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[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

From the Edge review:

"Then your ranks are swollen by a warrior with a taunt to draw enemy attention, high health to ensure he’s rarely in danger, and better damage output than anyone else in your party. There’s no reason not to use him, no incentive or need to mix up your approach, and the rest of the game is a walkover as what should be a tactical and dynamic combat system instead becomes one-note."

This is a game where speed is the god stat because it lets you make more moves, avoid getting interrupted, and makes it easier to interrupt the enemy. The character they're talking about has drastically lower speed than everybody else. Yeah, his attack power is the highest by default, but his actual DPS so to speak isn't very good.

 

[AmethystEnd]

From the Edge review:

"Then your ranks are swollen by a warrior with a taunt to draw enemy attention, high health to ensure he’s rarely in danger, and better damage output than anyone else in your party. There’s no reason not to use him, no incentive or need to mix up your approach, and the rest of the game is a walkover as what should be a tactical and dynamic combat system instead becomes one-note."

This is a game where speed is the god stat because it lets you make more moves, avoid getting interrupted, and makes it easier to interrupt the enemy. The character they're talking about has drastically lower speed than everybody else. Yeah, his attack power is the highest by default, but his actual DPS so to speak isn't very good.

I really like that, actually. That's so much better than raw power being the most important thing such that the best thing to do is just pump damage and facetank everything.

 

[dark_inferno]

From the Edge review:

"Then your ranks are swollen by a warrior with a taunt to draw enemy attention, high health to ensure he’s rarely in danger, and better damage output than anyone else in your party. There’s no reason not to use him, no incentive or need to mix up your approach, and the rest of the game is a walkover as what should be a tactical and dynamic combat system instead becomes one-note."

This is a game where speed is the god stat because it lets you make more moves, avoid getting interrupted, and makes it easier to interrupt the enemy. The character they're talking about has drastically lower speed than everybody else. Yeah, his attack power is the highest by default, but his actual DPS so to speak isn't very good.

Seems like another Reviewer playing on easy.

Jesus... seems like they want to rush trough it as fast as possible. Maybe to get the Review done in time... maybe to just go home as fast as possible.

I remember kids playing FF Battles like this : X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
And then telling that the Battles have no depth at all.

 

[Forsythia]

I must be a giantic idiot, but I thought this was a Sony exclusive. I'm glad it's not, because it looks absolutely beautiful!

 

[Seda]

The archer character is arguably more useful than the hulk character as he can deal high damage with criticals and is reasonably quick. The latter can definitely land big hits but be prepared to have him take a lot of hits as well.

 

[jcm]

Seems like another Reviewer playing on easy.

Jesus... seems like they want to rush trough it as fast as possible. Maybe to get the Review done in time... maybe to just go home as fast as possible.

Apparently there is no easy, just normal or hard. I think it's perfectly reasonable for reviews to use normal difficulty, since that's what most players will use, and is the difficult the developers chose to tune as the default. It just seems like in this case Ubi made normal too easy.

 

[CozMick]

Oh man. Amazon are starting to worry me, got the deluxe edition pre ordered and its yet to be dispatched :/

To cancel or not to cancel?

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

Apparently there is no easy, just normal or hard. I think it's perfectly reasonable for reviews to use normal difficulty, since that's what most players will use, and is the difficult the developers chose to tune as the default. It just seems like in this case Ubi made normal too easy.

It's very obvious from playing the game that they fine-tuned Hard extensively and intended Normal mode to be for younger players and casual RPG fans.

I actually wrote an article a while ago about how traditional difficulty names harm developers by making players think that there's a default way to play the game: http://zeboyd.com/2013/06/24/why-i-dont-think-our-next-game-will-have-a-normal-difficulty-setting/

Child of Light would have been better served by calling Normal Mode, "Beginner," and Hard mode "Expert."

 

[dark_inferno]

Apparently there is no easy, just normal or hard. I think it's perfectly reasonable for reviews to use normal difficulty, since that's what most players will use, and is the difficult the developers chose to tune as the default. It just seems like in this case Ubi made normal too easy.

Yeah its reasonable. But the thing about Reviewers is they should provide information about wich difficulty suits you best etc.

If you test a game as a reviewer and it gets better when playing on hard then tell everybody about it because thats your damn job, telling people how the really game is. And not how the game is on a specific difficulty. Play the whole game and judge about it and not just a part of it.

You could then even cheat your way trough Dark Souls and tell everybody about how easy it was... thats not the point of a review in my eyes.

And by the way. If they say its too easy why havent they at least tried it on hard?

 

[AkelisRain]

Reading some of these reviews angered me. I haven't even tried it yet. Can't wait till this drops.

 

[Banjo-Kazooie]

So let me get this straight? The reviewers at no point in the game ever thought "hey this seems too easy/simple, maybe I should bump up the difficulty on the fly." What's the point of reviewing the game if you don't even try out the various difficulties it offers to get the whole picture?

