Should this game have an easy mode? [spoilers]

[N B]

I love puzzle games and I love exploration games, and the universal praise for this one made me think it would be a game of the year for me, but the physical dexterity requirements just made it too difficult. I spent 20+ hours trying to love it but I wound up just watching a YouTube Let's Play instead.

If you're bad at platforming/fine motor control, this game is a nightmare. The combination of precision steering/jumping and insta-death made for hours of replaying the same moments over and over. I spent 80% of the game just trying to make my way back to whatever location I'd died in.

It's a 22-minute loop, so effectively every puzzle in the game is a timed puzzle, which is fine. Except that MANY puzzles are on sub-time limits within that time limit...plus your oxygen and fuel are limited, artificially shortening exploration time even more.

I like to take my time and thoroughly explore every cranny, so I played this game as a stressed-out wreck. I would LOVE for the devs to consider an easy mode for gamers like me who don't have the reflexes to do precise platforming on a time limit. Any ONE of these would probably have been enough for me to finish:

1. Cacti, electricity, long falls, and ghost matter don't kill you (or kill you MUCH slower)
2. The caves stay clear of sand on Ember Twin
3. There's scaffolding or something to catch you before the black hole on Brittle Hollow
4. The spacesuit contains 22 minutes' worth of oxygen and fuel(!!!)
5. Ability to autopilot to locations on the rumor map once you've gotten to them once

A few moments, like the elevator tube on Brittle Hollow that drops you straight into the black hole if you don't choose a fork, stood out to me as especially cruel. Did anyone else have a similar experience? Maybe this game is just for a different kind of gamer than me, but the reviews made me feel like it would be right up my alley.

[SMJSMOK]

I saw two mods over at Nexus that you may find interesting. One of them enables cheats and the other one makes the loop infinite (the sun never explodes). I already finished the game today (incredible ending, by the way!) and I'll probably try the infinite loop mod myself to have a laid back exploring experience. I kind of expected this to be an "extras" option you can toggle after beating the game.

[N B]

Thank you for the suggestion! I'll check these out.

[Yffriium]

Can you provide an example of something in the game relating to dexterity that you found especially frustrating? I don't understand what you mean...

[N B]

Yffriium a écrit :

Can you provide an example of something in the game relating to dexterity that you found especially frustrating? I don't understand what you mean...

Sure. Getting through any door in zero gravity: the sun station cross, the white hole station entrance

The whole Hanging City. There was one point I was trying to go through a hole in the ceiling and I just had to give up.

Any moment that's timed against rising or falling sand: getting around the cacti on Ash Twin, the caves on Ember Twin

[SMJSMOK]

N B a écrit :

Getting through any door in zero gravity: the sun station cross, the white hole station entrance.

Do you know you can stabilize, both in the ship and the suit? The default key for it is space. If you select an object before that, you will match the speed of that object and stabilize relative to it. It makes entering e.g. the white hole station much easier. You basically fly near it, stabilize and fly in, without pretty much any dexterity required.

[Yffriium]

N B a écrit :

Sure. Getting through any door in zero gravity: the sun station cross, the white hole station entrance

The whole Hanging City. There was one point I was trying to go through a hole in the ceiling and I just had to give up.

Any moment that's timed against rising or falling sand: getting around the cacti on Ash Twin, the caves on Ember Twin

I really don't understand the trouble you have with any of these. I'm normally a KB/M guy, but I played this game with a controller. I found no trouble with platforming. You just have to learn how to use your jetpack and boost fuel. You can't expect to be good at platforming from the beginning.

[N B]

Yffriium a écrit :

I really don't understand the trouble you have with any of these. I'm normally a KB/M guy, but I played this game with a controller. I found no trouble with platforming. You just have to learn how to use your jetpack and boost fuel. You can't expect to be good at platforming from the beginning.

I mean, I'm 20 hours in now...how long does it take? Lol

I already knew I was bad at platforming. The game does say right off the bat that it's better with a controller—maybe I should have taken that to heart, but I guess I went in with the wrong impression because the reviews I read put more emphasis on the puzzles/emotional impact of the story.

