Re-open the game before run: Yes or No?
6 years ago
Illinois, USA

If you finish a run for example, and reset and do another run, some text may be skipped like the opening cutscene with Kazuma, hell text, or just some text loading a second or so faster before a boss. What do you think?

You literally can boot up the game, start a file, then go to main menu and you would skip the kazuma cutscene. The rest may save only like 5 seconds on switch considering cutscene skipping on switch, but PC has to mash.

What do you think? Should PC have to re-open? Should Steam have to re-open?

Personally I think Switch takes a bit to re-open and it doesn't take much time out if you replay in your session for the next run if you reset. What do you think? I want Switch to be able to just go back into runs without going to home menu, but let me know what you think! (Cutscene skip would skip almost all that time).

I can't speak for the Steam community, as I don't run that.

Let me know your thoughts.

United States

I encountered this too on Switch! Such a weird bug. I started just fully exiting the game to reset all of the flags; I feel like it makes the speedruns easier to measure.

Georgia, USA

I know this thread is p old, but I’m for not re-opening the game. I think it’s kind of arbitrary or like. Tradition for the sake of it? Like. If everybody could cut out as many cutscenes as possible, why wouldn’t we? And honestly for practice it’s just faster since you don’t need to start it up over and over.

United States

Not re-opening the game makes it more of like a "New Game+" sort of thing, IMO. The thing is, it's not just the opening cutscene that's skipped -- these so-called "skipflags" are also used to speed up the text scrolling during the cutscenes before Omega, Toroko+, Core, Misery, Doctor, and Undead Core, and also to skip the Ballos lore that pops up in various places in Hell. So, allowing people to not have to restart the game before runs would mean that, to get the best possible time, one would first have to play through each of those cutscenes once (or just throw out their first run after opening the game) before they could take start taking advantage of the skipflags. Like Shadax said above, it's just better to make everybody have to start from 0 in a speedrun.

As for your last point, if you're just practicing, then you don't need to worry about the skipflags at all? You can just...practice, and then restart the game when you're ready to start doing runs. :)

All that being said, I wouldn't be opposed to adding "NG+" subcategories for the people who really don't want to restart the game each time.

Edited by the author 4 years ago
Georgia, USA

I don’t like the idea of it being “New Game+”. It’s the same game. Having to play through the game once beforehand is just as simple as doing a runthrough of the game anyway. Don’t the cutscenes and text get skipped just by 1 file having those scenes already seen? If that’s the case, everybody has the exact same opportunity to have that advantage.

United States

It's not whether you have a save file where you already saw those cutscenes (skipflags aren't saved); it's about whether you have seen those cutscenes once already (in any file) since opening the game. Once you close the game, the game forgets all of the skipflags that were set, and so you will have to watch those cutscenes again the next time you launch the game if you want to re-set them.

And "having to play through the game once beforehand" is exactly what makes this a New Game+ sort of situation -- you're playing through the game, after having already played through the game (or at least those specific parts of it...), and the fact that you have seen those cutscenes the first time around changes how they behave in subsequent playthroughs (until you close the game).

Georgia, USA

I did not know that the flags go away right after you close the game. I’m out, in that case.

But I won’t change my opinion about the NG+ thing. I don’t think cutscenes behaving differently/ not being there is enough to qualify NG+. The gameplay isn’t behaving any differently. But that’s not here or there because it doesn’t work the way I thought it does!

Georgia, USA

I also hope I’m not coming off as rude. ;-; I just don’t agree with the NG+ line of thinking.

My two cents, if I may:

Peri is right in the sense that setting up skipflags is relevant enough that the game can vary. While it's true that playing the intro cutscene is not much for that, it would introduce a huge advantage in the way that the most optimal run would involve beating the entire game once then recording the run. This would allow runners to start runs with all skipflags already set, which would lead to massive time gains in pretty much any version that isn't Switch.

This is not, from my perspective, an NG+: nothing changes in actual gameplay terms bar being able to fast scroll thru dialogue. And because of that, a ruleset that separates both would be pointless, and a ruleset that allows both would be a logistical nightmare for both moderators running validation and for runners themselves (losing 40 minutes, assuming WR pace for best ending, to setup all skip flags). Furthermore, it would potentially split the leaderboards, which is not ideal for a game with a rather small runner base.

If the method for NG+ setup would be easier (let's say, just having beaten the game once, as Ace Attorney Trilogy does for its NG+ ruling) then I think we could have a solid case for NG+ ruling. However, since it becomes inconvenient for runners, I don't see the appeal justifying the logistical issues.

RepentMF likes this
Georgia, USA

Yeah, now that I know that all of the flags only stay so long as your game is turned on, I definitely don’t think it’s a viable means of “NG+” or whatever logistical name we would give it. In terms of splitting the leaderboard, I don’t really have any concern with something like that. I’d rather something be “fair” than “popular”. But given the flags go back to being not triggered as soon as the game closes, I’d definitely same I’m on yours and Peri’s side in that it’s not worth the amount of effort that would have to be put in to make the logistics of the board happen because yes: that would be a nightmare for mods.