Mandatory Skill Check List? (obviously spoilers)

[sonicdv]

Right, the only thing holding me back from this game is that I consider it to be a flaw when a game pretends to be "open ended" but forcibly railroads you down very specific paths and skills. In my opinion, this goes against the promise of being able to build your own character and is a huge blow to the game. It's a problem that most 90s RPG games sadly have, so it was disappointing to learn this game has this issue as well. Despite this, if anybody knows of a list of the mandatory checks and what you need to level up, I would be willing to play the game around it. As it is, without the list, I don't feel like saving before every single skill check under the creeping paranoia that I screwed myself over by not finishing the skill check.

[Du-Vu]

There are no mandatory skills. There are two bottlenecks, iirc, which are an Authority check and a Shivers check respectively, but you can stack bonuses from clues and clothes to the point where you actual total in that skill will not be the deciding factor. Unless you're trying to power through the game without seeing everything, but that kind of defeats the purpose. You'll ultimately see more here if you fail some checks and have to find workarounds than if you get everything 'right' the first time around. Some content will only show up if you have a very low score in a given skill, and every skill has a few passives you'll only unlock by having that skill absolutely maxed, which you can't really do if you try and make a 'balanced' character, or one which would be optimized.

You won't screw yourself over by failing, for the most part. Even those two bottlenecks I believe can be passed without actually succeeding on the check, at his point. Thematically this is is a game about failing and you can't see everything in a single run anyway.

Keep a few points in reserve to unlock white checks, make sure you have 20 real for Night 2, save often and in different slots.

[sonicdv]

Originally posted by Du-Vu:

There are no mandatory skills. There are two bottlenecks, iirc, which are an Authority check and a Shivers check respectively, but you can stack bonuses from clues and clothes to the point where you actual total in that skill will not be the deciding factor. Unless you're trying to power through the game without seeing everything, but that kind of defeats the purpose. You'll ultimately see more here if you fail some checks and have to find workarounds than if you get everything 'right' the first time around. Some content will only show up if you have a very low score in a given skill, and every skill has a few passives you'll only unlock by having that skill absolutely maxed, which you can't really do if you try and make a 'balanced' character, or one which would be optimized.

You won't screw yourself over by failing, for the most part. Even those two bottlenecks I believe can be passed without actually succeeding on the check, at his point. Thematically this is is a game about failing and you can't see everything in a single run anyway.

Keep a few points in reserve to unlock white checks, make sure you have 20 real for Night 2, save often and in different slots.

I think when I said "mandatory skill check" I meant "bottlenecks" for reference. Thanks. My issue is more getting locked into rolling dice for hours until I get past the single path that is predetermined because I happened to not put levels into one specific ability the game didn't tell me to.

[Du-Vu]

I get what you're saying. For the most part the game is built around the idea that a lot of people *will* fail those checks and have to go find other things to do for a while. Like to some extent the writing itself comments on it. And there's a lot of side content to level up on as needed. It's a game designed around screwing up and screwing around.

The real hard stop is that 20 real I mentioned. I'd say the game gives you a lot of warning, but people still get stuck on it, so just try and scrounge what you can. Tab to highlight; you can find a plastic bag by the waterfront south of the bookstore; turn in your bottles at the Frittte! before 2300.

[Nate]

Originally posted by sonicdv:

I think when I said "mandatory skill check" I meant "bottlenecks" for reference. Thanks. My issue is more getting locked into rolling dice for hours until I get past the single path that is predetermined because I happened to not put levels into one specific ability the game didn't tell me to.

If you fail a check you don't have to reload the save and try again. Keep exploring different paths and leads, or just things that might seem entierly unrelated. The game is made around the fact that you will fail some checks here and there.

[BossStompTV]

For what it's worth I was never tempted to save scum in this game. It's just not built that way. Failing rolls is rewarding. It's all part of the game.