In Ripple and Frawg: The Seasonal Song, one of our core gameplay mechanics is having the players change the season at the end of a level to dramatically alter their environment for a completely new level. However, making it snow or bringing out the flowers for spring is not simply just a cutscene. The team decided it would be more engaging and intuitive to have a minigame to make such a miracle happen.
The minigame for the season change is inspired by Link’s wolf howling segment in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. It features a square musical grid much like Zelda’s that has the player play their respective notes from left to right. A main difference between the two is that Ripple and Frawg show all the notes that need to be played before giving the player a chance to start. This is a useful way to prepare them for the minigame after the change of pace in gameplay and reduces the need for a tutorial. Another difference is how cooperative the minigame is: Ripple drums the middle notes, while Frawg is in charge of the bottom and top notes with her flute.
In line with our casual pillar, Frawg players can play and hold the notes well before they’re required to be played. For Ripple, on the other hand, players will need to be a bit more precise (since a drum cannot hold notes like a flute), but we are also very generous on the margin of error. The season change is triggered regardless of how well the player performed, telling them “Good try” even if they missed all the notes, as we imagine our younger audiences might find that having to perform well in these segments could prove challenging or frustrating. We also mimicked Twilight Princess in the sense that there is no background music while the notes are being played, and when the song finishes, it plays the actual melody while panning up for the season change.
Tying back to our casual pillar, this minigame segment is also possible to play solo. Our solo player control scheme allows both instruments to be played with the same controller, and without having to switch characters. Needing a second player for the minigame would effectively bar any single players from experiencing this minigame segment.
In summary, the season change minigame has been crafted with fun being the primary goal. Whether you’re with a friend or by yourself, season changing will be much more than a simple transition. We want all players to feel the same joy when playing these totems.
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