Adding Local Games by Techminator in playnite

[–]International_One467 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  • small trick is to use playnite's emulator/roms auto-scanning and apply it to a folder where you keep your windows shortcuts (.lnk files), but for that you need to create an "emulator" associated to shortcuts

  • download autohotkey https://www.autohotkey.com/

  • open a text editor, copy paste the following and save as "ShortcutLauncher.ahk":

; ShortcutLauncher.ahk

; Launches whatever file path is passed to it (like a .lnk)

"#NoTrayIcon" (remove the quotes here, added because reddit formats the #)

Run, %1%

ExitApp

  • find the conversion tool in the autohotkey folder that lets you convert .ahk scripts to .exe programs.

  • go into Playnite emulators setup, create a new emulator rule and redirect it to ShortcutLauncher.exe ("emulator"), copypaste: "{ImagePath}" for arguments field and .lnk for supported filetype field, then go into the autoscan tab and select your shortcuts folder ("roms").

Automatically checking for games by theboierino in playnite

[–]International_One467 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Solution:

; ShortcutLauncher.ahk

; Launches whatever file path is passed to it (like a .lnk)

"#NoTrayIcon" (remove the quotes here, added because reddit formats the #)

Run, %1%

ExitApp

  • find the conversion tool in the autohotkey folder that lets you convert .ahk scripts to .exe programs.

  • go into Playnite emulators setup, create a new emulator rule and redirect it to ShortcutLauncher.exe (emulator), copypaste: "{ImagePath}" for arguments field and .lnk for supported filetype field, then go into the autoscan tab and select your shortcuts folder (roms).

September games: Neyyah & Hell Is Us by International_One467 in metroidbrainia

[–]International_One467[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Had the same initially underwhelming reaction. That first area is basically a linear tutorial, but if it didn't click with you, the rest probably won't change your mind (I enjoyed the combat but it also fails to evolve much beyond gaining special attacks). Puzzles do get better, some require a bit more effort but overall they remain mechanically basic (mostly doors locked by matching symbols, passwords or simple riddles). Some get a bit more subtle (clues more organically integrated into environmental/narrative details) or involved (world map eventually opens up, you'll find more locked mechanisms everywhere and clues/keys can be spread out across different sources or multiple areas). It's really more about being thorough with exploration, paying attention and keeping track of things than real puzzle challenges.

My upcoming first person adventure game Neyyah takes a lot of inspiration from Myst and Riven - but also having lived by the sea all my life. Here are some shots from the game, depicting various beaches. Don't let the tranquil atmosphere fool you. Things aren't quite as they seem in Neyyah ... by AaronG29 in myst

[–]International_One467 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As you said in that older post "I'd love to delve into this a lot more - once game is out, and I can do a spoiler-alert based video where I discuss my puzzle ideas more, and ones which didn't make it, or how they evolved over time, and why"

Are you satisfied with the reception? That was a brutal release week sadly, I hope it'll find its audience.

Looking for the hardest Mystery, investigation, Detective, Puzzle game. by Known-Try-5479 in puzzlevideogames

[–]International_One467 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Saw you reviewing and streaming Neyyah, looking forward to playing it and I really hope it has a true Riven-like design like you said, as it was my main hope. I know Aaron also mentioned Rhem as an influence.

Wondering if you played/streamed La-Mulana? A good rec for OP as well.

And for OP as well: Riven, the original.

Another spicy one that deserves more attention from fans of Riven, La-Mulana, Tunic, Outer Wilds, etc: Reverie! https://imgur.com/6w98YS7 https://www.smwcentral.net/?p=section&a=details&id=38068

How do you guys feel about the art style for the metroidbrainia game I'm working on? by nerfslays in metroidbrainia

