• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Alice: Madness Returns |OT|

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
Rez said:
If you're finding the combat boring, I'd suggest turning the difficulty up (if you can).

I really enjoyed watching for and listening to enemy cues, and systematically dealing with large groups of varied enemies. Combat systems that are based around a dodge button just feel so satisfying to me.

I like timed elements in combat as well, but I'm afraid that turning the difficulty will make the encounters actually take longer. It might just be my present mood, but I think I might want to turn it to easy and just focus on walking around and looking at stuff.

And, I mean, it's the predictable thing to say, but the game really does have a ridiculous amount of variety as it moves on. There's a lot of jankiness(tm), but if you value a bit of imagination and ambition at the expense of super-duper polish, then chances are you'll enjoy it more as it goes on.

Jankiness is my middle name!
 
Finished last night with only a few unpeppered snouts, a missed Radula Room, and ~7 missing memories.

Now to fire up a New Game + on Nightmare. :3 I love this game.
 

Omikaru

Member
Hey guys, I'm thinking I may pick this up on PC, but I have a quick question about the UK retail version DRM: does it suck? Any activation involved, what its limits are and if I can revoke them on uninstall? Or is it one of those horrible online always games?

I searched the OP for an answer, but I couldn't find one. Cheers for any help.
 
I started up this badboy last night. I'm not even through with Chapter 1 yet, but so far I'm extremely pleased. Gorgeous art design and atmosphere, the controls feel great, both the platforming and combat are satisfying so far. The camera can be wonky at times though, but I think it'll pass once I get accustomed to it.

Question though, you guys have any recommendations on what weapons to upgrade or does it not really matter? I was planning on spreading out the points, but wanted to see if it's better to just put it all in one or two weapons.
 

StuBurns

Banned
I upgraded the blade and pepper gun first. I did upgrade them all fully by the time the game was finished, but I never really used the other two much.
 

Grisby

Member
Smision said:
alright, I've got no date, a 2 liter bottle of shasta, and my all-Rush mix tape...time to play this.

hyabV.jpg


Your doing the right thing.
 

JohngPR

Member
plagiarize said:
I'm loving the Alice merchandise!

That's some mighty sweet stuff you got there. ;)

I just finished up Chapter 3. I really enjoyed it although it was pretty long. The only thing that annoyed me was that there was one instance towards the end of the chapter where I could go either left or right...I chose right and it initiated a cutscene and I couldn't go back so I wasn't able to see what was there on the left. I have a feeling I probably missed a memory or something.

Considering I had 18/19...that's probably the case. :(

Anyway, I dug the look for the chapter. Looking forward to seeing Chapter 4...especially seeing that everyone says its the best chapter.
 
JohngPR said:
That's some mighty sweet stuff you got there. ;)

I just finished up Chapter 3. I really enjoyed it although it was pretty long. The only thing that annoyed me was that there was one instance towards the end of the chapter where I could go either left or right...I chose right and it initiated a cutscene and I couldn't go back so I wasn't able to see what was there on the left. I have a feeling I probably missed a memory or something.

Considering I had 18/19...that's probably the case. :(

Anyway, I dug the look for the chapter. Looking forward to seeing Chapter 4...especially seeing that everyone says its the best chapter.

There wasn't any indication on the walls with shrink sense or anything? That's a bummer :(
 

JohngPR

Member
EchosMyron1 said:
There wasn't any indication on the walls with shrink sense or anything? That's a bummer :(

Not that I noticed. I'm usually a stickler for it too. Ah well...at least you can go back to specific parts in the chapter....maybe I'll get lucky and one of those checkpoints will be right before that fork in the road.

*crosses fingers*
 

LiK

Member
Y2Kev said:
I finished chapter 1. I can't believe how long that was! Surprising.

each chapter is pretty lengthy. but for some reason i didn't find them boring. very little backtracking and there are some surprisingly different gameplay in a few sections which i will not spoil that kept things fresh.

there's really no game over screen or restarting before your most recent checkpoint so the game isn't frustrating at all.


Moaradin said:
I'm in chapter 3 right now. The game is super addicting and good length. The game is beautiful too, especially with PhysX.

