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IFIs and problems with this game / general feedback

Started by LotBlind, September 27, 2016, 01:14:04 PM

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LotBlind

Hiya! I'm sorry about two things: I was holding back on this thing for probably a year now because I never had the time to finish the game. Seeing as I don't know when it'll happen I thought I'd get these out of the way now, even if some of them may not reflect on the whole experience. Secondly I have no time to check which of these issues may have already been addressed.

(I don't know what my version is but the .exe is dated 2015-1-26)

-right mouse click does nothing at current: should probably make it default to "look" because that you'll do with every single object in the game (this is a REALLY BIG QA blunder and doesn't bespeak your testing team well, or maybe the game was hugely rushed)
-I ran the demo and it was a bit stuttery on my low-end PC, still thought "okay it's playable", but now the full game I think has more smoothness as per patch notes. I just wondered whether all the patching was also applied to the demo because it shouldn't give ppl the wrong picture. I DID alter resolution before starting the new playthrough, maybe that's all.
-Windowing works amazingly well! Maybe I'm just lagging years behind in games :P
-Make readables come closer to the "camera" when you select them. E.g. the letter in Chpt 1 on the desk I can't really read what it says (I realize it's not super-relevant) b/c I have to lower resolution. NEVER MIND THERE'S OPTION FOR BIGGER FONTS
-AFAICS Prof. Reed isn't really introduced before you're thrown in-game. Maybe there should be a file on him?
-minor visual glitch as Malachi is getting out of his chair after the meeting with Amble (chose "refuse")
-instead of exhausting a convo branch and being left with nothing but "return" make it return straight to the main trunk (or is this found confusing?). This is in the conversation with the detective in Venice. It also leaves the option to talk about him when there is nothing left in that tree (at that time). Not very sophisticated.
-the antique desk in Bianca's room is "look"able but doesn't produce the text box when hovered over
-needing to randomly return to a previous location to trigger something just because you're stuck and don't know what to do next is not a good thing
-boat hook fishing seems a really pointless minigame to leave for the player... what? move a thing a few inches forwards?
-taking photos (or using apps) could have been a more used mechanic (but again, I never finished the game)
-skipping opening cutscene should never ask for confirmation
-the K/H font conflict is an awful idea (they look too damn similar)
-It's too dark to see what the brick at the back of the alley in chapter 2 is? Why can't he just walk over? lolol
-If you analyse Hasim and Saa before talking to them you'll somehow still know what they're called.
-Let me skip chapter 2 seeing as I already finished it in the demo.
-Chapter 2: If you first get Hasim and Saa to be your security, then talk to David but leave the room before talking to him about "security", you get stuck.

Interesting the way the pill-popping is integrated into the game. It feels very natural. It makes you wonder what the guy's condition is. Also seeing the guy's thoughts during cutscenes felt fresh and works brilliantly: thoughts don't always come in complete sentences.

Not something you can patch out, but the beginning of the game feels very linear, no two alternative directions to go at all, no real choice. The way the characters talk about it makes you feel maybe you CAN say no to the assignment. If you do, you're left in a kind of limbo where you realize you're fighting against fate. I wonder if forcing the thing in your face is not the better alternative. Difficult to answer. It does make me feel cheated when you have these pseudo-choices though, and there isn't any content to see down the other path at all. Chapter 2 has a similar one: teasing the player about having a choice between the two body guards they can take.

I'm not sure if I get the analysis (brain) puzzles, as intrigued as I was at first. I give any game with some innovation credit whether or not it works. For people, most of the options are just silly while there's just one serious-sounding one, or I can't tell why the right one has to be the right one (I see now there can be more than one right one though). The object ones are better but I don't get why I can't decide whether it's genuine or a fake myself, which seems like the most obvious puzzle to be left for the player. These also have minor UI issues: you should be always able to see the text for the option you have selected but it gets put wherever in the column on the right. After analysing, you should be shown the analysis results, but even for that you have to scroll back up.

On the other hand the "find closest matches" puzzles made more sense and were truly successful. I felt like I had to pay very close attention to appraise the similarities. In the end the right answer wasn't exactly spelled out but I'd wager the coinciding phrasings were meant to (perhaps even subconsciously) lead the player.

Phone interface:
   The way in which exclamation marks appear is a bit illogical - e.g. after completing an assignment and returning to the projects folder it shows that there's something new with the project you just finished. Sometimes the icon on the top left would show there was something new but none of the sub-menus were highlighted.

Hope there's something there you didn't know! Cheers!