Quote:
Originally Posted by ei8th
Hi all.
I just wanted to get an opinion on if and how some puzzles in Siege of Spinenr Cay do or don't make sense. Maybe I am missing a point on some of these and I would appreciate any feedback/help.
Please be aware, this is a bit long, but feel free to just look at the headings and maybe it will ring a bell.
In general I am very disappointed with the fact that some things are there just because they have to be. Noone seems to have spent some thought on making it all plausible.
Give crowbar to LeChuck
This actually does make sense, but Guybrush constantly stating "No, I will do this on my own, no I won't ask him for help, no no no." is just very bad design. Don't repeatedly discourage a player to do something if he has to do it.
My suggestion: Remove the No's, or make the whole thing spiffier and make LeChuck not want to help, so that the player has to convince him.
The magic coals
As adressed elsewhere in the forum, the appearing coals made no sense. Out of nowhere, just for the convenience of having them there to use with the BBQ.
Let's make them not coals, but glowing cannonball fragments. That's cool. Makes sense. But coals? Pah-lease.
The BBQ in the jungle
Why is there a BBQ in the middle of the jungle? I accept the fact that you can melt the parrot in there. It's a fat drain when used for regular BBQ. Cool with me. But what is it doing there in the first place? In MI3 the BBQ made sense where it was (outside the bar/restaurant/hotel), but here it doesn't.
My suggestion: Put it next to the merman boss, as his own personal BBQ. That makes at least some sense. But not in the middle of the jungle.
The golden Fish puzzle
Oh. My. God. I'll have to break this one down.
1.) The wall mounted Manatee
Why can you activate it with the locket? Apart from it having the same shape (only clue for me) and being on the island of the guy who gave the locket to Voodoo lady, it makes absolutely no sense. He obviously didn't create the Manatee, so why would the locket fit in it.
Why does the locket open the Manatee's mouth at all? Is it a hidden mechanic? Is it a source of power? Why, oh why.
My suggestion for this: Make me get one of those glowy things from the street lamps to use in the Manatee as a power source. A bit obscure, but would have been a logical step.
2.) The empty piece of paper
Why can I read it with the Red Magnifying Glass?
3.) The "better" bait
The glowing worm bait catches the golden fish. What the heck? Apart fromt he fact that it makes no sense that an immovable golden fish accepts any bait at all, why do the glowing fish work? And why would anyone hide an artefact and then make it posisble to catch it with regular bait?
My suggestion for this would be: There is no note in the Manatee, but a small golden fly. THis can be used as bait to catch the golden fish. You can extend the puzzle, but this would have made more sense.
To sum it up, the whole Fish puzzle was (imho) just absolutely horribly FAILed. It was simple enough, but it made no sense whatsoever. I didn't get stuck there, so it's not that I was frustrated, but I only solved it by way of "well there's no other way". It wasn't a good or fun puzzle though.
Sidenote: I don't hate the game, there's bits I really love, but the puzzles mentioned above were just horrid. Any suggestions welcome.
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I acutally think giving the crowbar to lechuck is great, as we all know that guybrush is very reluctant to use lechuck as his helper, but you, as the gamer, has to realise it's necessary. Nice twist, to what could have been like the old trying to convince someone to help you puzzles ;-)
I still think it's very normal for new stuff to turn up after given events, and the coals can easily have come from inside the statue or anywhere else on spinner cay due to the explosions.
HMM. The barbecue in the jungle might not have been very well placed, but it's just an old vaycalian artifact to begin with, so i don't really see the problem here. If you go down this road, then why not question why anything is anywhere. How come stuff just lie around the place for you to pick up or use. That's pretty much an adventure game essential.
I thought the golden fish/manatee puzzle was great. You have a locket to show to de cava, so it fits with something in his lair, and why couldn't he have made the manatee? It then spits out a piece of paper, with letters to small to read, so you use a magnifying glass. big science indeed :-)
On the paper you find the title of a book, in which de cava has left a bait coupon, to get the very super special bait for the golden artifact. Maybe de cava left a trail so someone might be able to find him inside the giant manatee, where he might be stuck. Would you go on a crazy adventure to find the big mouth with giant sponge, without leaving any trails with some slight suggestions to where you might have gone? think not :-)
To sum it up, the whole Fish puzzle was (imho) just fine PASS. It was simple enough, and it made sense. I didn't get stuck there, so it's not that I was frustrated, And i solved by thinking, oh that's how it should be done. It was a good and fun puzzle throughout.