Okay, so I want to preface by saying that I'm a very avid video gamer, but much of my play time is eaten up with Final Fantasy XIV, which is not surprising since it's an MMO and they're designed to suck you in. FFXIV is an amazing game, but one of my goals this year was to branch out to other games, especially other non-Final Fantasy games. Even though I had that as a goal, I doubt I would have done so if not for the posts in this community. So THANK YOU for helping me achieve a goal!
Even so, I kept putting off playing until I saw this post yesterday. I settled down after dinner and started the game, and played for about two hours or so. I just finished it up today - it took about 20 minutes to do so! I hadn't realized I was so close to the peak. What a delightful game! I thoroughly enjoyed it.
1. What did you think this game was going to be, before you played it? What was surprising about it?
I knew it'd be about a hike, obviously, and expected it might be in the woods. I believe I did hear about some people having platforming issues with it, so I expected there might be some platforming or jumping puzzles. What surprised me though was playing as a bird. I didn't expect that.
2. How far did you get in the game? Do you want to play more?
I reached the peak! There were definitely more things I could have done in the game, but I opted not to. I wouldn't mind playing it again in the future and exploring more. From the other commenters I see there were things I didn't find, like the ball game.
3. What was the central focus of the game, and what was on the sidelines? How did the sidelined parts support or detract from the central focus? 4. What kind of worldbuilding does it have? What questions about the setting were left unanswered?
Combining these questions together since I feel what I wrote below answers both...
From the beginning when Claire was waiting a phone call, I got the sense she might have been waiting for a call from a therapist - i.e., I thought she was struggling with depression or other mental issues. This is probably me imprinting on her at least a little bit, since I have strong anxiety issues myself and have been talking to a therapist since I was 15. So I very much thought the game would be about personal growth - facing fears, getting stronger, etc. I think it WAS a bit about that, as Claire needed to learn to climb walls to make it to the peak (i.e., get physically stronger), and the getting there felt like it took persistence, at least on my part.
But those were my preconceptions based on the game's opening. I don't think it's entirely wrong - I feel the story is about growing up and relying less on others, at least a little bit. There's a literal "leaving the nest" line at the end, so YES. But the main focus of the game does seem to be getting to the peak, which the other things along the way mere side quests. I liked the side quests because they helped flesh out the kind of character Claire was, and some of them helped with the main goal of the game. For instance, I traded the toy shovel to get a regular shovel, which I used to dig up coins, and that helped me afford feathers.
5. Did you particularly like or dislike any of the characters?
Well, I failed to find 15 shells for the shell person, and didn't really like the character because they didn't give a reason for it, just ordered us to do it. Otherwise, I liked the characters I met.
6. What parts were most frustrating? What parts were most fun?
There's a chest on top of a tower that was frustrating for me to get for a while, because I didn't have enough feathers. I really wanted it because I figured it'd either contain a feather or a lot of money so I could buy more. I eventually managed to get 2 more feathers via other means and was able to get the chest.
I also found climbing the actual peak to be kind of tricky - it got tedious enough that I turned off the game last night. I was surprised at how quickly I finished up today, though, after getting another feather.
Most fun: just exploring and finding all the things you could do.
7. Did you use a keyboard, a controller, or both? How do you think that affected the game?
I used my PlayStation 4 controller, and it's the reason I finished the game today, actually - too much of a pain to swap it back and forth between computer and console, so I made sure to finish the game (I'm streaming on Twitch tonight from my PS4, so will need the controller for that later.) I know for sure I would not have as much success with the game if I played with keyboard. I'm not great at keyboard commands, so I'm really glad I had a controller I could use.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2022-11-14 10:09 pm (UTC)Even so, I kept putting off playing until I saw this post yesterday. I settled down after dinner and started the game, and played for about two hours or so. I just finished it up today - it took about 20 minutes to do so! I hadn't realized I was so close to the peak. What a delightful game! I thoroughly enjoyed it.
1. What did you think this game was going to be, before you played it? What was surprising about it?
I knew it'd be about a hike, obviously, and expected it might be in the woods. I believe I did hear about some people having platforming issues with it, so I expected there might be some platforming or jumping puzzles. What surprised me though was playing as a bird. I didn't expect that.
2. How far did you get in the game? Do you want to play more?
I reached the peak! There were definitely more things I could have done in the game, but I opted not to. I wouldn't mind playing it again in the future and exploring more. From the other commenters I see there were things I didn't find, like the ball game.
3. What was the central focus of the game, and what was on the sidelines? How did the sidelined parts support or detract from the central focus? 4. What kind of worldbuilding does it have? What questions about the setting were left unanswered?
Combining these questions together since I feel what I wrote below answers both...
From the beginning when Claire was waiting a phone call, I got the sense she might have been waiting for a call from a therapist - i.e., I thought she was struggling with depression or other mental issues. This is probably me imprinting on her at least a little bit, since I have strong anxiety issues myself and have been talking to a therapist since I was 15. So I very much thought the game would be about personal growth - facing fears, getting stronger, etc. I think it WAS a bit about that, as Claire needed to learn to climb walls to make it to the peak (i.e., get physically stronger), and the getting there felt like it took persistence, at least on my part.
But those were my preconceptions based on the game's opening. I don't think it's entirely wrong - I feel the story is about growing up and relying less on others, at least a little bit. There's a literal "leaving the nest" line at the end, so YES. But the main focus of the game does seem to be getting to the peak, which the other things along the way mere side quests. I liked the side quests because they helped flesh out the kind of character Claire was, and some of them helped with the main goal of the game. For instance, I traded the toy shovel to get a regular shovel, which I used to dig up coins, and that helped me afford feathers.
5. Did you particularly like or dislike any of the characters?
Well, I failed to find 15 shells for the shell person, and didn't really like the character because they didn't give a reason for it, just ordered us to do it. Otherwise, I liked the characters I met.
6. What parts were most frustrating? What parts were most fun?
There's a chest on top of a tower that was frustrating for me to get for a while, because I didn't have enough feathers. I really wanted it because I figured it'd either contain a feather or a lot of money so I could buy more. I eventually managed to get 2 more feathers via other means and was able to get the chest.
I also found climbing the actual peak to be kind of tricky - it got tedious enough that I turned off the game last night. I was surprised at how quickly I finished up today, though, after getting another feather.
Most fun: just exploring and finding all the things you could do.
7. Did you use a keyboard, a controller, or both? How do you think that affected the game?
I used my PlayStation 4 controller, and it's the reason I finished the game today, actually - too much of a pain to swap it back and forth between computer and console, so I made sure to finish the game (I'm streaming on Twitch tonight from my PS4, so will need the controller for that later.) I know for sure I would not have as much success with the game if I played with keyboard. I'm not great at keyboard commands, so I'm really glad I had a controller I could use.