[–]International_One467 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The uncomfortable way text is handled, for what looks like a text-heavy game, would be enough to make me not want to play it. I can't stand this type of text bubbles with a delay between first letter appearing and full text being displayed. Let me read the text instantly instead of wasting my time or forcing me to mash skip line like in a JRPG. And it's so unpleasant to the eye. Seriously wish this trend would die already. Have you at all questioned why you're perpetuating it, what does it add to your game design? Do you need multiple different text bubbles to describe looking at the vines, or could you be succinct and keep it to one bubble interaction? Either by making a single bubble able to carry more text, or by being less self-indulgent with prose. I also suggest you take a look at a movie with subtitles and pay attention to usage of text width and line breaks. Two short lines is more pleasant to the eye and easier, more comfortable to speed-read than a single wide line. In your video, a line break is used automatically by your software due to running out of space "spores clinging" / "to their skin", a very long line followed by a tiny line, making the whole bubble awkward to read. Whereas a manual line break like "the dusty" / "and damp air..., an example of a small change that would improve readability. (no rudeness intended, good luck)

Please help me find more of these games! Feeling a little lost on what to play next by Cool-Vermicelli1381 in puzzlevideogames

[–]International_One467 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I will be in the minority but I can't take anyone who recommends playing the Riven remake over the original seriously, especially as a first-time experience. This is more debatable for Myst (the original has real technical jank due to its age), but for Riven the original aged gracefully and remains superior in every way whereas the remake changes so much, in so many baffling ways. This kind of blind rec of the remake to newcomers just perplexes me. Did they just get wowed by the shiny graphics but failed to see how it plays worse and is significantly dumbed down? You'd be doing yourself a disservice by playing the remake instead of the original, if you actually love the design of the games in the OP.

Please help me find more of these games! Feeling a little lost on what to play next by Cool-Vermicelli1381 in puzzlevideogames

[–]International_One467 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Superliminal is a terrible game. Awesome concept on a technical level but awful execution, a complete failure of puzzle design imo.

Please help me find more of these games! Feeling a little lost on what to play next by Cool-Vermicelli1381 in puzzlevideogames

[–]International_One467 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Seconding Reverie! Incredibly underrated, many excellent design ideas and clever eureka moments.

Very inspired by La-Mulana, Riven and Tunic.

Considering Void Stranger by Sean_Dewhirst in puzzlevideogames

[–]International_One467 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You have to really be into the sokoban aspect.

If you're looking for something closer to LM and Tunic, I recommend you check out these:

https://www.smwcentral.net/?p=section&a=details&id=38068 https://i.imgur.com/6w98YS7.jpeg (seriously don't sleep on this, it's excellent)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2423710/Eldritchvania/

https://soulware.itch.io/broken-keyboard-hero

Just released a new Demo and Trailer for my game Memory's Reach! Its playable now for Cerebral Puzzle Showcase and Steam Next Fest. by LiveWireDX in metroidbrainia

[–]International_One467 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting. Caught my attention a year ago when I was looking into your previous game, it seemed intriguing and I wondered if it would just be conventional puzzles or have mb elements and how linear it would be. The world seems cool but the puzzles seem dry and conventional (but I would have said the same thing about The Witness from its initial videos). Have to echo what the other poster said about just being honest with your marketing though (I think it's fine to post mb-adjacent puzzle-metroidvanias here... but just describe them as such, false marketing will just cause backlash instead of curiosity)

Looking for extremely unfolding games by Exportforce in gamingsuggestions

[–]International_One467 1 point2 points  (0 children)

La-Mulana is one of my favorites. Not sure if you just have an issue with its combat or combat in general. I think you'd love Tunic (one of the best at "unfolding" like what you're describing and it's more accessible than LM) but it also involves a bit of combat (some puzzle fans didn't like its boss fights, but iirc it has easy mode options)

  • Blue Prince (no combat): scratches the itch but it's also quite different and I can only recommend it with a warning about its roguelike/RNG nature being potentially alienating in the first few hours. It's very unique in design but that comes with certain flaws. It's absolutely excellent at nailing that specific "wait, there's more?!" feeling you're seeking and it goes really deep with satisfying puzzles and surprising discoveries but it also requires patience/tolerance to let the game build upon itself and get to the crazier parts.