PC version? i'm hearing how good it looks. i played on the 360 and the textures were a bit muddy at times. i guess i'll pick up the PC version when it's on sale. i was impressed with the art direction already and really wanna see the graphics maxed out.
 
After finishing Chapter 5, I feel like I'm probably done with this game.

I think it might be crazy to call it "great" or "amazing" but it wasn't awful.
 
ShockingAlberto said:
After finishing Chapter 5, I feel like I'm probably done with this game.

I think it might be crazy to call it "great" or "amazing" but it wasn't awful.

If you play for 10 more minutes, you can really say you're done. XD Chapter 6 is just the final boss.
 

Owzers

Member
When i first started this game i thought it might be a lot of fun. Of course i learned i was wrong. My friend gave up on it sooner than i did, but i just played hide and seek with an octopus and have grown to hate this game. I think "bland" pretty much sums up the experience.
 

TheOddOne

Member
LiK said:
each chapter is pretty lengthy. but for some reason i didn't find them boring. very little backtracking and there are some surprisingly different gameplay in a few sections which i will not spoil that kept things fresh.

there's really no game over screen or restarting before your most recent checkpoint so the game isn't frustrating at all.
I have found my other brother from another mother <3
 

Piano

Banned
sillymonkey321 said:
When i first started this game i thought it might be a lot of fun. Of course i learned i was wrong. My friend gave up on it sooner than i did, but i just played hide and seek with an octopus and have grown to hate this game. I think "bland" pretty much sums up the experience.
Wuh oh. I'm about to go out and pick this game up based on word of mouth and then people post things like this. sdfsudotg.
 

Owzers

Member
TheEastonator said:
Wuh oh. I'm about to go out and pick this game up based on word of mouth and then people post things like this. sdfsudotg.

I hate most games, you might as well try it. If you are expecting it to have an interesting world/environments though, it doesn't. How much the gameplay resonates with you will vary though like with the reviews.
 

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
Yurt said:
I'm sorry but...are you trolling ??

Yeah, the environments and world have been the highlight of the game so far. I'm motivated to push forward through the passable but unremarkable platforming and combat just to see the next area.

interesting
 
sillymonkey321 said:
I hate most games, you might as well try it. If you are expecting it to have an interesting world/environments though, it doesn't. How much the gameplay resonates with you will vary though like with the reviews.

Just finished the first chapter, and one of the things that stood out to me the most is just how awesome the atmosphere and environments are. I guess it's one of those "different strokes for different folks" things, but the art direction and level design have me incredibly impressed so far. I'm even digging those foggy, sodden London interludes between the main crazy ass dream levels.

StuBurns said:
I upgraded the blade and pepper gun first. I did upgrade them all fully by the time the game was finished, but I never really used the other two much.

Oh okay, so there's not exactly a shortage of teeth to collect then? Also, do you guys know what the bottles are for? I can't seem to find a use for them, so I'm guessing it's just a collectable thing...
 

Owzers

Member
Yurt said:
I'm sorry but...are you trolling ??

Complete difference of opinion, i thought the Hatter level, the ice level and the underwater level that i'm almost done with now are environmental abominations.
 
sillymonkey321 said:
Complete difference of opinion, i thought the Hatter level, the ice level and the underwater level that i'm almost done with now are environmental abominations.
Could you give us some examples in games that you actually thought it was done well? Just to give us some context of your standards here...
 

Owzers

Member
MushroomSamba said:
Could you give us some examples in games that you actually thought it was done well? Just to give us some context of your standards here...

Games with interesting environments? I remember liking my journey through Batman Arkham Asylum and Bioshock ( though i didn't like Bioshock's gameplay that much). My expectations are pretty high for Alice though, and it does have some screenshot worthy details, but for those three levels i listed it felt like there were one or two things worth looking at in a highly empty/barren level. Alice's underwater level ( which i'm trudging through as i type this) reminds me of the Little Mermaid levels in Kingdom Hearts, mainly generic cliffs and coral with the occasion object of interest.
 
