Accessibility issues in 5.3 mystery trial

Hello,

I am honestly not sure where to post or bring attention to this, so I will start here. 5.3 is amazing and the story of this game is some of the best I have ever experienced.

The mystery 5.3 trial has severe accessibility issues for how it currently works. Forcing players to mash a button at the level of difficulty required (and then wiping the raid for a single fail) is extremely punishing for anyone who has physical or mobility issues. It may not be possible for some folk to even complete this trial.

I understand the desire to make us feel like we are completing something as a team and that full cooperation is required; however, having an aspect of the game inside the main story that is inaccessible to those who have mobility issues is disappointing. This game does a LOT to make the HUD and visibility accessible to many people, close friends and family included. Forcing players into a sequence where the ability to progress is locked behind something out of their control is inconsistent with how Square Enix has accommodated players in the past.

This sequence should go back to the way past instances handle button mashing--if you fail, you die, the raid continues. e.g. Shinryu.

Thanks for reading, I cannot stress enough how much my family and I love this game; however, we are disappointed by this mechanic.

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Originally Posted by Setia

The mystery 5.3 trial has severe accessibility issues for how it currently works. Forcing players to mash a button at the level of difficulty required

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In case you're unaware you can just mash your keyboard instead of clicking that button. I have a disability myself with my mobility issues being in my hands. Spam clicking would be impossible for me but mashing the keyboard is something I can manage.

I hope this helps.

And yes it certainly did cross my mind that some individuals would be unable to fulfill the requirements of that mechanic because it can be physically taxing. Even worse that if one person fails everyone does. I hope SE will revisit it and maybe reduce the amount of inputs you need to succeed.

You just can press a few buttons in same time. Works too, and its easier.

Also, anyone who's dead before going into the QTE doesn't have to do it. While not ideal, you could just kill yourself before the phase change to skip the QTE if it's really that impossible for you.


Edit: Apparently I was mistaken and this isn't true. Sorry.

Hi there!

We are aware about mashing the keyboard. I play with a g13, and mashing buttons on it and clicking was how I was able to clear. However, it caused a family member physical pain for how fast and how many buttons they had to press. It took us three tries to complete but I doubt they will want to do the trial ever again. It's otherwise an enjoyable fight but that portion should not punish the whole raid with a wipe. I have other friends and family who use special controls or cannot use keyboard at all and so mashing all the buttons on the keyboard at once is not an option.

I agree they really should revisit this.

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Originally Posted by Brightamethyst

Also, anyone who's dead before going into the QTE doesn't have to do it. While not ideal, you could just kill yourself before the phase change to skip the QTE if it's really that impossible for you.

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This is a great suggestion, thanks. I have a family member who found this extremely taxing so I will have them do this in the future, thank you.

From what I've gleaned from others it goes down REALLY fast until the last quarter or so then returns to it's normal everyday QTE simply to give the illusion of panic.

So, you don't need to mash it. Just wait until 1/4 or so is left and go at the pace you normally do. Yes it sucks there's not much margin for error.

While I don't suffer from any such challenges, this was actually one of my first thoughts when I did the trial. The group I was in actually did fail it 3 times. I don't think I've ever seen a button mash fail before so it clearly is a bigger challenge than similar mechanics in the past.

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Originally Posted by Brightamethyst

Also, anyone who's dead before going into the QTE doesn't have to do it. While not ideal, you could just kill yourself before the phase change to skip the QTE if it's really that impossible for you.

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Not true - dead players are still required to complete the QTE in this fight, as it resurrects all players.

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Originally Posted by Brightamethyst

Also, anyone who's dead before going into the QTE doesn't have to do it. While not ideal, you could just kill yourself before the phase change to skip the QTE if it's really that impossible for you.

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Not true. I died before the QTE and I still had to do it. They really need to revisit it. I seriously cannot do this thing. I've had to drop out of three groups because I just kept failing at it. It takes too long, I can't keep the bashing of my buttons up at all. It's extremely taxing for me and not to mention frustrating that I'm now stuck there. It goes down so fast I can't keep up.

It's really not fair that one person failing makes the whole group have to do the entire thing all over again.

They really need to look into this and accommodate players who have mobility issues.

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Originally Posted by Lhunuial

Not true. I died before the QTE and I still had to do it.

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You still have to do it while you're dead? o.O

Yes, you still have to do it when you're dead. You get resurrected to do the QTE. And if someone has disconnected during the fight you automatically fail too.

