So I'm working on prototyping a hardcore 1v1 rhythm game designed to allow competitive freestyle play between top-level players of VSRG like DJMax, IIDX or Guitar Hero. I've always been a fan of fighting games like old school KOF that have clear snowballing mechanics (stun, infinite corner combos), primarily because losing doesn't just feel frustrating - it's downright humiliating most of the time. For someone like myself, this is great motivator to "git gud", because winning feels
so good, and losing feels
so bad. I think these two are directly related.
But how much is too much? In my game, it's already ZERO fun to be the losing player in a match with any sort of skill gap, even though I've set several hard limits on how much one player can abuse another. Rhythm games are about raw execution instead of strategy and even though my game is unique with freestyle emphasis, it's still a far cry from a fighting game where upsets happen easily. I feel like if I add some of the snowballing mechanics I'm thinking about, it would make that problem even worse, but at the same time, it could make matches between two evenly-matched players much more intense.
Considering my game is already so niche in its appeal, maybe I should just go all-in on what I think hardcore players like myself will enjoy and abandon new players to the wolves? But at the same time I would feel bad for new players, who would unpack after a match and realize they never even had a chance at winning. Too much of that could have the opposite effect that I want (player feels drive to get better), and instead be very demotivating.
I realize this is all a matter of taste and knowing my audience at the end of the day, but I think that my view of the situation is kind of warped since most people are not rhythm game addicts who play every single day and stress over their leaderboard position lol. When a game is already extremely difficult just to learn, and the only way to learn the game is in 1v1 setting, common sense tells me to cut them some slack, but the player in me wants to just throw them in the deep end and see who swims