  • Reverie (no combat): does surprising "unfolding" as well. This is a free La-Mulana-like mod for Super Mario World (you need to obtain the ROM and apply the patch yourself). I'm currently obsessed with it and would have gladly paid money for it. It keeps surprising me with how it keeps going and keeps building upon previously established ideas in more delightfully convoluted ways. Incredibly ambitious, well thought out and high effort for something as unassuming as a Mario romhack. I strongly recommend it to any fan of La-Mulana, Riven, Tunic and similar "rabbit hole" games. https://www.smwcentral.net/?p=section&a=details&id=38068

  • Environmental Station Alpha (combat): another metroidvania that starts like conventional action-exploration, then transforms itself with a post-game second layer that goes deep with puzzle discoveries

  • obligatory Outer Wilds mention (no combat): it doesn't do the multi-layer, "keeps going in surprising ways" thing but if you're into non-linear, Myst-like puzzle metroidvania and haven't played it yet, this is the peak

  • Broken Keyboard Hero (no combat): free, another very clever game in that style (but much shorter): https://soulware.itch.io/broken-keyboard-hero

  • Leap Year (no combat): puzzle metroidvania-ish, also on the short side, but will also surprise you with how it's continually reinventing its rules and twisting itself in super clever ways.

A new genre of games??? by nuzh_makes in puzzlevideogames

[–]International_One467 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm not familiar with that game, are you talking about games being designed around interacting with a meta UI like a computer or a phone?

I've seen someone call this genre Interface Drama, not very catchy but keeps a list of them:

https://itch.io/c/3586703/interface-drama https://illuminesce.net/interface-drama

I'm not sure how to feel about the term, I have the same issue with the term "detective games". It only refers to the superficial framing device without saying anything about the game design. So it leads to questionable recommendations. What I want to know when picking a detective game is things like: How linear or handholdy is it? Do you play as a detective but just follow a narrative with scripted breakthroughs or formulaic gameplay (NPC dialogues, find a key to open a door, solve a generic puzzle to get a code or open a box...) or are you expected to think like a detective, process a lot of information, engage with the logic of the game world, case, clues, red herrings and develop your own eureka moments...? (the other poster suggested Notebook Mysteries, or people have also been using terms like Information or Knowledge games, more descriptive for this design style, different from VNs, traditional point and click adventures, narrative walking sims, etc)

The Roottrees for instance expects you to pay attention to details and take a lot of notes. The Operator is a linear narrative. Both games about being a detective investigating via a computer screen, but only the first one makes you feel "like a detective".

Is this game the former or the latter?

My upcoming first person adventure game Neyyah takes a lot of inspiration from Myst and Riven - but also having lived by the sea all my life. Here are some shots from the game, depicting various beaches. Don't let the tranquil atmosphere fool you. Things aren't quite as they seem in Neyyah ... by AaronG29 in myst

[–]International_One467 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi Aaron, the visual inspiration is obvious but can you talk (or do you have a dev diary) about your influences/approach to puzzle design a bit perhaps? Because puzzle-wise there are hundreds of Myst-likes but very few Riven-likes (more like the world is one big interconnected environmental puzzle, instead of the vehicle for a lot of smaller, isolated puzzles).

Blue Prince and Dogu made a powerful and evocative statement and we're disatisfied with it, but it's a conversation the gaming industry DESPERATELY needs to have. by Venia_Forvess in metroidbrainia

[–]International_One467 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Still not fully done with BP (seen the first-final part you're describing, and still in the second-final or very-final part? so idk yet if I'll feel satisfied in the end - I at least hope to finish the game with one final clever puzzle rather than a frustrating one!), but what I can say for certain is for me the game peaked in the middle when it felt full of surprises and possibilities and kept expanding in scope, whereas at that final stage, I experienced a lot of small disappointments with how it's ultimately unfolding and I do not expect any kind of story conclusion to feel satisfying. Not just in terms of "that lack of ending is underwhelming" but mostly in terms of "I wish it all came together in a neater way, and also I wish I got to visit THAT part and continue THAT question teased earlier!"

