Ace Attorney 86 Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 (edited) Contrast http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/square_small/8/87790/2560197-box_contrast.png Greetings again y'all. Contrast is a pretty fun and rather short arcade title by Compulsion Games that is a very easy 400 Gamerscore. It’s another puzzle platformer that centers around a gimmick, your character can shift between the real world and the shadow dimension. It’s a pretty cool idea and there are some creative uses of this power in the game, but nothing that really pushes the envelope. The puzzle design is decent. Except for a small part near the very end of the game, Compulsion Games has done a good job letting you know what exactly you can do with your powers and what you need to do to solve a puzzle. The visual style, music, story, and general ambience are all above average. The main criticism you'll read about this game is that it is short. I don’t think a game being short is necessarily a bad thing. In my book it’s better for a game to be a tight, enjoyable experience and wrap before you get tired of it instead of the developers trying to pad the play time with lazy and unwelcome crap like fetch quests, excessive backtracking, recycling old assets, time trials, etc. There are some weak spots to the game to be aware of. The platforming is certainly serviceable, and you have seen much worse but the controls can be a bit clunky. Remember that this game was also designed to be played with a mouse and keyboard for PC. This can be annoying when you are in a timed section and have to go fast but you don't have the really spot on precision with the controls that you would like. There are also some bad clipping issues, usually when you are holding a box, that will cause you to temporarily get stuck in walls. Luckily you can usually wiggle or dash your way out of being stuck and you don’t have to reset the game, but this can certainly be a pain. The game physics will also do weird things at times. Lastly the game is generous with checkpoints, but if you quit your game in the middle of a section, you’ll usually have to do the section over. At any rate, I think this game is worth $15, especially if you like quick and easy achievements. I hope the guide will be useful for you. All feedback is welcome. GOOD NEWS EVERYBODY! Power Pyx has been kind enough to create some video guides to help you out with the collectables and some of the secret achievements. I sure do appreciate him letting them become a part of the guide. __________________ Roadmap = Estimated achievement difficulty: 2/10 = Offline: 22 (400) = Online: 0 = Approximate amount of time to 400: 4-5 Hours +/- = Minimum number of playthroughs: 1 = Number of missable achievements: None, there are a lot of secret achievements that have to done in certain spots and collectable-related achievements, but there is a chapter select = Glitched achievements: There are reports that playing the demo first and satisfying some achievement requirements may cause these achievements not to unlock when you play the full game. Glitched achievements can be obtained on a new playthrough. However it's never a bad idea when you try a demo before buying a game to delete the demo data and clear your cache before buying and downloading the game. (Thanks to Kung Fu Man) = Does difficulty affect achievements: There is no difficulty setting = Do cheat codes disable achievements: There are currently no known cheat codes = Extra equipment needed: None! __________________ Walkthrough & Collectable Guide Besides collectables, you will also be finding bright little ball things called luminaries. You will need luminaries to power mechanical equipment at some points in order to advance. The good news is there is no achievement for collecting all the luminaries and the game has way more than what you actually need. Luminaries are usually in out of the way corners or way up high and needing a bit of platforming to reach. If you see a luminary, by all means go out of your way to grab it, but don't be paranoid if you think you may have missed one. Act I Collectables Video Guide: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M92GIpznaMI]Contrast - Act 1 - All Collectible Locations (Streets Sweeper Trophy / Achievement Guide) - YouTube[/ame] Collectable #1: Didi’s drawing of her family – found in Didi’s room where you start the game. Once you get outside of Didi’s room the game will give you a quick tutorial about shifting and will ask you to shift, do so to unlock; A New Dimension - 20 Unlocked when the player shifts for the first time. Collectable #2: Kat Knight Premiering at the Ghost Note – poster on a wall on the right side of the street after you get out of Didi’s block There are also few luminaries you can find in the streets now. When you pick up your second you’ll pop; Illuminated - 20 Unlocked after the player gets their second luminary. Collectable #3: Newspaper Article: Carmine Bruni Acquitted of Murder for Second Time - found on a table on the right side of the street, shortly after Collectable #2, before you enter the Ghost Note Cabaret Didi is going to want you to go into the Ghost Note Cabaret now. Don’t head in just yet as there’s two achievements we need to knock out real quick first; Go left down the street to the building with the “Dirty 24h” neon sign. Try to go in the door below the right side of the sign and the achievement will pop; Not that kind of Game - 10 Unlocked when the player tries to enter the XXX door. Achievement