I am obsessed with Blue Prince, myself and some friends have been playing together and it’s the coolest game I’ve ever played. Truly one of the best games of all time
I think it’s a bit too hard (obtuse), but I kinda like that. I don’t like games that are too hard that rely on expert timing, whether it’s something like Guitar Hero/Rockband (except those, you can lower the difficulty) or Dark Souls/Elden Ring or Hollow Knight where knowing where to go and what to do isn’t enough, you have to tap the buttons in a very precise order or… you lose. I like something that is fun even if you can’t figure it out. On the surface, Blue Prince is like a board game almost. But there’s a lot to discover, and I don’t believe you have to discover all of it in order to complete the primary objective.
It harkens back to a time before the Internet when gamers would meet up at local clubs (like where you go to buy board games and play D&D) and discuss their findings/progress. Before you could “just Google it” or look it up on GameFAQs or Cheat Code Central — or YouTube. I mean, sure, you could do that, learn all of its secrets in one video, but then you lose so much of what made old puzzle games great. Figuring it out, and meeting with other fans and getting hints.
There’s another game, but it’s PC only (I can run it on my Mac with Whisky, though, so it could probably be ported pretty easily), called Noita… it’s more like Hack/NetHack in that it’s more of a dungeon delver with multiple levels. Play it for a week, you’ll probably get to the last boss and beat him. That isn’t that hard. Though it’s no cake walk, either. But, that’s also not the point of the game. I don’t think anybody’s found the final/total solution to the game yet. Look up all the spoilers you want; sure, it takes the fun of discovery out, but you’re still not gonna beat the game. There are a few end game conditions where you win a fight, and some you can even survive, but there are still secrets that haven’t been answered. So when you’re playing for knowledge, knowing all of it is one of the win conditions. Perfect example of this is Cyberpunk 2077. A long, but pretty straightforward action RPG, similar to Fallout 4 and Grand Theft Auto 5. It has multiple endings, all of them valid, but someone found a code and it took a few years for players to crack it. They did, it was no big deal IIRC, but still, if the game holds a secret from you, have you really beaten it? Another knowledge based thing with Cyberpunk is, major storyline spoiler, I don’t know how to do spoilers on this platform, so, base64 decode what’s in the brackets: [Sm9obm55IFNpbHZlcmhhbmQgZGlkbid0IGJsb3cgdXAgQXJhc2FrYSBUb3dlciwgb3IgZG8gYSBsb3Qgb2YgdGhpbmdzIGhlIHRob3VnaHQgaGUgZGlkLCBNb3JnYW4gQmxhY2toYW5kIGRpZCBtb3N0IG9mIGl0LCBhbmQgSm9obm55IHdhcyBiZXRyYXllZCBieSBoaXMgY3Jldw==].
Yeah I’ve seen that, I just didn’t really know what to do with it. I guess it’s a bit more obvious now. Type the text where it says Hidden Text Here and the “spoiler spoiler” thing is like a label?
What blows my mind about Blue Prince is when you’ve been playing for probably 20+ hours trying your hardest to get the objective and you finally beat the game…
spoiler
and you realize that’s the tutorial
then you get to the main objective! you win!
you thought there couldn’t possibly be more to the game you’ve seen it all of course
… that was just level two…
I’ve never in my life had such a mindfuck realizing how much you can layer into the same game and keep it fresh.
You aren’t wrong though,
spoiler
(I’m not even done level three yet)
this game so mind alteringly hard and random it makes the Myst series look like 3/10 difficulty.
And not unfair! I never feel cheated or like I ruined anything! There’s mistakes sure, but eh, you’ll get it next time. You never ever lose anything you can’t recover.
Plus the real unlocks are the things you learn. The systems.
It’s a lot like Balatro in that way. You play red or yellow deck and beat Ante 8 boss and yay you won the game! Wow that scaling mult joker really made it happen! Fast forward a few hundred games and you’re trying to beat Gold Stake Black Deck surfing the absolute razor edge of numerical possibilities like a damn mentat human computer. You never lose at Balatro, you just start the next loop and you get better.
I feel like I’m hitting a wall but I don’t know where to look without spoiling a lot.
I just reached the antechamber, or at least I thought I did, I unlocked a door and it was just… a wall. So, that was weird. I guess you can’t get into the antechamber the normal way. (I imagine you can’t progress north to room 46 the normal way, but damn, thought I’d at least be able to see it. Still… made it to rank 8!
I’ve basically only figured out the
::: early game spoiler?
paintings and what letter is different
:::
The chess pieces are obtuse to me, I’ve tried to make a grid and place them, but they change from day to day (e.g. rank 2 column 3, right above entrance hall, could be a pawn one day and a knight the next). The above that’s hidden, those don’t change.
You’ve got so much ahead of you! Lucky! I wish I could start over again where you are but wipe my memory.
Definitely keep grinding on the antechamber. You’ll figure it out, if you want some hints
spoiler
Pay extra close attention to the weight room, secret garden, everything underground and outside, greenhouse, and the great hall.
Also try to find every combination item in the workshop.
Also check out every book you can in the library and pay extra close attention to them. Buy every book in the bookshop.
