I like cooperative games, and I like ARPGs. However, I’ve noticed a trend in most games of this genre - they feel inherently uncooperative.
Example: when playing multiplayer, it almost always comes down to whichever character has a slightly better build, who runs the entire level faster than the others, wiping everything out, and leaving the other players to simply follow behind and sift through the loot. Not very fun in my book.
It’s my assumption that situations like that are what create a “run” condition with players racing each other to the max level, and what also pushes people into playing “meta” builds in order to be the ones getting to “play” the level rather than being on cleanup duty.
Some people get around this limitation by splitting off and going different directions (on less linear maps). I’d argue that’s not really cooperative play however, as it’s not much different from each player running a separate map. Certainly doesn’t feel like “playing together” to me.
Since other ARPGs struggle with the same system, I assumed it was a shortcoming of the genre itself. I’ve since had some ideas however that I think might help:
-
Boss fights generally feel more cooperative, as they have larger hitpoint pools and the fight lasts longer with various mechanics (unless you’re playing Diablo 4 season 2 with HoTA Barbarians or BL Sorcerers I suppose). Sprinkling “mini-bosses” into standard (monolith) levels when playing co-op would be a good way to encourage players to stay close. Just make sure the bosses have extra good drops for everyone when successfully defeated. Perhaps even put the mini-boss into its own room so players can gather before starting it.
-
Skill interactions between classes. Why not have something akin to a sorcerer igniting a rogue’s smoke screen for an extra large “boom?” Or a paladin that can enchant a necromancer’s wraiths into unholy angels? And the more automatic you make these interactions, the more players would want to play together to become more powerful. Some classes (like Paladin) do have party buffs, which I think is a good start, but needs to be made more obvious when affecting other players.
-
More “arena” map types. I think the arena is a good place to play cooperatively, as hordes continually spawn and players, regardless if less powerful, generally get to take some swings at enemies. Some variation in types of arenas would be appreciated, such as adding more themes, targeted loot types, etc… Imagine how cool these would be with the aforementioned skill interactions? Or even the aforementioned mini-bosses every now and again?
-
Multiplayer puzzles. Not everyone’s favorite, I understand. Though they wouldn’t have to be difficult. Say, for each player in the map there’s a pressure plate to continue on to the next area (to lower a bridge, or open a door). This way, if one player happens to have better movement speed or skills, the other player has a chance to catch up before starting the next area. A reward drop for “solving” the puzzle would make it less annoying for the speed-demon type players. And of course, if playing single-player, just leave the puzzle out.
I don’t think ARPGs need to be as single-player focused as they currently are. A few tweaks to the formula could go a long way into making them more cooperative, and generally, multiplayer friendly.
Let me know what you think.