What do you think about using talismans to make packs easier?

[WillLem]

I definitely support the idea of using talismans to add extra challenge to a level whilst also making it not necessary to repeat a level in the same pack.

I'd probably count myself amongst the more casual players of Lemmings - I can solve a massively difficult puzzle if I put my mind to it, but I rarely feel the tendency to do so and more often prefer levels/challenges that let me create pretty much my own solution.

That said, it really does depend on the difficulty of the puzzle - I love original Lemmings for its general open-endedness and emphasis on execution as well as puzzle solving, whereas I love the Oh No! levels because they made Lemmings much more of a puzzle game whilst still being fairly accessible to more casual players; despite its infamous difficulty spike at the beginning of Crazy, it manages to draw the player in gradually from that point on, and never presents anything that feels totally unsolvable.

So, I do like more challenging puzzles, but if a level presents me with the opportunity to find my own solution as well as the intended one, so much the better! That way, I can enjoy it no matter what mood I'm in. Talismans achieve this perfectly.

I also think that this plays into the "creating-good-easy-levels-actually-isn't-that-easy" thing: if an author has managed the considerable task of making an entire pack of high-quality, enjoyable easy levels (which in itself is an admirable feat), to then boost the pack by adding relevant Talismans to challenge the less casual/more able/more patient/haplessly completionist (delete as appropriate!) players makes it an ideal pack, and one I'd be way more likely to take an active interest in.

[Dullstar]

The thing that I don't like about talismans in general is that you have to devote some memory to just remember what the requirements are. This isn't a problem with repeat levels. On the other hand, talismans do allow for skill subset solutions in a slightly more elegant way than repeat levels do. A lot of people don't like the repeat levels, but I think they can be interesting if done right. But I think they're more interesting when you take an older level and go about it in a fundamentally different way, rather than just using a subset of the skills allowed by the original - basically, the repeat level's solution shouldn't be a valid solution for the original.

My preferred use of talismans is as an option for patching unintended, but worth keeping solutions that save skills - by promoting those solutions to talismans, they feel more deliberate instead of feeling like an oversight.