-
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.
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West |OT| I Die, You Die.
- Thread starter Oli
- Start date
samus4ever
Banned
I was really enjoying this game until after the windmill part.
Dreamgazer
Member
samus4ever said:
Where the pointless platforming puzzles just doesn't seem to end?
practice02
Banned
It was a joke.... kinduh.segarr said:
But it was actually designed with that kind of color palette (look) in mind. It has never been able to handle color well. Thats why they are rehauling the engine in GoW3 and Bulletstorm so it can handle a wider color palette..la1n said:
I've passed the bridge tutorial, the cover tutorial, the distract tutorial, the mines tutorial, the stealth tutorial and the shot tutorial. The current area seems to be the turret tutorial. Is this game ever getting fun?
I think I would've been up for the "finish one chapter without dying" trophy if it weren't for the part where Nariko bounces off the bus I have to throw her onto.
I think I would've been up for the "finish one chapter without dying" trophy if it weren't for the part where Nariko bounces off the bus I have to throw her onto.
practice02 said:
Huh.. CliffyB was on the Irrational podcast and said that the "UE3 look" was because so many developers looked at the UE3 games Epic made and said, "Hey, that looks pretty good, and we know the engine can do it!"
How can the engine really care what the colors are? Does it just wash things out easily?
Why is the camera so bad?
I'm doing the demolition mech again, and it doesn't even reset the camera properly when you restart the checkpoint. You can be looking at the wall as the checkpoint loads, with the mech getting a free attack in before you can even turn around to see it.
I'm doing the demolition mech again, and it doesn't even reset the camera properly when you restart the checkpoint. You can be looking at the wall as the checkpoint loads, with the mech getting a free attack in before you can even turn around to see it.
Played through the DLC last night in one sitting -- it's about 4.5 hours. It's wildly different from Enslaved proper; it's a stealth title as well as a 3rd person cover-based shooter. It's also quite challenging. Though Pigsy only has a few techniques to choose from, the combat scenarios are flexible enough to support multiple approaches. Each encounter requires some careful planning, unlike Monkey who could just brute force his way though most of the main game. Cant brute force anything with Pigsy; he'll go down in one or two hits.
Plenty of traversal, too; you'll get around via hookshot. It's just as mindless as the main game, but still fun.
This isn't a throwaway experience.... There are tons of cutscenes and a complete narrative. Honestly it feels like a full title (It even has its own title screen and menus) -- well worth the $10.
Plenty of traversal, too; you'll get around via hookshot. It's just as mindless as the main game, but still fun.
This isn't a throwaway experience.... There are tons of cutscenes and a complete narrative. Honestly it feels like a full title (It even has its own title screen and menus) -- well worth the $10.
Okay. Trying to be somewhat constructive.
Don't like:
Inconsistent mechanics
Sometimes I can hop, sometimes I can roll, sometimes I can't do either. Why not?
Sometimes there are slight pauses in the middle of a longer (4+ hit) combo of basic attacks, sometimes there aren't. Why?
Sometimes I can dismount a ledge by just walking forward off of it, sometimes I have to press X, sometimes I have to press O. Sometimes I can't dismount period. Why?
Sometimes I can cross a gap by holding X while walking up to it, while at other times I have to depress X while already standing at the edge.
There were points in the game where I had to try a few times because the inputs didn't register or whatever. At points I'd walk away from the obvious ledge searching for something else that works, only to come up empty. Then when I'd return, the jump would work where it didn't before. What's up with that?
Why does picking up a scavenged gatling gun reduce my turning speed to geriatric levels, while sitting on a big-ass goddamned stationary turret does not?
Checkpoint placement
How hard is it to release a game in 2010 with proper checkpoints? Checkpoint before the big fight. Checkpoint before the last wave. Checkpoint after the big fight. Checkpoint after the cutscene. Checkpoint checkpoint checkpoint. The more the merrier.
I also accidentally found out that picking "Restart last checkpoint" from the pause menu may throw you a whole lot further back than dying. Whose idea was that? I mean I'd get it if this was loading the savegame a day later, but come on, the game's running right there.
Controls
The animation system enforces a kind of minimum turning radius, which makes it super annoying to pick up stuff that's very near you, but not in front of you.
