Comments on: Press [X] To Give Up (Anders Børup, Bram Michielsen, Henrike Lode, Jonas Maaløe, Jonatan Van Hove, Mads Johansen, Thomas Ryder)

By: 23

23 — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:01:57 +0000

That was quite a good game once I figured it out. I read the thread here, read the instructions, and spent ten minutes wondering why I couldn’t stab the bull. The instructions say to stab him “right behind the head”, but when I finally killed him I was hitting him in the middle of his back.

Normally I’m all for mechanics being something you figure out as you go along, but since there was zero feedback here it’d be really great to have:

- some kind of visual indicator for where you need to stab
- some kind of indicator for how high your arm has to be before you can stab

Without the first of those I was really lost.

By: the_p

the_p — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:43:40 +0000

Oh come on. The ending. Oh come on.

By: joon

joon — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 18:03:27 +0000

This is not true though. You can play it the way it is intended, but it is hard. Look at the eyes of the bull. Green: it follow you, red: it follows the cloth. Press Space right when it goes in slow mo and start lifting your arm + stick. Wait until the neck is under your stick > Hold down to stick it in. It’s incredibly satisfying. We originally wanted the bull to push you back if you came too close, but left it in as it is fun to see whether players are intimidated by the bull or not (many were).

By: Bung Jerkins

Bung Jerkins — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 19:54:36 +0000

Before the ending I stabbed the shit out of that tumor-bull corpse. Felt awesome

By: David T. Marchand

David T. Marchand — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 02:09:04 +0000

Strangely enough, the stabbing mechanic seemed pretty intuitive to me, after watching the matador’s arm a few times. Now that I read more closely, the instructions DO say “press space when the bull is near.” I just never paid attention to that.

By: nobody

nobody — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 01:47:33 +0000

That’s an interesting point. It’s the hold-up-and-then-tap-down bit that I found inscrutable without the additional instructions below, but knowing to wait to hit space — at least after failing on the first try — really relies on at least a vague familiarity with bullfighting (I think, since mine is probably informed more by Looney Tunes as a kid than anything real.)

By: 400cats

400cats — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 01:23:34 +0000

Yeah the sound design for this game is seriously incredible.

By: Jabberwok

Jabberwok — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 21:12:07 +0000

That was awesome. I actually found the controls fairly intuitive once I read the instruction about how to stab. The only time I got hit was when I wanted to see what would happen if I hit the space bar earlier. Great music.

By: David T. Marchand

David T. Marchand — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 18:28:47 +0000

O wow, I never realised that. Wait for the slowmo to press space? Where was that in the instructions or what’s that move’s logic?

Anyway, yes, it seems my way of beating the game was actually a bug (I’m guessing you’re not supposed be able to beat the bull by just standing next to it and stabbing him non-stop). And it was much less rewarding, since I didn’t get to watch the bull’s transformation that way.

And no, by “best ending” I was referring to the Champion ending. There aren’t more than three as far as I’ve played.

By: nobody

nobody — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:24:41 +0000

I can't say I'm sure I fully understand the game systems in play, but if you're getting hit by the bull during what I think is intended to be normal play (wait for it to come at you, spacebar to switch pose, hold up to ready the lance, press down to attempt to hit the bull with the lance) and you're always getting hit, then that suggests you're probably pressing spacebar too early. It seems to only work out if you wait for the slowmo to kick in before switching pose. Are there more than three endings? (By the way, I do really like this. Though maybe I have mixed feelings about the instructions. The in-game instructions seem wholly inadequate without also scrolling down the page to see the full set, but maybe that works out because it means you're pretty much guaranteed to see a fail-state first?)