Punch Club 12+

I just want to start by saying do not railroad your player into your DLC chapter, especially in a game where stat and time management are key, it undermines the design, and it’s annoying, if I was ready to start dark fist, I would start it. If I’m trying to go to bed and get railroaded into a 4/8/8 fight while stuck as a 1/8/4, that’s not on me, that’s on your design choices.

This is a game about time/stat management, min/maxing is needed, and it feels like the balance is on a house of cards. It can be beaten, but the hurdles you go over to do it make it frustrating, and not fun. It’s too easy to get into a spiral of failure and lose days worth of training through stat degradation because you need money to catch up. The game offers alternative means to making money through ‘underground fights’ but they have a high risk/reward scheme that if you lose you suffer a penalty, which feeds back into you needing the most efficient build possible.

The game has many little issues, and it’s unlikely they will be fixed or adjusted in anyway. I want to make clear it’s not one small issue, but many small issues that build up into an impeding force. The game is beatable, but it’s questionable if it’s worth the frustration put into it.

It’s sort of addictive because you think you can somehow be successful at it if you just find your groove. But I swear it is this uphill climb where I have to constantly trade off training for work for sleep and still be able to afford food and somehow fit a boxing career in there. I get that’s the point, but I think it’s too much, even on medium. I hate the struggle, I already have to balance a crap ton in my real life, it’s downright miserable struggling for this pixely dude. Spoiler alert: if you think you can build up cash by concentrating on work for a bit, you won’t be strong enough to defend yourself from that tactic. Gah. I’m so aggravated. Maybe the easy mode might be less frantic?