Your idea of a final boss being a final puzzle with you acting as an interpreter for the five castes is intriguing, I agree that one of my favorite parts of the game was translating the AOL Instant Messages of each tribe to each other.

@csidesummit

9 ай бұрын

Thank you! I really do think this would have been more to the spirit of the game.

Couldn't agree more. Great idea for how it should have culminated. Such a shame about the fifth level of the tower. Honestly I didn't mind the spinning puzzles in of themselves, they were cool. I only hated how they replaced the language learning. If the spinning puzzles had unlocked you a few base words, and then you had to discover for yourself by communicating with people that all the other symbols are created by combining those base characters together, that could have been a really interesting twist on the gameplay loop without completely subverting it. But instead they just straight up show you that you can overlay the symbols to create new ones and it's ridiculously easy to figure out how to do it, and then you're done. Such a shame.

@csidesummit

7 ай бұрын

Yeah, the disc puzzles weren't inherently bad. Just bad in context with what we were already doing. I stand by the belief that they should have given up on the fifth tribe and doubled down on the interpretation puzzles.

⁠​⁠ [Spoiler warning for people] Each level of the tower starting from the bottom advances in tech, from the card games, to looking at the stars, to writing plays and using slaves, to alchemy and modern technology, and the final level has tech that is even beyond us currently This tech is so advanced, and these people expected they would probably be found by the other people at some point so they made machines to translate the languages (even though they involve every language, that’s probably the in universe reason it is so easy to decode the language) The god connections cube thingy, at the ending shows a symbol from each language that comes from looking at it from a diffrent angle (God, Duty, Beauty, Change & Exile symbols from each language) the god? Thingy seems to be made up from the connections from all the tribes together, symbolizing something along the lines of “the god was the tower citizens reconnecting” which kinda makes you changing the ending a bit weird since the ending I kinda like it, but people have differing opinions so to each their own. (This also proablby is what prevented their being more connections since, if you added more it would’ve broken the whole symbols from a diffrent angle thing and why is The Whole boss interpretation wouldn’t work with the current lore, their currently isn’t a “all seeing being” it’s just the connections between the floors and the tower being whole again) the final ending sequence involving going to the places but glitchy, as I’m 99% sure that when the robot zaps you before the end exile traps you, and tries to give what you want going up the tower, and the sequence has you going through the tower floors but all glitchy, and the murals and stuff have changed (Cards change to have exile symbol on the god hinting towards the end & beginning “orign” frame shows the scientist creating potions to help them, the next viking “orign” mural is changed to see the “impure” performing music, just as the connections you made have changed the perspective, the story of the monster which hints towards the directions is I’m pretty sure showing the scientists trying to cure the monsters or maybe the scientists being brothers with the scientists [but that one is a bit weird and unclear], and the scientists don’t have a corrupted area.), and after the short chase sequence you break exile and free yourself I think it was symbolizing how you changed the tower by helping it so much, but I only realized that anyalizing It now so it definitely could’ve been done better or changed. That’s all the thoughts I have.

@csidesummit

9 ай бұрын

Wow that is by far the most in-depth comment I've gotten yet! For me, the ending symbol didn't satisfy enough. Both the Devotees and the Warriors described being 'called' by some force or power that compelled them to come to the tower. But Exile exists only to protect his charges and keep them in the virtual world so it would not make sense for him to have made this call. As to the conversations, four of them happen automatically when you shut down each floor's Exile station. If we simply made it so the player had to do the translating, it would add four. So I stand by my belief that more conversations could have been had, and that it was a mistake to have the fifth floor's language be such a departure.

