I picked up Just Cause 2 after a long time of not playing it a little while ago and I had a bit of a realization…
I simultaneously get bored easily with and highly enjoy these games. Outposts and towns are incredibly repetitive, and those make up 90% of the game’s runtime. It’s not like that’s all there is, and Just Cause 3 does have some other side diversions and new tools, but in the end, I’m just running, driving, and/or flying around a massive largely empty, albeit pretty map.
It’s incredibly mindless sometimes, and I never stick around too long, but there’s also this call to it. It is mindless.
It’s simple. I know where to go, what I’m gonna do. Im gonna see some pretty sights, big explosions, and I’m gonna zip around like a deranged Spider-Man. No deep planning or strategy, just spur-of-the-moment chaos. See a thing? Blow it up.
It’s almost like candy. As long as I only come back and play it here and there, I will play it consistently.
Side note: On a certain level, exploring Just Cause’s maps is pleasant in its own way. They are remarkably pretty and it kind of scratches an itch of just being able to GO. No real destination, no plan, just going.
I just wish JC3’s scenic setting was a mix of 2 + 3 but retained the mechanics of JC3. That would be& perfect Just Cause game.
2 on its own was pretty revolutionary for its time, though. I had so much damn fun playing it for years, including the online one.
The wingsuit in Just Cause 3 might be the most fun traversal I’ve seen in any game, it’s just a shame there’s nothing much to explore and the world is pretty boring. I’ve always enjoyed playing it for a little bit but the game’s kinda shallow to warrant ever finishing it or actually taking quests seriously.
I play Just Cause 4 every once in a while, and ironically because of that mindlessness it’s almost the perfect game to pick up and play in short bursts - go in, blow some shit up, be done in 20 minutes. It has its appeal because I know I can just pick it up, where bigger story games like Cyberpunk or Fallout you spend a few minutes every time you start up going “now where was I…”
I always tell myself I am finally going to finish a long story-based game, but when I make time to play I end up always starting up something like Dead Cells where I can do a run and be done. I love huge, sweeping narratives and deep mechanics, but it always falls back to being exactly how you said it, “where was I? What was I doing again?” I can’t always make time to play something, so when I do I tend to pick up something I can play in bursts. Games like Just Cause are great for this.
I haven’t played since 2, but it was definitely “make your own fun”. At the time everyone was playing the 2 hour demo over and over, and that was some of the most fun I’ve ever had.
Dudeee. I spent so much time as a kid just farting around replaying that demo just to see how much chaos I could get, or what insane shenanigans I could get up to. Somehow I’ve played way more of that demo than the actual game now that I own it.
Oh me! Loved Just Cause 2 and had an even better time with 3. I love it specifically because of how mindless it is.
No one plays Just Cause for the story (since it’s the same every game just pick a different part of the world). Flying, gliding, and blowing shit up. Bonus points for tethering a moving police car to another object and blowing even more shit up!
I guess the reason I bring this up is because Just Cause feels uniquely, gloriously pointless to me.
I love 'em. Just Cause 3 practically has Gmod in it’s DNA. But at the same time, I’m strangely aware of the loop.
I’m pretty sure the game doesn’t take itself seriously haha. Which is a good thing.
I only played JC3 but the player is basically invincible - the lack of a health bar and the quick recovery lean into the fact that the game isn’t trying to be serious, but instead lets you have fun messing around with stuff. When I played I was mostly just trying to do fun trick shots/find ways to do fun nonsense with the phyisics engine. A few of my friends and I had a fun time trying the max out the random task scores (free falling the longest distance, grappling up the most, etc) without looking at online strategies
Exactly! Absolutely love games like this. Really let’s you play.
Yeah, they’re great to just spending some time in them. They’re not deep or complex, but sometimes simpler games are great, especially if you have other thing going on. It’s a bit like fast food.
Fast fun :)