This game is pretty awesome. I like the return to non-auto 3D platforming...it's actually pretty unforgiving. The combat is just like Zelda but with more emphasis on timing, so no problems there. Love the butterfly teleport move and parrying with the umbrella.

The combat is super easy on normal though, should I start over on harder difficulties? I like tough action games, so...


How long is this game? I felt like I was playing the first chapter for an hour and a half and I'm still not done.
 

Piano

Banned
Welp, just picked this up based on the hype around here. Echoing Smision above what difficulty should I play on?
 

leng jai

Member
sillymonkey321 said:
Games with interesting environments? I remember liking my journey through Batman Arkham Asylum and Bioshock ( though i didn't like Bioshock's gameplay that much). My expectations are pretty high for Alice though, and it does have some screenshot worthy details, but for those three levels i listed it felt like there were one or two things worth looking at in a highly empty/barren level. Alice's underwater level ( which i'm trudging through as i type this) reminds me of the Little Mermaid levels in Kingdom Hearts, mainly generic cliffs and coral with the occasion object of interest.[/QUOTE]

IMO that is worst section of the game, just awfully bland.

Got the artbook in the mail today....yesssss
 

Nemesis_

Member
Wow, there's only 6 chapters? I'm kind of worried now, I am halfway through Chapter 3!

I don't want this to end so soon! =(
 
i don't know why but the first time i fought the wasp samurai in level 3 the game bogged down to probably single digit FPS on 360. hasn't happened since but it sucked ass
 
Tightly timed switch puzzles can go to the lowest circle of hell for all I'm concerned.

I'm sure I can get through this one, but it's so irritating it makes me not want to play the game. Oh well, I have Steam games to play instead.
 

Yurt

il capo silenzioso
PsychoSoldier said:
Tightly timed switch puzzles can go to the lowest circle of hell for all I'm concerned.

I'm sure I can get through this one, but it's so irritating it makes me not want to play the game. Oh well, I have Steam games to play instead.

Did you try dashing ?

Yeah, the environments and world have been the highlight of the game so far. I'm motivated to push forward through the passable but unremarkable platforming and combat just to see the next area.

Hell yes !
 

LiK

Member
Nemesis556 said:
Wow, there's only 6 chapters? I'm kind of worried now, I am halfway through Chapter 3!

I don't want this to end so soon! =(
Each chapter is a few hours long. Multiply that by 5 and it's quite long. Longer than expected which was pretty nice.
 

eshwaaz

Member
Bought this on GAF's recommendation; just started tonight. I'm about 2 hours in, and it has been a breath of fresh air to say the least. I've never been a big fan of platformers, but the art style and atmosphere have sucked me in.

It didn't make the best first impression - while the opening area sets the tone wonderfully, it is plagued by blurry textures and serious LOD problems (and children that are clearly voiced by adults doing embarrassing "little kid" impressions). Once in Wonderland, though, such technical issues either improved or I was so taken with the visual design that I just forgot about them.

As I mentioned, I'm no platforming aficionado, but so far it feels responsive enough and the checkpointing is wonderfully generous. We'll see if my tolerance is tested as I progress.

Combat is surprisingly satisfying. It has a nice rhythm to it, and Alice's attacks feel powerful. I've never cared much for fantasy/novelty weapons, but the sound FX for the pepper grinder make it a fun weapon to use. The lock-on camera is a bit odd, but hopefully I'll get used to it.

So far, I love it. I hope my enthusiasm persists throughout the full 15 or so hours to completion.
 
I finished the game and found it to be pretty enjoyable. I wasn't blown away, but the combat was better than I expected and everything else was about on par with what I expected from an updated Alice title. My only disappointment would be the lack of boss battles. Some of my favorite moments of the original Alice took place while fighting Wonderland's iconic characters. Some well-designed bosses could have really pushed the game over the top. I liked the ending a fair amount,
though, the presentation felt a little patched together. It was necessary to go between the real world and Wonderland, but going back and forth between art styles frequently was a little much.

