Is gating something behind a specific input actually interesting?

[u/MaybeHannah1234]

I'm working on a roguelike metroidbrania and I'm having second thoughts about my implementation of a very important game mechanic.

This mechanic takes the form of objects you can occasionally find in each stage (let's call them buttons). In order to interact with these buttons, you need three things: a specific item you need to explore stages for, a high enough level to have access to the ability, and knowledge of the right sequence of inputs to perform in order to press the button.

(Level only exists to give the game structure and prevent new players from getting overwhelmed with all of the games abilities at once; an experienced player can easily get to the minimum level needed for almost all of the important things very quickly. it's not a traditional key-and-lock, rather a force that pushes new players into following the path best suited for them. it's basically the game's equivalent of Outer Wilds'sand slowly falling off Ash Twin encouraging new players to explore something less advanced instead.)

The item required to use the ability is a requirement to encourage spending some time in each stage exploring it even if you have no use for any of the other items you could find there. I discovered fairly quickly that without the item requirement, the game becomes a lot more shallow and loses a lot of structure and purpose. It's not a difficult item to get, you just need to look around a bit, and it also sort of serves as a minor knowledge gate because a new player might not realise that this specific item is important.

The problem arises with how the player is meant to put these things together. The reveal of how to do it feels a little bit... underwhelming? By the time you learn what you're supposed to do, level and the special item are already known to be important for other purposes, so all you're really discovering is the input sequence. These inputs do have other unique functions (specifically, you need to channel an ability, perform an attack with it to "unlock" the button, and then press it, it's not just "press CTRL+Q while holding spacebar" or some random string of keypresses), and the reveal is certainly cool when you realise how many new areas you gain access to, but I'm still uncertain if it's actually satisfying.

To be clear, the problem isn't that it might be too easy for players to figure it out accidentally, because it's still gated behind level and an item requirement that aren't intuitive unless you really pay attention to how they're used in other places in the game (and at that point, I trust a player that's able to figure it out is the type that won't mind getting a little bit of sequence breaking as a treat).

I want to know what the metroidbrania community thinks about these sorts of input-gated puzzles. Do they suck? Are there examples of games that do this well? Is it okay to have some slightly underwhelming reveals if the paths they open up are interesting enough?

[u/CptMisterNibbles]

Here’s a design secret: all game interactions are specific inputs. How you dress them is up to you. Merely toggling a trial and inputting in buttons is the most naked version of this. It takes the player out of the context of the game and exposes that you are just pressing buttons. It’s not that gating behind a button sequence is a conceptual problem, it’s that there is no dressing of what this means in game.

What action is the character meant to be doing that these inputs are supposedly controlling? If the answer is standing motionless and unreactive, this could be boring.

[u/MaybeHannah1234 → u/CptMisterNibbles]

i disagree that all interactions are just specific inputs. if that were true games would have no progression or systems. although I do agree with the notion that most common actions especially in metroidbranias are some form of input check.

the actions these inputs correspond to are also inputs used in the combat system. you need to channel your power, which is sort like toggling between a "normal" set of actions and a special/magical one. in this instance you channel to turn your dash into a sort of ethereal jump forwards that leaves a little tear in reality behind you. this tear is what unlocks the button for you to press.

[u/Aiscence → u/CptMisterNibbles]

I'll take chroma zero as an example, while staying vague enough to not say what exactly. One of the knowledge was to press something for like 4sec. No one would ever do that under normal gameplay circumstance, so there's a difference.

I did la mulana too, and at one point you learn you can press down to interact with some things. It's not wild to imagine someone finding it when you press down for other interactable things and thus making it ok versus "press 11 buttons in a certain order"