Rusted Moss: The Great Climb (hard mode) in a little over an hour. Completed with Fern on my 6th run (and after completed normal mode climbs with Fern and Maya). We'll see about Maya hard mode.
Hard mode was easier than I was expecting. A big part of it is the frequent healing parts. Each save point in the climb is an eternal hp/mp pad, which removes a lot of the punishment. I originally went in thinking that you could only use every pad once, but "cheesing" the pads removes a lot of the inconsistency problems. Having a limited number of tries for each platforming section makes it much harder. Despite this, there are only a few times when I abused the save points, but 3 of those times I would have been forced to reset the run.
Hard mode also cuts out a lot of the climb, especially in the early verses and the interludes. This was likely a good decision for time reasons. A full climb for a normal human would likely be in the two hour range, even with practice. However, I feel that some rooms should have been included. The horizontal time trial rooms and more of verse 3 immediately come to mind, and cutting some of the "filler" rooms for them would have been much more satisfying. Even just modifying some of the rooms that are there would have done a lot. Any change would have required significantly more effort for the enjoyment of less than 50 people, so I understand why it wasn't done this way.
Froy and Froy 2 are good bosses, but I think they're too easy (mostly unhinged). An enormous part of that is the combination of 3 gun upgrades, 2+ damage trinkets, and defensive fae. Locking the player out of their trinkets and upgrades would have done a lot to balance the fight. Froy 2 having a save point is another factor making the hard climb much easier, since the fight is a lot less punishing. Despite this, Froy 2 probably needs double the hp to be threating, thanks to all your upgrades.
My other unhinged take is that the climb was too easy. It does a really good job at testing the player's skill with rocket/shotgun alongside the grapple retraction for more height, but that's about it. There are only a few slingshot areas, and almost no times to use the new saw jumping. The platforming is tight in some rooms, but not nearly as hard as it could be. Of course, expecting main game content to be a 10/10 difficulty is a bad take, but it is a little sad. Still loved it though.
Overall, the Climb is undeniably the best content the game has. It demands a level of precision that the game doesn't typically expect and forces you to learn advanced tech. Froy is more than just a boss, they're a well-defined character with great dialogue and background. The animations are breathtaking and feel fitting of such a great character. The new mechanics feel great and have a ton of depth.
Begging and pleading for Rusted Moss 2.
28 июн 2024