Controls feel laggy. Everything seems to have really long startup animations. Not even dodging from neutral stance is instant.
Camera
Camera control is simply taken away from me for what feels like half the game. This game has "secrets" that are only secret because the camera is forcibly looking the other way.
The camera fails at framing major enemies properly. You roll away, you don't see shit anymore, you get plastered. The demolition bot at least has audio cues, but the dog robot here is really not that easy to fight if you don't see him.
It has filler out the ears
There's a Sonic stage! Veritably, you get to run towards the camera avoiding obstacles that you can't really see in advance. You can even hit upon a fewrings red orbatrons if you're on the lucky side of the track.
If you've played the first three chapters, you've also already played two turret defense sections, tiptoed around mines twice and had three helpings of bad stealth.
Extreme, offensive handholding
When I happen upon an interactive object before I'm explicitly told to, it is ... not an interactive object? It looks like one, sure. But before you can actually flip the switch, you first have to see the little scene, and wait until the icon appears. Ditto for dropping the stuff into the water in the cloud tutorial.
The game taught me that triggering the cutscene is probably a point of no return, rips me out of the environment, drops me somewhere else and shuts the door behind me. All I'm trying to do is thoroughly explore an area beforehand. But the game won't let me.
Tech
What's with the motion blur when rotating the camera? A lot on the character and a little (if at all) on the scenery is the inverse of what it should be. It's such a mindfuck.
I've seen the camera pop behind walls during takedown animations. I've seen monkey clip through metal grates while climbing. I've been shot through a solid steel wall, because the mech's gun clipped through it, even though the mech was technically on the other side (chapter 2, turret tutorial).
The framerate is pretty bad too in places, I want to say the cloud tutorial (the low point) is consistently in the teens here.
Bad art
Too much primary-color wank. Interactive elements don't stand out enough. Brown enemies don't always read clearly in these environments. All those dark brownish red handholds and steel trusses in particular blend in with the backgrounds rather "well", and that's why they had to make them all shiny and blinky.
Not a fan of my main character either. Monkey's torso looks like a bag of eels. At least the faces are impressive. It's just inconsistent.
Combat
Srsly, that melee system ... pretty basic. Spam wide attack to break blocks/create distance, spam light combo until enemies clump around you again, repeat. Wow.
(and yes, I'm playing on hard)
Don't like:
Inconsistent mechanics
Sometimes I can hop, sometimes I can roll, sometimes I can't do either. Why not?
Sometimes there are slight pauses in the middle of a longer (4+ hit) combo of basic attacks, sometimes there aren't. Why?
Sometimes I can dismount a ledge by just walking forward off of it, sometimes I have to press X, sometimes I have to press O. Sometimes I can't dismount period. Why?
Sometimes I can cross a gap by holding X while walking up to it, while at other times I have to depress X while already standing at the edge.
There were points in the game where I had to try a few times because the inputs didn't register or whatever. At points I'd walk away from the obvious ledge searching for something else that works, only to come up empty. Then when I'd return, the jump would work where it didn't before. What's up with that?
Why does picking up a scavenged gatling gun reduce my turning speed to geriatric levels, while sitting on a big-ass goddamned stationary turret does not?
Checkpoint placement
How hard is it to release a game in 2010 with proper checkpoints? Checkpoint before the big fight. Checkpoint before the last wave. Checkpoint after the big fight. Checkpoint after the cutscene. Checkpoint checkpoint checkpoint. The more the merrier.
I also accidentally found out that picking "Restart last checkpoint" from the pause menu may throw you a whole lot further back than dying. Whose idea was that? I mean I'd get it if this was loading the savegame a day later, but come on, the game's running right there.
Controls
The animation system enforces a kind of minimum turning radius, which makes it super annoying to pick up stuff that's very near you, but not in front of you.
Controls feel laggy. Everything seems to have really long startup animations. Not even dodging from neutral stance is instant.
Camera
Camera control is simply taken away from me for what feels like half the game. This game has "secrets" that are only secret because the camera is forcibly looking the other way.
The camera fails at framing major enemies properly. You roll away, you don't see shit anymore, you get plastered. The demolition bot at least has audio cues, but the dog robot here is really not that easy to fight if you don't see him.
