The Ultimate SOMA Discussion Thread

[Kein]

Little something to think of:

5) No major progression blocks
In order to keep players inside a narrative, their focus must constantly be on the story happenings. This does not rule out challenges, but it needs to be made sure that an obstacle never consumes all focus. It must be remembered that the players are playing in order to experience a story. If they get stuck at some point, focus fade away from the story, and is instead put on simply progressing. In turn, this leads to the unraveling of the game's underlying mechanics and for players to try and optimize systems. Both of these are problems that can seriously degrade the narrative experience.

There are three common culprits for this: complex or obscure puzzles, mastery-demanding sections and maze-like environments. All of these are common in games and make it really easy for players to get stuck. Either by not being sure what to do next, or by not having the skills required to continue. Puzzles, mazes and skill-based challenges are not banned, but it is imperative to make sure that they do not hamper the experience. If some section is pulling players away from the story, it needs to go.

IGN.com:

Those puzzles come across as annoying speed bumps between the much more effective moments of terror and story progression. You'll find yourself replacing fuses, turning valves, and moving parts of the environment in order to solve most of the uninspired obstacles. None are tricky enough to elicit that coveted "aha!" moment, and instead the completion of the puzzles delivers a feeling more akin to the empty satisfaction I feel after doing the dishes.

GamingTrend:

Gone are The Dark Descent’s sanity and lamp oil mechanics. Everything in A Machine for Pigs has been streamlined–puzzles are rarely more complicated than “Go There, Flip Switch, Return.” While a few excellent puzzles break the mold, you’ll never find anything like The Dark Descent’s Machine Room.

StrategyInfromer:

Puzzles are almost entirely left behind however, as is the inventory or being able to carry anything permanently other than your lantern (you can pick up objects however as long as you hold the mouse button).

Shacknews:

They mostly consist of flipping switches or placing loose items into their proper slots. And though there are some dark branching paths that can be explored, the path is fairly linear. You might feel frightened, but you won't often feel lost. That partially led to me completing the game in about six hours, though the scares meant I didn't do it all in one sitting.

What do you think about puzzles in AAMFP?


Don't get me wrong, I loved Pigs, for the story, atmosphere and consistent and lovely narration, experience flow. But it seems like it followed the spoken above philosophy (can we use this word here?) too much. Not that I'm saying puzzles must be important part of... "horror exploration" games like Amnesia/Penumbra, it just something I observed.