Not-so-obvious puzzle solutions

Chyron8472

I replayed SOMI:SE last weekend and at one point it got me thinking. I know it's the mark of a good adventure game wherein there are puzzles that aren't obvious, but it made me wonder what would clue somone into using yellow flower petals on the meat, other than the tradition of using everything on everything else. Other than Otis saying that the flowers are illegal to pick, there's no indication of their intended use. If I recall correctly, my parents had Prodigy at the time that I first played SoMI, so I could go online and ask the gaming forums there what I should do.

How do you remember originally solving that one or what other MI puzzles do you recall wondering about how someone is supposed to figure out the answer? (besides the monkey-wrench puzzle in MI2.)

ATMachine

Otis calls the flowers "Caniche Endormi" -- in other words, "sleeping dog" flowers. Which is a hint how they're supposed to be used, but it still doesn't suggest putting the flowers on the meat.

plrichard

Back in the day when I first played SoMI, I used to always get up to the point where I needed to get rid of the dogs. I would finish both of the other two trials and could never get that one. Finally, when my parents got the internet, I was able to look up what to do.


And I still don't know how I was supposed to figure that out.

Avistew

I clearly remember the flowers being called "sleeping poodle", so I never thought of it as a tricky puzzle.
Although if I go buy what ATM says, in English their name is French, making it harder to get.

Fury

I figured it out by randomly using items together.

It's not that good of a puzzle.

PecanBlue

The red herring had me stumped for a while because I thought since it was a red herring there was no way to actually get it and was just there to derail me.

zhebrica

I was too young to understand the "caniche endormi" bit the first time I played. I didn't have the internet either, so I got it by randomly combining items.

Ezny

During my very first playthrough of MI the people I were playing with and I kept trying to put the meat and the flower into the chef's bubbling pot. For a few days even, then we borrowed the strategy guide from a friend.

So, something was pointing us in the right direction, I wanna say there's a mention of the flower being poisonous or something but I can't remember exactly... Maybe there was a translation in the description or something...

In every playthrough since I've remembered that solution so I never really think about it anymore.

Jenny

Hmm, I'm trying to remember what I first thought. I was really young at the time so I definitely didn't get it from the name.

I believe I thought that things you picked in the forest were inherently poisonous (we had hedges in our backyard with poisonous berries) so I assumed that the flowers I picked in the Melee forest were poisonous too. So I tried to get the dogs to eat it, and when they didn't the meat was right there, so why not combine them?

I remember being surprised and relieved that the dogs were only sleeping.

Edit: An afterthought, maybe some people thought about breading meat (like with porkchops?) and so the flower (flour) was put on the meat as a seasoning?

Indrid Cold

I didn't know about the french until you mentioned it.
I think the way I figured it out at first was just trying to see what I could put in the pot.

floweroftheforest

It was my very first adventure game and probably one of my very first puzzle solving.
I remember being frustrated that giving the dogs meat alone didn't work and having read the manual to try anything with everything I didn't think it was far from the realms of possibility that an actual flower or herb could be used to doctor the meat.
Flowers of the forrest so to speak.:D

Epic Kiwi

I had tried giving the meat to the dogs and they just ate it, so I figured I must need to do something to the meat before giving it to them. After that it was just trial and error.

Neikron

Jade Zealot wrote: »

I had tried giving the meat to the dogs and they just ate it, so I figured I must need to do something to the meat before giving it to them. After that it was just trial and error.

Same for me. Worse thing about back then is I did not have the internet, so it was trial and error. I'd go to places I thought there may be some sleeping potion or something. (voodoo lady place was a definite candidate) Eventually this lead to the forest somehow, and I used it with the meat. I remember being stuck at several parts for days, but I was a lot more patient, oddly enough, when I was a kid. Now with the internet, I have lost all patience for most anything.

Olaus Petrus

It was in the early 90's when I first completed the game, so I don't remember if I picked up all hints about the flowers or not. But the puzzle solution has always seemed logical to me, because you normally use herbs to spice up the meat and extremely bright yellow colour can mean that something isn't good to eat. Poisonous things are often quite bright coloured. For example buttercups are bright yellow and poisonous flowers.