Challenges (Asterix & Obelix XXL: Romastered)

Course and Countdown challenges are an optional part of the gameplay in Asterix & Obelix XXL: Romastered. Challenges are started by interacting with their steles, but first the player needs to activate them by doing some progress. They have Gold, Silver and Bronze tiers, but do not give the player any rewards. The player should really try for better results: dash on long straight paths to move faster, clear the area from enemies before starting a Course challenge, and use some Combos in Countdown challenges (the Combo bar can be filled in advance and will not be emptied upon starting the challenge).

There are 11 Course challenges - 2 in every location except Rome which has only 1, and 6 Countdown challenges - 1 per location.

If the player dies in the middle of a challenge, the challenge resumes, and the timer continues going during and after death.

Both types of challenges can be failed by going too far from the area or running out of time. However, in some challenges doors are placed at the area’s exits, and the time limit for Countdown challenges is extremely long - 10 minutes.

The player can cancel the challenge via Pause Menu and restart a challenge in the middle of it by interacting with the stele. If the player can start a challenge in the middle of another challenge, the previous challenge is cancelled (tested on the Countdown challenge and the 1st Course challenge in Normandy in both orders).

## Course

In Course challenges the player needs to collect all the coins in the area before time runs out. Round coins can be collected only while remastered visuals are selected, hexagonal coins – retro visuals. The coins that cannot be collected at the moment are pure white and lack VFX. The coins, ironically, are not used as a currency for anything and have no impact on the game outside of the challenges.

There is a small period of time where the player can technically win but does not get Bronze. The reason for this decision is unknown.

a Course stelea Course stele (Retro)starting a Course challengeRemaster coinRemaster coin (inactive)Retro coinRetro coin (inactive)counter and timerwinning Gold in a Course challengewhen running out of timewhen going too far away

### **Gaul (2)**

0:21 sec (Silver)
0:22 sec (Silver)
0:30 sec (Bronze)

### **Normandy (2)**

0:50 sec (Silver)
0:36 sec (Silver)
0:45 sec (Bronze)

### **Greece (2)**

1:14 min (Silver)
0:19 sec (Silver)
0:25 sec (Bronze)

### **Helvetia (2)**

0:50 sec (Silver)
0:48 sec (Silver)
0:55 sec (Bronze)

### **Egypt (2)**

0:40 sec (Silver)
0:42 sec (Silver)
0:46 sec (Bronze)

### **Rome (1)**

1:07 min (Silver)
1:14 min (Bronze)

## Countdown

In Countdown challenges the player needs to get to the finish line (yellow ray) while freezing time as much as possible. Time can be frozen by smashing special crates with numbers and defeating enemies. While time is frozen, the timer appears to be literally frozen in ice, a frost vignette appears on the screen’s corners, SFX are echoed and sometimes played in lower pitch. The smaller time the player finishes with, the better.

a Countdown stelea Countdown stele (Retro)starting a Countdown challengea Countdown cratea Countdown crate (Retro)timerwhen the timer is frozenfinishfinish (Retro)winning Gold in a Countdown challengewhen going too far awaywhen waiting 10 minutes

### **Gaul (1)**

0:10 sec (Silver)
0:15 sec (Bronze)

### **Normandy (1)**

0:10 sec (Silver)
0:15 sec (Bronze)

### **Greece (1)**

0:10 sec (Silver)
0:15 sec (Bronze)

### **Helvetia (1)**

0:30 sec (Silver)
0:45 sec (Bronze)

### **Egypt (1)**

0:10 sec (Silver)
0:15 sec (Bronze)

### **Rome (1)**

0:15 sec (Silver)
0:20 sec (Bronze)

## Trivia

* The way challenges are started is similar to fighting challenges in Asterix & Obelix XXL 2 remaster.
* The trailers and official descriptions refer to the challenges as “modes”, but that is not only way they are misleading.
	+ The first trailer shows regular gameplay after naming Course, shows a Course challenge after naming Countdown and does not show a Countdown challenge at all.
	+ The launch trailer wrongly states that the goal of Course challenges is to collect as many coins as possible.
* It could be argued that both challenge types would have fit better in the setting of XXL 2 remaster, especially the need to switch between original and new visuals, and the music for these challenges. 8-bit styled variations of the OSTs feel especially out of place in this game.

### Music

* There are 2 OSTs for the challenges, each of them have 2 variations depending on whether the Remastered or Retro mode is selected. The Remaster variations sound modern, while the Retro variations are 8-bit styled.
* One challenge OST uses the leitmotif of Take a Ride on Obelix, the other - Sharp Cliffs / Normandy Fight and The Great Map.

### Issues

* The steles' lights can be seen floating far away in the air, e.g. they can be easily seen in Gaul near the fort and in Helvetia near the crane.
* The first Course stele in Gaul is activated after finding Obelix. If the player does not find Dogmatix but interacts with the stele first, the dog will teleport to them. When they speak to the spy, Dogmatix will be still near the player and not the spy.
* If the player dies in the middle of the Normandy Countdown challenge, the archers will be stuck underground.
* The Countdown stele in Greece clips into the War Machine’s rollers while they are stretched out.
* In the 2nd Course challenge in Helvetia there is a chance that while the player is approaching the coins in the top, they will be switched to Asterix who is still in the bottom, forcing the player to lose.
* If the player destroyed the Machines of War in Greece or Rome before, they can start the Countdown challenges there with the machines present. Combat Lock and the challenge’s timer will overlap. The Greece challenge can be completed if the player dies by jumping into the lava, respawns before the fall to the boss and runs to the finish line which is still active, this way they can get Silver at best.
* If the player uses the Passive Lock glitch, they can cause the Combat Lock and a challenge timer to overlap.
	+ In the trailer for Course challenges a Combat Lock can be seen behind the timer at 0:23.
* In the pre-release versions of the game the “remastered” coins’ textures (which are fit in a square) left square shadows.

a door that appears in the 1st Gaul Course challengefloating stele lightCountdown timer and Combat Lock overlapping (this example came from a glitch)archers stuck underground after player's death in Normandy Countdown challengeCountdown stele and War Machine in Greece clipping