So guess what I spent today doing
Feb. 3rd, 2010 10:35 pmSo, VVVVVV is awesome[0].
It's funny - maybe it's just me, but it seems that the whole notion of a game based on taking one mechanic and exploring it as much as possible tends to call to mind - well, board games, but outside of that, puzzle games. It doesn't make you think of non-puzzly platformers. Of course I guess VVVVVV isn't exactly a "platformer" in the ordinary sense seeing as the word is short for "platform jumper" and, well, you can't jump, but my point is it's more a game of timing and reflexes than of stopping and thinking. I saw someone else comment that the screen "...Not as I Do" is probably the hardest puzzle in the game, and that sounds about right. Most of the rest is only "puzzling" in the sense that a platformer inherently is - before you can execute your timing and your route, you have to actually figure out the timing, and figure out a route that is actually traversable given yourjumping power substitute for jumping power. And often this means stopping and thinking about your route before attempting to actually make your way through a room, but that's more to do with the unfamiliarity of the mechanic, I think. (Also, gravity reversal: Definitely usually a puzzle game mechanic, no?) You won't have reflexes for this mechanic from elsewhere, I expect... so it's more of a matter of, uh, informed reflexes, I'd guess you'd say.
(Actually, for me, the hardest puzzle was figuring out how to get the Reward for the Reckless. I actually kind of looked up a hint for it, namely, gur snpg gung lbh unir gb qvr gb trg vg. Once I read that I realized it immediately. I felt pretty dumb, too, seeing as I had somehow come to the conclusion that the room actually violated the game's rules[3], and that somehow, if you tbg npebff naq onpx jvgubhg uvggvat nal purpxcbvagf, vg jbhyqa'g erfrg. The area certainly was full of hints that you needed to nibvq purpxcbvagf... and yet I didn't *quite* put it together. I spent a whole bunch of time trying to execute that, and when I finally got it right, vg fgvyy erfrg. When in fact, I was doing a strict superset of what was actually necessary to get the thing! Except for the final step that actually required thinking, of course.)
Also: Doing Things the Hard Way. That one trinket must have taken me on the order of an hour to get. Seriously - Terry Cavanagh is a bastard. A brilliant, brilliant bastard. (Getting this trinket requires navigating through spike fields in freefall... for 13 screens. I am not kidding.) It's funny, I've read some people complaining about how hard the game is. I have to think they're kind of missing the point. The game does use some trial-and-error gameplay, but due to frequent checkpoints it's not a big deal. (As contrasted with IWBTG, where due to sheer hilarity it's not a big deal.) (Also, the whole main game can be finished in what, 4 hours about? Probably quicker, but that's about how long it took me. So, uh, don't be a wimp?)
I am a bit unclear as to how I'm supposed to get the "beat the game with less than # deaths" trophies[9]... I guess I have to start a new game? But I'll still have access to trophies and all?
I feel compelled to comment on the music - I guess Positive Force is the tune people have pointed out as the most memorable, but I actually like Pushing Onwards the best. That and Pressure Cooker. Positive Force has gratuitous key changes, which annoy me. (What, Harry having something to say about music? Yeah, I know enough to be able to say that much, at any rate.) (Also: I totally didn't notice the shout-outs to Ryu's and Guile's themes in Pushing Onwards until I read about it afterward. Though I'm sure I must have noticed that that initial bit from Pushing Onwards sounded a bit familiar... well, there's no way I can honestly remember now. Actually I'm still not sure I know where the bit from Guile's theme is... I'm not so familiar with it as I am with Ryu's, for reasons you can guess...) I doubt I want to buy the soundtrack; I already paid $15 for the game, now I have to pay more for the soundtrack? :-/ And anyway I'd mostly just want it for Pushing Onwards and Pressure Cooker. (Also: The inclusion of "ecroF evitisoP" is an interesting touch; I only just now figured out what it's for[4]. I have to wonder why they didn't do it for the others; I guess they probably didn't sound so good.)
Also, FWIW: Victoria is annoying. Once I finished the game I went and replayed the intermission levels, and was surprised to find that you can pick who your companion is in them - I didn't realize that the intermission levels happen after you've completed specific *numbers* of levels, not after you've completed specific levels. I think I would have enjoyed the first intermission level a little more the first time around if Victoria hadn't been my companion for it. :P (Admittedly, that whole mechanic of having your companion lag behind you is kind of annoying inherently.)