Lastly, the magnifying glass is by far the best item in the game, try it get it every single chance you can get. It’s extremely useful for learning secrets you need to progress
the game is extremely long, just do loops for the heck of them and you’ll start to put clues together. It’s not a few loops to figure out the antechamber, it’s A Lot.
also you have to write
“spoiler spoiler” after the :: like in the image or it doesn’t work
I am obsessed with Blue Prince, myself and some friends have been playing together and it’s the coolest game I’ve ever played. Truly one of the best games of all time
I think it’s a bit too hard (obtuse), but I kinda like that. I don’t like games that are too hard that rely on expert timing, whether it’s something like Guitar Hero/Rockband (except those, you can lower the difficulty) or Dark Souls/Elden Ring or Hollow Knight where knowing where to go and what to do isn’t enough, you have to tap the buttons in a very precise order or… you lose. I like something that is fun even if you can’t figure it out. On the surface, Blue Prince is like a board game almost. But there’s a lot to discover, and I don’t believe you have to discover all of it in order to complete the primary objective.
It harkens back to a time before the Internet when gamers would meet up at local clubs (like where you go to buy board games and play D&D) and discuss their findings/progress. Before you could “just Google it” or look it up on GameFAQs or Cheat Code Central — or YouTube. I mean, sure, you could do that, learn all of its secrets in one video, but then you lose so much of what made old puzzle games great. Figuring it out, and meeting with other fans and getting hints.
There’s another game, but it’s PC only (I can run it on my Mac with Whisky, though, so it could probably be ported pretty easily), called Noita… it’s more like Hack/NetHack in that it’s more of a dungeon delver with multiple levels. Play it for a week, you’ll probably get to the last boss and beat him. That isn’t that hard. Though it’s no cake walk, either. But, that’s also not the point of the game. I don’t think anybody’s found the final/total solution to the game yet. Look up all the spoilers you want; sure, it takes the fun of discovery out, but you’re still not gonna beat the game. There are a few end game conditions where you win a fight, and some you can even survive, but there are still secrets that haven’t been answered. So when you’re playing for knowledge, knowing all of it is one of the win conditions. Perfect example of this is Cyberpunk 2077. A long, but pretty straightforward action RPG, similar to Fallout 4 and Grand Theft Auto 5. It has multiple endings, all of them valid, but someone found a code and it took a few years for players to crack it. They did, it was no big deal IIRC, but still, if the game holds a secret from you, have you really beaten it? Another knowledge based thing with Cyberpunk is, major storyline spoiler, I don’t know how to do spoilers on this platform, so, base64 decode what’s in the brackets: [Sm9obm55IFNpbHZlcmhhbmQgZGlkbid0IGJsb3cgdXAgQXJhc2FrYSBUb3dlciwgb3IgZG8gYSBsb3Qgb2YgdGhpbmdzIGhlIHRob3VnaHQgaGUgZGlkLCBNb3JnYW4gQmxhY2toYW5kIGRpZCBtb3N0IG9mIGl0LCBhbmQgSm9obm55IHdhcyBiZXRyYXllZCBieSBoaXMgY3Jldw==].
oh also, spoilers in Lemmy are
Lol had to make it an image
Yeah I’ve seen that, I just didn’t really know what to do with it. I guess it’s a bit more obvious now. Type the text where it says Hidden Text Here and the “spoiler spoiler” thing is like a label?
What blows my mind about Blue Prince is when you’ve been playing for probably 20+ hours trying your hardest to get the objective and you finally beat the game…
spoiler
and you realize that’s the tutorial
then you get to the main objective! you win!
you thought there couldn’t possibly be more to the game you’ve seen it all of course
… that was just level two…
I’ve never in my life had such a mindfuck realizing how much you can layer into the same game and keep it fresh.
You aren’t wrong though,
spoiler
(I’m not even done level three yet)
this game so mind alteringly hard and random it makes the Myst series look like 3/10 difficulty.
And not unfair! I never feel cheated or like I ruined anything! There’s mistakes sure, but eh, you’ll get it next time. You never ever lose anything you can’t recover.
Plus the real unlocks are the things you learn. The systems.
It’s a lot like Balatro in that way. You play red or yellow deck and beat Ante 8 boss and yay you won the game! Wow that scaling mult joker really made it happen! Fast forward a few hundred games and you’re trying to beat Gold Stake Black Deck surfing the absolute razor edge of numerical possibilities like a damn mentat human computer. You never lose at Balatro, you just start the next loop and you get better.
I feel like I’m hitting a wall but I don’t know where to look without spoiling a lot.
I just reached the antechamber, or at least I thought I did, I unlocked a door and it was just… a wall. So, that was weird. I guess you can’t get into the antechamber the normal way. (I imagine you can’t progress north to room 46 the normal way, but damn, thought I’d at least be able to see it. Still… made it to rank 8!
I’ve basically only figured out the
::: early game spoiler? paintings and what letter is different :::
The chess pieces are obtuse to me, I’ve tried to make a grid and place them, but they change from day to day (e.g. rank 2 column 3, right above entrance hall, could be a pawn one day and a knight the next). The above that’s hidden, those don’t change.
You’ve got so much ahead of you! Lucky! I wish I could start over again where you are but wipe my memory.
Definitely keep grinding on the antechamber. You’ll figure it out, if you want some hints
spoiler
Pay extra close attention to the weight room, secret garden, everything underground and outside, greenhouse, and the great hall.
Also try to find every combination item in the workshop.
Also check out every book you can in the library and pay extra close attention to them. Buy every book in the bookshop.
Lastly, the magnifying glass is by far the best item in the game, try it get it every single chance you can get. It’s extremely useful for learning secrets you need to progress
the game is extremely long, just do loops for the heck of them and you’ll start to put clues together. It’s not a few loops to figure out the antechamber, it’s A Lot.
also you have to write
“spoiler spoiler” after the :: like in the image or it doesn’t work