Initially, I was completely enamored by the gameplay and addicted to the loop. I repeatedly returned to the first trail, shaving seconds from my splits until I completed my run in under 90 seconds and made it into the top 1% on the leaderboard; it was the hardest I fell for a game since Celeste, and I think that's because it strikes the same balance between challenge and gratification.
However, as I progressed, the sheen lost some of its luster. When the levels got longer and more complicated, it was a little too demanding to juggle unlocking the mountains and returning to courses to improve my times. I could only commit so much to memory. This forced me to focus on one trail at a time, which made the experience a little more rote and the punishment started to outweigh the reward. I don't think that sentiment is unique, either, since nearly 35,000 players are listed on the leaderboards for the first trail while only 1560 finished the last (so while I had a higher lower ordinal ranking on Mount Riley than Graterhorn, I had to settle for the top 9% on the last course). It's unfortunate that so many people fell off, because the trail scenery is routinely exceptional and shortcuts a blast.
Under different personal and global circumstances--where I still traveled a lot--, I could imagine this being an evergreen title for me. As is, I enjoyed my time with it, but may or may not revisit regularly (who knows)... it's it hit either way though.
- Logged somewhere between 30 and 35 hours on Nintendo Switch. Completed 64% of the game, including unlocking all trails and all bikes. Fine: ★★★★★
However, as I progressed, the sheen lost some of its luster. When the levels got longer and more complicated, it was a little too demanding to juggle unlocking the mountains and returning to courses to improve my times. I could only commit so much to memory. This forced me to focus on one trail at a time, which made the experience a little more rote and the punishment started to outweigh the reward. I don't think that sentiment is unique, either, since nearly 35,000 players are listed on the leaderboards for the first trail while only 1560 finished the last (so while I had a higher lower ordinal ranking on Mount Riley than Graterhorn, I had to settle for the top 9% on the last course). It's unfortunate that so many people fell off, because the trail scenery is routinely exceptional and shortcuts a blast.
Under different personal and global circumstances--where I still traveled a lot--, I could imagine this being an evergreen title for me. As is, I enjoyed my time with it, but may or may not revisit regularly (who knows)... it's it hit either way though.
- Logged somewhere between 30 and 35 hours on Nintendo Switch. Completed 64% of the game, including unlocking all trails and all bikes. Fine: ★★★★★