad vocal performances, no janky animations, and no uncanny faces. No immersion-breaking audio logs. No clumsy fetch quests. You never have to do stuff for an NPC you hate just to progress the plot, because there isn’t one.<\/p>\n

And best of all, Kai Leng never shows up.<\/p>\n

10\/10 GOTY ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 👍Two Thumbs Up 🍅Certified Fresh 🥇Editor’s Choice 🚗 Car of the Year<\/p>\n

Gameplay<\/h3>\n