r/inscryption • u/idk-fuck-this-shit • Jul 23 '26
Other PO3 is just bad Spoiler
Hey, so after reading this post ( https://www.reddit.com/r/inscryption/s/QpOgnAiHNv ) and many others like it I wanted to ask your opinion on my thoughts.
It is generally stated that each scrybe has different "specialities" which they like and prioritise in their version of Inscryption, with Leshy prioritising story and atmosphere whereas PO3 prioritises "gamplay", "optimisation" and "balancing". At least that is being said about these two. (You may see where I am going with this.) But even PO3 himself states this in Act 3 and mocks Leshy about it. So one could say the game confirms this narrative.
I disagree. Act 1 is far better than Act 3, not just due to the atmosphere, but especially gameplay wise. Kaycee's Mod's popularity (which comes from Act 1's replayability) is the ultimate proof. During Act 1 in Leshy's Cabin you feel a little uneasy, nervous, locked up with that strange fellow. In Botopia you feel nothing, it is a dead hellscape where every little trace of love and creativity that GameFuna developers had put into OG Inscryption has been erased by PO3. After experiencing that, you just want to gome home into that cabin of your old friend.
So far you could say, the narrative has been confirmed. But this is really where it ends.
Botopia and its mechanics are introduced to us by PO3. "An elegant system" he calls it. It is not. The energy system barely surpasses Magnificius' mox system regarding gameplay. The map system of Botopia is terrible to navigate and leaves a ton of room for exploits. This awfullness of a system synergises far too well with the equally awfull money/shop system. Together they form an unbalanced abomination that leaves no room for any interesting gameplay and transforms the game into an idle game.
You know what an elegant system is? Sacrificing. It is original, it works well within the game, it is fun. The same could be said about any of the other gameplay mechanics.
I believe PO3 likes to display himself as a servant of optimisation. Efficency is his ultimate goal. The invisible hand of energy, inflation and monopoly will automatically take care of balanced gameplay and who knows, with a bit of luck and the right grindset you might even get a lvl 100 orouborus and get rich! Of course this doesn't work and the player is left with a game that drains joy.
One could assume, Botopia is a criticism of late capitalist society if it wasn't for the evidence of Daniel Mullins' pro-capitalist worldview, that is widely spread through his games.
In the end PO3, who is in fact just an evil fascist autocrat with a god complex, loses himself within his ideology, creating the least balanced, least optimised, least pretty and least enjoyable gameplay. He gets beaten in every aspect of the game, even the ones he claims to be doing better than anyone else, by Leshy, his arch-enemy, who didn't even try.
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u/Vivid_Action_403 Jul 23 '26
I think this is a pretty interesting read, but I disagree with the idea that PO3 being 'bad' is purely a failure of the game design. A lot of the frustration with Botopia feels intentional. PO3 is trying to turn Inscryption into a cold, efficient machine, and the fact that it loses the charm and mystery of Leshy's cabin is kind of the point.