 

[Shuggah_Daddy]

Weird how this is coming out on Wednesday wtf. Can't wait tho, looks freakin awesome. My 7 year old daughter is going to love this.

 

[tiny raptor]

Yeah its reasonable. But the thing about Reviewers is they should provide information about wich difficulty suits you best etc.

If you test a game as a reviewer and it gets better when playing on hard then tell everybody about it because thats your damn job, telling people how the really game is.

That's what GamesRadar did. And they gave it a 4.5/5.

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

Also, something I thought was really interesting that I haven't seen any of the reviews mention - there's no Attack command in the game. Instead, each character has a different version of Attack each of which has their own attack value (seen on their LV-Up sheet), speed, and often even secondary effects. For example, the jester's version of attack is really fast to charge making it ideal for interrupts, whereas the time mage character's attack has a chance to stun the enemy for a few seconds.

 

[Frillen]

This game is 100 % digital right? In that there's no physical disc?

 

[Begaria]

I
Child of Light would have been better served by calling Normal Mode, "Beginner," and Hard mode "Expert."

Or how Ni no Kuni did it and called it "Easy" and "Normal". Most reviewers go for "Normal" as it that's what the perception of the "defacto" experience is supposed to be. Then, when people write "Wow, Normal was more difficult than I expect, I think I should drop it down to Easy" like I saw in some NNK reviews, it peaks those players interest looking for a challenge. Now we're going into Child of Light of people saying, "Don't play on Normal, play on Hard!" and this gives reviewers leeway of saying, "We always play on Normal to get that experience we think the developers intended."

 

[ComputerMKII]

Why don't developers tell us what the differences between the difficulty settings are in the difficulty settings menu (if there's one thing Diablo 3 does right, it's that)? Just saying 'Easy', 'Normal' and 'Hard' is too vague.

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

Why don't developers tell us what the differences between the difficulty settings are in the difficulty settings menu (if there's one good thing Diablo 3 does right, it's that)? Just saying 'Easy', 'Normal' and 'Hard' is too vague.

Yeah, we're planning on doing this with our next game. I've learned my lesson both from seeing the reviews of this game and from our own games where we had expert RPG players pick normal for the "pure" experience of the game, where we really intended for them to be playing Hard or Insane mode.

 

[Monty Mole]

This game is 100 % digital right? In that there's no physical disc?

Yep, only codes being sold at retail.

 

[Dragon1893]

20% off at GMG:

FUSWJT-B1DU64-JBV8UY

 

[enigmatic_alex44]

Yep, only codes being sold at retail.

that's too bad I don't do digital but this game is totally up my alley, sucks I have to pass it up. Maybe they'll do a disc version later like Ducktales Remastered (got a disc a few months after digital)

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

This game is 100 % digital right? In that there's no physical disc?

Actually, there's a special physical collector's edition of the game, but it's not available in the US.

 

[Robobandit]

Actually, there's a special physical collector's edition of the game, but it's not available in the US.

It's a physical box, but it has a code to download the game inside of it. It's not a disc, from what I understand.

 

[Jigolo]

No PS+ discount?

 

[jcm]

Yeah, we're planning on doing this with our next game. I've learned my lesson both from seeing the reviews of this game and from our own games where we had expert RPG players pick normal for the "pure" experience of the game, where we really intended for them to be playing Hard or Insane mode.

I think that's a good plan. I've been gaming for 35 years, but I still always choose normal. I'll play this one on hard, but only because I've read this thread.

 

[ComputerMKII]

OK, I'm willing to give this game a chance. I've preordered it on GMG.

 

[SAB CA]

Yeah, we're planning on doing this with our next game. I've learned my lesson both from seeing the reviews of this game and from our own games where we had expert RPG players pick normal for the "pure" experience of the game, where we really intended for them to be playing Hard or Insane mode.

Yup, descriptions are golden. Most hard modes I ignore by default, because what's "well balanced and fair" on normal is normally just coded to be tedious and bloated in harder difficulties lately.

Given how many games release now-a-days, I want to play the game with the balanced, reasonable difficulty, and complete it, not play something that bloats the time with no real reward other than "Look, I did it on hard!" There are few exceptions...

However, I had a lot of fun being able to dynamically change the difficulty in Tales of Xillia. Setting it to hard when one wanted to grind for an hour, really make use of perfect timing dodges, and get loads of multi-hit skills on groups, and generally have focused fun in the combat... VS playing on normal when a dungeon maze had too much back-tracking, or the bosses got over-buffed to be enjoyable to fight. Not to mention all the added Tales-patented response the character gave to engaging in battles with such overly-powered enemies, winning by the skin of their teeth, or fighting enemies that just weren't worth the time. It offered feedback on pretty much every thing you did, and that made it quite worthwhile.

So I'm glad of the description mentioned in this thread of the harder difficulty in this game; it sounds perfect for co-op play, and like it'll actually let one reach the satisfaction of smashing an enemy back a few rounds in that ATB gauge. It's a shame if "Normal" difficulty acts as a barrier to one of the best bits of ATB-infused gameplay.

