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The eyes of Ara review question
Since we have no comments, I figure this is the place.
So, the review mentions in passing “unfair pixel hunts”. However, it’s not really expanded on - there’s some mention of some puzzle clues being in “dark corners”, but that doesn’t really tell me how discouraged I should be. So:
- Is there any hotspot highlighting option?
- Are there objects essential to progress (inventory items or clues without which puzzles are unsolvable) that require a pixel-hunt to find?
- What makes those pixel hunts unfair? Are the objects small, do they require odd viewing angles to discover, do they appear in areas you’ve already been to before, anything else? Screenshots would be great.
Thanks!
You really don’t need the reviewer to answer these questions; any player could.
But I’ll make sure Pascal knows you’ve asked.
Pixel hunts in and of themselves are…fine, I guess. Some games are geared toward them, and use them liberally. They’re not my cup of tea, but I suppose they have their place. What makes them stand out in Eyes of Ara is the fact that the majority of the game does not rely on them, which makes it all the more noticeable when one pops up late in the game. I don’t believe it was part of a critical puzzle, though.
Yes, there are inventory items to collect and use to get past certain puzzles: levers, buttons, and such. But finding them doesn’t really require pixel hunting, though some journals, clues, and items require paying close attention to your surroundings. An option to turn on a hotspot locator exists, but in a game where you’re not trained from the beginning to carefully scan the entire scene waiting for the cursor to react, it seems unfair to suddenly hide a puzzle item in a dark and random place - and without giving any indication that you should be searching. That’s a far cry from the usual “searching for items stored in boxes or lying on cluttered tables”.
But don’t let the mention of a niggling pixel hunt deter you; as the review says, the game is very rewarding, and filled primarily with puzzles whose solutions have to be chewed over and ferreted out. If you’re a puzzler, by all means give it a try.
“Drinking rum before 10 a.m. makes you a pirate, not an alcoholic!”
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