Let’s talk more about Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo (Galla). I wrote about it yesterday and how I was in love with the game. I also mentioned a few bugs/things that annoyed me about the game. I want to start with the latter so I can end up strong/positive. By the way, I’m in the last chapter, and I’ve put in nearly 15 hours. I think this could be done easily in 10-12 hours, but I’m slow. Plus, I’ve had to backtrack more tahn I care to admit.
I ran into a few bugs, and one of them is not allowing me to go to certain areas after I left them. For example, the first area. I had left something undone because I could not figure it out, and when I tried to get back in, I could not return. That really bothered me because the thing I left undone seemed like it would be an important part of the game.
Hours later, I tried to go back, and I was able to do it. So either the bug unbugged, or I didn’t approach it in the right way the first time. This is one of my frustrations with the game–the jank and the bugs. I can’t get too mad at it beacuse it’sa small team, but it does exercise my patience now and again.
I just tried the last big, ah, fight? Not really. Stealth section? Not exactly. Puzzle? That’s closer to it, but also not quite. It’s all of that together, and it’s annoying as fuck. Oh my god. It’s sapped all my interest in the game, really. I had to go into this ruin and then there was one or two of the pink ghosts (who are in agony) suddenly appearing and flying at me if they see me. They drain me to darkness so quickly, and they can corner me in a blink. I know it’s my reflexes and my lack of spatial direction, but I hate it so much. I have cursed as much as when I’m fighting a From boss because this is not why I’m playing the game.
I implore indie devs not to put combat in their games just because they feel they need it. I know that I’m just shouting into the abyss, but gameplay done badly is not a boon. And, yeah, I get that my issues make these matters worse for me than for most people, but I have a hard time believing that anyone was like, “I really like those pink screaming ladies who can appear out of the blue and block me from leaving the area, thus draining my light in seconds!”
It’s gotten so bad, I’ve taken to micro-saving after every bit of progress. It’s not hard in the traditional sense, especially since getting caught and maxing out your darkness just means you go to your last save and start again. You can see why I’m micro-saving, right?
There are four statues with which you have to interact and do the ‘answer three trivia questions in order to win’. As I said before,I’m fine with that. But having the whole thing set in darkness with traps that spring up and random doors that are locked, whil I’m trying to avoid the horrid pink ladies (not sure how many there are. I’ve seen two back-to-back, though not on the same screen). Then, there was a bit with the wrestler, which was my absolute least-favorite part of the whole game. You had to activate the wrestler, have him follow you, not get pounded by him, but also, could not get too far ahead of him, as you led him around a maze (in the dark) so you can trap him. I fucked this up at least a dozen times. And though I did not try the quit button, I’m pretty sure you have to do the whole thing.
I finally did that bit with much cursing, and once I realized there really was no penalty for dying, I wasn’t as stressed when the screaming pink ladies grabbed me. Oh, I went into complete darkness? Too bad. I’ll just try again. Fortunately, anything that you do is not taken away from you (the items you get, I mean), or I would have given up after the third or the fourth try.
I did this for about an hour and was still not done. I have one statue left to do (which means deciphering how I can actually get to it, sighing in impatience as I get caught by the fucking pink ladies again and again, and then getting lost because there’s no map. And some doors are unlocked while others are not, even though I unlocked them. I think it has something to do with which statue I’m working on), so I have been going around and around in circles.
I hate this part so much, and I have to say that I’m very tempted just to say fuck it and declare myself done. There was no reason to do this bullshit, and I resent that it butts up against all my weaknesses/flaws/disabilities. I have no joy for this game right now. This section has killed all the goodwill I had previously felt towards the game. And, yes, I know that it’s my issue more so than the game, but it’s still very frustrating. Devs talk the big talk about accessibility, but so few actually give a shit about it.
It’s not malicious, I know–more like ignorance. You don’t know what you don’t know, and it’s hard to imagine that people may not be able to do what you can do.
I really wish there was a ‘you messed this up three times, do you want to skip this section’ option. I’ve played games that have that, and it’s such a relief. I have taken to looking up shit when I can’t figure it out after a few tries because I can’t be fucked at this point in the game. I went from loving the game despite the few isuses I had with the gameplay to out-and-out hating it.
No joy is sparked. There is no sense of accomplishment when I finally do one of the statues. I’m just grimly resolve to move on and finish this part as quickly as possible. For this stage and the combat in general, I would give it a 3–if that.
It’s not enough to sour the whole experience, but it’s close. I don’t know why the devs decided this would be a great way to end the game, but I really hope they don’t do it in their next game.
That’s all for now. I’ll write more tomorrow.