#carousel level

[millenniumproductions]

Ever since I saw the "Carousel" level from the HW2 Demo Dawko played, I wondered why Steel Wool made MOONDROP of all the animatronics to be the threat. So... I've come up with a theory.

What if the Carousel was meant to be a part of the "Museum" attraction that Fazbear was going to do?

I mean, it has almost all of the past animatronics on it.

Did Moondrop become attached to it and didn't want to let anyone else on it?

Because if the level was anything to go by, maybe Moondrop had accidentally hurt one of the workers because he thought they were trying to break it instead of fixing it?

[lightandfellowship]

Personally, I feel the KH games that released after KH2 deserve a bit more credit for making valiant (though flawed) attempts at re-inserting some of KH1's level design philosophy back into the series after KH2 made the (in my opinion, somewhat misguided) decision to mostly discard platforming + exploration + puzzle solving from its gameplay loop.

I can see what they were going for, though. They were trying to make the level design more "user and combat friendly" since KH1's level design was criticized for being confusing and labyrinthian, and its platforming was criticized for being janky. Likewise the choice to make the maps compact and detailed with lots of puzzles and secrets sometimes resulted in combat becoming obstructed due to the camera getting blocked by objects or your Keyblade bouncing off of furniture/walls.

But I think KH2's desire to create maps that were easier to traverse and fight in led to it overcorrecting by a LOT. The overall level design philosophy became characterized by these big, wide open, (mostly) empty, flat, and horizontal rooms and hallways arranged in a linear fashion that were primarily intended as battle arenas first and foremost. The focus on combat as the most important part of the gameplay loop then resulted in the other sub-facets of KH1's gameplay—the platforming, the puzzles, the exploration, and the environmental interactivity—getting discarded for the most part. Which, yeah, these spacious mostly empty rooms are great for having big, flashy fights in! But that's kinda where the advantages of such rooms end. And the KH series isn't just an action game, right, it's an RPG too! But some of those more RPG-like elements fell to the wayside in pursuit of streamlining everything. Which, streamlining isn't inherently a bad thing, but did the level design really need to be streamlined by this much?

It seems like the KH2 devs realized that they overcorrected though, since KH2FM tried to bandaid fix the issue after the fact with the addition of the Cavern of Remembrance, whose platforming challenges in my opinion represent what the entire game's level design should have been like from the get-go (though would probably need to be toned down to maintain the difficulty spike of CoR), and the Puzzle Pieces, which can't be reached without unlocking and leveling up certain Drive Form-gated movement abilities that in vanilla KH2 weren't nearly as useful/required as the movement abilities from KH1.

There's a way to balance combat and platforming + exploration + puzzle-solving without excising complex and interactive level design, and I think KH games post-KH2 at least tried to improve the level design in various ways, with varying amounts of success given limited hardware at times. And like. As a platforming + exploration + puzzle enjoyer myself. I'm really glad that they did, and continue to do so, and I hope that they manage to strike that perfect balance one day.

[thekidsarentalright]

im redecorating my room and wanted to show off my lil fob shrine :-3 planning on putting in shelves on either side of the poster to display vinyls but. still excited about how it’s looking hehe

[thegreatyin]

the scoundrel is currently getting strangled by their best worstie but that's not nearly as important as the epic question of "can the scientist pass this 32% luck check?"

let's find out!

[suntimeswolliw]

ok im done with sun now its time for moon to invade my brain

[la-cocotte-de-paris]

Back when I looked like the modernised version of my url

[televinita]

"the bug carousel at the Bronx Zoo!"

did you mean: NIGHTMARE FUEL

[zeebreezin]

I think it’s funny how, when I first starting the expedition stuff in order to progress MYN and I hated it so much, I was really worried that a lot of the activities would be that bad.

I can say now that I’ve gotten further, naw, Expeditions just seem to be the worst for no good reason.

[pkmn-smashorpass]

Totally valid

[koritea]

Moon in hw2: "what makes you so special?"

Me, panic spinning trying to find him: "SPITE AND FEAR, BITCH. GET OVER HERE."

[widowshill]

getting on a train after hell plane ride … bliss.

[rhellireda]

depression so bad I’m considering reading the bell jar

[scrawlingskribbles]

*heaves a very put-upon sigh & pencils "suddenly chokeslammed by a decade-old small-interest that has decided to become a Big InterestTM out of the blue in March 2025" into my personal Unexpected Bingo Card for the year*

[suntimeswolliw]

the one thing about animating is that you have to listen to the same thing SO MANY TIMES that it sounds weird anywhere else

[offthewall1979]

also it's insane that Carousel was originally in Human Nature's place on Thriller. imagine the letdown of Billie Jean -> CAROUSEL -> P.Y.T.

[rayofmisfortune]

I AM PLAYING THE HELL OUT OF IT WHEN IT COMES OUT

HEY GUYS GUESS WHO'S DELUSIONAL