Topic: Trials Rising - The first Switch game with analog trigger support?

@JaxonH Hopefully I will improve after playing the game some more, I haven't had that much time to play yet (to much work and other stuff). But now I've passed the first and second trial. And yeah, I will try using the sticks!

But even though I fail a lot, the main stages are a thrill to play through. Really inventive game design!

@Quarth
Ya, they get way better and cooler too. Like, WAY better and cooler.

Try to land with both wheels touching at once no matter what the slope or angle. Keep rear wheel in contact as much as possible. Lean into upward slopes and lean back going down steep hills. Try to get in a flow, which Trials 101 will teach you

@JaxonH Thanks for the advice! The thing is, I need to learn how to lean. Right now I lean too much, which makes me crash, especially when leaning back going downhill.

@Quarth
Ok, so basically, dont lean back every time you go downhill. Just when you're going down super steep hill, lean softly for a second and let off, just to ensure you dont flip forward. Try not leaning back at all though and feel out when you lose balance. Most times you wont need to lean back, and when you do, just softly and briefly.

Leaning forward up hills is much more needed because your rear tire is what's moving you, so its much easier to fall backward. Just lean into the hill right as you go up it and let off as you come off the top

Can someone tell me how to access the user made levels

@JaxonH Thanks man! Will try!

@Qu0te
Um... should be in the menu somewhere?

Nevermind, found it now. Just me not looking properly lol

I decided to proactively support RedLynx developers and bought a pack of acorns for cosmetics and gestures. I normally don’t partake in MTX but, this game is so good, and the extra purchases are so non intrusive, and I’m so pleased with the fact they brought this game to Switch and it’s actually a competent, playable version, and for a fair price not a penny more than other versions, I just had to support these guys with a little extra. Plus it gave me an excuse to deck out some cool costumes and gestures.

Very few games do I get this attached to. I certainly don’t mind showing my support for those rare gems that come along every now and then

Level 47. All bikes unlocked.

You've really played this game like crazy, @JaxonH ! Good job!

@Quarth
I can’t get enough.

This is now officially one of my favorite games of the generation. Absolutely top shelf. Akin to DKC Tropical Freeze With its precision mechanics and frame perfect design.

Pro Tip
Sign into Ubisoft Uplay and redeem some Uplay coins for the special Uplay sponsor. He gives some extra contracts that pay out really well and will help you level up quicker.

Absolutely loving the game, but I wish there was an option to customize the soundtrack a bit. Or at the very least a 'skip song' button.

There's plenty of gems in there, for sure; Stone Temple Pilots, Mötorhead, Trivium, Airbourne, In Flames, Billy Talent, Black Stone Cherry, Anthrax.... I even like the drum 'n bass and occasional hip-hop songs.

But there's this one song. Just the one and it's... so... so grating. I've half a mind to turn off the game whenever it comes on. I mean, I don't, but gosh, I don't wanna hear it anymore. That stupid One In A Million song by Ravi & The Rexers.

Just let me press skip and I'll be happy.

Just hit Level 89!!!

Extreme Tracks unlocked. Hoo-rah [beats chest]

This must have been patched since the Digital Foundry review. The first level looks WAY better in-game than it does in that video.

@JaxonH So, question: the game is telling me there are bikes I can unlock with... acorns... or something. Is that some sort of microtransaction currency, or can I earn that in-game?

@Ralizah
So, there is an in game currency (acorns). Here’s the thing though.

If you just play the game normally, you won’t need it. You can actually earn acorns in game but they’re pretty rare and it doesn’t give you many. The bikes that actually matter, that weren’t just added as fun gimmicks later to give people a reason to buy acorns (like the shopping cart and Alpaca, etc), are the Squid, Rhino, Mantis, Helium and the Donkey which is used for a lot of contracts. There’s also the Tandem made for 2 players, more for kicks than anything. The rest, ignore. You will get all of these bikes through normal play.

You start off with the Squid. It’s the worst bike... but that’s why you start out with it. Eventually you’ll unlock the Rhino, which has a lot of weight and is harder to tilt but has a lot of power. This bike is good for the races at the stadiums. You’ll want to save up the in game cash to buy Helium ASAP. This is a normal bicycle and it makes a lot of the trickier tracks feasible. I NEVER would have beaten Inferno V without the Helium. It’s not always the best choice because it’s so light weight and it’s not nearly as fast, but when you’re trying to pull off tricks for contracts or when you’re on the higher difficulty tracks, this is quite often going to be your go to bike. The Mantis will eventually be your go to motor bike. It’s the perfect balance of speed, weight and control.

Essentially, you’ll be sticking to the Mantis and Helium later in the game, with Rhino for stadium races and situational needs. You’ll never use the Squid again once you get better bikes unlocked, and Donkey is not something you choose unless a contract tasks you with completing a track using it (it’s like a motor scooter, is really hard to balance on and makes getting through tracks a lot more difficult).

