Contents:
The Intro
Title: Stranger Things 3: The Game
Release year: 2019
Developed by: BonusXP
Genre: Beat ’em up
Platform replayed on: PC
Stranger Things 3: The Game, a modern game made to look like it came out of the 80s. Usually it’s me playing games here on Present Perfect Gaming that look like they came out of the 80s, because they actually came out of the 80s.
I’m hoping Stranger Things the TV show doesn’t need an introduction. I’ve just finished binge-watching seasons 1-4 (binge-watching for me these days means over a couple of months). I had seen seasons 1-3, but thought I’d go back and watch them before getting to season 4. I knew I had Stranger Things 3: The Game in my library, so what better time to give it a go?
The Game
Stranger Things 3: The Game is a beat ‘em up game fashioned on some of the old arcade classics I remember, like The Simpsons (1991) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (1991).
Except it’s not quite a traditional beat ‘em up, which are usually limited to side-scrolling through a level, and well, beating things up. Elements like inventory management, puzzle solving, narrative, and item crafting make Stranger Things 3: The Game closer to a point-and-click adventure game than you might initially think.
Don’t get me wrong though, there are still plenty of things to beat up.
The narrative element is strongly present, as the game closely follows the story arcs from the third season of Stranger Things the TV show. Those of you familiar with the show will immediately recognise the characters, and the locations from the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana.
There are twelve playable characters, each with their own style of attack (ranged or melee) and special power.
There are the “children”:
The “teens”:
And the adults:
There are only two characters on screen at any time. You control one, and the other is AI controlled (unless you’re playing multiplayer). You can issue “wait” and “follow” commands to your AI character.
You acquire the characters as you progress through the story, and those that you have in your team at any given time can easily be swapped in-game.
Dustin and Joyce also have special skills that involve mini-games.
Puzzle solving in Stranger Things 3: The Game is reasonably simple, but does require you to pay attention to clues. For example, one puzzle involves you flipping breaker switches to power certain rooms in the library basement. Computers provide you the order in which to flip the switches, which is easy enough. However, if you happen to miss a memo on the wall with a vital clue, you might end up stuck for a while (like I was…).
Managing your inventory of items provides some depth to how you approach the game. There are a tonne of pickups that you can find around the various locations in Hawkins, as well as after defeating enemies. Money can be used in shops and vending machines to buy basic power-ups, such as health and energy (required for each character’s special power).
Money can also be used to buy a large variety of items, some of which are immediately beneficial, others which can be crafted together with other items.
On the surface, there’s a lot to like with Stranger Things 3: The Game if you’re a fan of beat ‘em up and point-and-click adventure games, particularly if you’re a fan of the show.
I am a fan of the show, and of point-and-click adventure games. I don’t play a lot of beat ‘em ups, but I do enjoy the Lego series of games by Traveller’s Tales.
So, what’s there not to like for me? Well…
The Replay
First things first—this is not actually a “replay”, as is usual here on Present Perfect Gaming. So this is actually just a “play”, as this is the first time I’ve played through Stranger Things 3: The Game.
The second point to make is that I’m approaching this blog a little differently by starting it near the end of my playthrough. Usually, I’ll finish the game, and then write it up.
However, Stranger Things 3: The Game forced me into a change of approach. The reason? Two words: it’s hard!
The fact is, I may not finish this game. I will finish this blog though, whether I get to the end of the game or not…
To set the scene, I know I’m near the end of the game. I’m on the final chapter, and knowing the story of Stranger Things 3, I know I’m very close to the showdown with the “big bad” at Starcourt Mall.
I’m currently stuck on a boss battle where you have to protect Cerebro, Dustin’s massive ham radio (for those familiar with the TV show) from wave after wave of enemies (in this case, the Russians).
I’ve tried about a dozen times so far, using a few different combinations of characters. But victory eludes me…
We’ll see a bit later on if I get through it, but for now, let’s go back to the start of Stranger Things 3: The Game.
As mentioned, the story in the game follows the story from the TV show, so it’s no surprise when you start off in Starcourt Mall with Mike and Lucas.
The game is broken up into chapters, with main story missions to complete, as well as side missions.
Early on in the game, you’re eased into the gameplay with some easy fetch quests.
Along the way, you start expanding the number of locations in Hawkins you can visit, and you start acquiring new party members with new skills.
The actual beat ‘em up action in the early game is easy and manageable, but it’s not long before you’re introduced to the crafting mini-game. This requires you to “loot” areas as you’re exploring them to pick up either items or cash which can be used to purchase items.
Now, when I say “loot”, this most often means “smash”.
