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[Dark Octave]

For me (personally) it is just the perfect speed for me to absorb and move on. I love it because I don't have to press ANYTHING to keep going and the writing is enjoyable.

Is there at least an option to press a button to advance text?

I would probably have preferred bad voice acting over this.

I'm the kind of person who puts voices with the characters and acts it out in his head. This speed reading style really makes the characters seem flat and rushed to me.

I'm not a slow reader but I'm not used to being rushed while doing it. All I can think of is, "OMG OMG I'm gonna miss something I know it! Don't advance yet, DON'T ADVANCE YET!!!" I can't even concentrate on reading. And don't let a character say something funny enough to make me do a double take. It's a wrap after that.

 

[xxracerxx]

It uses a extra small, odd font. And in cut scenes you can't press a button to move text forward, it automatically scrolls an an extremely fast pace, making it easy to miss dialogue.

I beat the game today and never had an issue with reading the text. Crazy that people are, but then again I sit 8 feet or more away from a 50" TV.

 

[Dark Octave]

I beat the game today and never had an issue with reading the text. Crazy that people are, but then again I sit 8 feet or more away from a 50" TV.

About how long did it take you to finish it?

 

[xxracerxx]

I got 100% of the trophies/achievements my first run through (I didn't have to go back and replay after beating the final boss) and I would say it took me a good 5 1/2 to 7 hours. Well worth my $15.

 

[nli10]

Need help with the Mall

Spoiler

unicorn

costume. I have 2/3 pieces and someone in this thread mentioned an escalator that goes up to a secret room. For the life of me I can not find this escalator...

Any ideas??

Right hand side (ish) of the 2nd floor - it's a single escalator right at the front of the screen and looks like it's coming down from a higher floor.

 

[robot]

I got 100% of the trophies/achievements my first run through (I didn't have to go back and replay after beating the final boss) and I would say it took me a good 5 1/2 to 7 hours. Well worth my $15.

Same here - finished it 100% last night and took me around 6 hours. Awesome game overall, perfect length, and some real solid writing. The costume designs in battle form were def the highlight for me. Didnt mind the lack of steady music, in fact the game sounded amazing w headphones.

Would love to see a sequel/DLC, but regardless - looking forward to playing through it again next Halloween.

 

[Interfectum]

put a couple hours into this game last night

very fun so far... really gets you into the halloween mood.

 

[Jme]

From Tasha Harris' twitter:

text speed is a tough one because cutscenes would need to be completely re-animated if we added "press x to continue"

While I can understand this to a degree, but I think it's a minor bummer. While it's not an issue with me reading it in my head, it's an issue when I try to read it aloud to my children - I just can't keep up.


Edit - Also from her twitter:

@tashascomic Will you guys have DLC Online feat Co-op or anything in the future? I just finished the game and would like to see more levels

hopefully, if enough people buy the game! so tell all your friends to buy it

I know it's just a "hopefully", but it wasn't an outright "no"

 

[Zomba13]

Just bough it. I'm ready for a Clothing Party I think.

 

[Scarecrow]

is there a point of no return at any point? I can now get through the gate for the third level, but I'm still missing some stuff. plus, I haven't found the second quick warp (the mummy coffins).

 

[Darkmakaimura]

is there a point of no return at any point? I can now get through the gate for the third level, but I'm still missing some stuff. plus, I haven't found the second quick warp (the mummy coffins).

Before the final boss, there's two portal coffins.

 

[Jme]

Added a few more reviews to the OP including Wired's 8/10

 

[Deleted member 30609]

really, really liked this game. It had no delusions of grandeur or misplaced, boring systems, it just set out to be a simple, creative game and I really loved it.

I played it with Vanquish (buy this game too because it's amazing!), meaning it was a really cool palette cleanser. Vanquish's OOOOOHHH MMMYYYY GOOOOOOOOOODODODODODOD pace coupled with this game's mellow music and simple quest system was so damn lovely. I just want to use words like lovely to talk about this game.

Played it in three very long sittings, loved nearly all of it. It's really weird that this game and Vanquish are a coupled experience in my head. I don't know what that means, but I totally had a 'games are ger-ate' couple of days.

If anything I wish that I had more of an opportunity to mix and match costumes. I didn't get the

Spoiler

Vampire or Unicorn

until after I finished the story. A change costume option in-battle would have been cool.

 

[LiK]

finsihed it earlier tonight. great game, loved it. got the full 200. ^.^

 

[V_Ben]

Gah, I'm missing one kid in fall valley. Can anybody help me out?

Edit: found him. Derp.

 

[Shotgun Kiss]

I had never even heard of this game until a couple of days ago, when I saw it on the XBLA marketplace. As soon as I saw it was by Double Fine, I downloaded the demo right away.

I'm playing the demo now, and I love it. Unfortunately, I'm hesitant to spend 1200 points on a 5-7 hour game that looks like it has no real replay value.


EDIT: Damnit. I can't bring myself to exit the trial and lose my progress, achievement, and avatar award. Bought.

