The Slice is Right

[DrWho2010]

Yeah because RNG always makes a skill-based challenge fun. Nothing better than being good at something but getting screwed over by a coin flip.

if you fail too bad so sad? just try again the next time. it's not like it's going anywhere?

[FirstnameLastname]

if you fail too bad so sad? just try again the next time. it's not like it's going anywhere?

Yeah, nah that tinfoil hat in your profile picture really suits you if you don't even get a point as simple as mine. Apologies, won't happen again.

[DrWho2010]

fun is subjective. for some randomness is not fun because it denies them a guaranteed win. thems the breaks.

[Jojoya]

Yeah because RNG always makes a skill-based challenge fun. Nothing better than being good at something but getting screwed over by a coin flip.

Trying to think of skill based challenges in video games that completely lack any RNG element.

I'm failing. Perhaps you can list a few.

People get rapidly bored with any content that's too predictable. Random elements in moderation help keep content fresh longer. It's only when that random factor leads to repeated failure with little to no success that the fun fades away.

It's also a rather silly argument to make about something in what's basically an indoor carnival filled with games of chance. At least here the games usually rigged in your favor instead of against it.

[Esmoire]

The thing is pre-randomness and post-randomness are very different things. There is pre-luck (say, a game randomly generates a dungeon layout), or post-luck (a game where you can attack, but miss). Generally, going from our case studies and observation in the industry, generally players are more frustrated with the latter unless the post-action randomness creates pre-action randomness the player can respond to, say, getting another turn after an attack has missed to try again. Generally output randomness is what frustrates players, though it's not that simple for a lot of design/psychological reasons I won't get into. A lot of people way smarter than me in either industry has written about it so you can always look it up; GMT recently did a video on it that tries distills it in a way non-developers can understand.

I think The Slice Is Right is built on something leaning towards pre-luck randomness. It is good the bamboo does not have a preset pattern for the way they are cut, because it keeps people alert, engaged, and observing. While there is a component of reflexes and thus you can be put into a more difficult position based on where you stand, we can reasonably accept that time it takes bamboo to rise and be cut is a reasonable amount of time to find somewhere to stand for when it falls. When people go into it, this is the kind of luck they are more intent on handling. Meanwhile, for the time being I will assume the Daigoro failstate is random or at least indecipherable relative to what is acceptable, and a different kind of randomness from the bamboo.

I think it makes more sense for something like Any Way The Wind Blows, where barring a fault in implementation that makes some areas way safer to stand in, it is fundamentally post-randomness. I would like if the kind of randomness was kept discrete between activities, rather than having a moment in an activity that has a very different kind of randomness, so different GATEs can play up to different kinds of skill sets or user abilities. The Slice Is Right on a fundamental feels like a reflex-based challenge augmented by your ability to observe changes in geometry, and I think it should hone that rather than distort it. The Daigoro cup segment is kind of this sudden turn-based chance minigame which stands out as a discrete activity that differs from the core fundamental reflex-based aspect of the GATE. It would make more sense to have something where, for example, there was one cup with MGP, and two cups hiding a bomb, and you had full control over yourself, and after the cups are lifted you still have time to respond and test the skills the game hinged on up until that point

Do not take my analysis as a sign of severity. Gold Saucer is a goofy consequence-free place, though as with anything, it can be improved and definitely think it would be improved if the random failstate was taken out of this GATE.

[JamieRose]

I'd probably like this more if it was actually based on skill and not inevitably getting stuck in a position where there's no safe place to stand. Then there's that dog basket crap in the second round. I'm sure I'm gonna get attack for saying this doesn't feel skill based, but that's how I see it. At least you know what the deal is with Typhon going in. It's 100% RNG, not RNG poorly disguised as a test of skill.

[DrWho2010]

omg it's a game. get over yourselves. if you don't win try again. smh

[Esmoire]

omg it's a game. get over yourselves. if you don't win try again. smh

Do you need a hug?

[JamieRose]

I think he needs a time out. XD

[Myon88]

Putting the shuffle phase aside, there's no combination of slices that results in a pattern that's impossible to dodge (maybe if literally all 4 bamboos were the circle aoe, but I don't think that's possible). They can all be avoided with good enough reflexes.

Which is actually pretty neat, because it's just a gold saucer game, but some patterns are close to ultimate level tuning. Ultimate predation in uwu is similar but easier due to having less randomness, and intermission 2 in a8s is another similar mechanic that's probably about on par in terms of difficulty.