I'm having a frustrating time on the red lava level in the sewers on Fez. It may be that my platforming skills are not up to par, but are there any suggestions as to how to get through it easier?
Fez – Advice on the Red Lava Level
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Related Solutions
There is one room in particular that provides what you're looking for. You don't need to copy NPC dialog, though part of the fun is copying the other wall-writings for later consideration. So there is no single intended method (I imagine most people will look online)—your method could work, though it sounds frustrating.
Want a hint for that room's location?
It's off of the waterfall room.
Want an even bigger hint?
A pillar in the room links the code to an English pangram (sentence containing every letter of the alphabet).
And to give it away:
In the tree room above the waterfall, a fox jumps over a dog next to this pillar, which reads all the way around: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." (image)
One of the coolest parts of playing Fez has been piecing together a story based purely on engravings and a smattering of owl and Dot sayings.
The only bit in the history you've outlined that I would take issue with is the bit where you say the big heads are ancestors to Gomez's people. And by big heads, I mean the ones running the successful stargate. I think the bigheads are the latest line in this string of creatures having heads large enough to contain information about the third dimension without shattering the hexahedron. They also all wear squares, or 2D cubes, on headbands almost as a religious or tribal identification.
I can't tell if the ruined city is in the past, or if it's more like ruins that the big heads discovered, or if it was a failed project that they relocated. There is some amount of time and space not acting as expected, beyond the established 3D gimmick, as when you enter the hut in the forest that exits in the mausoleum, or the underground place that is being rendered out of glitches.
Two tiny details that I thought were incredible: the tribal Gomezes live in 2 dimensional huts which they see with 1 dimensional eyes. They see in 2 dimensions because that's how many there are, while Gomez and the big heads have 2 eyes and can see in three dimensions, and the space squid have 3 eyes which presumably means they can see in four dimensions. This implies that the world was evolving as the creatures were.
Two final thoughts:
I think there might have been a second alien race or something. Throughout the game are skulls with three eyes, but laid out on a line, not in a triangular shape like the space squid have.
I'm not entirely sure why the one-eyes started worshipping owls, but in UFO lore, owls and aliens (in particular grays) are closely related. I have a friend who swears up and down he was visited by a talking owl as a kid, and the owl told him about the relationship between humans and aliens. It's as if, in the game, owls can straddle all the possible worlds because they can fly and see all the dimensions.
Best Answer
The rising lava room's two tricky parts are the turning platforms and the final gauntlet.
On the turning platforms, jump when the platforms are horizontal and pull yourself up fast if you catch its ledge. The platforms will move slightly before turning—this is your indicator to jump up over the center of the platform. You'll land atop the platform when it's vertical. Immediately jump to the next horizontal platform and repeat. This is somewhat nerve-racking as you might catch the next platform's edge as it's about to turn, but it's very doable. And, of course, build up a time/error buffer by speeding through the earlier obstacles (e.g., jump when climbing the nets, and press ↑ at the jump's apex to move faster than just climbing).
The final gauntlet, the rising platform, is a checkpoint—you'll respawn there if you mess up. Don't change the perspective until you're clear of the next horizontal bar. One-third of the way up, one of the sides has a straight shot to the top.
And, yes, you can bypass all the obstacles and fly your way to the top in the New Game+, if you prefer.