Playing games in any genre requires some kind of literacy for that genre. When my brother played Half-Life 2 at a pretty young age he simply couldn't "get it." He'd get lost in the simplest maps for an hour simply because the map design was a little nuanced. He was used to something like Gears of War where, after a battle, you get a music cue and someone saying, "Great job! Now go over here and let's keep moving." He simply didn't have the skill of parsing a map without being told what to do.
My problem with Ori initially? I didn't have the literacy for platformers. I've played very few platformers ever. I got stuck several times in parts of the game that I'm confident weren't even supposed to be challenging. For example I once backtracked for like an hour because I didn't realize that some obstacles weren't impassible, but rather you just have to jump right and you're good. I was wandering if platformers just weren't for me.
Then I heard some discussion about how nearly all kinds of art require some kind of effort to "get it." I can read books now that would've confused me three years ago. If you've read literature but have never seen a film you won't parse the film in the same way a film buff would. Some music is more enjoyable after you've expended effort to get into the genre.
I said, "Snap, I'm going to keep playing Ori. I'm going to add platformers to my repertoire of stuff I can enjoy."
I've just finished Ori a few minutes ago and I loved it.
The theme music didn't mean anything to me at first but when it cropped up during dramatic moments I got pumped up. The theme grew on me.
Backtracking through familiar areas now with the abilities to actually get all those hidden items felt so good. Felt like I was getting what I earned.
Backtracking through old areas to get those items was also great because I could see the sense of progress. I could see how comparatively simple these environments were to later ones.
I love all those escapes when you go up and lava or water or something chases you.
Once you get Bash and better jumping and all that, simply traversing the map feels awesome.
Once or twice, after slowly working upwards, we then get to backtrack by epicly falling down forever. Again, I felt like this was some kind of reward. It was glorious. Like "I've pwned this map. Wheeeeeee."
The calm after the storm. Escaping a climax and finding yourself in a calmer environment, now with greater abilities feels great.
I think I might have diabetes this game ended up so sweet and heartwarming.
"Git gud" is usually a terrible phrase. It often means, "If you don't like the games I enjoy, then you're automatically just bad." C'mon, maybe we just have different tastes.
But git gud has a positive side. Expending effort is necessary to "get" something. I'm glad I kept playing Ori until I got good and enjoyed it.
I got gud and it was worth it.
Playing games in any genre requires some kind of literacy for that genre. When my brother played Half-Life 2 at a pretty young age he simply couldn't "get it." He'd get lost in the simplest maps for an hour simply because the map design was a little nuanced. He was used to something like Gears of War where, after a battle, you get a music cue and someone saying, "Great job! Now go over here and let's keep moving." He simply didn't have the skill of parsing a map without being told what to do.
My problem with Ori initially? I didn't have the literacy for platformers. I've played very few platformers ever. I got stuck several times in parts of the game that I'm confident weren't even supposed to be challenging. For example I once backtracked for like an hour because I didn't realize that some obstacles weren't impassible, but rather you just have to jump right and you're good. I was wandering if platformers just weren't for me.
Then I heard some discussion about how nearly all kinds of art require some kind of effort to "get it." I can read books now that would've confused me three years ago. If you've read literature but have never seen a film you won't parse the film in the same way a film buff would. Some music is more enjoyable after you've expended effort to get into the genre.
I said, "Snap, I'm going to keep playing Ori. I'm going to add platformers to my repertoire of stuff I can enjoy."
I've just finished Ori a few minutes ago and I loved it.
"Git gud" is usually a terrible phrase. It often means, "If you don't like the games I enjoy, then you're automatically just bad." C'mon, maybe we just have different tastes.
But git gud has a positive side. Expending effort is necessary to "get" something. I'm glad I kept playing Ori until I got good and enjoyed it.