Level 4.3

[runevision]

Level 4.3 feels unfair to me.

Up to this point, new mechanics have been introduced with tutorials. But in stage 4.3, suddenly it changes on the fly which patients you control and which ones are controlled by Ian, without this concept having been introduced.

Furthermore, other mechanics usually have had clear prep sounds and/or indicators for when important changes are about to happen, like the changes in tempo (get set go). But this change in which characters are controlled by the player doesn't seem to be signaled in any way. Some hearts just suddenly have overlays on them they didn't have before, and vice versa.

Do I really need to constantly look at all the hearts to notice these changes while also keeping track of everything else at the same time? Am I missing something?

This level was the first time I just didn't feel like playing the game anymore.

[TTechnology]

What are you talking about? Yeah, is kinda tricky because we change to birds/Mrs. Steverson but we have a lot of indicators on the screen showing where we have to look. Why do they have to introduce the changes of patients if we already made things like that in other levels? I mean, is just a change of patients...

But I have to admit, maybe an sound indicator will be interesting, but in the other hand can ruin the song.

[runevision]

Originally posted by TTechnology:

but we have a lot of indicators on the screen showing where we have to look.

Well I did say "am I missing something?". What are the indicators you're referring to?

[TTechnology]

Originally posted by runevision:

Originally posted by TTechnology:

but we have a lot of indicators on the screen showing where we have to look.

Well I did say "am I missing something?". What are the indicators you're referring to?

Everything goes dark, not only the heart, the birds/Mrs. Steverson and the line goes black/shade of. And they made it in a way that you have time to see if the track is on/off.

It's like the 2-2/2-3 song that everyone is complaining about, it seems hard and unfair at first glance, but if you just play feeling the beat for fun, you'll see that it is pretty easy tho.

I know my answer seems subjective and incomplete, but it is true. Try to play on easy / very easy if it is too difficult at least to get the timing and the beat. I swear to you, just try to play for fun, don't care if you're missing or not, this stage is very easy to complete and the music is great.

[TTechnology]

Not to mention that all tracks that are changing the owner blinks, don't forget it, try to pay attention to it!

[runevision]

Ok I tried playing the level again and indeed tracks that are not player-controlled are black and they do blink when they switch.

So two points about this:

One, it's never been tutorialized to pay attention to these things. You might think it's obvious, but that's is apparently very individual. To me, these things were practically invisible, so I weren't even aware of them. If a mechanic is important, it might be a good idea to make a tutorial for it, like it's done for other mechanics in the game.

Second, now that I was looking for these things, I could see them (of course) but only sometimes. Once the track got more demanding, my brain again couldn't notice the changes in color of the tracks (or overlay on the hearts). The other visual cues that show e.g. the pulse (even for inactive tracks) are just more in-your-face than the change in color of the track is. My brain might react more strongly to visual cues that move rather than just change color. A tutorial wouldn't fix this on its own, since I'm still having this issue now even though I know what I'm supposed to look for.

I'm not sure how it could be addressed. Could the cues that tracks are becoming active/inactive be communicated with a moving visual hint rather than just a color change? Like maybe some kind of spotlight that moves away from the tracks becoming inactive and onto the active ones?

You could also choose to see it as just me having to "git gud" but I just find it an odd choice to have to have certain skills in seeing visual cues (like color changes) in a game that otherwise prides itself in being all about listening to the rhythms.

Of course, in the end, I'm just saying this to talk about my own experience. The devs can act on it or ignore this feedback as they want; I'm just providing some data points about my own experience.

[rambley enjoyer 73]

Would have to agree with this. Steinway's reprise is completely fine but the normal version is just extremely awkward to play. Rhythm Doctor actively tells you to not focus on visuals constantly and has a lot of levels centered around distracting the player, so why is this the one level where it's needed?

[TemmieNeko]

nah the real problem isnt that level, it's the nighttimeone where joey is trying to catch bird, iir.
one part his enteire track gets blacked out and goes grey and YOURE SUPPOSED TO HIT THE BEAT> literally the absence ofindication on that one.
ill double check it, but this annoyed me bc it looks just liek daytime birds and old lady track when it happens.
( which btw, try old lady and birds nighttime, it'sreaaaaalfun )

[TTechnology]

Originally posted by runevision:

Real big comment that doesn't need to be quoted

I mean, I *kinda* agree with you but thinking again is just this level who have kind of mechanic. I suppose that's because of the lore: you have to help the doctor with this bird/patient mess, and you have to change from one or another very quickly because you're in a hurry.

It makes sense to me, but we could still have a "CHANGE" sound, even if it would be just a subtle sound.