It has filler out the ears
There's a Sonic stage! Veritably, you get to run towards the camera avoiding obstacles that you can't really see in advance. You can even hit upon a few
If you've played the first three chapters, you've also already played two turret defense sections, tiptoed around mines twice and had three helpings of bad stealth.
Extreme, offensive handholding
When I happen upon an interactive object before I'm explicitly told to, it is ... not an interactive object? It looks like one, sure. But before you can actually flip the switch, you first have to see the little scene, and wait until the icon appears. Ditto for dropping the stuff into the water in the cloud tutorial.
The game taught me that triggering the cutscene is probably a point of no return, rips me out of the environment, drops me somewhere else and shuts the door behind me. All I'm trying to do is thoroughly explore an area beforehand. But the game won't let me.
Tech
What's with the motion blur when rotating the camera? A lot on the character and a little (if at all) on the scenery is the inverse of what it should be. It's such a mindfuck.
I've seen the camera pop behind walls during takedown animations. I've seen monkey clip through metal grates while climbing. I've been shot through a solid steel wall, because the mech's gun clipped through it, even though the mech was technically on the other side (chapter 2, turret tutorial).
The framerate is pretty bad too in places, I want to say the cloud tutorial (the low point) is consistently in the teens here.
Bad art
Too much primary-color wank. Interactive elements don't stand out enough. Brown enemies don't always read clearly in these environments. All those dark brownish red handholds and steel trusses in particular blend in with the backgrounds rather "well", and that's why they had to make them all shiny and blinky.
Not a fan of my main character either. Monkey's torso looks like a bag of eels. At least the faces are impressive. It's just inconsistent.
Combat
Srsly, that melee system ... pretty basic. Spam wide attack to break blocks/create distance, spam light combo until enemies clump around you again, repeat. Wow.
(and yes, I'm playing on hard)
Welp I just beat it and, on the whole, thought it was garbage.
Positives
-Voice acting is great for all characters
-World is semi-interesting
-Facial animation is great
-Soundtrack is excellent
-Graphics are pretty nice
Negatives
-Story is really awful, mainly because the plot is so paper thin.
-Relationship between Monkey and Trip didn't feel genuine at all and felt kind of forced
-Platforming is way too automated to be satisfying
-Inconsistencies in design that other posters pointed out. I can jump over a huge gap yet I can't jump down a ledge? Right.
-Combat is shallow, janky and repetitive
-Turns into a technical mess towards the later half
-Game as a whole takes a nosedive when you meet Pigsy
I legitimately fear for Devil May Cry. I honestly have no idea how NT will make a combat system in part with DMC2 let alone the good ones.
Positives
-Voice acting is great for all characters
-World is semi-interesting
-Facial animation is great
-Soundtrack is excellent
-Graphics are pretty nice
Negatives
-Story is really awful, mainly because the plot is so paper thin.
-Relationship between Monkey and Trip didn't feel genuine at all and felt kind of forced
-Platforming is way too automated to be satisfying
-Inconsistencies in design that other posters pointed out. I can jump over a huge gap yet I can't jump down a ledge? Right.
-Combat is shallow, janky and repetitive
-Turns into a technical mess towards the later half
-Game as a whole takes a nosedive when you meet Pigsy
I legitimately fear for Devil May Cry. I honestly have no idea how NT will make a combat system in part with DMC2 let alone the good ones.
terrdactycalsrock
Member
i hate to ask a really horrible question, but is there any difference between the ps3 and 360 versions?
Barkley's Justice
Member
i played the demo today and really enjoyed it.
how long is the game?
how long is the game?
MidnightScott
Banned
Think it's worth $15? I have a $10 credit on Amazon and a PS3.
Barkley's Justice
Member
so this is $25 on amazon at the moment. i told myself if i could find it for $20 i'd get it.
there's some harsh criticism in this thread but...is it worth $25??
there's some harsh criticism in this thread but...is it worth $25??
See You Next Wednesday
Banned
Barkley's Justice said:
YES!
As for the criticism, well it's GAF. The best rated games are considered garbage & the worst rated games are considered classics by a lot of GAF.
I liked Heavenly Sword.
I played the ps3 demo of this game. The graphics are terrible, I really don't understand what people like Garnett Lee were thinking when they said this game looked great. It doesn't. Combat is fun but the camera ruins it. Moving around, jumping, etc. feels wrong.
