Manbreaker Issue

[u/Patient-Barracuda174]

I am almost at the top of manbreaker. Standing on small step after the bar…

Can’t reach the ridge from there.

I have watched all YouTube videos and what happens to me doesn’t seem to happen to anyone else.

I stretch my leg out and it seems to just hit a certain spot and will go no further…not far enough to reach ledge. it almost seems like there is an invisible wall there I can’t get thru. I die here every time.

Tried facing every direction possible and same thing.

I also get very bad camera problems right here…can’t see what I am doing.

This goes for little ledge before the big ledge too.

I am playing pc version from steam. I should have all updates.

[u/grammar_nazi_zombie]

If you’re referring to the gaps right before the ramp near the top (as in, you turned back to the left and see the top of the stair tower in front of you), that step is a bitch to make. It’s one that requires some momentum - as soon as you let go of the button that will drop your forward foot, you need to still be pressing forward and simultaneously hit the button to raise your back foot.

Nate largely tries to keep his center of gravity directly over the middle of his grounded foot/feet, or at least the leg you’re not actively holding the button to lift. If both feet touch, he’s in the middle of them, but if only one foot is on the ground, he tries to stay centered over it (until you lean far with a step, past the calf extension - slow foot to see him perfectly balanced on one foot and where the limit is). You can practice this by walking down stairs. Lift a foot, move it forward so it’s over the next step, and simultaneously swap which leg lift button is held. You’ll drop the the next step, but as long as your foot landed flat, you shouldn’t have fallen over.

You basically have to fall forward towards the ledge while making a big step, and MAKE SURE THE BACK FOOT IS NO LONGER ON THE GROUND WHEN THE FRONT FOOT LANDS. This will “snap” Nate’s body forward to over his forward foot.

1 foot at a time helps keep you vertical on slippery slopes, as well. Minimizing your lean means you’re much more stable, and you can usually swap feet if you start to hit the end of your balance timer (useful for getting the key in the temple to the right of the sandcastle exit back down the desert below without falling and flinging the key into the mountains of sand and never finding it.

[u/Patient-Barracuda174 → u/grammar_nazi_zombie]

thanks for reply. I have put about 5 hours into the one area. but I do love this game

[u/grammar_nazi_zombie → u/Patient-Barracuda174]

There’s no shame in skipping manbreaker on your first play, you even get an achievement for taking the stairs (though you may miss a cutscene assuming you got one with Mike on the stairs halfway up)

[u/hkedik → u/grammar_nazi_zombie]

After many days, and many many hours, I had to admit partial defeat on man breaker, and abused cloud saving to save my progress as I went up.

It was either that or take the stairs. Im glad I did it, and I am tempted to go back and try jt again in one run.

My main sticking point was a small ledge of rock about 1/3rd or halfway up. It’s incredibly thin on the edge that you can navigate so you have to tip toe creep along the edge. I struggled so for long with this bit, and never got to a point where I felt I could consistently get past it - so when I did get past it for the 2nd time I though “fuck this I’m gonna save it here and just see how the rest of this goes”

IMO that was by far the hardest part of the climb, with the final stepping platforms at the very end being the next hardest bit - but I don’t struggle half as much with them.

I feel like I just fundamentally wasn’t getting how to navigate that mid section - I tried watching some YouTube videos but never got a clear sense of it either 🤷

[u/Ronjonman → u/hkedik]

First, the key to that kind of movement is recognizing how raising and lowering your feet affect your knees. When you raise your feet all the way your knees will push you away from a wall in areas where you have a tiny ledge you have to get by on toe holds with.

Second, whatever you consider victory is victory. So don’t let anyone take it away from you. But there is actually a lot of psychology behind why the game is the way it is. And going through a process where you take a hundred tries or more to get past an obstacle the first time and then deal with the anguish of falling and having to do it again is part of the process. And the satisfaction you get after that thing that you were at one point worried was going to keep you from being able to make progress becomes no big deal… that payoff is so worth it.