Unfortunately there is one big deficiency right now if you're going to be playing it in Wine - Time Trial mode runs horribly slow; it's rendered basically unplayable. See it's not just slow, which might make things easier, but there's input delay, and sometimes it gets really bad, with you turning around like half a second after you switched arrow keys. Maybe it's just my computer, but in any case I've posted this in the bug thread on the forums... hopefully there'll be another patch that'll remedy this. I really do want to try my hand at the time trials, even if they do look like there's a good chance they'll end up being too hard for me[5]. (Other than that, it had no problems with Wine, unless of course you fall for the schmuck bait of trying to run it in fullscreen mode.)
So, yeah. TLDR: Great game, though short; and Time Trial mode needs to be fixed for Linux.
(Oh, and... what the hell is with the flashing elephant?)
-Harry
[0]I feel compelled to give some token address to the question, "Is it $15 awesome?" I think my only possible response to this is to point how there is really no equivalence between things that cost the same amount. I mean, on the one hand, like Braid costs $15. And this game is awesome, but it's certianly no Braid. On the other hand... buying 3 bags of cookies costs $15. I guess Penny Arcade has already famously said this. I guess my point is, I sure found it worth my $15, but it's all a matter of what you want to compare it to.
[3]It doesn't. That shouldn't be a hint, but for me it would have been. :P
[4]Cynl n yriry gung hfrf Cbfvgvir Sbepr, ohg va syvc zbqr (once you've unlocked that).
[5]Here's how the time trials work: You're given a par time for the level. Only 3 things matter: 1. Did you beat the level within the par time? 2. Did you manage to get through with no deaths? 3. Did you manage to collect all the trinkets[7]? All that matters is how many of these three conditions you met - meet none of them and you get a B, 1 for A, 2 for S, all three for V. Yeah, pretty harsh. Especially Space Station 2... trying to get the Doing Things the Hard Way trinket, while timed and not being allowed to die sounds pretty hellish.
[7]Note: (HINTS FOR SPACE STATION 2) Fcnpr Fgngvba 2 vf zbqvsvrq fb nf gb erzbir gur Cevmr sbe gur Erpxyrff chmmyr; vafgrnq gur ebbz vf pnyyrq "Lbh Pna Cergraq Gurer Ner Fcvxrf Urer vs Lbh Yvxr" naq gurer ner ab fcvxrf gb cerirag lbh sebz trggvat gur gevaxrg[8].)
[8]By contrast, va Mreb Qrngu Zbqr, guvf vf *abg* zbqvsvrq; gung'f orpnhfr "trg nyy gur gevaxrgf va Mreb Qrngu Zbqr" jnfa'g ernyyl vagraqrq nf n tbny gb tb sbe.
[9]You'll find out about trophies once you get all the trinkets.
It's funny - maybe it's just me, but it seems that the whole notion of a game based on taking one mechanic and exploring it as much as possible tends to call to mind - well, board games, but outside of that, puzzle games. It doesn't make you think of non-puzzly platformers. Of course I guess VVVVVV isn't exactly a "platformer" in the ordinary sense seeing as the word is short for "platform jumper" and, well, you can't jump, but my point is it's more a game of timing and reflexes than of stopping and thinking. I saw someone else comment that the screen "...Not as I Do" is probably the hardest puzzle in the game, and that sounds about right. Most of the rest is only "puzzling" in the sense that a platformer inherently is - before you can execute your timing and your route, you have to actually figure out the timing, and figure out a route that is actually traversable given your
(Actually, for me, the hardest puzzle was figuring out how to get the Reward for the Reckless. I actually kind of looked up a hint for it, namely, gur snpg gung lbh unir gb qvr gb trg vg. Once I read that I realized it immediately. I felt pretty dumb, too, seeing as I had somehow come to the conclusion that the room actually violated the game's rules[3], and that somehow, if you tbg npebff naq onpx jvgubhg uvggvat nal purpxcbvagf, vg jbhyqa'g erfrg. The area certainly was full of hints that you needed to nibvq purpxcbvagf... and yet I didn't *quite* put it together. I spent a whole bunch of time trying to execute that, and when I finally got it right, vg fgvyy erfrg. When in fact, I was doing a strict superset of what was actually necessary to get the thing! Except for the final step that actually required thinking, of course.)
Also: Doing Things the Hard Way. That one trinket must have taken me on the order of an hour to get. Seriously - Terry Cavanagh is a bastard. A brilliant, brilliant bastard. (Getting this trinket requires navigating through spike fields in freefall... for 13 screens. I am not kidding.) It's funny, I've read some people complaining about how hard the game is. I have to think they're kind of missing the point. The game does use some trial-and-error gameplay, but due to frequent checkpoints it's not a big deal. (As contrasted with IWBTG, where due to sheer hilarity it's not a big deal.) (Also, the whole main game can be finished in what, 4 hours about? Probably quicker, but that's about how long it took me. So, uh, don't be a wimp?)
