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Autumn by Qunai

Bene 7 8 8 8
Bogey 9 9 8 8
Drew 10 9 9 8
eTux 8 8 8 7
Kristina 8 9 8 8
MichaelP 6 8 8 8
Neltharion 9 10 10 9
repley 9 9 6 8
Samu 5 8 7 8
Scottie 9 8 8 7
Shandroid 8 8 7 8
Treeble 6 7 7 7
 
release date: 19-Sep-2004
# of downloads: 69

average rating: 7.98
review count: 12
 
review this level

file size: 16.30 MB
file type: TR4
class: nc
 


author profile(s):
email(s):
ito@cadmac.co.jp

Reviewer's comments
"All the levels from this author have one trait in peculiar which is the insane difficulty. It's borderline sadistic, really, as it forces you to reload once every 2 seconds when going for the many, many pixel precise jumps. The very first walkthrough for this level has you jumping in place to glitch through a wall for a small medipack, I'm not sure that was at all necessary (some doors are triggered by pick-ups, but I think only the more "obvious" ones if that word holds any meaning here). As I went on I realised I could skip bits from the walkthrough, from the long winded secrets to the one jump even the level designer claimed to be a glitch technique. All the while you'll be doing jumps towards the side of slopes to slip-off and hopefully glitch Lara's animations so that instead of sliding down the slope behind it, she'll instead pull up on time, but also U-running jumps on triangular surfaces with late grabs and praying for the best. Ah, and yes, there's a jump switch which triggers a timed run for which you cannot afford a single mistake, and if you want all secrets you'll be doing it about four times. I only did it twice, and I still don't think I could explain how to do the jump over the toxic pit perfectly but it's the key to succeeding. Then as you cross the doors you need to do a running jump through a flame emitter and hope the exit door doesn't close on your face. I spent nearly three hours here (granted, made a stop for lunch, but still) and I don't feel accomplished that I hit the finish trigger with a burning Lara while eating up all medipacks. I'm happy I have now played and reviewed all 191 levels released in 2004, though. In the end while this might be a challenging experience, it lacks the one factor which is supposed to attract players: fun. Not that it matters to me, but by the designer's scoring system I finished with 23 points (wasted 41 points just keeping Lara alive down the long slide to the end). 55 minutes. 03/22" - Treeble (27-Mar-2022)
"By far my favourite level from this author. Gameplay consists on obtaining mushrooms and aspargus that count as points. The only thing that could have been avoided here and probably would have helped to the gameplay is that the timed run has to be repeated three times even tho it isn't that hard, still, having to use the mushrooms to health up while lara burning wasn't really enjoyable. Jumps were insane here, I saw very weird and unique jumps here, my favourite was the jump to get the shotgun shells. The enemies are as weird as the atmosphere, they are flying mushrooms or whatever that creatures were. There are three secrets here. The atmosphere is just astonishing, it's very surreal and the textures are very colorful, which helps. Well aside from that, lightning was pretty flat in some parts but texturing was amazing. I didn't found any stretched or wallpapered texture and the lightning in the caves was pretty good. Some shades would've worked here and maybe other colours to help the atmosphere. I don't know how many points I got coz I don't know how to count. Overall this was an amazing experience and highly suggested to the most experienced players and even if you are not really experienced, you should give it a try." - Neltharion (14-Feb-2021)
"How one says so nicely: The way is the aim. Should mean: Find the way, find all ways. Find them, all the same how, but find them. One can say nothing else to this level. Allowedly what we see here is not the quite high level architecture, what should not be called, however which was built the level now really badly. No, definitely not. He is absolutely above average. But this is not the main thing. Here it is a matter of knotting the fingers of the players, of letting overheat the brain bends and of letting die Lara thousand deaths. And one can take this literally. Lara has fallen so often in this level, this ordinarily lasts for 10 levels. Who has fun in millimeter jumps (Millimeter? This goes quite partially to the nanometer area!) and wants Lara sometimes to torment, who should strike here.
Result: Hardcoregamer, on into the battle!! All the others should rather left the fingers of it" - Scottie (03-Jun-2010)
