The dungeons ...

[Der_Sauresgeber]

... uuuh, I am fatigued. I am about 60% through Fajro temple and JESUS, I am fatigued. These dungeons drag on and on.

I think this might be a controversial point because I think a lot of you guys enjoy the everliving flip out of these dungeons. Its not that I dislike the puzzle design, I think the puzzles are fantastic, but GOD make it stop. I think I am going to kill myself if I have to ricoche another block of ice around six corners. Solving these puzzles feels like work if you do it for hours at a time.

A couple YouTubers made the same point in their reviews, which I watched before I bought the game, but I couldn't even imagine how much this could taint my experience in a game that is ... well, pretty much excellent in anything else it does.

What do you guys think about the size of the dungeons?

[Glacier-701]

I love them. I love solving the puzzles and defeating the enemies. I've beaten every dungeon and enjoyed every one. If you didn't find them fun then that's fine because you can't please everybody.

[bugc TRUMP2024]

Will let you know in a weeks time on my thoughts 😊😊

[Meryl]

I personally like the dungeons, it's true that they can be a bit long but there's nothing that can be done at this point. If you are fatigued you can always leave the dungeon and do something else like quests or take a break, then return to finish it.

[Favmir]

I agree that they can be long sometimes. I suggest taking a break in the middle if it's too much (they added a break in the desert temple).
Also you can leave the dungeons at any time with no consequences, so that's a good thing

[Ghaleon]

I never thought any were too long at all except maybe the first ice dungeon thing. I forgot its name. But even then that one took longer than it needed to because I didn't understand some of the mechanics and ran around randomly not knowing I overlooked something I could access because of that misunderstanding.

[chaosbringer42]

Personally I love the dungeons, but I do feel that they are all a bit too long. The real issue is unlike other puzzle dungeon games (zelda for instance), CrossCode doesnt have a "take a break" spot (you find item X or get a skill, and know exactly where to go next because the map shows where you havent been, so you can easily take a break).

In CrossCode dungeons, once you get the item/skill you need to go through everything again if you took a break because you have no clue where you need to go to do the next bit (its easy to forget stuff if you take a break, we've all done it). I think its more of a map issue than the dungeon itself, but im not sure how they can add/fix that at this late stage.

[R.Heart]

I think I fall on the opposite end of the spectrum, where, I've been WAITING for a game with dungeons this long, with this much stuff going on, with almost every room requiring thought or mettle to pass through. No arbitrary empty corridors. No chasing pots for every last rupee or ammo refill. No constant stopping to flip open the item select screen. Only purpose.

I think too, it's important to realize, that once you've done it once, it becomes a breeze every subsequent playthrough. Unless you're one of those scrubs who throw a game away after playing only once. (._.) Anyway, there are points that will always be a little tedious, like the ones where you have to have the exact timing for said ice blocks on the steam burners, or the ones with the pipe mazes. But you get the flow down and it's just more fun.

I dunno. Others have said it, but if it's not for you, that's ok.

[Grzemek]

Yeah, Farjo Temple is really a test of endurance more than anything. And it's easy to get lost there even after multiple playthroughs. I also reached a point when I was contemplating to abandon the game because of Far'jo's length.

The good news for those for whom Far'jo is too long that when you combine the density of puzzles and the size of an area/dungeon, Far'jo is easily number one. Even though there are singular puzzles more complicated than any singular puzzle in Far'jo, it's not such a marathon of corridors and puzzles.

Stamps might help a lot when you can't grasp what you explored, what you left and where you have to backtrack.

[burningmime]

Originally posted by R.Heart:

I think I fall on the opposite end of the spectrum, where, I've been WAITING for a game with dungeons this long, with this much stuff going on, with almost every room requiring thought or mettle to pass through. No arbitrary empty corridors. No chasing pots for every last rupee or ammo refill. No constant stopping to flip open the item select screen. Only purpose.

I think too, it's important to realize, that once you've done it once, it becomes a breeze every subsequent playthrough. Unless you're one of those scrubs who throw a game away after playing only once. (._.) Anyway, there are points that will always be a little tedious, like the ones where you have to have the exact timing for said ice blocks on the steam burners, or the ones with the pipe mazes. But you get the flow down and it's just more fun.

I dunno. Others have said it, but if it's not for you, that's ok.

+1. The dungeons are the best part of the game for me. I want them as long as they can be without having to repeat any puzzles. The only ones that really annoy me are jumping puzzles, and there's only a few of those.

[Moebius JD]

I love this complex dungeons! I haven't felt the need to strap on my thinking cap for a game for a very long time. A puzzle oriented action RPG is rare nowadays.

[Spark☆]

I gotta say the Temple Mine did drag on for a bit longer than it should've, but Faj'ro Temple was just the perfect length.

[F.O.A.M]

i really dont think the dungeons are all that long, i played alot of Ys and other dungeon crawler to not be bothered by dungeons that are a bit large, more content for me that is fun to do so i wont complain

[Ghaleon]

ys is great, and I agree that these are not long... but Ys is not a dungeon crawler. wut.

[Spark☆]

Ys is definitely not a dungeon crawler.

[Emerald Lance]

There have been plenty of times where a dungeon has fatigued me, only to open up into a large room with a huge and complex multi-facetted multi-layered charge shot ricoche puzzle. My response to these instances is usually to lay my head on the desk and audibly groan.

Having said that, I actually prefer it this way. I'm so tired of games that give me bite sized levels and then pat me on the head for a "good job" solving its simple block and switch puzzle. I love this game specifically BECAUSE every area is an absolute gauntlet that just grinds me up and spits me out. I'm masochistic that way, I guess. I enjoy the feeling of conquering an ordeal, not going on a guided tour.

I absolutely recognize that not everybody feels this way. Triple A games have become formulaic for this very reason: devs have distilled dungeon design down to a science to hit that sweet spot on the lowest common denominator for the highest general ratio of likes. But where this games deviates from that formula fits my personal niche so perfectly!

So I have to disagree. In fact, I want to take this opportunity to request a post-release DLC dungeon that's twice as tedious and three times as long! Make it happen guys!