Video Guide: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGPjOiAI1bQ]Contrast - Not That Kind Of Game! Trophy / Achievement Guide - YouTube[/ame] Now keep going left down the street past the strip club until you see a ghostly ol’ timey record player in the middle of the road. Interact with it and large shadows of Didi and her mother will appear on the right wall...HOLY CRAP THAT IS ONE WELL ENDOWED SHADOW! Is that really necessary? I'm surprised the game didn't have to take a few seconds to load those things up. Anyway use these shadows to jump up to a nearby balcony on the right – remember to shift back and forth when you need to. There’s a luminary up here. Jump over to where there is a rooftop café and go through the open archway. Hit the power switch in here and the logo will appear and the achievement will pop; Heroes among us – 20 Unlocked when the player finds the hidden Extra Life 2012 Logo. Achievement Video Guide: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGzbENC8THw]Contrast - To the Heroes Among Us Trophy / Achievement Guide - YouTube[/ame] Ok now you can finally head into the Ghost Note. Be mindful of a few more collectables in here; Collectable #4: Department of Child Services Notice – found on the 2nd floor right side of the Ghost Note on a table (have to jump up here using the spotlight and the band's shadows) Collectable #5: Check from Johnny Fenris to Kat Knight – found under the staircase on the first floor left side of the Ghost Note, have to get to the 2nd floor via the band shadow puzzle first When you leave the Ghost Note you will receive; Room 529 - 20 Unlocked when the player leaves the Cabaret. Next you’ll be heading into a bar, there’s a few collectables to be found here. Collectable #6: World’s Fair Poster – found on a table on the left side of the stage area Collectable #7: Newspaper Article: The Amazing Vincenzo Hides His Secrets In Plain Sight – found on the coffee table of the bar's office (after shifting up the fire escape to the second floor) Edited January 31, 2014 by Ace Attorney 86 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Attorney 86 Posted November 17, 2013 Author Share Posted November 17, 2013 (edited) After you finish up in the bar you’ll head to the cinema but there is a large gap between the streets you’re going to need to get over. You just need to do some shift jumps here, which isn’t too bad. However fall in on purpose for; My God, It's Full Of Stars! - 10 Unlocked when the player falls into the void on the way to the Cinema. Now quickly pause dashboard out. When you continue your game you’ll start back right by the void. Hero cookie for you if you know what this achievement title is a reference too btw. Now get across properly this time (the game will forget about you not making it the first time) for; Now That's Thinking With Shadows - 10 Unlocked when the player clears the Void Jump on their first attempt. There are a few more collectables around and in the cinema; Collectable #8 Due to the change in management we are currently closed for business – found on the ticket booth window Collectable #9: Prison Release: Johnny A Fenris – found on the 2nd floor, left side of the cinema, you have to use the spotlight and the movie character cutout's shadows to get up here When you are tasked with playing the movie in the projection booth to stop the goons from beating Johnny, let them smack up Johnny for a while to receive a secret achievement. Also notice the bar of soap near the projection booth, cool little Easter Egg there. Someone at Compulsion Games has a sense of humor. Punching Bag - 10 Unlocked when the player lets the gangsters beat up Johnny. And after you have gotten the movie to play and you leave the cinema you get another achievement; You Broke My Finger! - 20 Unlocked when the player leaves the Cinema. The last stop for Act I is the Hotel Excelsior, there’s just one collectable in here; Collectable #10: Carmine’s Debt Book – found in the first floor of the lobby of the Hotel Excelsior, turn around when you start this section and it's sitting on a side table in the entrance hall on the left side If you haven’t missed any collectable thus far you will unlock; Streets Sweeper - 30 Unlocked after the player discovers all collectibles in Act I. And you don’t have much further to go to finish the act and unlock; A Carousel Of Broken Dreams - 20 Unlocked when the player completes Act I. __________________ Act II Collectables Video Guide: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yhc9gNpfkfc]Contrast - Act 2 - All Collectible Locations (GroundsKeeper Trophy / Achievement Guide) - YouTube[/ame] The next act starts like Act I did, in Didi’s room. Collectable #11: Picture of Johnny – found on the desk in Didi’s room where you start the chapter After you leave Didi’s room, be sure to look at the pictures on the landing before you go down the starts and do not skip the cutscene that plays when you look at them; The Family Life - 10 Unlocked when the player examines Didi's family pictures. Collectable #12: Eviction Notice – downstairs on the kitchen table, you have to look at it twice for you to pick it up, the first time you interact with it Didi will just talk about it Collectable #13: Letter from Kat to Child Services – on the coffee table of the living room Wow this is a real feel good game at the moment eh? Ok you’re ready to leave Didi’s house and proceed to the circus Collectable #14: Picture of Johnny’s Family – sitting on a crate behind the stage set up in the circus tent When