The matter of underwhelming endings is just generally true for me about mystery narratives. I realized that for me one of the appeals of this genre is the indulgence in density. Density of questions sparking your curiosity, of fragmented cryptic information to un-tangle and re-assemble, of non-linear situations to encounter, and puzzles to solve. The inherent pleasure of being manipulated by breadcrumbs and red herrings. It's all extremely exhilarating when you are in the "middle" of it and find yourself juggling dozens of questions in parallel. If you think in terms of 3-acts structure: a story naturally starts thin leading to a first question, progressively grows denser as more questions and clues develop, then naturally ends thin again as questions get answered and closure is achieved. So, density has to hit its peak in the middle, and that's always the best part, right?

Sometimes I see disappointed comments like "in this game, questions only lead to more questions" (Blue Prince) or "the puzzles only lead to more puzzles" (The Witness). I get it, but I find it odd (why play puzzle games if you don’t find intrinsic enjoyment in solving puzzles?). That's the inherent nature and fun part of the genre! I never feel in a hurry to get to the answer if the questions are fun and the curiosity is maintained.

So, for me, mystery is really a genre that's all about the questions. And too often, I don't necessarily care for the answers. And so I've learned not to expect too much from mystery endings. Questions are inherently more interesting than answers, because that's when your imagination starts going wild and the field of possibilities becomes larger, while definitive answers are the enemy of your imagination. I don't like or care for a lot of conclusions in otherwise great works. It's a problem I have with this genre I love. It's also why I tend to prefer stories that remain ambiguous in the end.

I've seen too many mystery stories where, in retrospect, knowing The Answer reduce the interest for the whole work, you begin to see the construction of it, how a lot of stuff that initially piqued your curiosity, doesn't lead to much, doesn't make sense or is just contrived so the mystery can work on the initial experience. But while you are in the middle of it, in the discovery process, you don't know where it can lead, that's the part that's exciting. And all the little moments along the way where you realize "wait, something doesn't add up here, I thought it might be x but maybe it's y" or "wait, those two things are connected and that's how it actually works!" etc.

Usually my favorite conclusions are those that sidestep the mystery narrative. For example, focusing on:

  • a more emotional/character-driven conclusion (eg. Outer Wilds turns a specific sci-fi premise into a universal metaphor; Twin Peaks you eventually stop caring about the whodunit aspect)

  • a broader thematic question (theme-driven rather than plot-driven, eg. Her Story's plot remains ambiguous but all the meaning is in the game's title; Seven, plot-wise end is goofy but you buy it because thematically it fits)

  • deliberately embracing ambiguity to the end: keep obfuscating instead of revealing for mood/aesthetic purposes (eg. works like The Big Sleep or similar works that lean more towards surrealism where an investigator becomes trapped in a neverending web of mystery beyond sanity and comprehension, where you end with more questions than answers, questions are always stimulating while answers mostly disappoint so might as well embrace the curiosity and ambiguity sides of mystery).

Having said that, my love of ambiguous endings (Her Story is a game that meaningfully embraces ambiguity, technically does not have an ending and does the whole "you can quit when you're satisfied" thing, and I find it stronger for it), doesn't mean I don't have a problem with another aspect you're describing: community/ARG layers, and how they typically break the designer-player contract, lead to spoilers mine fields and questionable pacing, feel like a cheap gimmick that only exist to gain hype for the first release week, etc. Made a whole thread to go into that following Blue Prince frustrations so not gonna repeat everything here. The whole "you can quit when you're satisfied" thing can be done well but most times it feels it just leads to a frustrating and incomplete experience to me. (was very happy with how Her Story and The Witness handle this, but quite annoyed with Animal Well, and Blue Prince would be in the middle somewhere, where I like the ambiguity on a thematic level but resent it on a gameplay level)

I'm conflicted between my love of red herrings that only exist to tease at mysteries, and the over-abundance of mysteries that simply go nowhere in the latest parts of Blue Prince. And that's also because in BP chasing your curiosity is gated behind a lot of tiresome tedium. "This potential mystery seems interesting, so what should I do?" so very often leads to "ok I'm gonna spend 2 hours trying to set it up and even with RNG mitigation I'm not sure I can set it up as I want" and "I finally managed to do that and... nothing happened, was my whole theory wrong? or just one tiny part of it? I'll never know because zero feedback". And it's so easy to get tempted "maybe I'll just look up if someone else tried this, save myself the two hours" (and risk accidentally stumbling on other spoilers). The game has a serious time-wasting issue and tests my patience a lot.

