So about halfway through Lorn’s Lure now (four of eight chapters complete) and it is doing a thing where each chapter has its own deal along with a new mechanic it introduces.
-Chapter 2 introduces the “tic-tac” ability, which is basically a wall jump that can only be done when moving along the wall at a certain angle or something (the visual directions that pop up for new mechanics are legit not great, at least for controllers). It is a bit messy and is used frequently but not constantly as the chapter is built around two massive towers you must climb down to retrieve something you must bring back to the top to open the way forward (had a friend not realize you had to climb back up a different way until halfway back up).
The highlight was a bit near the very bottom where you sorta have to make your way through some hanging ground above a seemingly bottomless pit, very having to find your way through and around then figure out how the heck to get back up.
-Chapter 3 is mostly in the dark, so you pick up the ability to toss flares ahead of you to see where things are (if you hold down the button for a bit it makes them sticky, both me and my pal failed to realize this until about 80% through, directions aren’t great). This area also introduces water which kills you instantly (you are at least half-android), so several “floor is made of lava” bits that can depend on dealing with the funky angled wall “surfing” and tic-tacs.
This isn’t a huge factor in the body of the chapter as most of it is crawling down through a series of caves/tight crevices, trying to find your way through this twisting labyrinth. I want to say “for those of you who miss how easy it was to get loss in the first couple Metroid games have I got something for you” but that’s not really fair/accurate, those had more of a structure while this has a much more naturalistic “anything can go” layout. It is very easy to get a bit lost and have to double back and try to find other paths one could take (there are side ones that lead to either crystals or other world building stuff), I was very lost for a good bit and not even pressing the waypoint button helped much. Probably one of the more effectively claustrophobic game bits I’ve seen in a bit.
Near the end is the seemingly very divisive timed bit where things power up and you have to make your way through a few rooms before a wall of water catches you. This has apparently been made more forgiving after the game’s first patch (i.e. water moves slower) and IMO isn’t all that rough, but I guess introducing time pressure after having none beforehand throws some people off.
-Chapter 4 after that is more or less a linear obstacle course of a level, one you can actually have a flying triangle “ship”(?) slowly take you through for large stretches of it. Feels very much like a change of pace/let you catch your breath chapter after the last one, although there are some big structures you can choose to climb up/around if you want to go crystal hunting. Midway through you get an upgraded jump that makes it a bit floatier so that you can cover greater distances. It is probably the least memorable area so far but is nice to have a more straightforward run for a bit.
I think the first chapter is still my favorite bit but still enjoying the scale and mood of the thing very much. It is funny, by now we’ve all played some utterly massive open world games yet this handles relative scale and such so well that this feels like so much more of a journey to make my way through.
