Difficulty is borked

[Violet Echoes]

We get it Gears for Brekfest. Everybody was saying that hat in time is this is fun and comfy game but lacks challange in too many areas leading too many easy, brainless, rides through the level...

Making the DLC require a masters degree in platforming or a 6 week introduction course to speedrunning does not help things. Now you got a base game too easy and a bonus game far too hard. Can we have some middle ground here guys? Jeez.

[DeadBabyJuggler]

Why is every single one timed? My god. How creative. /s

Edit: Poorly timed and obnoxious. I booted back up and said, "I'm gonna try a different one...maybe I'm just bad." It's the collect-a-thon 100 pons one. Can't get past 10. Won't be doing the stamps I guess unless it's amended.

[WaffleThunder]

Originally posted by Gittons:

Originally posted by UTZ:

I like the challenge so far but its not for everybody. Luckily there is an easy mode option that you can spend some yarn on to nerf some of the contracts down but the difficulty spike is a really big leap even more so if you attempt to go for the bonus objectives.

12 yarn just for the first mission.
Yarn is finite in game, even if it is not, you would have to grind TONS to do more missions. So even the easy mode is poorly added.

Well put, I love the casual and cute style of the game allowing for a more relaxed game experience, and i was expecting the same for the arctic cruise, this time with my brother along for the ride, but forcing players to beat an ultra hard challenge mode, is not fun for the less skilled casual players

[Detestable Geohound]

As a kickstarter backer, the difficulty of the contracts is a massive disappointment. Some contracts are difficult but completable, but most of them are near impossible unless you don't make any mistakes. I'm not even sure how it's possible to complete the Collect-a-thon one; the concept of your pons draining at its current speed makes it essentially impossible even with the hat that slows down time.

It feels like either Gears got very insulted that people thought their game was too easy (and out of spite just kicked it to 11), or that the people involved in this DLC had no genuine sense of good game design. It's a complete reversal from the base game and it is just baffling.

Either they change the DLC and lower the difficulty drastically, or when mods are reintroduced people are just going to find a way to cheat or mod around it.

[pingas]

With second mission of the DLC being basically "hey okay you got shafted by deathwish now go do a 20-stage delivery quest on a time limit" I do have to agree that this is way too ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hard, especially on the back of the base game being very easy and relaxing.
Kinda like launching Plutonia on UV after beating Doom 2 on normal.

Small addendum: second mission is also not helped by the fact that navigation assist is broken and there is no other real way to deliver something to the point on time without it.

[Cyber Akuma]

Yeah, I was wondering why people were complaning about the difficulty of this game of all things, but I just attempted Act 2 of the Cruise Ship DLC, HOLY ****ING GOD! Could they POSSIBLY have made it any more unreasonable? The spike in difficulty is insane.

[GaruuSpike]

Everyone's talking about Deathwish's difficulty, and here I'm stuck on Mission 2 of the Arctic Cruise. .-. The timer is too strict and the objectives are too far apart. Can't get past 16 stars. Tried 4 times. Too frustrated to continue.

[Splat ♥]

Originally posted by horheristo:

They added "EZ mode" after dying a bunch of times to a challenge, why not just use that?

You admit that it's too much to handle without experience, so there you go.

because it uses yarn and i only have 6

[Violet Echoes]

Originally posted by GaruuSpike:

Everyone's talking about Deathwish's difficulty, and here I'm stuck on Mission 2 of the Arctic Cruise. .-. The timer is too strict and the objectives are too far apart. Can't get past 16 stars. Tried 4 times. Too frustrated to continue.

Want to hear a joke? There is an achev for doing that mission perectly, no faults, nothing. That is the single biggest middle finger I have seen in years.

[GaruuSpike]

When I was thinking of higher difficulty, I was hoping for trickier platforming segments that tested your control of your character, not... uber-strict timed delivery missions with really obnoxious accelerating accordion music in a level that's way too big to navigate organically with a broken navigation system.

There are better ways to add difficulty than an unreasonably strict time limit combined with sadistic RNG. If the player doesn't know what they're doing wrong, they can't improve. The lack of feedback is making the game more frustrating than fun.

I'm really disappointed.

That purple time rift Time Rift Tour was fun, though.

[Cyber Akuma]

Originally posted by Gittons:

Originally posted by GaruuSpike:

Everyone's talking about Deathwish's difficulty, and here I'm stuck on Mission 2 of the Arctic Cruise. .-. The timer is too strict and the objectives are too far apart. Can't get past 16 stars. Tried 4 times. Too frustrated to continue.

Want to hear a joke? There is an achev for doing that mission perectly, no faults, nothing. That is the single biggest middle finger I have seen in years.

Ok, at this point it seems like the dev is intentionally trying to piss people off. A mission that people can BARELY complete... and there is an achievement to perfect it? At this point, I am starting to wonder if this was intentional.

[DarthVitrial]

Originally posted by Gittons:

Originally posted by GaruuSpike:

Everyone's talking about Deathwish's difficulty, and here I'm stuck on Mission 2 of the Arctic Cruise. .-. The timer is too strict and the objectives are too far apart. Can't get past 16 stars. Tried 4 times. Too frustrated to continue.

Want to hear a joke? There is an achev for doing that mission perectly, no faults, nothing. That is the single biggest middle finger I have seen in years.

That's just cruel.

[Miri Ryllis ミリス]

Originally posted by Gittons:

Originally posted by GaruuSpike:

Everyone's talking about Deathwish's difficulty, and here I'm stuck on Mission 2 of the Arctic Cruise. .-. The timer is too strict and the objectives are too far apart. Can't get past 16 stars. Tried 4 times. Too frustrated to continue.

Want to hear a joke? There is an achev for doing that mission perectly, no faults, nothing. That is the single biggest middle finger I have seen in years.

I was able to complete the achievement finally, but only after the stars aligned and i got 4 missions start at the bar at the top of the ship all at the same time.. Those along with their second tier mission of returning the glass to the bar made it so much easier.

It's RNG mixed with panicking... more than a couple mistakes, especially on the final stretch, will ruin the entire run (if you go for the achievement)

[Naijiro]

I get your point, there's a difference between a tough but fair challenge, and just straight up evil.

[Atalanta]

I legit do not want to finish this game because of how ridiculous these challenges are. Who's idea was it to make the Challenge mode necessary for completing a new Chapter? Why couldn't they be kept separate?

[GaruuSpike]

Suggestion to the devs: Take the RNG out of the second Arctic Cruise mission. Design a fixed route of fixed items that appear at fixed times.

High difficulty and luck-based missions cannot coexist.