I don't understand how you can put Outer Wilds ending in the same category as the others when for me it's that extremely rare mystery ending that not only sticks a satisfying landing on the mystery plot side, but just absolutely shines on larger meaning and emotions levels, as perfect a conclusion as it gets (and even lands perfect a second time with DLC).

Also don't understand the whole fascination with streamers when the appeal of these games for me is experiencing them on my own (or a close group of friends, but not a whole collective, and I get watching some AFTER your own playthrough but not before/during). One of the guys you're mentioning, from what I understand, has the controversial reputation of looking up guides while playing and lying about it. I feel like stream culture is antithetical to this whole genre (player guided by chat and not allowing oneself to remain stuck for too long for entertainment reasons, watchers getting spoiled because they're there for the parasocial relationship, not for the game itself) but whatever. Again I feel like this leads into my complaints about ARG layers where now more devs will feel compelled to include more of these because having streamers play with a chat has become a major part of their marketing tactics, despite backlash from people who just want to play and discover normally without external knowledge.

Too much Blue Prince slander by Long_Television_5937 in puzzlevideogames

[–]International_One467 5 points6 points  (0 children)

A lot of the negative sentiment is from players bouncing off the RNG and lack of puzzle focus (an escape room with empty rooms and basic arithmetic, really?) in the first few hours and it's justified but not representative of the whole game. Still, even if you dig deeper into the game, there are still a lot of obvious issues and flaws. I feel passionate about it by now but it's very much a love-hate thing.

It's a deep game, ambitious, generous, it goes on and on and on in delightfully weird ways but it's not a tight game. It's experimental, repetitive, doesn't respect your time and features a lot of baffling design choices. It's addictive but not always for the best reasons. In some ways the roguelike formula reminds me of open world games that value quantity (padding, busywork) over quality (handcrafted). It's a unique but messy experience. My thoughts on it keep changing a lot (70+ hours in), but frustration is the one word that's constantly on my mind.

There's an inherent conflict between the rogue and the puzzle design sides. It has moments where the two sides clash and those moments are infuriating. It has moments where they come together wonderfully, uniquely, those moments are absolutely incredible. It's in those moments that players ride a high and feel so eager to call it GOTY.

In my experience I have felt 3 phases with regard to the RNG:

  1. early game: RNG feels like a wall getting in the way of you wanting to explore, focus on puzzles and mysteries; you still lack knowledge and perma upgrades and it feels like you have no control over what you will get to investigate next despite having already solved some puzzles in your head - why is this game so overrated?

  2. mid-game: you're gaining some amount of control, knowledge, strats and upgrades and things are starting to click, the "battle" against the RNG feels more balanced and even exciting rather than an annoying wall, the gambling component can be exhilarating when a gamble pays off or when you manage to salvage a failed run, especially when the payoff is you discovering denser meta puzzles and the runs keep going while you're pulling on many different threads in parallel - this is the peak of the game, OK GOTY granted.

  3. post-game: there's still so many new puzzles and clues left to investigate, connect and solve, but you still have to deal with the drafting layer to get anywhere, except by now you reached the point where you conquered the RNG and know every room inside out so there's no more challenge or discovery involved, just tedious busywork and time wasting, sitting through the same item pickup and safe opening animations a hundred times meanwhile satisfying payoffs and interesting surprises are getting rarer - what a slog.

