r/Cairn_Game

I'm a huge fan of climbing and parkour games and have finished a ton of them. I randomly stumbled upon Cairn while looking for something new on Steam. It looked really interesting, so I bought it.

I’ve played for 2 hours now. It’s super fun and beautiful, but here comes my biggest issue.. what is up with these controls??

I saw in the settings that you can control each limb individually, so I mapped them to my rear buttons. But then I found out you have to manually click R1 every single time you want to move something using the rear buttons.

What is that layout? Who actually thought of this?? Is there something i can about it cause man is it just making the game frustrating and NOT in a good way. :/

I understand the reason to why she needed to die at the end of the game + all the signs leading up to her death when choosing to continue on with the summit. But as a player / someone experiencing this story it leaves such a bitter taste in my mouth to end it like that. I’m kind of frustrated with ending this game like that even if I know narratively that’s what it was leading to.

Edit: Some people are making comparisons to other video games with sad/ tragic endings.

Which I have all enjoyed (I won’t specifically name said games because it might spoil them for you by even saying they do have tragic endings).

But personally I just don’t enjoy either ending both of them feel like it’s not a good resolution to the story they were building. Again I understand why they went in both directions but simply put I’m not a fan of the ending. Even when I do play tragic games that make you put a lot of effort in just to pull the wool over your eyes I felt more accomplished in the end then this game.

If you liked the game I’m happy for you but I unfortunately didn’t like the end.

I don't know who needs to see this, but I wish I did lol

I’m playing on alpinist, but I don’t use pitons. I just don’t wanna have to keep track of that shit to be honest with you, it’s out of laziness lol. There’s been a couple times that I’ve gotten pretty frustrated at the game and then I have to remind myself that im making it way more difficult than its intended to be for a first timer lmao

After my first ascent I didn't want to do free solo yet, so I started a save file in alpinist but without pitons, like a training ascent. Aaand then I couldn't resist the temptation to open a free solo save file too, thinking "I'll progress them in parallel, with the alpinist one showing me which way is safe". But now I made waaaay more progress on the free solo one cause it's so much more fun, got no falls and I'm almost at the Child XD
I know the next sections are much more difficult, I dread the Palace of Winds and the Peril especially. Any tips to make sure I get to the top?

So far I've activated hold feedback and limb highlighting. On my first ascent I didn't have them, and way too often my fall would result from me being way too confident in a hold I thought was good, or me thinking I'm moving one limb when it's actually another. But that's for the settings. What about technique, mindset, resource management?

Iv completed both endings, and I get the overall vibe that she’s depressed, I’m not sure why exactly (I guess there’s not always a reason, but she is a successful alpinist, has a girlfriend, a home, etc) maybe she never felt she achieved enough or pushed herself far enough but reaching that goal would be impossible, because you’d end up dying (as we can assume in the summit ending). She wouldn’t be the only athlete who ends up dying pushing themselves too far to be the best.

I think in the summit ending, she maybe knew it’d be a one way trip..although there was no communication with her family, no note, she tried to with the radio but couldn’t find the words but it didn’t seem like a “goodbye” thing. So I’m not sure.

And in the home ending she seems pretty lost and miserable at the end. Despite being with family + friends.

If this is true I wonder what drives her depression and how Naomi doesn’t seem to notice. Or anyone, actually.

Maybe I’m looking too deep into the story here, it’s a climbing game, not a narrative one I suppose.

I rarely express my opinions on games, but I wanted to make an exception with this one, as I want to show my appreciation, potentially even influence a new person to play the game. I will write this without spoilers, so don't worry, nothing will be revealed.

I have just finished (like 15 mins ago) my first summit, with a slightly embarrasing 10 deaths, but I am happy nonetheless. What I personally really like about this game is it's balance. It's not just about rock-climbing (kinda like Peak, i know there is resources but let's face it they are not that important), nor is it just about resource management (only game I can think of is Minecraft), but it also isn't just about following a story (sorry no reference here). The insane balance of everything this game offers is what makes it such a great title to me. It is really tough to achieve that balance, and I think a huge round of applause is in order (yes I was standing and applauding during the credits and I am not ashamed).

What I think is also worth mentioning is the artistic element of the game. This includes, though not only, the story telling + writing, visual design and audio design. I won't comment on the story (no spoilers), but the visuals and audio of this game were nothing short of incredible. Sure, you could make the game hyperrealistic with design, but let's face it, would it have such an effect if it did? Personally I do not believe so. The devs must've been on some pretty good lizards during the making, because personally I think the artistry of this game could not have gotten better.

Lastly, I want to stop at the message of the game. Again, NO SPOILERS. Personally this one hit home, I really struggled (and still do) with this personally, and I think the events of the game including the ending open my eyes a bit and showed me other different perspectives. And I think that's what brilliant games are about, at least for me, is leaving a lasting impact, something I can learn and take away from. In some ways, I guess I am just like Aava, and that generates the meaning for me.

Overall, not only do I think this game is a brilliant masterpiece in terms of videogame craft, but also the meaning and message of it. Definitely would recommend literally anyone to play, it was a truly life-changing experience for me (not an over exaggeration), and I would recommend that for anyone.

No, nothing to do with Voldemort.

If anyone doesn't think Aava has demons she is dealing with, and that is why we get the endings we do go watch The Dark Wizard. I really believe she can be compared to Dean Potter pretty on par.

I'm sure this has been asked before on here, but I'm new here. How many of y'all are also climbers in real life? I feel like most climbers get it or at least know of someone like Aava.

I love this game so much and can't wait for the DLC this summer. In the meantime, I bought this cairn sculpture and put it in my yard, so I can remind myself every day of my journeys to Kami.

https://preview.redd.it/d596y62igw5h1.jpg?width=1146&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2dd5c3254e447d4b2e055c6c5c2f2b65ba666902

I was hoping for earlier in the summer, but I'd rather they take all the time they need.

Hello everyone.
This game is unfortunately unplayable for me ): I have tried lowering the graphics to low, lowering the fps, updating drivers, verifying game files on steam, using vulkan or d3d12 on the launch option, refreshing my PC each time I play the game with nothing running in the background. nvidia 2060rtx..anyone else getting constant crashing? I really want to play this game, it's beautiful and challenging but I can't make progress with it crashing every 5+ mins and putting me back in progress each time ):
Thank you.

I'm constantly fighting the controls because it constantly selects the worst limb to move at the worst possible time. I just want it go to like left arm > right arm> left leg > right leg in that order forever. I'm sure they worked hard on the auto selection weight system, golf clap from me.

is there away to make limbs move the same way ?

Like the rave cave which i dont think has any additional story, or do you only go for the ones npc quests and such