[Spoilers] Everyone who's finished the game: Did you get stuck during your playthrough?

[DrLoboto]

I'm just curious to learn at what points people got stuck, if anywhere at all, whether it is the same spots or entirely different ones, from one player to the next, and how you dealt with it. Might be interesting for the devs as well.

Personally, I tried to play without ever using a walkthrough or hints, and I nearly succeeded with this game. In the rare occasions when I didn't know what to do anymore, I quit the session and slept over it, and the next day I either got a spontaneous idea or I was more motivated to try and search everywhere in-game for a clue, and usually found one then.

The only spot where I gave in and looked for hints online was while searching for the tower garden key. I had already tried the chisel on the memorial plate of the vicar's father, but didn't connect the dots with his love for Shakespeare (even though I had noticed that this plate was odd before). I figured it out after learning online that the key was connected to the memorial plates, but before knowing that, I was stumped. In hindsight, this doesn't seem like such a hard puzzle, compared to the one that required you to put a worm in the already rotten apple (which I saw a streamer struggle with).

Curiously enough, I did not get stuck on the latter, because I had a worm in my inventory already, and seeing worm and apple next to each other made it more obvious to combine them (even though I didn't know what it was for yet). But I was lucky, because the first worm had already died on me before that, and I thought that meant I don't need him - I didn't think of checking the hole again and getting another one (Kenneth II). Thankfully, I still looked into the hole a second time, by accident, before I even got to the elderflower puzzle. Phew.

What about you?

[Tellah]

It's probably a little embarrassing- but I had to give up while trying to figure out how to get the horse to like me. I gave it a night, slept on it, messed around some more- then finally looked into the discussions. I can't believe the solution was so easy.

Then again, it took me a ridiculous amount of time to just -ask- someone to pull the knife out of the table for me, so I'm bad at obvious apparently

[DrLoboto]

I think we don't need spoiler tags in here, since I explicitly put one in the title and addressed the thread to people who have completed the game, but it's still thoughtful of you, thanks!

I guess a lot depends on when you get the according items, like in my apple/worm example. In the case of the horse, I also got the sugar cube before running into the horse puzzle, so it was easy for me. I don't know what would have happened if Ihadn't yet though. On the other hand, I overlooked the horse for a longer time when I was searching for animal hair. I realize now that the musician in the inn says something about his horse, but that didn't cause me to check the alley, and I only noticed the horse droppings outside the alley *after* I had finally found the horse, so I actually missed those two clues ...

[☺ Gatorau ☺]

It was the statues in the barrow. I knew that they had to be facing in but fine tuning them all was a bit challenging. And the Bakewell puddings drove me nuts.

[cataluna]

For me it was the elderflowers. I spotted them on the stall & guessed I'd need Jane's help in distracting the merchant. But I'd mistakenly thought the seller of pies & other greasy fare was going to be my ticket. I thought I needed one to make Jane's hands more slippery to sabotage her juggling act. Ugh. I ended up spending way too much time chasing that red herring, lol.

Oops, forgot to add that I finally just looked up the solution on these forums. I'm so glad I did! The story was too good to waste another day trying to find the final piece of that puzzle.

[DrLoboto]

Originally posted by gatorau:

It was the statues in the barrow. I knew that they had to be facing in but fine tuning them all was a bit challenging.

Did you notice that on examining them, Thomasina spells out the directions they're currently facing? Much easier than just relying on the visuals (which could be a bit odd at times). I only found out by accident though. For some reason, I did only examine one of them at first and then skipped the rest, thinking I already knew everything I needed to know, until my finger on RMB twitched over them or something.

[gungadin22000]

Didn't get stuck. I did cheat to bypass the last puzzle because musical puzzles can ♥♥♥♥ right off and I didn't even bother attempting it.

Game's very easy in general, mostly because there aren't that many interactable objects and spots, meaning I blundered into some solutions to puzzles that might otherwise have been clever. I did, for instance, put the worm in the apple to see if it would let me do it and then much later gave the apple to the girl, not expecting the result that I got.

[DrLoboto]

Originally posted by gungadin22000:

Game's very easy in general, mostly because there aren't that many interactable objects and spots, meaning I blundered into some solutions to puzzles that might otherwise have been clever. I did, for instance, put the worm in the apple to see if it would let me do it and then much later gave the apple to the girl, not expecting the result that I got.

Same.

Originally posted by gungadin22000:

I did cheat to bypass the last puzzle because musical puzzles can ♥♥♥♥ right off and I didn't even bother attempting it.

It actually had very little to do with musicality or listening though, you just needed to compare the positions of the notes with the strings. So more a matter of counting.

[epsilon828]

Originally posted by gatorau:

It was the statues in the barrow. I knew that they had to be facing in but fine tuning them all was a bit challenging. And the Bakewell puddings drove me nuts.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's something off with that puzzle. I am working on a walkthrough for the game and it seems pretty clear that one of the statues is visually correct at the outset, but the game doesn't seem to register it as facing the correct direction unless you literally spin it around 360 degrees. But it looks the same at the end point after doing it. I think most people more or less brute force that one and eventually get it.