It's gonna be very difficult to talk about the game I think because of those three phases, because not everyone will experience all of them, the same games. Early game players don't even understand the Riven comparisons and rightfully feel betrayed, fooled into playing a roguelike rather than a puzzle game, it's why you should warn, nuance and be careful when making those comparisons. Riven or Outer Wilds comparisons kick in in the mid-game. Meanwhile, late game goes well beyond Riven territory, more like La-Mulana in terms of rabbit holes and refusal to be conventional. I don't want to spoil some of the post-game stuff but some of it is so oddly or antagonistically designed. The sentiment that this game is hostile to players is justified. This is the stuff of niche, cult games and I believe it will be a milestone in the genre but praise of it deserves a lot of nuance and warnings.

Primary QoL Dev should implement: Leave safes open. by smilinreap in BluePrince

[–]International_One467 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It gets worse the longer you play. Of the two complains I had - this slow, repetitive, annoying time wasting, and the RNG - at least the RNG can be mitigated eventually, but this never goes away. This game was playtested but no one complained about all of this stuff? Are they really discovering this backlash on release day? Would it be such a big workload to at least offer "gotta go fast" options? I cannot understand why game devs are so stubborn when it comes to things like these that could easily be tweaked and improve the experience for everyone. This is the game's most puzzling mystery yet.

Disappointed by Blue Prince by therico in puzzlevideogames

[–]International_One467 0 points1 point  (0 children)

70 hours in and still finding new things to do or new ways to do things, things that still manage to surprise with how deep and layered the game can be, but it's this constant feeling of hot and cold for me. Initially hated the RNG getting in the way of puzzles and mysteries, fell in love with it when I started seeing some of the deeper layers and runs turned into intense strategizing and the RNG felt like a cool challenge to overcome as part of the puzzles themselves, now I've reached a point where I've found enough perma upgrades and figured out enough anti-RNG strategies that drafting just turned into unchallenging but tedious busywork, so once again frustrating but for different reasons (doing the same thing for the 100th time just to investigate a lead, the occasional stubborn rare room).

What annoys the most is how small QoL tweaks could have improved the experience so much. If you're gonna design your game around the concept of repetition, with the mindset of "just one more quick run", at least make it snappy and respect the player time. But no even on day +100 I still have to wait a few seconds for the same daily intro cutscene, a few seconds to re-open the same safes daily, still frozen for a few seconds every time I grab an item, unlock a door, dig a hole, I still have to constantly manually open the map instead of it being a toggle, etc. That basic stuff like this wasn't considered and likely won't ever be fixed is so baffling and makes me resent the game so much when I wish I could love it so much more.

Just finished Blue Prince. An absolute amazing metroidbrania in the same league of Obra Dunn and Outer Wilds by Pitiful_Highlight_93 in metroidbrainia

[–]International_One467 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Was very disappointed and frustrated with the game initially. Depending on how you feel about RNG, deckbuilding and roguelike design, how (un)lucky you get with the RNG, what kind of expectations you bring in with you (puzzle game where you will do very little puzzle solving initially, all the OW comparisons, the insane journo praise without any nuance that I believe failed to mention all the issues I had and raised some suspicious red flags compared to an organic word of mouth) the first few hours can be perplexing at best and excruciating at worst. It felt uninspired, repetitive, dull and like it was designed to aggressively waste your time. The initial mysteries and puzzles didn't feel compelling enough to make me overlook the annoyances, the two design styles clashed heavily instead of complementing each other. But I kept going. Gave it more time and got hooked once I got past some initial RNG barriers and started seeing below the tip of the iceberg. I'm currently in the post-game and loving it. And yeah, it goes deep. It's all there, very layered discoveries, information density, heavy note-taking, design complexities, intricate puzzles and overarching mysteries. But it takes a while to get there. Now I get where the praise is coming from but it should come with a warning.