Huh. When I did it a couple of people were dead and IIRC their circles were empty in the thing, so I assumed they were locked out of that part entirely. I guess not.

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Originally Posted by Lhunuial

Not true. I died before the QTE and I still had to do it. They really need to revisit it. I seriously cannot do this thing. I've had to drop out of three groups because I just kept failing at it. It takes too long, I can't keep the bashing of my buttons up at all. It's extremely taxing for me and not to mention frustrating that I'm now stuck there. It goes down so fast I can't keep up.

It's really not fair that one person failing makes the whole group have to do the entire thing all over again.

They really need to look into this and accommodate players who have mobility issues.

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I agree so much. It just is not accessible at all and for a controller player to have to set the controller down to then mash the keyboard, it is very very hard. Not to mention, what about those who can only use a controller? I am sorry you are experiencing this also, I hope they make a change soon.

I hope they consider making the more accessible. As it stands, there are going to be a lot of people who won't be able to do this for multiple reasons.

I wonder how many people are having this issue. I've seen a few people talk about it in the dungeon forum, but other than that I've only seen this thread. I do hope there are a few people who have this problem, so that they will actually do something. It's so frustrating to know that because I can't mash the buttons fast enough I can't finish the 5.3 MSQ. The other QTE were not as hard as this one, although I do struggle with them sometimes depending on how I feel. (I have chronic fatigue issues due to an auto-immune disease.)

https://support.eu.square-enix.com/a...984.1533272345

They just hired an accessibility consultant and literally a patch later, this shows up. I encourage people to write using the form SE has provided above to bring more awareness directly to the accessibility team.

I'm all for a longer/tougher QTE but...I do think that this one was just a tad excessive.

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Originally Posted by Deceptus

From what I've gleaned from others it goes down REALLY fast until the last quarter or so then returns to it's normal everyday QTE simply to give the illusion of panic.

So, you don't need to mash it. Just wait until 1/4 or so is left and go at the pace you normally do. Yes it sucks there's not much margin for error.

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Yeah, I could hardly keep the bar up at all near the top, but when it gets closer to the bottom each press can give back a ton of gauge.

I still failed it once though, but that was because I accidentally entered chat mode by hitting R as I was keyboard mashing in my panic.

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Originally Posted by Shofie

https://support.eu.square-enix.com/a...984.1533272345

They just hired an accessibility consultant and literally a patch later, this shows up. I encourage people to write using the form SE has provided above to bring more awareness directly to the accessibility team.

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Thank you I will do this. My partner and I sent in game messages and feedback as well.

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Originally Posted by Setia

I agree so much. It just is not accessible at all and for a controller player to have to set the controller down to then mash the keyboard, it is very very hard. Not to mention, what about those who can only use a controller? I am sorry you are experiencing this also, I hope they make a change soon.

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I'm pretty sure that rotating the control stick also counts as inputs for the sake of QTEs, which actually makes it considerably easier on controller then a keyboard.

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Originally Posted by KageTokage

I'm pretty sure that rotating the control stick also counts as inputs for the sake of QTEs, which actually makes it considerably easier on controller then a keyboard.

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Like having to re-learn a vastly different control method and/or having to take your hands off the keyboard to pick up a controller is anything near a reasonable solution other than, you know, relaxing the stupid QTE some.

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Originally Posted by Maeka

Like having to re-learn a vastly different control method and/or having to take your hands off the keyboard to pick up a controller is anything near a reasonable solution other than, you know, relaxing the stupid QTE some.

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I'm not saying it's not difficult or not in need of adjustment; just suggesting something that could help people who are using controllers.

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Originally Posted by KageTokage

I'm pretty sure that rotating the control stick also counts as inputs for the sake of QTEs, which actually makes it considerably easier on controller then a keyboard.

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I'll have to try this next time. And I think you mean the analog stick.

spin2win

Any keystroke during the QTE helps to fill the bar. Honestly I just drug my hand over my keyboard and didn't have any trouble keeping my bar at 100% fill. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hmm has anyone tried any button for the controller for it? I usually just spam the x on my ps4 controller, but if any button works I can switch between the two.

Edit: Nm another thread answered this before I even posted this... go figure

I think I tried the keyboard smash method during Shinryu Ex doggo farming and discovered I can crash my computer when I do that. I managed to do the QTE doing the two finger method this time, but it was really close.