The loot boxes you’ll earn in game, for the most part. You can buy acorns but it’s all customizable crap. I didn’t spend much time on it once I got a few good decals I liked. But the game is pretty generous with giving you the crates every time you level up, which you’re going to do like 100 times before you’re done playing the game. So you’re going to have tons of customizable stuff to work with just from playing.

The one thing I would say might be worth considering later are the track packs. They’re $5 each and add 5 tracks each, some from previous games and some new (each pack contains at least 1 new extreme track). It’s not really good value given the amazing value of the base game and season pass, but, if you fall in love with the game like I did and eventually complete all 120 tracks in the game (think there’s that many, maybe even more after accounting for the season pass), it’s just nice to know you have options to unlock 10 or 15 extra bonus tracks if desired. That said, there’s a track editor and people make tracks all the time. Find some good ones and you’ve got unlimited content. But, I tend to stick with the official tracks. Be aware user made tracks WILL show up on the map sometimes, but I think they have a special icon of a dude’s face with a wrench or something. They’ll look different from all the other ones. If you use the filter shown on the map (L or ZL?) you can toggle off custom tracks so you don’t see them, I believe.

As you play through the game you unlock stadium races. There are 3 races per stadium. You’ll need to beat each of them by coming in 4th out of 8, then 2nd out of 4, then 1st out of 2. After you beat the 3 races it will unlock a special challenge where you have to beat all 3 back to back to back... DONT WORRY ABOUT THAT. IT’S NOT REQUIRED TO PROGRESS. As long as you beat them individually that’s all you need to do. This was a huge hang up for me at launch because I thought you had to beat the special challenge at the end of each stadium, and it can get tough winning 3 back to back. So my advice is just move on after beating them individually.

@JaxonH Cool beans. I got the Gold Edition, which apparently unlocked... looks... the Alpaca and the Turtle. And a bunch of cosmetic stuff, lol.

Thanks for all the advice. It's good to know I can just play the game normally. And it didn't prompt me to connect to Uplay or whatever, which is a big plus as well.

The performance seems solid on Switch. And, like the one I played on the Xbox 360, levels restart instantaneously, which will tap into my inner perfectionist. No idea how it performs when docked, since I'll probably only ever play this is handheld mode.

@Ralizah You can unlock bikes & stuff fine without paying. Actually, you can only unlock the main bikes with playing, I believe. You can't pay to win. The bikes you can buy are novelty bikes, for extra fun. I dont care for them, much. I only bought DLC. If you play online races, you can level up way faster, especially if you place 1st & 2nd. I got the Mantis bike quicker, I think, buy doing online races. Mantis is the top bike for agility. In the in-game bike selector, all bikes to the right of the Mantis bike are novelties, not needed. The mantis is what you need for trickier levels.

If you haven't already, you'll want to use analog stick for throttle, which works VERY well - push right stick to the right for gas. You can also use game cube controller or other controllers for the analog trigger, but I never felt like I had a clear advantage with analog trigger over analog stick throttle.

@Ralizah
Ya, as mentioned, the GC controller is supported (pretty sure?), but I found the analog worked just fine.

In truth though, handheld performance hasn’t been perfect. It does stutter sometimes, and it’s annoying. It’s not enough to stop it from being fun, and given it’s the only trials game ever released on a handheld, there’s really no competition. Nobody makes Trials games like Redlynx. All those other knock off games are like buying a $0.99 shovelware and pretending you’re playing Mario. But ya, handheld does have some Framerate issues.

Docked, on the other hand, plays great. They’re both totally playable- don’t get me wrong. But docked I’ve found to be mostly perfect (mostly), while handheld struggles- though I should clarify, handheld mode is better in the base game. The season pass levels and extra tracks added via updates seem to struggle a bit more. Base game tracks were noticeably better. I still played mostly and handheld, but I do want to forewarn you just so you’re not taken by surprise if you do encounter some issues.

That gigatrack that was added via update (should prompt you to unlock it when you fire the game up) is dope! It’s not particularly hard, but it’s like a 10 minute long course, with fire, ice, desert, all kinds of environments. I had a big smile plastered across my face when I was playing it just now (they must’ve added it in an update since the last time I played).

Trials Rising is so much better than previous Trials games. The course design is unparalleled. I still have fun with the older ones but... you’ll see. There’s tracks in this game that are just mind blowing.

@JaxonH Thanks for the warning. So far, handheld and docked play seem comparable: mostly solid 30fps with little hitches when you finish a race, or when visual effects seem especially intense. Doesn't surprise me the DLC and post-game content performs worse: in Ys VIII, performance was basically fine until the stuff that was originally added in the PS4 version near the end started tanking the framerate, too.

It's too bad there's no video recording function: I just got the gold medal in that movie studio stage, and I finished the last few second of the stage flipped over and using the back tires to propel me to the other side of the finish line before my character died.

I don't like the music, though. I think I'll put on my own playlist when playing this.

Oh, and, so far, the Alpaca bike you get with the Gold edition is worse than the Squid for normal stages.