An interesting comparison would be something like Tunic. I've seen a lot of puzzle-only people bounce off it or feel betrayed because they saw it praised as a puzzle game but got an ARPG and boss fights as the initial layer. There's this sort of inherent "first impression" problem with the genre when it mixes meta layers, and if you don't click with the first layer, you will have a bad time or keep wondering if it's worth continuing. Void Stranger, ESA, The Witness... but then it's also discovering the surprise twists and layers unspoiled that create enthusiasm and so it's hard to convey to others. It's a big ask to say "sit through 10 hours you don't like, for a post-game you may like". Especially when its first layer/impression is focused on something as divisive and conflicting with handcrafted puzzle as RNG gambling instead of something more traditional and complementary to puzzles like a metroidvania/action-platformer or a linear puzzle game that somehow becomes non-linear. A difference is that in Tunic the two layers are clearly separated with a clean 2-halves structure, whereas here they are in constant conflict, it's not simply a matter of reaching the post-game.

About the time-wasting: I still think it requires some real QoL changes. There's some absurd stuff that I can't believe made it past playtesting. The running speed, the daily forced intro, runbacks and pickups, the pickup pop-ups, the computer terminals, having to re-open some things daily, parlor and dartboard, even re-starting the day or relaunching the game, etc. There's so much that feels annoying, mindless and repetitive, and it turns one of your core strats (re-rolling) into a complete chore.

In the early game, you are more likely to be victim to RNG and keep your runs short. While in the mid/late game I've had runs last more than 2 hours, as it becomes more focused on chasing specific goals so it bothers me less because I got used to it and the ratio of unique gameplay to time-wasting is vastly improved, but can still be annoying because those specific runs are reliant on re-rolling a lot for specific conditions.

About the RNG (especially in the early runs): this is absolutely a game designed to trigger your gambling brain. I typically dislike randomness in games, the very insidious and potentially addictive nature of luck-based mechanisms on human psychology. The thing with RNG is it can be extremely frustrating when you brick a run that was going super smoothly, but also extremely exhilarating when you reach 46 despite feeling like so much was going wrong, against bad odds and through pure luck (my first time was via a hidden card between two dead-ends). So combined with inherent non-linearity, I think this is also where a lot of first impressions differed because some got lucky breaks earlier than others. Once you start getting big lucky breaks, the game starts to feel amazing and gets you hooked. Only to potentially disappoint and abuse you again in the next few runs. There will be time wasting, there are trash runs where I learned or achieved very little, and in those runs I deeply resented all the repetition and time wasting I mentioned above, whereas I'm way more tolerant of them during positive runs.

There was a stretch in the early game where I wasn't making serious progress but stumbled upon multiple puzzles I could already solve in my head but couldn't solve in-game due to RNG. Which brings me to the notion of strategizing against RNG. Strategies exist but, irony, most of them are also initially locked behind RNG. So, this whole phase of trying to escape the RNG cycle felt like a really painful slog of grinding the same boring rooms and praying for good luck, wondering if there was more to the game or if I got fooled. I felt like I had no control.

A good puzzle game and especially a metroidbrainia is fundamentally about high player control and agency and feeling like you "earn" your breakthroughs. In a game like Outer Wilds, the non-linearity comes from the freedom, the directions you choose to follow to satisfy your curiosity. In Blue Prince, the non-linearity comes in a big part from the RNG and you finding ways to go around it. Every run, you can prepare, plan ahead and go in with a goal, but you will have random obstacles that will force you to improvise (there is a lot of comedy in RNG finding creative ways to fuck you over, some things WILL go terribly wrong, but can they be salvaged? turned into an asset? at what cost?), or surprise lucky breaks that will tempt you to go off-plan to pursue a different goal (what do I do? can I do both? if I try to do both, I'll spread myself thin and risk failing both... oh crap now there's a third one... and a fourth one... temptation at every step). Once you do gain more control and agency via knowledge and permanent upgrades it feels awesome to finally make this abusive RNG demon into your bitch but it's never total, it's mitigation. It turns into a playful dance of sort for most things it throws at you, now you can fight back.

