Of course people are judging the game before they play it. They're weighting their options and making a guess as to whether they'll enjoy playing it everyone does it with every game. These controls are unlike any other console game that I know of. For many, the controls are an unknown quantity overall there are people who've posted here saying they liked Splatoon's gyro aiming, but didn't like Zero. The game is also $60, and there's no reasonable way to say people should chuck over that much to see whether they like a game despite not liking motion/gyro controls on top of the dual screen stuff.
Being cautious with new control schemes and critizing certain decisions, I can comprehend. All that gratuitous hate and vitriol, I cannot. Sorry. This is my sentiment after what I have read.
And "hard to beat," is not what I'm talking about I'm saying being completely flummoxed by the basic controls will be a massive hindrance to having fun with the game.
This is an exaggeration. This game doesn't require much more technique than learning how to move around Mario and executing advanced techniques in Super Mario 64, or even at fighting games. But if you do not want to get into what it offers, I think that's it.
You keep throwing out stuff like "it can take time to enjoy the game," and people should try it before writing it off," or "you need to replay levels exhaustively," as if everyone is willing and able to do all this. You don't see the same criticisms levied at the latest Mario Kart or Smash Bros. for being weird to control and unsavory to newcomers/fans on such a basic level. You don't see that levied at Star Fox 64, and that still had a decently high skill ceiling.
Why shouldn't they? Arcade gaming is a valid progression. The game is short > you replay it > you get better at it and at the controls. Getting the hang of it and learning how to utilize this scheme in new ways is part of the experience. I was as clueless as everybody when I first started playing the game, but I as I faced new challenges I was forced to think out of the box and employ the gamepad to, for example, circle around a cruiser and dismantle its cannons, and it felt great.
Nowadays there's still people that do not understand Smash Bros. controls. I was around when Smash 64 was released and there was people that didn't get the tilts, for example. Even inside Nintendo the project was very low key and with many doubts about its results. But people adjusted.
Just because these controls can work perfectly and can be great doesn't mean they will be for everyone, and then we're left with game deemed mediocre by critics, selling worse than it could've. You can't handwave this criticism when the game has released in such dire circumstances.
Just because they can't be for everyone doesn't mean they are bad. I mean, people is wary about everything beyond a dual stick setup, experimentation is not allowed and suddenly everything is shoehorned waggle by Miyamoto the hack.
But yes, the game needed a demo. I hope they release one in the end.
And getting high scores on the actual score attack levels are fun, but stuff like Zoness 1 and the escort missions do not seem well put together. The game doesn't have enough levels to make 3-4 lame missions negligible. That's fluff, and it needed to be better implemented..
That's okay, but I never defended the game's content, which is indeed short. I was talking about the arcade experience. It's plain arcade gameplay, and even those levels offer seamless gameplay, whether you like the vehicle, the mission objective or not. I learned to like the gyro missions, but there's only 1 (Zoness, because Area 3 is a multi-craft mission).
I have to disagree. Splatoon is motion controls done right. Star Fox is not intuitive at all and while fine once you learn it, it's still a burden during a hectic dogfight.
I adore Splatoon, but from a control scheme perspective it doesn't do anything new. You could point at the TV back in the Wii to aim in shooters, and it became more precise with gyroscopes after the motion plus (Wii Sports Resort and Skyward Sword). Being able to play the game with a traditional controller shows not much commitment to the gamepad. Splatoon's novelty is not much about the gamepad's integration but how the game's mechanics and rules blend together and transforms the genre.
Star Fox Zero revolves around the gamepad. Its mechanics and levels are designed around it, and the game would be vastly different without it. It opens up not only new gameplay possibilities, but also offers a new experience by commiting fully to it. It's my Wii U's Super Mario 64 up to this point. Honestly, I could never compare them in the same terms.
