Overview
the average player’s experience with this freaking amazing game with its freaking horrible combat
Curiosity
This is the phase where someone finds out about KCD for the first time. Their interest is piqued and they seek out information about the game, there they will likely find more good things than bad things about this game, after all, it has such glowing reviews how bad could it be? They may find a few people complaining about bugs or other confusing things, but if they aren’t dissuaded at this point they move on to the next phase.
Anticipation
At this point, the player cannot control their excitement to play the game, they have already bought it and are currently downloading it. While it downloads they may look up even more stuff about the game such as gameplay footage and developer commentary about the game. This phase only lasts as long as it takes to download the game, which may be a while considering the size of this absolute unit of a game i mean holy crap it takes up an insane amount of hdd space wtf.
Enjoyment
At this point the player is now playing the game and are having a blast, the well written story makes the game seem almost like a movie, and the the various side mechanics like foraging, hunting, potion making, and trading entrance them into a drug-like state of pure enjoyment. However this does not last for long as soon the player will actually start fighting opponents that aren’t brain dead.
Confusion
The player is now confused, “why are the enemies now all of a sudden so much harder than before?” the player may thing, “I mean they weren’t really easy to fight before but now they’re moving so fast, hitting so hard, recovering so quickly, and winning clinches so often that I just can’t keep up. Am I just bad at the game?” They ponder, before looking up some tips and videos. Most of what they find seem to be helpless souls like them, asking the same questions, all wondering how in the absolute fluff does one actually win a clinch, many of them later almost tauntingly saying that they’ve figured it out. All of this only confuses them more, they watch some videos, but they see that the ones recording have no trouble at all dispatching opponents in seconds that took them minutes to even get to low health. They try replicating what they see, they try following instructions to the letter, they know what button to push, what technique to try, but no matter how hard they try, they just seem to get nowhere. “Why must this be so hard? Why must the game’s combat be this complicated?” Why does this game have to be so….Unfair?” Their hearts then turn from confusion, to anger.
Frustration
At this point the player is fuming. It is just absolutely unacceptable to them that the game has to be this complicated for something that should be as basic as fighting. They cannot believe that the game has a learning curve that even makes TF2 look like first grade math in comparison. “Why do they teach me how to chain attacks if doing so drains my stamina immediately!? Why do AI never fall for feints!? Why do I never win clinches no matter what I press!? Why!? WHY!? WHHHHHY!?!?” they scream into the sky. They’ve had it, they are done. To purgatory with all of it they declare!
Capitulation
At this point they have ragequitted and have little intent on coming back, they likely have also uninstalled the game to keep them from being tempted into playing a game that’s just going to make them angry… But why do they feel so bad?
Remorse
They begin to feel regret, regret for getting upset over a game, regret over not being able to overcome difficult obstacles, maybe regret over buying the game. Whatever it is, they just can’t shake off that wave of negative emotions going through them…But this does not last forever.
Acceptance
It is at this stage that they accept their situation. They fondly remember what they like from the game, and accept that they don’t want to play it anymore because of the bad things, but are no longer angry nor sad because of it. They may not be happy, but they are content.
Migration
At this point they find another game to play, perhaps something completely different like TF2 or Gmod, perhaps something similar to KCD, but different in ways they like such as chivalry or mordhau. Either way they have moved on, putting past pastures behind them. They are free.