@slowbrofriend6526

9 ай бұрын

@@csidesummitOh, you could’ve been a bit more clear on that point, but anyways i found this statement from the dev on floor 5 (on Reddit) " I'm sorry game, why are you filling in my book for me? " >> There are gameplay, narrative and functional reasons for this decision. From a gameplay point of view, our model felt at the end of its tether at the beginning of this fifth level, and asking the player to learn a new language again would inevitably have been extremely redundant (we tried this, believe us), given that the vast majority of its words had to exist in other languages already. In other words, we decided to keep the game fun to the end rather than let it running out of steam. From a narrative perspective, it's important to understand that the Anchorites level has nothing in common with the previous ones. Here, for the first time, you're expected: the Survivor sent you to the first levels to learn their languages, and once you've returned to him, he has no reason to stand in your way or let you wander around his city without a clue. The terminals you find in the streets of the fifth level are therefore machines designed to welcome foreigners, as labeled on them. They date back to the days when other peoples were still welcome here. As for the Temple puzzle, it was created especially for you by the Survivor to verify that you are indeed the champion he expects you to be, and to teach you enough of his own language so that he can tell you his story and entrust you with your final mission. Finally, from a functional point of view, it's important to note that level 5 is "scattered" over the entire Tower, and includes the top of the Tower, the various laboratories with their puzzles and guardians, and the entire simulation episode, making it as big/long in total as the previous levels, resulting in a more balanced overall experience. In short, the particular structure of level 5 and its language learning is completely voluntary, and has been decided for carefully considered reasons. You may still feel that this level is a bit "rushed", and we're sorry for that, but, with playtests to back us up, we're convinced that the final experience is better balanced and more coherent this way. :) That is the quote from the dev, it’s on a review post, I am NOT the dev!

@Grimmtombobulus

7 ай бұрын

​@@slowbrofriend6526thanks for sharing!

The Star Trek reference made me smile big time. Great video!!

@csidesummit

24 күн бұрын

We each find our gods in our own time :)

me again! This is probably one of my favorite videos I've watched of yours so far (the comedic elements really got me haha!) probably not a game i would try myself but certainly a very very interesting one, specially artistically, very striking!!

@csidesummit

2 ай бұрын

It was a really fun game. And with a really novel concept. This was the one that beat out Ugly for the spot in September.

Accurate depiction of a deity. I fully agree and pledge my faith. 9:00

@csidesummit

Ай бұрын

"These words are accepted"

i haven’t played the game in a while but i still remember all the languages from this game

@csidesummit

Ай бұрын

They did an excellent job creating these groups, and the design of their languages.

Totally agree with you on the ending. The last language and the end sequence fell a bit flat. Which is a shame as the first 4 levels are fantastic. I too would have loved more translation puzzels rather than stealth and a chase scene.

@csidesummit

2 ай бұрын

I really wish they had gone in a different direction. I've since learned that it became a logistics problem. Basically adding another language with its own unique traits using only the available slots for words became a herculean feat. Essentially, it was a problem that grew exponentially with each language added. I think they could have done better than that chase scene, though.

Wow that was quite a rollercoaster of an intro! Glad you're doing better. And fantastic review.

@csidesummit

10 ай бұрын

Thank you! Definitely doing better and it was a VERY eventful month!

Babel is pronounced more like babble, not Bab'Elle

@csidesummit

10 ай бұрын

I shall note this down for all future Tower of Babel related games.

@rogercruz1547

7 ай бұрын

In which language?

@csidesummit

7 ай бұрын

@@rogercruz1547 Not sure, but Google uses "Babble" as the American pronunciation.

Duolingo 🔥

@csidesummit

10 ай бұрын

The more you know 🏳‍🌈⭐

Im actually going to not watch this for once and wait until i can get the game for myself first

@csidesummit

2 ай бұрын

It's a fun one. I wasn't the only youtuber recommending it at that time. Definitely give it a go.

I love this video, but why aren't you talking about the bananas? 😏

@csidesummit

10 ай бұрын

Okay, so the Bananas. I reached a point where I was still missing words for the third level's people. The way you get it is by [spoiler alert] giving a banana to a monkey who will then operate a mechanical puppet show that reveals new words. Trouble is: The bananas are purple. So I went the whole game without finding them and had to look it up.

@sherrymerrill6317

10 ай бұрын

@csidesummit6436 AH! Understandable why you're not ready to talk about the bananas. You hate having to look stuff up.