you leave the circus tent you’ll get another achievement; This Circus Is A Disaster! - 20 Unlocked when the player goes through the circus tent toward the attractions. You’re going to spend all of Act II fixing the three broken attractions. You can tackle these in any order you like. The tangled blimp is to the right from the circus tent exit, the puppet show is straight ahead, and the pirate ship is to the left. Let’s start with the blimp. You’ll have to have collected a few luminaries to start up the carousel. This shouldn’t be a problem as there are tons of luminaries in Act II and you only need a handful of them. Once you start up the carousel, use the shadows it creates to make your way up the buildings. The Cyclops' Bottle - 10 Unlocked when the player finds the Cyclops' bottle in the Carousel area. The bottle you are looking for is on a rooftop café table when you are using the carousel shadows to get high enough to untangle the blimp. It’s right after the section where you have to shadow dash through the star shapes. Explore the roof area after this part and you’ll find it no problem. Achievement Video Guide: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igD3uYnPDMc]Contrast - The Cyclops' Bottle Trophy / Achievement Guide - YouTube[/ame] The spot where you untangle the blimp is right after you found the Cyclops bottle. With the first task done head to the puppet show next. The puppet show is a pretty fun platforming section consisting of three stories that you have to act out. There’s no collectables to worry about in or around this attraction, but there is another achievement you can get; Just Like Harry - 10 Unlocked when the player makes it over the crocodiles on their first attempt in the Shadow Theater. The crocodile section is early in the first story of the show. It’s not too bad to nail on the first try. Jump on the crocodile heads when their mouths are closed. Be aware that the heads will start to sink when you are on top of them. If you mess up you can dashboard out and try again. The puppet show is apparently generous with checkpoints. Edited December 4, 2013 by Ace Attorney 86 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Attorney 86 Posted November 17, 2013 Author Share Posted November 17, 2013 (edited) After you have finished the puppet show it’s time for the last attraction, the pirate ship. There’s a few collectables and another achievement to be found in here Collectable #15: The Pirate Ship needs maintenance note – attached to a lamp post to the left, right inside the entrance for the pirate ship attraction “Tortuga’s Revenge” No Backpack Bird Needed - 10 Unlocked when the player jumps into the treasure chest in the Pirate Ride. You gotta love all these references to other games the developers put in Act II. There are a bunch of treasure chests all throughout the pirate ship attraction, but the one you are looking for is the really huge one in the rollercoaster section. It’s in a corner by a ramp, you can’t miss it. Achievement Video Guide: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2ASCCjniZg]Contrast - No Backpack Bird Needed Trophy / Achievement Guide (Treasure Chest Location) - YouTube[/ame] Collectable #16. Pirate Ship Maintenance Book – sitting on a crate on the left side in the control room of the pirate ship attraction, right where you restart the generator. That was the last collectable of Act II. Hopefully you just popped; GroundsKeeper - 30 Unlocked when the player discovers all collectibles in Act II. Once you restart the generator the pirate ship will be fixed you will unlock another achievement and finish Act II. Handy Person – 20 Unlocked when the player repairs the three attractions. __________________ Act III Collectables Video Guide: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHkWPR8STmY]Contrast - Act 3 - All Collectible Locations (BookKeeper Trophy / Achievement Guide) - YouTube[/ame] A quick note about the collectables in this final Act. You will not find them in the same order as the collectibles screen has them listed. Don’t worry if you have a lot of gaps in there as you are finishing up the game. The first area you have to deal with is the Workshop. Collectable #16: Science Picture - inside the Workshop in the museum gallery area, (after you have finished the first 2 shadow puzzles), sitting on the floor in a left corner Collectable #17: Science Picture - this is a note taped to the right wall after you get to a balcony by jumping off a janitor’s shadow Collectable #18: Newspaper Article - Illusionist Cancels Shows: inside the clock face to the left after you have moved the solar system model up to the 2nd floor That will take care of the Workshop; How'd You Get In? - 20 Unlocked when the player completes the Workshop. Now on to the Lighthouse. There are a ton of collectables in this area. Collectable #19: Picture of a girl’s shadow: this is a poster on the wall inside the lighthouse found right after you put the 2nd box on a switch Collectable #20: Newspaper Article: Missing Illusionist… - Right after the finding the last picture, climb up the next flight of stairs and it's sitting on a crate on the right Collectable #21: Lecture by William James: Right by the newspaper article we just collected, it’s the left side of the room underneath some stairs seemingly leading to nowhere Collectable #22: Picture depicting the shadow dimension’s effect on the world – Sitting on a crate to the right after finishing the timed shutter puzzle (one floor up from the newspaper article and Lecture