I am a bit unclear as to how I'm supposed to get the "beat the game with less than # deaths" trophies[9]... I guess I have to start a new game? But I'll still have access to trophies and all?
I feel compelled to comment on the music - I guess Positive Force is the tune people have pointed out as the most memorable, but I actually like Pushing Onwards the best. That and Pressure Cooker. Positive Force has gratuitous key changes, which annoy me. (What, Harry having something to say about music? Yeah, I know enough to be able to say that much, at any rate.) (Also: I totally didn't notice the shout-outs to Ryu's and Guile's themes in Pushing Onwards until I read about it afterward. Though I'm sure I must have noticed that that initial bit from Pushing Onwards sounded a bit familiar... well, there's no way I can honestly remember now. Actually I'm still not sure I know where the bit from Guile's theme is... I'm not so familiar with it as I am with Ryu's, for reasons you can guess...) I doubt I want to buy the soundtrack; I already paid $15 for the game, now I have to pay more for the soundtrack? :-/ And anyway I'd mostly just want it for Pushing Onwards and Pressure Cooker. (Also: The inclusion of "ecroF evitisoP" is an interesting touch; I only just now figured out what it's for[4]. I have to wonder why they didn't do it for the others; I guess they probably didn't sound so good.)
Also, FWIW: Victoria is annoying. Once I finished the game I went and replayed the intermission levels, and was surprised to find that you can pick who your companion is in them - I didn't realize that the intermission levels happen after you've completed specific *numbers* of levels, not after you've completed specific levels. I think I would have enjoyed the first intermission level a little more the first time around if Victoria hadn't been my companion for it. :P (Admittedly, that whole mechanic of having your companion lag behind you is kind of annoying inherently.)
Unfortunately there is one big deficiency right now if you're going to be playing it in Wine - Time Trial mode runs horribly slow; it's rendered basically unplayable. See it's not just slow, which might make things easier, but there's input delay, and sometimes it gets really bad, with you turning around like half a second after you switched arrow keys. Maybe it's just my computer, but in any case I've posted this in the bug thread on the forums... hopefully there'll be another patch that'll remedy this. I really do want to try my hand at the time trials, even if they do look like there's a good chance they'll end up being too hard for me[5]. (Other than that, it had no problems with Wine, unless of course you fall for the schmuck bait of trying to run it in fullscreen mode.)
So, yeah. TLDR: Great game, though short; and Time Trial mode needs to be fixed for Linux.
(Oh, and... what the hell is with the flashing elephant?)
-Harry
[0]I feel compelled to give some token address to the question, "Is it $15 awesome?" I think my only possible response to this is to point how there is really no equivalence between things that cost the same amount. I mean, on the one hand, like Braid costs $15. And this game is awesome, but it's certianly no Braid. On the other hand... buying 3 bags of cookies costs $15. I guess Penny Arcade has already famously said this. I guess my point is, I sure found it worth my $15, but it's all a matter of what you want to compare it to.
[3]It doesn't. That shouldn't be a hint, but for me it would have been. :P
[4]Cynl n yriry gung hfrf Cbfvgvir Sbepr, ohg va syvc zbqr (once you've unlocked that).
[5]Here's how the time trials work: You're given a par time for the level. Only 3 things matter: 1. Did you beat the level within the par time? 2. Did you manage to get through with no deaths? 3. Did you manage to collect all the trinkets[7]? All that matters is how many of these three conditions you met - meet none of them and you get a B, 1 for A, 2 for S, all three for V. Yeah, pretty harsh. Especially Space Station 2... trying to get the Doing Things the Hard Way trinket, while timed and not being allowed to die sounds pretty hellish.
[7]Note: (HINTS FOR SPACE STATION 2) Fcnpr Fgngvba 2 vf zbqvsvrq fb nf gb erzbir gur Cevmr sbe gur Erpxyrff chmmyr; vafgrnq gur ebbz vf pnyyrq "Lbh Pna Cergraq Gurer Ner Fcvxrf Urer vs Lbh Yvxr" naq gurer ner ab fcvxrf gb cerirag lbh sebz trggvat gur gevaxrg[8].)
[8]By contrast, va Mreb Qrngu Zbqr, guvf vf *abg* zbqvsvrq; gung'f orpnhfr "trg nyy gur gevaxrgf va Mreb Qrngu Zbqr" jnfa'g ernyyl vagraqrq nf n tbny gb tb sbe.
[9]You'll find out about trophies once you get all the trinkets.