Holy crap, I didn't realize one failure means a fail. That....seems like something that should be fixed. That's just going to breed toxicity in parties if there's one weak link.

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Originally Posted by Setia

I agree so much. It just is not accessible at all and for a controller player to have to set the controller down to then mash the keyboard, it is very very hard. Not to mention, what about those who can only use a controller? I am sorry you are experiencing this also, I hope they make a change soon.

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Actually, it's incredibly easy on controller. I set my thumb in the middle of the buttons and move them from side to side while doing the same on the D pad. Bar never got below 70%. Remember that any button on a controller counts.

The QTE has never seemed like an interesting or meaningful mechanic in the first place. Mashing a single button for several seconds doesn't add anything positive to an encounter that makes it more fun in my opinion. I don't know why they continue using it.

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Originally Posted by Jojoya

The QTE has never seemed like an interesting or meaningful mechanic in the first place. Mashing a single button for several seconds doesn't add anything positive to an encounter that makes it more fun in my opinion. I don't know why they continue using it.

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Yeah, that's my thought as well. I could understand if there was something interesting or particularly honestly challenging about the QTEs but they really are just mash the buttons. If they're going to use QTEs they should do something better with them, otherwise they really don't need to exist.

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Originally Posted by Shofie

https://support.eu.square-enix.com/a...984.1533272345

They just hired an accessibility consultant and literally a patch later, this shows up. I encourage people to write using the form SE has provided above to bring more awareness directly to the accessibility team.

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Thank you! I will use this to send a message. I already sent messages through the leave a suggestion option in the game, but this is probably better.

While I'm not disagreeing, until they fix it it's important to remember it's not a single button mash, or a mash at all. Any key input works, including multiple keys at the same time. Place both hands on the keyboard and move them from side to side.

Personally I think QTE's have been ok, but changing it to wipe the entire party for one person is overkill.

Yeah, here's hoping they add an option in the menu to auto complete the QTE's or something. Button mashing really hurts my hands.

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Originally Posted by Shofie

https://support.eu.square-enix.com/a...984.1533272345

They just hired an accessibility consultant and literally a patch later, this shows up. I encourage people to write using the form SE has provided above to bring more awareness directly to the accessibility team.

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Thank you, sending a message as soon as I'm done with Prae this morning. Keyboard mashing might be easier, but I'm on a laptop :/

You just need to mash 2 buttons. 2 buttons with not big speed, not 1. We really at point, where its a problem?

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Originally Posted by Ashpd

You just need to mash 2 buttons. 2 buttons with not big speed, not 1. We really at point, where its a problem?

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It's usually not a problem. But the one in 5.3 is especially brutal. It takes longer, the bar goes down faster and next to that it wipes the party if someone fails. That isn't the case in the other QTEs. It leads to trolling and people who don't have a very quick reflex and responses and people who have disabilities have trouble hitting those buttons fast enough. I've been able to pass that QTE in the 5.3 trial once. I was feelign really good, the issues from my auto immune disease weren't bothering me as much, I didn't have latency issues, so it went ok. But the times after that I couldn't do it again.

It would be a lot better if the person who failed died, so they wouldn't hold back the entire party. Like with the other QTE in previous trials and solo duties.

I only did the normal trial once, and my hands hurt so much after the QTE. My hands hurt easily, so doing that fight isn't exactly beneficial for me if I'm planning on playing a little more.

I'm playing with a controller, which is already much better for my hands, and barely made it. If the ex version has the same QTE I'll unfortunately have to skip it this time, unless it'll get changed.

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Originally Posted by Limonia

I only did the normal trial once, and my hands hurt so much after the QTE. My hands hurt easily, so doing that fight isn't exactly beneficial for me if I'm planning on playing a little more.

I'm playing with a controller, which is already much better for my hands, and barely made it. If the ex version has the same QTE I'll unfortunately have to skip it this time, unless it'll get changed.

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EX trial starts after the QTE scene (2nd phase).

I think an important thing to know about this QTE is that the bar is somewhat misleading. When it's more than about 25% full, any input will barely budge the meter. And until you hit that 25% threshold, you'll actually lose more meter than you gain no matter what. You can mash anywhere from 6-10 keys per second and it'll feel like you're struggling. But once it dips below that 25% threshold, a single input will suddenly fill up a lot more of the bar than it seems like it should. I hesitate to say that it would fill it all the way back up to 25%, because I'm too much of a coward to risk it for science, but I wouldn't be surprised.