I really like platformers. I really like puzzle games. As soon as I hear enough good news about a game from either genre, I dive in instantly. I heard a lot of great praise for Lair of the Clockwork God, and seeing that it was a puzzle platformer, I picked it up without doing any further inspecting so to prevent spoiling the experience.
I didn't like LotCG. Not even enough to get past an hour or so of gameplay.
Here is why it didn't work for me:
- Glitchiness: 20 seconds in I got a glitch where Ben got stuck underground and popped up after a couple seconds. After a few more minutes, this had happened several times, sporadically. Then I got to a section where a NPC is supposed to interact with an object. Instead, the character glitched out and became invisible. I could only solve the puzzle by finding his invisible body.
- Controls: I started with mouse and keyboard, but it felt really awkward by default and the "look" function felt naturally suited for a joystick, so I switched to controller. Some of the buttons were assigned wrong, and by default showed up in game incorrectly (the game would indicate press the left button on the pad, but that would be incorrect). I'm not sure if that is just on my end with my controller, but I thought I'd mention it. The real issue was actually understanding what the function of all the controls was. Ben (or whichever the puzzle one is) has a typical set of point and click controls, but set to a quick menu where you can choose basic functions (Look, Talk to, Use, etc). The weird thing is, you can also always look at things with the joystick and hear a description. Not sure why the "Look" feature is doubled up like that. Otherwise the quick menu is a bit strange at first but then feels pretty natural.
- Platforming: It's hard to make a platformer with good feel, but this just doesn't have it. There is a strange snapping action that happens when Dan (I think he's the platforming one) jumps into the corner of a platform. It doesn't feel natural at all as can even hinder movement. This also became an issue with a bit of the platforming in the first couple areas where you had to make a surprisingly tight jump to a object that wasn't very visible (I think? I had a hard time navigating some areas, the background is very samey and I got lost within even smaller areas).
- Puzzles: Think "Secret of Monkey Island" but with nothing to actually piece together. This game doesn't explain anything to you - which I'm fine with! This game is clearly an homage/parody of those older point and clicks. Yet, the beginning puzzles are ridiculously simple while also being convoluted. For example: There is a cloud of poison smoke. "Ok, I guess I need some sort of tool to get past this, or maybe I just need to platform cleverly?" No, "look"ing at the smoke tells you you could use a make a sort of periscope/snorkel with a pipe you obtained earlier. And it just tells you that, so nothing to solve anymore, just do what game says. Maybe this was supposed to come across as a sort of aping on the ridiculousness of early adventure puzzle games, but the joke shouldn't have to replace fun gameplay.
- Humor: This is the last thing I wanted to address, because humor is very subjective and I don't think it's worth arguing about what's funny and what's not. But for me, it just didn't click. From very early on, it's apparent this is a meta-commentary on video games, specifically indie puzzle and platforming games from recent years. But it just keeps digging into these topics without any relief, and I personally dread that sort of 4th wall breaking introspectiveness, at least when it comes as constantly as it does in this game.
I gleaned from only a bit of gameplay that this game just wasn't my cup of tea, despite this being my favorite flavor. Oh well.
I didn't like LotCG. Not even enough to get past an hour or so of gameplay.
Here is why it didn't work for me:
- Glitchiness: 20 seconds in I got a glitch where Ben got stuck underground and popped up after a couple seconds. After a few more minutes, this had happened several times, sporadically. Then I got to a section where a NPC is supposed to interact with an object. Instead, the character glitched out and became invisible. I could only solve the puzzle by finding his invisible body.
- Controls: I started with mouse and keyboard, but it felt really awkward by default and the "look" function felt naturally suited for a joystick, so I switched to controller. Some of the buttons were assigned wrong, and by default showed up in game incorrectly (the game would indicate press the left button on the pad, but that would be incorrect). I'm not sure if that is just on my end with my controller, but I thought I'd mention it. The real issue was actually understanding what the function of all the controls was. Ben (or whichever the puzzle one is) has a typical set of point and click controls, but set to a quick menu where you can choose basic functions (Look, Talk to, Use, etc). The weird thing is, you can also always look at things with the joystick and hear a description. Not sure why the "Look" feature is doubled up like that. Otherwise the quick menu is a bit strange at first but then feels pretty natural.
- Platforming: It's hard to make a platformer with good feel, but this just doesn't have it. There is a strange snapping action that happens when Dan (I think he's the platforming one) jumps into the corner of a platform. It doesn't feel natural at all as can even hinder movement. This also became an issue with a bit of the platforming in the first couple areas where you had to make a surprisingly tight jump to a object that wasn't very visible (I think? I had a hard time navigating some areas, the background is very samey and I got lost within even smaller areas).
- Puzzles: Think "Secret of Monkey Island" but with nothing to actually piece together. This game doesn't explain anything to you - which I'm fine with! This game is clearly an homage/parody of those older point and clicks. Yet, the beginning puzzles are ridiculously simple while also being convoluted. For example: There is a cloud of poison smoke. "Ok, I guess I need some sort of tool to get past this, or maybe I just need to platform cleverly?" No, "look"ing at the smoke tells you you could use a make a sort of periscope/snorkel with a pipe you obtained earlier. And it just tells you that, so nothing to solve anymore, just do what game says. Maybe this was supposed to come across as a sort of aping on the ridiculousness of early adventure puzzle games, but the joke shouldn't have to replace fun gameplay.
- Humor: This is the last thing I wanted to address, because humor is very subjective and I don't think it's worth arguing about what's funny and what's not. But for me, it just didn't click. From very early on, it's apparent this is a meta-commentary on video games, specifically indie puzzle and platforming games from recent years. But it just keeps digging into these topics without any relief, and I personally dread that sort of 4th wall breaking introspectiveness, at least when it comes as constantly as it does in this game.
I gleaned from only a bit of gameplay that this game just wasn't my cup of tea, despite this being my favorite flavor. Oh well.