I'm playing through this for a preview, and I just got to the final "stage" after what I thought was the ending...and then another ending...(I peaked at some spoilers and know where I'm at, it's right near the real end).
Anyway, there was one part on Stage 6 where I got absolutely stuck for 2 hours and was very close to throwing a fit at how cheap it was. Now, every time you die, it's your fault technically, but I take issue with a game that does nothing to prepare you for the type of puzzle you're about to encounter, gives you a timer and life count, and then refuses to let up. Specifically, the fact that all this was going on within the "easy" mode, which should be the "normal" mode IMO. Otherwise, the puzzles were fine after enough trial and error at junctures.
My real issues were:
- The controls: Dear lord these are way too responsive, even with d-pad. So often I'd accidentally push a block the wrong way, or hit O only to find I magically pressed the d-pad a few times already, causing Vincent to drop to his death cuz I was somehow hanging over the edge of a block without realizing it.
- Redos: These are nice, but my god this is buggy/flawed. At least once I somehow exploited this to bypass a puzzle and had no idea how this happened. But mostly, it's that you can get royally screwed if you're previous "save state" point is in a shitty spot OR it sends you further back than you thought and you forget what you did and are now lost. It was a life saver at times, but it was just as problematic at others. Oh, and the fact you CAN'T use it while pushing is crap. You know you're about to fall, you mash that Select button, but nothing happens and then you fall to your death as the block falls from underneath you. Blah.
- Lack of actual "game": This is a very story driven experience, and the gameplay segments are extremely repetitive and rarely evolve. You get like one or two new "gimmicks" per stage, and even then, it's still pushing and pulling blocks while racing against the clock and avoiding traps/enemies. Walking around the bar loses its charm after the second or third time, and the Rapunzel game is more of the same. I really wish there was something comparable to Persona's social sim elements.
Now, sounds like I hate the game, but that's not the case. I did like the frantic atmosphere during the puzzles, and if I knew enough Japanese, I'd probably really dig the story - even without fully comprehending the dialogue, the visuals and cutscenes are awesome. But I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit disappointed. Still have yet to try out the two-player mode in Babel. You unlock that by beating stages on Normal? Right now it's all locked out.