"Feeling a bit guilty about using all the cheap shots at reviewing the Cain levels have offered till recently, I figured I'd even the score by knocking one of the seemingly permanent wishlist residents off the list. If you haven't been living under the proverbial TRLE rock for the last 8 years, you'll know that the word combination of Japanese and level is enough to strike fear into the most hardened players out there, and maybe ignite a spark of defiance in the eyes of the clinically insane. With attempting to play this, alas with the occasional peek into the walkthrough (of course with 'occasional' I mean 'more often than not'), I'd place myself in the gray zone in between the two. With this tactic, as mad as it may sound, I actually enjoyed myself for most part in this weird mushroom valley. When I reached the end my net gaming time totaled a little over a half an hour, but needless to say the actual time spent deconstructing the patterns of the devilish moves, pondering about what's possible and what's not required a longer time period. From a creativity point of view, I'd love to have given this level the maximum gameplay score possible, but a couple of other aspects that come into consideration made me downrate it as much as I have. One of those aspects was that about 90% of the actual difficulty is not constituted by the actual challenge the tasks present, as they are far from impossible (as at least 9 other people besides the author himself having finished this proves) but figuring out what the task is, let alone how it's done best, is what will wreck all your nerves in the process of playing this. One has to admit that most tasks here are far from obvious, not only because at times they'll require you to use engine bugs you'll have never heard of, but also because nothing ever sets them apart as such from the rest of the environment. And it may be just me, but I think it's one thing to present a challenging jump sequence and allow the player to get himself mad while figuring out how it's done and never making it obvious what the task at hand is. Of course my frustration was kept at a minimum as a result of consulting with the walkthrough, but another thing that took out 'fair' from fair game in this particular level was that some tasks were more masochistic than others by requiring you to set Lara on fire, deprive her of oxygen and pump her with the magic mushrooms till you're safe again and the necessity to repeat some of the tasks again and again (namely the timed run). It was easy to play along with the author's rules till they reared their ugly head. That said, I did get all 3 secrets, though getting the first two made my final slide towards the mushroom valley with the chef a little tight in the medi-mushroom department. With a seemingly endless litany of complaints one might wonder why the gameplay score is still so high? Well, there's nothing quite as exhilarating as doing the impossible, and no matter how many times you curse the author while you try - when you do succeed, you'll be playing this with a beaming smile till the next challenge, and the feeling of accomplishment will easily overcloud some of the aspects that might potentially leave you bitter. It did for me, at least. All that said - would I recommend this level to everyone? No. But if you do try it, I think you shouldn't feel guilty about playing it in a way you'll enjoy it more - whatever that means for you - figuring it all out for yourself, or following the suggestions the others have prepared for you." - eTux (13-Aug-2009)
"The first thing I noticed was the surreal almost alien, hallucinogenic ambiance. All those mushrooms... There is a walkthrough and I think it is very much needed but there are ways around some difficult jumps that you may see that are different from the walkthrough so don't be afraid to try something not spelled out. The author has used a number of difficult jumps from angled ledges and I found that the two step jump worked well in some instances. The design and gameplay could be considered clever if one were in a generous mood and if not, one could at least say it was an experience to be remembered. Pizza, anyone? That alone is clever....is it worth the difficulty and frustration? Perhaps. Try it and see." - Bene (31-Oct-2008)
"There is a very good reason few players have reviewed this level and I have avoided it for so long. I am far from an awesome raider, but I am pretty good at jumps so I decided to play this one. Well, it took me just about the whole day to complete and there would have been no way I could have finished it if it weren't for the wonderful walkthrough, even though according to the read me Qunai didn't want one made. This is not your leisurely level. It is a level that will astound you because you do jumps that you never thought were even possible. I have to applaud Qunai for designing these jumps in the first place. I wasn't overly fond of the atmosphere, but I enjoyed the textures and the objects. I am not sure if I will attempt CIL after this, but I may just try it some day if I really want another challenge." - Shandroid (30-Oct-2008)
"If you're looking for challenges this custom level surely offers them a lot. Gameplay consist of extremely hard jumping tasks that will really test your raiding skills. Some of the tasks were designed really well and they were fun to accomplish but majority of them were quite painful to clear. Even if you're an experienced player tasks will require more than 10 attempts and some tasks may require up to 50 attempts. Added to good raiding skills you also need a lot of luck because angle and timing of the jumps is so important that mere skills just aren't enough to perform the tasks. As a positive side this level looks rather nice including a huge area where's many big mushrooms and nicely used textures. Author has also made some nice custom objects like the walking mushroom enemies and static mushroom objects. Despite I hated some moments in this game due to degree of difficulty, overally I still liked it but I recommend it only for players who are extremely experienced raiders." - Samu (23-May-2008)
