• News

  • TV & Film

  • PlayStation

  • Xbox

  • Nintendo

  • PC

  • Reviews

  • News

  • TV & Film

  • PlayStation

  • Xbox

  • Nintendo

  • PC

  • Reviews

  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Threads
Submit Your Content
Dear video games: please stop forcing skill trees into everything

Home> Features

Updated 12:08 14 Oct 2022 GMT+1Published 10:48 14 Oct 2022 GMT+1

Dear video games: please stop forcing skill trees into everything

I'm so tired

Ewan Moore

Ewan Moore

Earlier this week I decided to reinstall Assassin’s Creed Valhalla with the intention of finally finishing it. Reader, I took one look at the half-finished skill tree, fought the urge to vomit, and uninstalled the game. I just… couldn’t. 

It’s not that I hate skill trees, at all. I think they’re entirely necessary in plenty of games - Assassin’s Creed included. I like earning new abilities and having a steady stream of new toys to play with as I progress through my adventures. But I firmly believe that it’s getting out of hand. Not only are skill trees becoming completely unwieldy, overwhelming beasts (see Assassin’s Creed Valhalla), they’re also popping up in games where they have no right to be.

If you’ve picked up a game like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt or Dragon Quest XI, odds are you know that you’re going to spend a good amount of time in menus tweaking stats and obsessing over your chosen path along the skill tree. These are RPGs, and part of the fun is tweaking your character until they feel just right for you. Maybe that’s part of why you play these games in the first place? But I’m willing to bet you aren’t rushing out to buy the latest Sonic and Batman games because you want to make the most of their skill trees. 

Yes, Sonic Frontiers and Gotham Knights have skill trees. I want to stress that I’ve yet to play these games so I can’t be too harsh on them. Maybe their existence is entirely justified? Or maybe we’ve gotten to the point where forcing a skill tree into a game has become as arbitrary as Ubisoft towers and pre-order DLC. All I know is that skill trees in the vast majority of games I’ve played over the last year or so have stopped feeling like something like add any real value to my experience, and instead have turned into a disruptive break from the action where I unthinkingly spend my points without any real planning - because I’ve just stopped caring.

Featured Image Credit: Ubisoft

Topics: Assassins Creed, Ubisoft

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

2 days ago
6 days ago
7 days ago
9 days ago
  • 2 days ago

    Elden Ring is an unexpected celebration of womanhood

    The FromSoftware hit explores femininity in all forms

    Features
  • 6 days ago

    Star Wars Battlefront 3 was right in front of us the whole time

    This is my ideal sequel

    Features
  • 7 days ago

    Squid Game season 3 was filled with wasted potential

    Squid Game is dead, long live Squid Game

    Features
  • 9 days ago

    10 free Steam games to dive into this weekend

    From walking simulators to romancing toilets

    Features
  • Assassin's Creed Black Flag remake tease has fans hyped: 'day one'
  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows free download available from today
  • Assassin's Creed: Black Flag free remaster is a sight to behold
  • Assassin's Creed: 5 settings perfect for future games