by William James) Collectable #23: Science Picture - on the next floor up after Collectable #22, on a workbench on the left Collectable #24: Picture projecting skeleton to a shadow – also on a workbench, immediately to the right of the science picture we just picked up Collectable #25: Picture of Vincenzo & Dawn: next floor up from Collectables #22 and #23, you have to climb up the shadow of some gears, sitting on a worktable This should be your last collectable and also explain a bit about who Dawn is and why she has all these crazy shadow powers. You've unlocked; BookKeeper - 30 Unlocked when the player discovers all collectibles in Act III. Also please note that the really only potentially annoying puzzle in the game is right after you find the last collectable at the top of the lighthouse. You first need to move leftmost spotlight outside the lighthouse up a bit so you can shift with the box that’s right by the spotlight control onto the wall. Leave the shadow box at the bottom of the beam. Now move the spotlight up to fling the box's shadow up to the next level where you can carry it on to the next part of the puzzle. The game gives you a lousy camera angle while you are doing this and the box doesn’t always want to behave. If you narrow the spotlight beam, this will improve the control somewhat (thanks to Fear of Falling for reminding me of this) but the game physics get a bit wonky here. Sometimes the box is really heavy, sometimes it’s too floaty, and sometimes the box will just teleport somewhere weird. After you finish the first part of this one, the rest isn’t too bad. Use the second spotlight to make yourself a shadow bridge on the rotating wall section to carry the box across and lastly put the box down on the switch over on the far right side. Now make your way up the pipe shadows. When you get to the top of the lighthouse use the control panel to unlock; Let There Be Light - 20 Unlocked when the player completes the Lighthouse. Now follow Didi backstage for the final cutscene to tie up all the loose ends. FIN - 30 Unlocks when the player completes the game. Edited December 4, 2013 by Ace Attorney 86 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fear Of Falling Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 The game gives you a lousy camera angle while you are doing this and the box doesn’t always want to behave. The game physics get a bit wonky here, sometimes the box is really heavy, sometimes it’s too floaty, and sometimes the box will just teleport somewhere weird. If you narrow the spotlight beam, you get much better control... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Attorney 86 Posted November 19, 2013 Author Share Posted November 19, 2013 (edited) I should mention that in the guide, thanks! the box in that last puzzle still acted different every time I tried to fling it up to the top. I hope the clipping issues while holding a box weren't as bad for other players. My friend had the same problems in his game. It wasn't game breakingly bad or anything but still. Edited November 19, 2013 by Ace Attorney 86 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fear Of Falling Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 I should mention that in the guide, thanks! the box in that last puzzle still acted different every time I tried to fling it up to the top. I hope the clipping issues while holding a box weren't as bad for other players. My friend had the same problems in his game. It wasn't game breakingly bad or anything but still. I was having control problems until I narrowed the beam. Then got it done next attempt... I was having more problems getting trapped in walls, boxes, the cymbal, etc. and at one point had to reboot the game. Other than that you have to hit the button to "run" in order to free yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kung Fu Man Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 (edited) Seems to be a bug with the XXX achievement, it won't pop after my first playthrough. It's the metal doors down the steps between it and the Ghost Note, right? EDIT: Got it to pop after going back and getting Room 529 (Missed it by playing the demo first). Edited November 19, 2013 by Kung Fu Man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Attorney 86 Posted November 21, 2013 Author Share Posted November 21, 2013 Thanks Kung Fu Man, credited you in the guide. Glad you were able to get it on your next playthrough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arsenic 17 Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Thanks for the walkthrough/guide. Ensured I only had to play once. Good descriptions. Sometimes they were a little confusing for collectibles, but nothing too bad. Dont even remember the ambiguities. Good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Attorney 86 Posted November 21, 2013 Author Share Posted November 21, 2013 Hey thanks Arsenic! that's really high praise coming from you as many great guides as you have written. Use your guides for Windows Phone games all the time. I really appreciate what you do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KFZ Scrubs Posted November 30, 2013 Share Posted November 30, 2013 Thanks for the guide. Finishing up after beating the game with the misc and collectables. I liked the concept... but like somebody said ina thread i saw on gamespot. The devs were rushed and everything was cut short unfortunately Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arsenic 17 Posted November 30, 2013 Share Posted