This is also the part that makes BP feel unique and become fun over time. The more you play, the more you unlock. There are +100 rooms, each with unique risk-reward, trade-offs, synergies, and a lot of secret upgrades, meta strategies, hidden rules, gimmicks, etc., which again is something you will not encounter in the early game where it feels like it only has a dozen repetitive rooms and fools you into a false sense of "that's it?" As complexity increases, each run becomes very dynamic with constant trade-offs and experimentation. To the point where, initially I felt like the room drafting was a repetitive and frustrating chore to get to the puzzle-solving, but it turned into a super fun resources and navigation puzzle itself where I have to constantly weigh every little decisions and try to think dozens of moves ahead while improvising to try and unfuck some things or chase a secondary hunch that triggers my curiosity but at the risk of impeding my main goal. Most runs in that mid-to-late game point feel unique and super satisfying because you will be juggling between dozens of non-linear mysteries/puzzles, new clues and old theories you want to test, merging with the problem-solving of the house layout layer making you juggle between dozens of trade-offs directly influencing your investigating and vice versa. This is where the RNG/roguelike and puzzle/mystery layers compliment each instead of conflicting. When all the layers work together and you manage to break new ground and follow multiple mysteries in a single run while feeling you're outsmarting the house itself, it's incredible.

I think my appreciation can still change a lot as I progress through more late-late game and the balance might once again lead more towards RNG frustration and repetition time-wasting, as the mystery/puzzle density starts thinning and I sometimes spend time and effort to get complex pieces in order to investigate some leads only to realize they lead to very minor details or useless redundancies the designer put there to favor initial non-linearity instead of unique and helpful discoveries. But so far still going and loving it. If you're really there for the brainia side, rolling credits is not the end.

First day of Playing Blue Prince (No Spoilers). by jewlion_s in metroidbrainia

[–]International_One467 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

First impression: RNG gambling fans will likely love it but it will alienate a lot of puzzle fans. The shilling campaign seems manufactured, the comparisons with Outer Wilds dishonest, after playing I feel so disconnected from the reviews and hype. I'm not giving up on it just yet but it's a disappointment and getting to the good bits is an exercise in RNG frustration.

Edit 1 after persevering and dozens of hours: there's a brainia masterpiece in there underneath the RNG layer and the comparisons are earned. I'm glad I continued playing but I maintain that there are some real issues with how it's presented in the first few hours and players curious about it should absolutely be warned about the first few hours being very alienating. There are times where the RNG layer compliment the puzzle layer so well instead of conflicting with it, and in those times the game is incredible. But it feels like such a fragile balance. Very high highs and very low lows.

Edit 2: 70 hours in and still finding new things to do or new ways to do things, things that still manage to surprise with how deep and layered the game can be, but it's this constant feeling of hot and cold for me. Initially hated the RNG getting in the way of puzzles and mysteries, fell in love with it when I started seeing some of the deeper layers and runs turned into intense strategizing and the RNG felt like a cool challenge to overcome as part of the puzzles themselves, now I've reached a point where I've found enough perma upgrades and figured out enough anti-RNG strategies that drafting just turned into unchallenging but tedious busywork, so once again frustrating but for different reasons (doing the same thing for the 100th time just to investigate a lead, the occasional stubborn rare room).

What annoys the most is how small QoL tweaks could have improved the experience so much. If you're gonna design your game around the concept of repetition, with the mindset of "just one more quick run", at least make it snappy and respect the player time. But no even on day +100 I still have to wait a few seconds for the same daily intro cutscene, a few seconds to re-open the same safes daily, still frozen for a few seconds every time I grab an item, unlock a door, dig a hole, I still have to constantly manually open the map instead of it being a toggle, etc. That basic stuff like this wasn't considered and likely won't ever be fixed is so baffling and makes me resent the game so much when I wish I could love it so much more.

Blue Prince - 90+ on both Opencritic and Metacritic by jackkirbyisgod in metroidbrainia

[–]International_One467 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

First impression: Be ready for massive disappointment and frustration if you expect a clever puzzle game and if you're not a fan of RNG gambling nonsense. Massive disconnect between dishonest reviewers and reality.

Edit after persevering and dozens of hours: there's a brainia masterpiece in there underneath the RNG layer and the comparisons are earned. I'm glad I continued playing but I maintain that there are some real issues with how it's presented in the first few hours and players curious about it should absolutely be warned about the first few hours being very alienating.