Thread: I hate puzzles.
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Old 05-08-2009, 10:41 AM   #30
Gonzosports
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mohlin View Post
Ok, so your dislike for this type of games isn't really the problem solving (aka puzzles) but the way you solve it?

I can agree on that. For example, right now I'm plaing Nostradamus. Early in the game you have to collect some ingredients to make a paste, and they must be heated up to mix properly.
So, here I am, in a type of kitchen, and I have to light the wood in the stove.

Beside me is a) a candle burning and b) a big fire crackling in the fireplace. Can I use any of this to light the stove? No I have to go and find a type of lighter... In real life this is redicoulus.

That is bad game design, and just "puzzle for puzzle's sake".
A perfect example.

the Still Life cookie is one great, too. They seem to be superfluous puzzles to manufacture engagement and to lengthen the game.

Not to belabor Riven, but that's why the game's "puzzles" completely work. They are integrated flawlessly, you can attack any of them and different linear types, and "solving" each one usually offers more insight into the entire "puzzle" of what is going on - but more than anything, you BELIEVE this is how Gehn might have constructed his island - having had Myst as a backdrop, their cool steampunk style makes all these dials and gadgets make sense...
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