The video game industry has changed many times over in the course of several gaming generations. The sizes of games are bigger and more expansive in scope, game graphics are better than anyone could imagine, and multiplayer titles are potentially taking over single-player games. However, arguably, the most destructive change in the gaming space over the years is the involvement of monetization, aka microtransactions, and how they affect game development. Some titles are so bad that you NEED to pay just to have a chance against other players. There are some exceptions to the rule, with Once Human being such an example.
The title is your typical survival game. Aliens have infected the world, and you have to fight back while trying to keep your body healthy and sane. Depending on how you choose to play, you can fight with basic weapons or get special powers at the cost of your health. On Reddit, a bunch of gamers came together to praise the title for its lack of “pay-2-win” mechanics with its monetization.
They noted that it’s easily one of the “least pay-to-win” titles out there, even citing recent releases like The First Descendant as an example of a game that went WAY too far to try and make monetization impossible to avoid.
In fact, the game is apparently so good about how it does monetization that players honestly struggle just to find the store to make the purchases! That’s a far cry from other games where the store is right on the front page or the microtransactions are heavily “hinted at” so that players will get them.
One of the ironies of this is that a Redditor noted, quite fairly, that gamers mainly complain about microtransactions when they’re really bad. That’s true, and that’s also a fair response when you know you’re getting “conned” by a video game developer. Just look at what happened with Blizzard and its team shooter title. It had such terrible microtransactions that it was one of several games that were brought before Congress to showcase how mainline gaming had become akin to “gambling,” and yet, groups like EA aren’t going to back off of this tactic.
Therefore, we should praise NetEase and Starry Studios for what it has done with Once Human and not forcing people to get things via its monetization system. In fact, despite not having the best reviews, the game does have a great player base and it seems to be growing in number.
