When comparing Cave Story vs Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead, the Slant community recommends Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead for most people. In the question“What are the best PC games under 100MB?” Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead is ranked 3rd while Cave Story is ranked 14th. The most important reason people chose Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead is:
Get taken back to when games were completely made of ascii letters and your imagination. Venture forth as an @ and survive the wild. With the classic ascii art, it is hard to ignore that this is not a graphical powerhouse, but of course that is part of the fun, allowing your imagination to fill in this void.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Gameplay and Content
Extremely fluid controls and interesting level mechanics makes this game a joy to play. Furthermore, there is about 4-5 hours of content to this free game.
Pro Multiple Endings
For being a free game, the amount of content is astounding. There are a total of three endings, and there are a lot of extras that you can get as well (as well as a hidden area). These endings are determined by your choices throughout the game.
Pro Considered an Indie Classic
Created in 2005, Cave Story helped spark the indie movement in game development. This entire game was created from scratch by one developer in his free time. Everything, from plot, gameplay, assets, and music were all created by this man.
This game sparked so much praise that it received a Steam port, a 3DS port, and a Wii port. Though all of these ports have bonus content and are "remastered" versions of the game, the original game is free and for the PC.
Pro Classic computer gameplay that offers a lot of nostalgia
Get taken back to when games were completely made of ascii letters and your imagination. Venture forth as an @ and survive the wild. With the classic ascii art, it is hard to ignore that this is not a graphical powerhouse, but of course that is part of the fun, allowing your imagination to fill in this void.
Pro Open source and very moddable, making for a game that anyone can change to their liking
The mod community is pretty active on this game, and you can create some really cool things with the tools they already provide. This way anyone can change their game to how they like.
Pro Super involved gameplay that allows the user to dive deep into the mechanics of the game
Everything from weather to crafting to martial arts are accounted for in Cataclysm. You can spend hours mastering the depths of this games systems that allow you to play however you want.
Pro Being in constant active developed allows the game to constantly grow
Experimental releases exit a few times in a single day. Many people are working on finding bugs, and developers are quickly fixing them and adding new features. This makes for a situation where the game is constantly growing and improving.
Pro Free for anyone to download and try, which leave no one out
The game is free of cost as well as open-source, meaning that anyone can download the game, install it and play it.
Pro Graphics can be used instead of ASCII, for those that would enjoy something more visual
Not supported on every version of the game, but you can have a graphical experience if you want by using a graphical tileset for the game. This will need to be done manually.
Cons
Con Replayability
Upon completing the game, there isn't too much replay value. You could try to get different endings or get different character customizations, but the plot is, in general, the same throughout each playthrough.
However, the Steam Port "Cave Story +", the 3DS port "Cave Story 3D" and the Wii Port should all have some bonus content (though, you have to pay to get these versions of the game).
Con Lacking hardcore survival feel
The game gets to be rather easy once you spend a little time with it. Basements full of everything one needs to survive in every other house, and stores that look like they were left as seem out of place since in a disaster scenario most items would probably have been taken already.
You can tweak the options to suit a more hardcore experience if you so desire. The options allow for a wide variety of difficulty and playstyles.
Con Difficult to learn at first
This could be a pro for some but for many this will turn them away from the game.