No, from what I understand you can get the 32 cubes needed to beat the game without decoding anything. But a lot of the anti-cubes will need deeper problem solving.
Things like the bell and the magnets and the little pillars with a dot in them are still a mystery to me. I have the artifact for decoding the numbers, but I don't know how to use it.
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You beat yourself up with your past. Don't blame yourself, blame the world. Blame God. Blame me.