Starker on 26/1/2016 at 22:37
The open world, the minimal handholding and the hints in the environment sound really good. It'll have to wait, though. I've already spent more on games this year than I'm comfortable with.
Neb on 27/1/2016 at 01:43
Okay, I'll go in mostly blind for this. I haven't been hyped - just curious - and I never was a Braid fan, but first-person puzzle games are my jam, so here goes.
Starker on 27/1/2016 at 04:24
Spoiler light Giant Bomb Quick Look:
[video=youtube;8Dx4PAf63lw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dx4PAf63lw[/video]
Boy does that look up my alley.
Renault on 27/1/2016 at 16:20
Wow, reviews for this game are very glowing, multiple sites gave it a perfect score. The rest of the scores are all in the upper 80s and 90s (although 78% on Steam). Sounds a little bit like The Talos Principle, which is of course a game I love, so I guess I'm picking this up.
Neb on 27/1/2016 at 16:44
It is nowhere even close to being as good as The Talos Principle. I'm only a couple of hours in, but I'm not impressed so far.
Thirith on 27/1/2016 at 16:58
Based on your experience of the game so far, do you think it may be a case of the game not clicking with you, or would you say it's a clearer case of the game not being as good (for reasons x, y and z)?
Neb on 27/1/2016 at 18:43
It's a bit of both I think. I was trying to work out whether many of the puzzles are badly designed, or if it was just me. Plenty of them have so few possible combinations that I was brute forcing them, and got through half of an area without knowing the method. It then clicked, but at the next puzzle it was too much hassle to try and remember parts of the maze to solve the board that I just went back to brute force as it was quicker. At the end of that specific section you had to then do one huge puzzle which was a combination of the solution of all of the others. The tedium was painful, and now it's clear why reviewers are talking about needing to take notes, but how backtracking just to remember everything is in any way fun, I have no idea.
More on the subject of brute forcing: Some of the puzzles seem to be optional, but they don't like being experimented on unless you already know the solution, and permanently shut down if you get them wrong too many times. You then need to start a new game to complete them. One thing I absolutely love in a puzzle game is thinking "hey, maybe this will work?", and then fiddling around to look for a solution. There is little of that here so far. The solutions vary too much between almost self-evident and horribly cryptic, and completing them feels more like "thank god that's over with" than actual accomplishment.
Perhaps I'm just not very good at it, since it's about deducing the rules for each new maze variation. At one point I found myself looking for bread-crumbs, or even the sky for odd looking cloud formations (yes, really). I've stumbled upon a few plain 5x5 grids - no clues on floor, no clues in sky, hey look there's a pretty church over there, but I don't know what you want me to do. I've now read about people saying "in a sea of dumb games it's great that it doesn't hold your hand", and "the frustration is intentional, because it's art" - and I just don't know. The praise seems to be coming from a parallel universe.
I can't fault the visual and environmental design, though. It's damn gorgeous.
Thor on 27/1/2016 at 18:51
I don't know how you managed to get through areas without understanding the core principle, maybe I didn't stumble upon those yet. The game itself doesn't seem to have *any* story or narrative at all (unlike The Talos Principle, which had something), but I do like the visuals. well, part of me at least. Part of me finds them very artificial and almost forced hipstery, as that seems to be the author's trademark. The other part of me likes them for what they are - vivid, stylish and calming. I looked up close at some of the canyon textures and appreciated the details.
The lack of any goal gives both a sense of freedom and a sense of pointlessness. That said, to me it's a game to play when I want to calm down and shut off from reality and stress (might be super awesome with VR).
P.S/Edit: The puzzles seem kind of shoehorned in so the game could claim to have gameplay (besides walking). By this I mean that there seems to be a story bridge missing between the world you are in and the puzzles you're trying to solve (and another bridge between known reality and why you're in such a weird place, but that one doesn't bother me). Then again, using the imagination a bit more can be a good thing. Mine just happens to be somewhat limited. What's also slightly annoying (but understandable and practical) is inability to jump - not even off ledges. For me this means stumbling into a ton of invisible walls, even with knowing that there's going to be one (but not knowing for sure).
Starker on 27/1/2016 at 20:14
Quote Posted by Neb
More on the subject of brute forcing: Some of the puzzles seem to be optional, but they don't like being experimented on unless you already know the solution, and permanently shut down if you get them wrong too many times.
Really? I heard there are some puzzles that have to be done in an order and getting one of the later ones wrong will reset the puzzle sequence, so you have to go solve the previous puzzle to restart it. If it does block your progress permanently, then that's really crappy, though.
Neb on 27/1/2016 at 20:20
Ahhhh, ok. I just went back to check and it does reset your progress, so you can try again, but it just doesn't look like that's the case. The actual puzzle screens and lit up cables from previous boards don't visibly reset.
