Starker on 13/8/2016 at 17:52
Yeah, the two last puzzles are the killer. I ran out of time on the last one so many times. After a while I could just breeze through the early parts, so there's definitely a sort of a learning curve, although some of the puzzles it throws at you can be much easier than others.
It's kind of an odd curveball in a game that's otherwise a lot more accessible and encouraging, so I'm feeling a bit ambivalent about it. You mostly move at your own pace in the game, but this section has to be one of the most frustrating nerve-wracking adrenaline-inducing parts of the game.
Pyrian on 13/8/2016 at 23:50
Oh, geez, The Talos Principle did that, too - last section timed.
Starker on 14/8/2016 at 01:09
Oh, it's not a part of the critical path, it's an optional challenge that's really difficult -- partly because it's
algorithmically generated and different every time. Apparently, only 4% of PC players have completed it and even less on PS4. It just sticks out to me thematically because the rest of the game is mostly challenging but fair, giving you all the tools and all the time you need to figure things out. And it's definitely a deliberate design choice:
Quote:
(
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/02/wrestling-with-the-witness-most-difficult-divisive-puzzle/) http://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/02/wrestling-with-the-witness-most-difficult-divisive-puzzle/
"I didn't want to tune this such that players are just expected to be able to beat it if they get here — that is how AAA games are generally tuned, and I don't like that. Just like a legitimate puzzle is only a puzzle if you might never figure it out, a legitimate challenge is only a challenge if you might never beat it. So yeah, it's hard."
Obviously this is very subjective, but like the Manus fight in Dark Souls it felt kind of obtuse to me -- a bit like difficulty for the sake of difficulty.
Pyrian on 14/8/2016 at 01:47
Heh. He's basically stating straight up that it's difficulty for the sake of difficulty.
qolelis on 14/8/2016 at 15:44
Quote:
“Why do we have this expectation that everybody is supposed to do 100% of the things in a game? That seems like ‘fan service' of a certain dimension or whatever. And if you design a game with that as a requirement, then you force yourself to hold back on a lot of the things the game actually could do.”
I like the way he's thinking and very much agree with it, but, in this case, I seem to like the concept more than I like the execution (which is of course perfectly in line with what Mister Blow said :/ ). The main gripe I'm having with it is not that it's hard, but that there's also luck playing into it: I can lose time because I'm not skilled enough -- and I have no problem with that -- but I can also lose time because I'm not lucky enough, which is something I don't agree with. Sure, if I were smarter, I would have more room for being unlucky, but, personally, if I were to have designed this challenge, I would have skipped all the elements of luck.
It's also a test of one's perseverance; I can be pretty stubborn, but this is starting to be a bit much for me. I usually don't like doing the same thing over and again, and lose interest pretty fast if that's a thing, which is one reason I don't like boss fights and usually skip them -- or don't even start the game if it promises boss fights (most games I play, of the few I do play, aren't even close to having them) -- but this challenge was varied enough to keep my interest longer than usual. It's also a bit of a case of completionism and wanting to be one of the few who solved it. Right now I feel like there must be one hell of a reward for this to be worth it. So, part of me really likes this challenge, and part of me really dislikes it.
For the last three runs today I started cheating by
taking a photo of the map -- because I just don't seem to have the capacity for remembering it while at the same doing everything else -- which helped, but I still couldn't get farther than the last two puzzles.
Mazes in games is one of my major pet peeves. Am I giving up? Yes, I very possibly am.
Starker on 14/8/2016 at 16:24
Oh, it took me a while just to start reliably getting to the last puzzles and it didn't really happen until I started sketching the maze down on a grid paper and learned to eliminate the unsolvable boards with a glance.
Pyrian on 22/2/2017 at 17:03
Quote Posted by henke
...
PRETTY GAMELighting > textures
demagogue on 23/2/2017 at 02:27
It is pretty, although I had the impression early on it was like a glorified version of those puzzle/sudoku books they sell at the checkout counters of shopping centers. They could have made the same game with just the puzzles in 1986, they just added a prettier version of pulling up the next puzzle. Granted I didn't get too far, maybe 30-40 puzzles. I'll come back to it. I liked just walking around and taking in the views.
Mr.Duck on 24/2/2017 at 02:43
I've seen three Tarkovsky films so far (Ivan's Childhood, Solaris and The Mirror) and I've loved them to bits.
Can't wait to see Andrei Rublev, Stalker, The Sacrifice and Nostalghia. <3
That's all I have to say here.