 

[John Rabbit]

just beat the game this morning, took about 7 hours or so. worth the $15 from top to bottom. if the game has any shortcomings its the lack of voice over, the fairly shallow combat mechanics, and the fact that it actually ends. such a well-written piece of nostalgic charm. it'd be really cool to see them do DLC for other holidays (like costumes for a school Christmas pageant) or make it a yearly installment.

 

[Shotgun Kiss]

Oh great. So apparently there's a fucking achievement glitch if you buy the game after unlocking an achievement in the demo. When I look at the game's achievements, I have one (win a battle with a teammate), but the game is listed as 0 achievements of 15, and 0 gamerpoints. Also, when I beat all three apple bobbing games, I didn't unlock an achievement for that (unless there's more later on).

 

[Stumpokapow]

Need help with the Mall

Spoiler

unicorn

costume. I have 2/3 pieces and someone in this thread mentioned an escalator that goes up to a secret room. For the life of me I can not find this escalator...

Any ideas??

bottom right escalator from the second highest floor up.

need some help in the mall costume contest. Some lady wants something educational. The closest thing I have to that is the Liberty costume.

yes, liberty is the educational one. the other two judges are even more obvious.

Oh great. So apparently there's a fucking achievement glitch if you buy the game after unlocking an achievement in the demo. When I look at the game's achievements, I have one (win a battle with a teammate), but the game is listed as 0 achievements of 15, and 0 gamerpoints.

in the event that you get to the end of the game and it doesn't pop, simply delete your save data and restart the game. since it takes maybe 5 minutes max to get that achievement, it shouldn't be the hassle.

Also, when I beat all three apple bobbing games, I didn't unlock an achievement for that (unless there's more later on).

there's more later on

 

[Shotgun Kiss]

in the event that you get to the end of the game and it doesn't pop, simply delete your save data and restart the game. since it takes maybe 5 minutes max to get that achievement, it shouldn't be the hassle.

The achievement did pop though. Oh well, I might just restart now, just to see if it works, before I progress any further. I can probably get to where I was in less than 30 minutes anyway.


EDIT: Nope. Doesn't work. They had better fix this. I'll be pissed off if I paid 1200 points for a relatively short game that I can't even get all of the achievements in.

 

[nny]

I've played so far through the first area and really enjoyed it. The battles, the presentation, the quests...I'm really liking the simplicity of it all. Fun game. Double Fine <3

 

[Shotgun Kiss]

I found that recovering my gamertag fixed it, and got me the achievement. Strangely though, it replaced the usual icon (the pumpkin with "CW" in it) with a picture of the main boy character. Still, it's sorted now, so I can enjoy it without the OCD achievement part of my brain spoiling a great game.

 

[John Rabbit]

Also, when I beat all three apple bobbing games, I didn't unlock an achievement for that (unless there's more later on).

you do the apple bobbing 3 different times, 9 total rounds.

 

[KaYotiX]

finsihed it earlier tonight. great game, loved it. got the full 200. ^.^

Same, great game!!

 

[Akia]

I just beat the game (100% complete). I would give the game a 5/5.

So freaking satisfying and great. I <3 Double Fine, they're 2/2 so far this gen in my book. Brutal Legend was similarly satisfying. "Hey wanna make out?" <33

Plot Twist!

 

[Clever Pun]

I just have to say that I think this is the perfect direction for Double Fine to go in. If they still get to make big games, great, but I hope they keep doing these smaller, wonderfully executed games after the 4 we know about.

 

[kai3345]

Was really disappointed with this game at first, but once I got to the Mall and got my third party member, the game somehow suddenly became awesome! Finding out which stickers works best with which costume is really fun.

 

[HK-47]

The Statue of Liberty costume is awesome in all facets.

Also using the Sneak ability is adorable.

 

[xxracerxx]

The Statue of Liberty costume is awesome in all facets.

Also using the Sneak ability is adorable.

I found my go to team was: Robot, Knight, and Unicorn with the high dodge battle stamp. That way the Unicorn could revive or heal my characters 100%.

 

[Zomba13]

XD at the Arrested Development reference
(spoilered just in case)

Spoiler

Gob: Like the kid in the $600 banana costume is going to follow the kid in the £20 costume....C'MON!

 

[besiktas1]

Finished last night at 4am, was 2x1 hiding child away from finishing all the quests. One in the mall and one at the last area. Nice game.

 

[eznark]

Is there a list anywhere of costume part locations? Only thing I still need are the first and last pieces of the Unicorn and Vampire costumes, then I can go beat the game.

nm

 

[Jme]

Is there a list anywhere of costume part locations? Only thing I still need are the first and last pieces of the Unicorn and Vampire costumes, then I can go beat the game.

For the Unicorn:

Spoiler

On the 3rd floor of mall you can jump down from a broken railing into the giant pumpkin. On the right side of the second floor, theres an up elevator (going from right to left, toward the center of the mall) that takes you upstairs to a hidden room. I *think* those are the two you are missing?

