I’m back to write more about Birdigo (John August, Corey Martin), 100%ing it, and my gripes with indie games in general. Before I get into it, here’s my post from yesterday. I started talking about the three achievements I needed to 100% this game, and then I justt migrated (heh) all over the place.
I am so bad when it comes to sticking to a subject because everything is connected in my brain. So, I may start out by mentioning that I 100%ed the game, and that makes me think about the game, of course. Then, I think about what I didn’t like about the game and/or what frustrated me. That got me to thinking about what I didn’t like about indie games in general, which then led to me broadening that out to games in general.
Then, I give in to my to rant about how much I hate certain things in tutorials–and then I forget what I wanted to talk about in the first place. Or I run out of time/desire/will to talk about it. This is how my brain works, much to my dismay.
Speaking of, I just tried the demo for a typing game that has absolutely no tutorial; it was frustrating as hell. Also, here is one of my pet peeves in games: limited inventory. In the demo I tried, it’s a farming/cooking sim with something like 10 slots of inventory. 10!!! It encourages you to go out and explore so you can pick up ingredients for your recipes. Except I can go about two steps and pick up ten things (I can pick up several of each item, but 10 different items total). I can barely go to the next area before I have to return to put tihngs in my box.
By the way, I had to find that on my own. They don’t tell you there’s a box. Also, I got into the restaurant biz because my grandfather died and deeded it to me (of course).
I don’t mind a nonsensical or unbelievable premise, but I do mind not being able to figure out what to do. I will give a shout-out that they allowed me to type in Dvorak without switching up the keyboard.
Anyway. Back to Birdigo.
I used the Lean Deck to tackle the win a route by using one word per round. I didn’t think I could do it with the Feral Deck because I did not have the confidence that I could consistently–wait. I think at some point I changed to the Feral Deck because I realized that if I could only use one word per round, then I might as well use this deck and have six wild cards.
Once I buckled down, it was actually not that bad. I had to find a way that worked for me, of course–that was the hard part. I figured out through trial and error that I wanted to have as many enchanted letters as possible. As I said in yesterday’s post, that meant speckled letters, gold letters, platinum letters, and diamond letters. Then, I wanted all the feathers and songs that had anything to do with enchanted letters. And the ones that had to do with extra power per certain cirucumstances (like +10 power for 6+ letter words. You start with 7 letters in hand).
This is where lucks comes in. I had to get the feathers and songs that helped me the most, and I had to get the right letters every time. I think one of the routes is 9 stops long–and that would be the one I chose.
I did it so many times, just starting over when I failed again and again and again. This is when my OCD tendencies take over (and my neurodivergent traits), and I feel as if I can’t stop playing. I wanted to stop–believe me, I so wanted to stop playing. But I couldn’t. Theres’ somethnig in my brain that just revs up and says, “Oh, we are doing this until we win it.”
I don’t know how long it took me because the time past in a blur. I’m sure it took a few days, but I couldn’t say for sure. I will say that I was firmly in it, as I just kept trying over and over. And over. And despairing that I would ever do it. I wa starting to hate the game, and that was always what happneed when I went for the plat. Well, almost always.
Mine-rant: Plats don’t need to be painful. I don’t know who had the idea that plats had to hurt, but, really–they don’t. They don’t have to be torturous. They don’t have to make you hate a game that you previously enjoyed. They could be done within normal gameplay. No, really! I’ve seen it done that way, and it’s so much better.
You got our sixty bucks (or in the case of indie games, ten or twenty bucks). You don’t have to milk us for everything we’ve got. I know, though, that it’s because they want to give the gamers more for our buck. About five to seven years ago, maybe a bit longer, there was a push to really flesh out plats. Well, actually, longer ago than that. But I felt it was a way for AAA games to really justify their seventy dollar games. Like, “Look! We’re giving you so much for your money!”
Whatever the reason, I hate it. I want the plat to be able to finish during the game, and I don’t want it to be arduous. I don’t feel triumphant when I finally get the plat; I’m just exhausted, empty, and relieved that it’s over.
What was funny with this achievement was that I kept doing it over and over again, and I reached a point where I was just numbly pressing play/start/whatever you need to press every time I lost. I would just see the YOU DIED, er, whatever the failstate message was, press the button, and go again. I’m talking literal hours. I got into a rut where I would just do it with no emotions on my face.
Also, the routes/runs were a bit confusing as it would say how many stops, but the last stop was just you winning. I’m embarrassed to say how long it took me to figure that out. The time I won was so anticlimatic. And, the last fact is something I mentioned for a reason. I was doing a run, going to the last stop, numb as fuck. I was praynig to a god I didn’t believe existed that I could do it this time, when, wait, what? I won?!? And, yes, kids. That’s how I found out that the last stop is just a ‘you win’ platform. And I won!
So, yay for me? More tomorrow.