[löyly]

Aww damnit, thanks for the heads-up so I won't have to go through the same experience. The things mentioned here are the exact kind of things that ruin my enjoyment of many games. Why doesn't this one have a platformer tag (one of the first things I check for)? I was getting excited about it :/

Off my wishlist it goes, following in case an easy mode does become available.

[Fien]

N B a écrit :

I love puzzle games and I love exploration games, and the universal praise for this one made me think it would be a game of the year for me, but the physical dexterity requirements just made it too difficult. I spent 20+ hours trying to love it but I wound up just watching a YouTube Let's Play instead.

If you're bad at platforming/fine motor control, this game is a nightmare. The combination of precision steering/jumping and insta-death made for hours of replaying the same moments over and over. I spent 80% of the game just trying to make my way back to whatever location I'd died in.

I'm with you all the way. I can't do it. :( Watched someone else play it instead, which is not nearly as good as playing it yourself but much better than not having any experience of this wonderful game.

[SpottedPineapple]

If you're struggling with the "platforming", try looking around a little more for a better path. Probably you're just not supposed to be doing whatever you're doing.

For example, the last spoiler in OP post is just a result of going in the wrong direction. No need to try to "solve" that puzzle. Find a different way.

[löyly]

Gah, I really wish there was a demo. With neither demo nor easy mode, there's just a very high chance that I'd be wasting my money.

[IndigoAK]

If nothing else, it should have a mode that doubles or triples the amount of time in the loop. I went into the game knowing the twist, but found out that the amount of time they give you doesn't feel like nearly enough. I was out exploring, following a breadcrumb, found something interesting, started reading and then white screen. Then I closed the game because it was like somebody ripped a good book out of my hands and threw it in a lake. I was angry and frustrated that they stole my book, but I also wasn't going to jump into a friggin' lake to get it.

[SMJSMOK]

IndigoAK a écrit :

If nothing else, it should have a mode that doubles or triples the amount of time in the loop. I went into the game knowing the twist, but found out that the amount of time they give you doesn't feel like nearly enough. I was out exploring, following a breadcrumb, found something interesting, started reading and then white screen. Then I closed the game because it was like somebody ripped a good book out of my hands and threw it in a lake. I was angry and frustrated that they stole my book, but I also wasn't going to jump into a friggin' lake to get it.

There is a mod that makes the loop infinite. It break balancing of course, but it's a fun thing after you've beaten the game. Maybe you would like it.

[IndigoAK]

SMJSMOK a écrit :

IndigoAK a écrit :

If nothing else, it should have a mode that doubles or triples the amount of time in the loop. I went into the game knowing the twist, but found out that the amount of time they give you doesn't feel like nearly enough. I was out exploring, following a breadcrumb, found something interesting, started reading and then white screen. Then I closed the game because it was like somebody ripped a good book out of my hands and threw it in a lake. I was angry and frustrated that they stole my book, but I also wasn't going to jump into a friggin' lake to get it.

There is a mod that makes the loop infinite. It break balancing of course, but it's a fun thing after you've beaten the game. Maybe you would like it.

The mod breaks a crucial game mechanic. The Ash and Ember twins no longer transfer the sand, meaning nothing under the surface of the Ash Twin is ever revealed. Why would I use a mod that basically makes the game unwinnable?

Which is totally beside the point of the original topic. The developers have basically said, "We don't care if people with severe disabilities or limited dexterity can play our game. Because you aren't able, you shouldn't have fun. Please, enjoy being frustrated by our limiting and short-sighted game design."

[Yffriium]

IndigoAK a écrit :

The developers have basically said, "We don't care if people with severe disabilities or limited dexterity can play our game. Because you aren't able, you shouldn't have fun. Please, enjoy being frustrated by our limiting and short-sighted game design."

I truly don't understand what part of this game takes incredible dexterity. Besides, all games take a certain level of skill in order to move the character. People with physical disabilities have a disadvantage in nearly every game because of this; there's not really a way the developers can work around it.