I've started playing the original Alice now, and it's absolutely fascinating to play through it from a 10 year different perspective. American McGee's Alice was one of my first forays into more complex games. Before Alice, it was Duke Nukem 3D, Super Mario 64, Goldeneye, and a few other N64 classics. Needless to say, Alice was a whole new type of game for me, and I loved it. It's really interesting to play through it again. My initial reaction is that the game is a lot less difficult than I remember. I remember spending forever on the Fortress of Doors, but I was able to get through the first two areas in about an hour without any serious speed bumps. I know a lot of people have been complaining about the controls, but I find them to work relatively well. They took a bit of getting used to after place Madness Returns, but I got the hang of it after the first couple segments.

Madness Returns was fun, but I think I'll get more enjoyment playing through the original, mostly due to the fact that it's the most nostalgia-filled game possible for me. I actually think the world is more interesting and cohesive though.
 
just finished chapter 3. i don't felt like it really dragged on, i like the 2D stuff too.

i'm on level 4 now and just getting my ass kicked by the executioner? how are you supposed to beat this doucher? he laughs at everything i do :/
 
Finished the game tonight.

Hrm.

I think, overall, it was okay.

Nice art and it's great that there are HD platformers that don't hold your hand through every jump and queue up your button presses to make new players feel good. You have to appreciate that a major publisher would release a game like this today.

But I don't think I actually liked the game. It was too long, too repetitive. When the game introduces a new concept, it forces you to do them a few times too many just to make sure you get them. The camera in battle is just atrocious and caused me more frustration than anything else in the game. A lot of the enemies were just boring and tedious to fight.

I feel like if it had ended a few hours earlier, I would have been fine with it. But it didn't, so I left the game with negative feelings.
 

Ken

Member
FrenchMovieTheme said:
i'm on level 4 now and just getting my ass kicked by the executioner? how are you supposed to beat this doucher? he laughs at everything i do :/
Didn't you listen to the Cheshire cat?

Just run from the executioner. He can't be killed normally.
 
FrenchMovieTheme said:
just finished chapter 3. i don't felt like it really dragged on, i like the 2D stuff too.

i'm on level 4 now and just getting my ass kicked by the executioner? how are you supposed to beat this doucher? he laughs at everything i do :/

you don't. you run, or at another point, you beat the other people while dodging him.
 
Yurt said:
Did you try dashing ?

I honestly never even got close enough to completing it that dash would make a difference.

But I only tried it like a few times before I decided I didn't want to do it anymore. After the overly long chapter 3, sticking a somewhat fidgety and difficult puzzle in the very beginning of the next one was exasperating.

For those of you who aren't terrible at video games it may have been easy, but I've never claimed to be anything but terrible.
 
Ken said:
Didn't you listen to the Cheshire cat?

Just run from the executioner. He can't be killed normally.

my gf was vacuuming at the time so no i didn't hear it :(

thanks for the heads up cause i spent about 10 minutes dodging and hitting him to no avail!
 

Yurt

il capo silenzioso
PsychoSoldier said:
I honestly never even got close enough to completing it that dash would make a difference.

But I only tried it like a few times before I decided I didn't want to do it anymore. After the overly long chapter 3, sticking a somewhat fidgety and difficult puzzle in the very beginning of the next one was exasperating.

For those of you who aren't terrible at video games it may have been easy, but I've never claimed to be anything but terrible.

I'd really like to help, can you provide a picture ?

Is it one of those "place a bomb and run as fast as you can" puzzles ? Try standing on a ledge close to the door and drop your bomb from up there or something

edit WAIT, I think I knew which one haha.. Chapter 4 ? Yup, that one was difficult to pull off !
edit2 skip to the 9:00 mark http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w39XCwrz5GY
 
Yurt said:
I'd really like to help, can you provide a picture ?

Is it one of those "place a bomb and run as fast as you can" puzzles ? Try standing on a ledge close to the door and drop your bomb from up there or something

edit WAIT, I think I knew which one haha.. Chapter 4 ? Yup, that one was difficult to pull off !
edit2 skip to the 9:00 mark http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w39XCwrz5GY

I found a walkthrough of it so I know how you're supposed to do it, but ultimately I'm just generally frustrated enough with the game that I'm putting it down and walking away from it, at least for the moment.

Time will tell whether or not I care enough to go back to it, I guess.
 
Top Bottom