 

[Teletraan1]

This game was not on my radar at all. Its pretty much exactly what I was talking about in the Dragon Quest thread. Multi-platform so nobody misses out. Looks to be a low to mid tier game so no insane 100mil budget and stupid high expectations. Hope this does well enough that they make bank on it so other pubs take notice that you don't have to gaming ghetto jrpg type games. As a fan of the genre I will be grabbing this one for sure.

 

[ComputerMKII]

20% off at GMG:

FUSWJT-B1DU64-JBV8UY

Thanks! Is the game redeemable on Steam or is it Uplay only?

Edit: Seems not. Well, I'm gonna request a refund and re-order it on Steam, then.

 

[kuroneco]

Does anyone know if the U.S version contains Japanese language option or I have to purchase the Japanese version?

 

[Dragon1893]

Thanks! Is the game redeemable on Steam or is it Uplay only?

Edit: Seems not. Well, I'm gonna request a refund and re-order it on Steam, then.

Yeah, it's uplay, if you want steam I think you'll have to pay full price, didn't see any other deals.

 

[Seda]

Does anyone know if the U.S version contains Japanese language option or I have to purchase the Japanese version?

It does not. Characters aren't voiced, just a couple of short transitional scenes narrated by Caroline Dhavernas. There's only about 4 or 5 of these if I recall correctly.

 

[DR2K]

That Grandia battle system. No one told me. Day 1

 

[Slacker]

Looks excellent. Anyone know if it's too heavy/scary for nine-year-old used to normal Disney-type entertainment? Assuming I can get the kid to take a break from playing Skylanders long enough to try it.

 

[BiggNife]

Seda, does the Wii U version support off-tv play? I can't find any confirmation one way or the other anywhere.

 

[Seda]

Looks excellent. Anyone know if it's too heavy/scary for nine-year-old used to normal Disney-type entertainment? Assuming I can get the kid to take a break from playing Skylanders long enough to try it.

It's not scary at all, although I'm not sure how a nine-year old would take to the rhyming. And normal mode should be well suited, and you can slow the battles down too which might help them out.

Seda, does the Wii U version support off-tv play? I can't find any confirmation one way or the other anywhere.

Yes, the gamepad mimics what on the main screen at all times. I used it while watching the NHL playoffs even!

 

[ComputerMKII]

Looks excellent. Anyone know if it's too heavy/scary for nine-year-old used to normal Disney-type entertainment? Assuming I can get the kid to take a break from playing Skylanders long enough to try it.

It's rated E 10+/PEGI 12.

 

[BiggNife]

Yes, the gamepad mimics what on the main screen at all times. I used it while watching the NHL playoffs even!

Awesome! I think that might be the deciding factor to getting it on Wii U instead of PC.

 

[xkramz]

Oh man. Amazon are starting to worry me, got the deluxe edition pre ordered and its yet to be dispatched :/

To cancel or not to cancel?

You probably live close to a distribution center

 

[Hex]

Probably going to get on PS4 and Wii U to support.
F'ing A, $80+ for the deluxe on amazon??
And can not even find the normal or the Wii U versions

 

[Slacker]

And can not even find the normal or the Wii U versions

I'm not understanding this. Wouldn't you just get it on the eShop tomorrow?

Thanks for the info about age-appropriateness, everyone. Looking forward to it for sure.

 

[Dambrosi]

if anyone still wants the game after all these reviews

Spoiler

which are only shitting on the game because uPlay, admit it you lazy journos you

, here's a 20% off code for Green Man Gaming:

FUSWJT-B1DU64-JBV8UY

I don't think it's only one use, I got two emails for it for some reason. But I already have the game pre-purchased, so have at it.

Edit: Ah, seems the Dragon beat me to it. Oh well.

 

[Hex]

I'm not understanding this. Wouldn't you just get it on the eShop tomorrow?

Thanks for the info about age-appropriateness, everyone. Looking forward to it for sure.

Definitely will end up doing that, but had some points from my amazon card to use so figured I would throw them that way.

 

[Slacker]

Definitely will end up doing that, but had some points from my amazon card to use so figured I would throw them that way.

Ah, didn't realize that was an option.

 

[Vanillalite]

LTTP if this has been asked already but...

Do we know the download file size?

 

[therealminime]

LTTP if this has been asked already but...

Do we know the download file size?

PS4 version is 2.3gb.


And so what's the verdict regarding difficulty, should it be played on the hardest difficulty from the get go?

 

[piratepwnsninja]

Does the PC version support 2 player co-op with controllers? I plan on playing this with my daughter.

 

[Sioen]

PS4 version is 2.3gb.


And so what's the verdict regarding difficulty, should it be played on the hardest difficulty from the get go?

Everyone says go hard first so I'll do that.

 

[AmethystEnd]

So guys, just to clarify, this is out tonight at midnight for US, right?

 

[Heroman]

So guys, just to clarify, this is out tonight at midnight for US, right?

Tomorrow at midnight.