"Mushroom picking in the autumn. It sounds like a rather mundane affair, but this is certainly no picnic. As you might expect from a level by Qunai, the jumps range from very difficult to extremely hard, and as usual they are original and cleverly designed. Finding out where and how to jump is a challenge in itself. There are "red herrings", so it is sometimes not obvious what can be done and what cannot be done, or which approach is the proper one. In some cases, there really is more than one way to get to a certain location, though. On a few occasions, esotheric trick moves are required. The stuck thread came to rescue several times. The geometry is sometimes obscured by the texturing, which can make it harder to find the proper way, but is the movements themselves that constitute the main difficulty. However, the most intimidating part of the level is a fiendish timed run in which Lara catches fire. And you have to do it twice. There are some enemies, two of which are announced by their chinese characters. Of those, I doubt that one can reach the realm of the dragon by legitimate means, but one may as well let sleeping dragons lie. One will mostly meet flying and creeping bugs. The level is rather small and apart from the areas behind the timed runs, most of it is visible from the start. The challenge is to make your way to all parts of it. For the real experts, there is also the challenge to use as few medipacks as possible. The setting is a kind of quarry with mushrooms of all sizes. Some are really huge. There is also a giant green asparagus (or whatever it is) and some small ones to collect. I liked the setting, but "atmosphere" not the right word for level like this. In order to play this level, you either have to very experienced or very dogged, but if you enjoy mastering new tricky moves, it is certainly rewarding." - Bogey (01-Jul-2007)
"Well, we all know by now that Qunai is not building for the average raider, so Autumn, much like CIL, will remain an adventure only few will (and should) dare to try. Personally, I have to say I do like a challenge and I am perfectly willing to test my raiding skills on these levels, often learning a new variety of moves that allow you to do things you did not think were possible. To that extent, Autumn does provide a truly ingenious environment, built around a single large area which you explore, pretty much utilising each and every little corner. And yes, I did have plenty of fun doing that, was impressed with how the author came up with the design of the area and often felt this great sense of reward when mastering a tricky jump sequence (and in the end there are only 3-4 jumps which are truly very, very hard to do). It even has a few 'normal' elements with the funny mushroom enemies, some flying insects in the shark slot and tigers to kill. It is clever in the way that it gives you a specific pickup on purpose just before you need it and it has a suitably eclectic texturing throughout. So - why only a 6 in gameplay? Because while I enjoy a challenge, what I did not enjoy at all was the fact that on top of the anyway high level of difficulty you had to do this timed run 3-4 times and you had to set Lara on fire and manage this via gulping medipacks. Same with the swim to the secret. I thought this element of gameplay spoiled the 'fair' challenge and left a bad taste for me in the overall experience. Until reaching these parts I was positively energized to try and acquire as many points (ie health packs and secrets) as I could - but as of then, quite frankly, I couldn't care less anymore and just made sure I got through it somehow and reached the end." - MichaelP (03-Sep-2006)
"I've done a curved jump before but a curved run up on a small surface? Really, I learned that in this game. How about the bugs to...ehm, nevermind, just play it and see for yourself. There's always something new for someone in these Japanese levels. On the technical side: textures are alright, enemies are ample, sound is okay...but it's the gameplay that takes over! You might as well forget all the others. THE MOVES ARE THE PUZZLES! (I'd never be able to repeat at least three of them consistently). Autumn by Masashi Ito takes like FOREVER to finish! In Qunai's own thoughts (paraphrased a bit) --- He 'likes to build mountains and rocks to climb on and not parks to stroll at'. I mentioned in Eye of Eve and Meganebashi that the world out there seemed so dilapidated and forsaken, that seems to be the world that is real and ripe for raiding for these Japanese designers. In the real raiding world, not everything is served on a plate. The author gives you only a small leeway for progress. Finding that is the most difficult thing in this Japanese genre --- there's a thin line between the right and the wrong moves; you either miss out on the former (thinking it's impossible) OR, in an exercise of futility, desperately attempt the latter (thinking it could be done). And what you do and how you do it also spells the difference between being able to finish the game or not (think health management and compulsory damage). One thing certain though: they seem to have raised the bars of Tomb Raiding a notch higher. Their measurements are calculated and pixel precise; their knowledge of bugs of the TR engine is impeccable. This is one madness of a game a lot of people quit on. And for good measure, the author didn't write a walkthrough nor wish one to be written for the level. Result: not a few ignored this. That's a pity, really 'coz it's well worth your while. As of this writing, only Kristina and repley submitted their reviews. I give the props to both of them. Thank you for helping me a whole lot! Deem it an ego-trip of a design; it equally takes an ego-tripping player, experienced or otherwise, to take this on. It's a pride thing. If only to prove no level should be left unplayed and/or unbeaten. I'd give this the thumbs up just for beating a lot of players including myself to a pulp. Well, almost." - Drew Pizza (31-May-2005)