November 30, 2013 Hey thanks Arsenic! that's really high praise coming from you as many great guides as you have written. Use your guides for Windows Phone games all the time. I really appreciate what you do cheers mate. You have returned the favor. Keep it up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upindat Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Thank you so much ACE for putting this together. Followed this step by step to complete this game. I would like to mention a glitch that I ran into on the top of the lighthouse. It would not let me focus on the stage. I went to the dashboard and it started me back at the start of the level. Went tru the whole level 3 times with the same result. So I shut the console off and cleared my cache. When I started the game up it had an update. When the game booted up it said the file was damaged and needed to start a new playtru.SUPER PISSED!!! But I shut the console off again, and restarted the game. It had the option to resume and I finished the game with no problems. I googled that problem and it seems to be lots of posts on the PS3 sites about the same issue. So if anybody runs into this, I would suggest shutting the console off and re booting the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Attorney 86 Posted January 14, 2014 Author Share Posted January 14, 2014 Sorry to hear about that. Hopefully the patch solved the prob. I hope this game sells well. It does seem the developers were rushed. I think it's a pretty good product in the end and hope they get to make more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadjoe3 Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Great guide, Ace Attorney. Thank you for ordering the achievements in the order that you unlock them... if only more guide writers did this; it's really helpful! Collectable #1: Didi’s drawing of her family – found in Didi’s room where you start the game Your first luminary is also in here. Just one minor thing to point out to anyone who might get a little confused like me - the first luminary is actually not in here. I know because I just got all 10 luminaries in Act 1 and didn't get anything in this room apart from the collectable - the first one is actually after you have pushed the cart and used the shadows to run up the wall to gain access to the main town area. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arsenic 17 Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Great guide, Ace Attorney. Thank you for ordering the achievements in the order that you unlock them... if only more guide writers did this; it's really helpful! Just one minor thing to point out to anyone who might get a little confused like me - the first luminary is actually not in here. I know because I just got all 10 luminaries in Act 1 and didn't get anything in this room apart from the collectable - the first one is actually after you have pushed the cart and used the shadows to run up the wall to gain access to the main town area. Thanks again! Yeah Thanks Ace, that definitely did help. I also try to order the achievements logically in all of my guides where it makes sense. But in the end, sometimes I just dont because that just makes more work for me when submitting the guide to the site, as it needs to in the same order to be published. Wish the site would go away from this, but I can see the extra time it might take for the Guide team, so I guess the current method will have to do. Another tip for the guide, when I first started the game I didnt know what the heck a Luminary was. I wasnt sure what to be looking for. Maybe describe that better at the beginning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Attorney 86 Posted January 31, 2014 Author Share Posted January 31, 2014 Sorry I done goofed there! thanks for pointing that out. Updated the guide accordingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimepunch Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Thank you so much for the guide, it really helped with the earlier collectibles and the achievements! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Attorney 86 Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 Glad it was useful, PowerPyx's videos show you a lot better than I can tell. Hope everyone enjoys and spreads the word about this game. Nice tight lil' experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N00delsuppe Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 I really enjoyed this game, and played through it twice. Once with my girlfriend on her account and then on mine. This guide was very helpful for finding the collectibles, thanks for making it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian 86W102 Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Thanks for the great guide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Attorney 86 Posted July 10, 2014 Author Share Posted July 10, 2014 Hey just glad it was useful for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macd Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Very useful guide. I was able to get 400G in 2 and a half hours or so. Annoyingly, if you hammer A on the title screen, you can end up restarting the game and it overwrites a save. Learned that the irritating way, thankfully didn't lose to much time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jroller1979 Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Thanks for the guide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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