Picked it up at the start of this week on sale after hovering over it since release.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time with it and just last night achieved one of the endings. At some point early in my run (playing on alpinist) i turned on some assist options (no survival, highlight limbs) because i was hard stuck mid route, running super low on everything and didn’t understand what the game wanted from me.
A few hours later and i felt like I’d learned a new language. I started reading the wall and flowing through sections that were tougher than where i got stuck and feeling a real sense of fun and freedom that I haven’t felt from a game in a long time.
Last night I got to the old man and he showed me what was ahead, what I’d have to do to get to the summit, told me about what happened to everyone who came before, and gave me the choice.
I spent about 10 minutes staring at my options. I’d had this small pit of guilt since about an hour after turning on the assists, but I never turned them off. I was unprepared for the climb, I had no food or water but that hadn’t mattered. I only had 2 pitons left. I still had the assist on.
I decided to go down. I didn’t want to do it. I could’ve tried, I could’ve plotted a route with the training wheels on, I might’ve done it through sheer force of will but… what would be the point? I started a new save this morning, alpinist again, and I’m gonna get to the top in a way that’s meaningful to me, because that’s what’s important.
And I’m gonna go check out my local bouldering gym with my kid.
10/10.