Infinite time is just a glitch away
ReCore‘s optional dungeons are the purest parts of the game. They’re self-contained challenges that put an emphasis on platforming, combat, or exploration. These are the three core tenets of the whole game, but these dungeons’ lean nature means that they skirt a lot of the problems that plague the rest of it. At least, they do when you mentally isolate them from the rest of ReCore.
What’s so insidious about the dungeons is that they’re fairly easy to beat outright. But, every one of them comes with a set of extra constraints that can make it more challenging: Shoot eight switches, find the hidden key, and beat the time limit. On their own, none of these are an especially tough task.
However, to truly best the dungeon and earn all the rewards, players need to complete all three on a single run. This can prove to be exceptionally difficult at times. The switches and the key are easy enough, but the time limit makes those two incredibly inconvenient when you’re trying to go as quickly as possible.
ReCore has a glitch that renders the time constraint null, effectively removing all of the stress that comes with trying to perfect these dungeons. Sure, it’s antithetical to what the game stands for. But, the way it works is so emblematic of how sloppy ReCore can be sometimes. The way it’s activated is by visiting a dungeon that’s not even supposed to be in the game.
YouTube user Studio 308 Games posted the above-embedded video that lays out everything related to the glitch. It requires fast travelling to The Cradle and going to the western section that is thought to be unplayable without the missing fifth robot. With some crafty (but still simple) platforming around the area’s outer limits, it’s possible to jump and have the flier bot carry Joule to a newly-accessible safe spot.
After that, there’s some easy traversal (watch the video for specifics) until coming across a fast travel station. Once that’s activated, there’s no need to perform all those steps ever again. Also, hidden in this area are four cell bots that open a dungeon called Quicksand Rally. This dungeon seems as if it was supposed to be cut from ReCore, but it was instead made inaccessible. Players quickly found a work-around.
In Quicksand Rally, there’s a wall at the first turn that Joule can jump through, putting her outside of the map. Leaping off of this sends her plummeting into the abyss. While the screen fades to black, pull up the inventory screen and warp her back to her home crawler. This keeps the dungeon objectives activated while Joule is no longer in the dungeon.
From there, fast travel to any other dungeons and complete them. The clock will appear as if it ran out, but that’s not how ReCore registers it. The loot room opens opens up the reward for coming in under time, along with any other objectives that were fulfilled. It’s a simple way to circumvent some of ReCore‘s greatest challenges.
Obviously, this isn’t the correct way to play ReCore. It will sap a lot of the sense of achievement out of besting these grueling dungeons. But, it’s a glitch that’s made possible by going to a large part of the world that wasn’t even supposed to be included in the game. That’s crazy. If the developers are content to take shortcuts, maybe the players should be too.