 

[eznark]

Found em both, I'm dumb. Also beat the game. This is the first game in forever I've gotten all the achievements for.

Big fan. Some small quibbles but all in all it did what it set out to do.

 

[Akia]

Found em both, I'm dumb. Also beat the game. This is the first game in forever I've gotten all the achievements for.

This is part of the reason why I think its so satisfying. I haven't "beaten" a game in a long time but Costume Quest was fun, short and actually fully completable (100%) in one play through. I had no problems with the text speed either.

rant

Spoiler

Developers: There is value in letting users fully complete your without much of a an extra hassle: A.) it leaves them wanting more B.) it make them more satisfied about the spending the time playing your game. Too many games put in time consuming achievements and objectives that make it really hard to finish the game 100%.

tl;dr: attention devs: letting me finish everything in one playthrough makes me like your games more.

 

[quickwhips]

yeah first rpg in a long time that 100% achievements.

 

[moai]

great game. it's been said already but they have 2 months to make the christmas episode

 

[UpperCaseN]

gf beat this game on Fri, I beat it yesterday afternoon. We then went to a wedding and look at what they were serving for hors d'oeuvres

That's fried chicken and mango in a tiny little sugar cone, that's right. MEAT CONES!

 

[KidDork]

you do the apple bobbing 3 different times, 9 total rounds.

Oh, okay. I was all What The Hell? after the third go-round and no life affirming Achievement popped on the screen.

 

[Painraze]

200/200 achievements last night

this game is great. really got me into the halloween mood.

 

[GotchaForce]

Anyone know where to get the 2nd piece of the

Spoiler

vampire

outfit? Last thing I need.

 

[Ark Malmeida]

Anyone know where to get the 2nd piece of the

Spoiler

vampire

outfit? Last thing I need.

I was stuck on this one for a bit too.

Spoiler

When you exit the carnival and go into the foggy field (the path to the corn maze is on your right) you'll see a kid that wants to trade creepy treats cards out in the field. To the right of that there is a dark place that you can go into that brings you into a cave. The third piece of the vampire costume is in there

 

[JWong]

I really enjoyed the demo for this last night. It reminds me of the Penny Arcade games in a way. I haven't decided if I'm going to pick it up or not. I will probably wait on a sale since I have plenty to play already (including Penny Arcade adventures 2).

The combat bit definitely feels like Penny Arcade, however, it's a bad thing. Neither game handles contextual timing attacks as well as Mario RPG. Relying on some bar is also bad. They really should take the hint from Mario RPG.

 

[kai3345]

The combat bit definitely feels like Penny Arcade, however, it's a bad thing. Neither game handles contextual timing attacks as well as Mario RPG. Relying on some bar is also bad. They really should take the hint from Mario RPG.

I thought Penny Arcade did it well.

 

[Jintor]

ZANOTTO VORDELLO LOBOTO!

Also they totally reused the Psychonauts store music for the camping store. So awesome.

 

[Mr YuYu]

Question:

I am now in area 3 or 4 and i forgot to finish a quest in the neighbourhood where the game started. Can i still go back to finish that quest?


Thx in advance!

 

[bathala]

Question:

I am now in area 3 or 4 and i forgot to finish a quest in the neighbourhood where the game started. Can i still go back to finish that quest?


Thx in advance!

yes, u'll find some coffin portal before the final boss

 

[Hours Left]

Alright, just finished the game. Totally loved it. I think it has excellent potential to be an ongoing series, as a retail release even.

Final Impressions

Things They Got Right
-The Costume System. So much potential for future installments based on various holidays.
-The Script. Lots of hidden references and generally enjoyable dialogue.
-Graphic Style. Love the contrast between the cartoony world map graphic style and the hyped-up battles.
-Atmosphere. It was extremely charming.

Things To Work On
-Save points! I know this is a short game, but not having easily accessible save points was a hassle.
-Camera angles. A rotating camera would have been nice. Some in battle shots seemed to cut away from the action.
-Text speed. It wasn't a huge issue for me, but I could see why people were having trouble.
-Music. What I heard was nice, but it was so scarce.
-Enemy Variety. Having only the

Spoiler

three

main types on enemies was a bit boring.
-The

Spoiler

Grubbin

Costume. I was really disappointed that you

Spoiler

couldn't use it in battle.

-Length. I didn't want it to end!

Anyway, for those on the fence, if you like light, whimsical RPGs that are loaded with charm then you should really give this game a shot. It may lack a bit of polish, but it's highly addicting and extremely entertaining.

More please Double Fine!

 

[navanman]

Can I continue after the last battle or do I have to go around to grind enough candy for my last 2 battle cards?
I have all the costumes and used them all in battle already.

 

[LiK]

Can I continue after the last battle or do I have to go around to grind enough candy for my last 2 battle cards?
I have all the costumes and used them all in battle already.

Yep, if you continue after beating the game, it starts before the final battle.