Bad Hints Are Worse Than No Hints | Semi-Ramblomatic

There was a moment in Bayonetta, where the level is suspended over a subterranean lake of lava, and it seems like the only way forward is over this one bridge. That bridge starts slowly tilting and collapsing the second you step onto it. It's a long bridge, and if it finishes collapsing while you're still on it, you fall into the lava and die. Furthermore, there's nothing at the end of the bridge. Once you get there, all it seems you can do is try to run back before the bridge finishes collapsing (impossible; not enough time) After like 20 minutes I figured out you're supposed to go against your every instinct and stand at the end, waiting for the collapse, because only at the last second - assuming you're in the right spot: standing at the end - will a quick time prompt show up which when pressed causes Bayonetta to leap off screen and onto and as yet unseen rocky shore where the level continues. It felt like a classic example of a game expecting me to be psychic, because every instinct the player's body would naturally lead them to miss path forward which is not only not telegraphed, it's hidden.

The rolling drum took hours and that was only partly because I was eight

Sort of related: I think Morrowind is still the best example of an open-world game that you can play with map markers turned off, navigating with diegetic information alone. However, there is one mission that sends you to a cave and you read in a book that the cave entrance is on the side of a mountain that greets the sun in the morning (or evening, I can't remember) - but this is a developer cock-up because the cave entrance is actually on the exact opposite side of the mountain. I lost /hours/ scouring this one face of the hill...drove me mental.

There's something very important to understand about game design, I think, in the logic that you train the player to think with when they play the game. There's only so many ways that someone can interact with a game, after all, and to make it an immersive and smooth experience you want to make it clear to the player what those are, what tools they have and how to use them. The infamous Carnival Night barrel is not only deceptive but it uses a mechanic that appears absolutely nowhere else in the game, or the entire series.

Ngl, I was suspicious that the mirror did something important when I saw a barrier in front of it the first time you go into the mansion.

That was a fine argument and I consider you vindicated on the matter. This is good and valid advice for all game designers. I am however surprised, based on the video's title, that there was not a single mention of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. But perhaps that's just my own young trauma speaking.

I appreciate the correct pronunciation of "gibbet" here. Also, I imagine the Mina developers were thinking of the mechanic in Link's Awakening where you press into walls with your sword, and if the sound is different than normal, it means you can blow that wall up with a bomb. Maybe they assumed "press up against barriers" was more of a standard reflex for playing Zelda-likes.

It's possible to drop the barrel low enough by bouncing to get into the next room. I know, because I did it as a child. It was a major source of trauma in my young mind, however.