"We all know how difficult these Japanese levels are but this one except from having difficult jumps it also has tasks that require lose of health. The setting is very nice with colourful areas and mushrooms not only as objects but instead of the usual medipacks. It's not a long level it took me about forty minutes to finish it but once you know what to do and how to do it it can be done in twenty five to thirty minutes. I will not tell you that this isn't a frustrating level and I will not tell you that it's for all players. In order to play and be able to finish it you must be an experienced raider and familiar with this type of levels. Even then the tasks and jumps you have to complete will not be a piece of cake take the underwater secret for example where the player has to swim and at the same time renew Lara's health until she can reach the water surface. There is a wonderful gigantic mushroom full of water with a couple of textures missing though which holds one of the three secrets small mushrooms that will be your enemies as well as skeletons you must blast with the crossbow to get more health tigers and insects. At some point by performing a 'desperate' jump quite high a dragon appeared. The two timed runs in this level are really hard to do because apart from having to catch three doors open you have to watch your health too. The block that can be found in that area and has water behind wasn't useful to me I found it 'easier' to extinguish poor Lara at the right timed door and then sprint to go through the left. You better save the left timed door for last because that's where the level ends after collecting the third secret and there's a horizon problem there; the right door holds the second secret. The switch to make a block appear between fires in one of the secret areas wasn't necessary; I got the secret and ended up on the opposite side of the switch. With a careful jump you can land between the fires and perform a running jump starting from the alcove from where the block is supposed to appear and grab the ledge with the switch. Many might not like this because of the high level of difficulty it has but I did as I am a fan of Ito's levels and as crazy as it might sound I enjoy Japanese levels. They are one big challenge and offer a good way to test your abilities as a raider. I found all three secrets and even had medipacks left at the end. I would also like to thank repley and Halcyon for their help. Do try this level but ONLY if you have much patience and you are an experienced player." - Kristina (24-Jan-2005)
"Again a typical Japanese top level. It convinces by architecture and a characteristic which is unique. A challenge for each player! The difficulty and the puzzles consist of finding the way. Sounds simple but it is not! Jumps must be done which are rather difficult and appear impossible at first sight. You never know in this level: 'Is this jump possible or is it not'. Therefore the way is often not clear. You have to try much and often and need a lot of patience because few jumps couldn't be done in the first attempt. If you finally reach the jump switch which you can see from the beginning you face a rather tricky timed run. To solve the timed run there is a long way (very difficult) but also a 'short cut'. Of course I will not mention it here. Only one thing: it's brilliant! The attraction of this level is to reach all possible places and collecting all items. Often you see useful equipment (Shotgun Revolver and many Medipacks) but no way to get there. In addition there were 3 Secrets to find. Important above all was to find medipacks because the energy could become limited several times. Sometimes you must run ways while burning. Based on it the author inserted also a small 'game'. For Medipacks and Secrets points will be assigned and at the end of the level you can add these. The atmosphere of the level is well done. The area in which Lara is is beautiful and strange. The area is also not very huge so you can keep the overview easily. The Sound was not anything special and enemies were only a few (scorpions beetles skeletons) and actually presented no problem. The Gameplay is affected by the constant search for the way and by the very difficult jumps. Nevertheless it is a challenge and everyone who starts this level should know this. I had a lot of fun! Result: It's a level of the absolutely highest difficulty class. Therefore it is suitable only for the very experienced Raider which bring along also patience and a high frustration tolerance." - repley (13-Nov-2004)