[epsilon828]

Originally posted by DrLoboto:

Originally posted by gungadin22000:

Game's very easy in general, mostly because there aren't that many interactable objects and spots, meaning I blundered into some solutions to puzzles that might otherwise have been clever. I did, for instance, put the worm in the apple to see if it would let me do it and then much later gave the apple to the girl, not expecting the result that I got.

Same.

Originally posted by gungadin22000:

I did cheat to bypass the last puzzle because musical puzzles can ♥♥♥♥ right off and I didn't even bother attempting it.

It actually had very little to do with musicality or listening though, you just needed to compare the positions of the notes with the strings. So more a matter of counting.

You're right. I read a lot of consternation about that puzzle in reviews, etc. but I ended up being pretty shocked by how obvious the visual signposting was. Granted, it's possible that simply by being aware that the puzzle existed in advance and that there was a visual cue for it probably made it easier for me by the time I got there.

I suppose it's also somewhat true that although you don't need a de facto music background to solve that possible, it definitely helps. Some people might not interpret the "sheet music" above the door as being what it is, if they have never seen sheet music before. But I think most people have at least seen sheet music even if they can't really read it.

What did surprise me is that I couldn't make any musical sense out of the noises the cats were making, and I am not tone deaf by any means. I never have any trouble with tone puzzles in general, but I literally could not distinguish any relationship between the sounds the fiddle made and the screeching the cats were doing. It makes me wonder if the puzzle was intended to be solved entirely by the visual signpost.

[epsilon828]

Great topic; it's always interesting to hear the things that other people struggle with.

For me personally, I didn't get truly stuck too often, but I have a tendency especially as I've gotten older to get impatient with a lack of progress, and that was especially true in this game because the story and characters were so fascinating that I was just dying to see where it was all going.

Definitely the worst moment I had was when I hit a brick wall because once I had gotten to Panswyck Manor for the first time, I only talked to Ms. Fenchurch twice before giving up and going elsewhere. I had no idea what I was missing, and only when I watched a YouTube video did I finally notice my mistake, which is hilarious because I ALWAYS exhaust dialogue in Point and Click games; it's like the cardinal rule, and somehow I let her irascibility dissuade me from talking to her a third time.

In retrospect it was funny, but it really does seem a bit harsh for the game to literally give you no indication. I could understand if you didn't bother talking to Fenchurch at all, but if you've talked to her twice it feels like it would only be fair if Panswyck jumped out from the bushes when you tried to leave the area. Especially considering it in light of the revelation in Arthur's confession that Panswyck was eager to straightforwardly confront Thomasina with the proposition and it was Shoulder who convinced him to string her along with the breadcrumb trail.

[DrLoboto]

Originally posted by epsilon828:

What did surprise me is that I couldn't make any musical sense out of the noises the cats were making, and I am not tone deaf by any means. I never have any trouble with tone puzzles in general, but I literally could not distinguish any relationship between the sounds the fiddle made and the screeching the cats were doing. It makes me wonder if the puzzle was intended to be solved entirely by the visual signpost.

I wondered the same and came to the conclusion that maybe it's just a clue to think about "music", then remember the sheets. At least that's how it worked for me. If it's actually possible to solve the puzzle without the sheet, just by listening to the cat "music", I wouldn't have been able to do it.

[Metal Fish]

Not at all, it's well paced and easy to follow, I did take three pauses from playing after doing lots of stuff though. But only to return where I left later on.

[Stupot815]

I only really got "stuck" once. That was the apple/worm puzzle. I knew that the apple was the key, but as someone above mentioned I also thought I must have to make the apple slippery or something, but by that point the waxy resin was no longer an active hotspot. Only after mulling it over in my mind for way too long did I remember the worms.

The final sequence of puzzles in the barrow was no problem for me (everything you need to know is in the journal). But there was one thing that took me a while to figure out. But I blame the fact that I played during daylight. After putting the coins in the vessel and unlocking the hole with the moon tile, I didn't realise the second rod I needed was also in the hole. I even checked the hole several times but I guess my monitor was too dark and I just didn't see it.

[Match]

I got "stuck" entering the letters in the right order for the first door in the barrow (after you placed the three stones). I was honestly just completely certain I had already tried the correct order of the syllables, but it seems I just hadn't. Had to look that one up.

[DrLoboto]

Originally posted by Match:

I got "stuck" entering the letters in the right order for the first door in the barrow (after you placed the three stones). I was honestly just completely certain I had already tried the correct order of the syllables, but it seems I just hadn't. Had to look that one up.

I didn't get stuck there, but I have to admit I solved it only by trial and error, without understanding the puzzle. I now know the solution, but I guess at the time I was distracted by thinking it had something to do with the Greek letters described in the father's journal (which were actually for one of the following puzzles).