Now, I know it’s a beat ‘em up game, but the smashing things for loot did feel out of place. Essentially, your characters become a group of vandals, destroying property all over Hawkins. I’m not sure why you couldn’t just “search” things instead of smashing them. It broke the immersion for me, as there’s a lot of storytelling in Stranger Things 3: The Game—it’s not your classic beat ‘em up where beating things up is all you’re doing.
When you’re not beating things up or vandalising Hawkins, there is some light puzzle solving during some of the quests.
And it wouldn’t be a game these days if it didn’t have the obligatory collectible quest. In Stranger Things 3: The Game, it’s gnome collecting.
At certain points in the game, you reach the inevitable “boss battles”. In the early parts of the game, these were not too challenging. I didn’t deviate from my tactics of going in with a melee character for a long time. First it was Mike with the baseball bat, and then it was Hopper with his fists.
For most parts of Stranger Things 3: The Game, you are free to choose which character to use, even if it doesn’t match the narrative in the TV show.
I then noticed the game getting a bit tougher. The enemies are varied, and become stronger in their attacks.
The boss battles also got tougher.
It was during the above boss battle at the hospital with Tom and Bruce from The Hawkins Post that I realised I needed to think a little harder about my choice of character and my tactics. Enter Dustin and Erica. I found a pretty good combo with Dustin using his ranged poison spray attack with Erica as my AI controlled partner using her lightning poker to stun enemies.
Success continued for me with this combo, until I got to the above-mentioned boss battle where I had to protect Cerebro.
After attempting this about a dozen times, I was starting to realise the challenge might be too much for me. So I started writing this blog, knowing I might not finish the game. After all, the show must go on!
Long story short, I did finish Stranger Things 3: The Game. How did I do it? I realised a couple of things I should have been aware of all along.
The first realisation was that I needed to craft items to make better weapons and armour for my characters. I then quickly crafted better weapons for Dustin and Erica, as well as some defensive items which increase hit points.
After doing this crafting, and still not making any progress in the Cerebro boss battle, I made my second realisation. And this one makes me feel a little silly. All through the game, I had thought that once you craft items which improve character stats (called “trinkets”), they were automatically applied.
They weren’t. I realised you had to equip your trinkets, and that you only have five slots. So, it’s a part of the strategy which trinkets to equip in any given situation. Some trinkets are specific to a certain character, while others apply to everyone. Some are even non-combat, like ones which generate more cash drops.
Well, once I realised you have to equip trinkets (rookie mistake), I equipped some much needed hit point boosting trinkets and ones which boosted Dustin’s and Erica’s attacks.
Problem solved. I managed to get through the Cerebro boss battle.
It didn’t take me too long to beat the two final boss battles against the Mind Flayer in Starcourt Mall and Grigori in the secret underground Russian base below the Mall.
Cue a massive sigh of relief!
The Verdict
I’m really happy I managed to finish Stranger Things 3: The Game. It’s still a satisfying feeling after all these years as a gamer to overcome a challenging game.
But overall, did I enjoy it?
Not really. It took me a little over ten hours to get to the end, but it felt like a lot more. If I made the game sound like more of a chore, then you’d be right.
It wasn’t long into the game when I found the repetition kicked in. I felt the pacing was off in the first half of the game, so it felt like it was taking a long time to progress the story. I think this is because the game follows the storylines so closely—you follow each and every character’s story arc, and you get to control twelve characters. That adds up. And remember, this isn’t interactive fiction—it’s a beat ‘em up!
Even the puzzle solving, which I thought I’d enjoy as I’m more of an adventure game fan, became a chore. Oftentimes I’d find myself just wanting to get back to the beat ‘em up action.
Usually in beat ‘em ups, you progress through a fairly linear level. In Stranger Things 3: The Game, there are a lot of locations and the maps can be big. This means a lot of running around between and inside of locations.
In the end, it’s hard to rate Stranger Things 3: The Game. It’s a beat ‘em up with light puzzle and roleplaying game elements, taking around ten hours to complete. I think the time is about right for this type of game, despite it feeling like it was longer than it really was.
On the positive side, the large cast of playable characters and the customisation available provides plenty of options to explore. The game looks great, and controls well (I started playing using the mouse and keyboard, then moved over to a controller).
But ultimately for me, boredom set in due to the repetition.
Also, closely following the story wasn’t as exciting as it might seem. I’ve played other games, like The Walking Dead or The Lord of the Rings: War in the North (to name just a couple of examples), where the story takes place in the same universe as the source material, or alongside the main story. Perhaps something in an expanded universe of Stranger Things might work better.
I enjoyed watching Stranger Things Season 3; I just didn’t enjoy playing it.
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