This developer needs to go back to the drawing board.
I played the ps3 demo of this game. The graphics are terrible, I really don't understand what people like Garnett Lee were thinking when they said this game looked great. It doesn't. Combat is fun but the camera ruins it. Moving around, jumping, etc. feels wrong.
This developer needs to go back to the drawing board.
See You Next Wednesday
Banned
otake said:
If this is considered terrible, I want more games to have terrible graphics.
badcrumble
Member
I know this game is supposed to be short, but somehow it feels long simply by virtue of being a repetitive slog. At least it feels good to earn upgrades, even if they make the game ridiculously easy.
practice02
Banned
Cliff sucking his own dick on a podcast that's a shocker. The lighting in the engine is a real resource thief the way you circumvent that issue is by using darker earth tones and masking the sky getting rid of the light source.it cuts down on shadows with out it looking cheap. With that a problem is solved.webrunner said:
Yup, very nice looking, but it´s by no means a graphical feat.Kolgar said:
Uhm, no? Problem is that everyone uses the same muddy looking textures because it´s easy and "looks next-geny". Look at Mirrors Edge or Mass Effect, two fine examples how devs can use/modify the engine to make it look unique.practice02 said:
practice02
Banned
Mirror Edge used a totally different lighting engine as we have gone over and the first mass effect ran like shit even with all the filters turned off and ME2 uses an engine that you could either call UE3.5 that's how much of an improvement it is.derFeef said:
I finished the game last night, and while it was an enjoyable ride, I don't see the experience sticking with me in the long term.
I can really appreciate all the work that went into the aesthetics - the world is interesting, the characters are modeled well, the voice acting is well done (for the most part), the story is entertaining enough, and overall it's a joy to look at and listen to.
But I'm a gameplay whore, and that's where the game mostly broke down for me. It's cool to watch Monkey do his platforming for the first couple chapters, but then seeing the same animations over and over really starts to wear thin. The combat is serviceable - it's not horrible, but in the sea of character action games it feels a bit generic. I would gripe about the camera, but looks like I don't need to since others in this thread have already torn it apart.
One of my biggest disappointments with the game came with the collectible orbs. I was really taken out of the experience when Trip would say something like "COME ON MONKEY, WE REALLY HAVE TO GET GOING!" but I would have to be like "Hold on Trip, I have to run around in a circle and collect all these orbs first. Gotta upgrade myself, you know?" Another thing that killed the flow was when I would see an area littered with plasma ammo. That gave away what would be happening in the next scene, and killed any possible tension I would have entering the area.
I may sound really negative, but overall I did enjoy my time with the game. There were some moments when I was running around with Trip and Pigsy that really made it feel like I was on a grand adventure. Had the gameplay been more interesting and solid I could see the experience sticking with me, but now I feel like I'm done with the game for good and will likely forget the experience by this time next year.
I can really appreciate all the work that went into the aesthetics - the world is interesting, the characters are modeled well, the voice acting is well done (for the most part), the story is entertaining enough, and overall it's a joy to look at and listen to.
But I'm a gameplay whore, and that's where the game mostly broke down for me. It's cool to watch Monkey do his platforming for the first couple chapters, but then seeing the same animations over and over really starts to wear thin. The combat is serviceable - it's not horrible, but in the sea of character action games it feels a bit generic. I would gripe about the camera, but looks like I don't need to since others in this thread have already torn it apart.
One of my biggest disappointments with the game came with the collectible orbs. I was really taken out of the experience when Trip would say something like "COME ON MONKEY, WE REALLY HAVE TO GET GOING!" but I would have to be like "Hold on Trip, I have to run around in a circle and collect all these orbs first. Gotta upgrade myself, you know?" Another thing that killed the flow was when I would see an area littered with plasma ammo. That gave away what would be happening in the next scene, and killed any possible tension I would have entering the area.
I may sound really negative, but overall I did enjoy my time with the game. There were some moments when I was running around with Trip and Pigsy that really made it feel like I was on a grand adventure. Had the gameplay been more interesting and solid I could see the experience sticking with me, but now I feel like I'm done with the game for good and will likely forget the experience by this time next year.
So I have finally finished the game after like 10 sittings or something. The game is a disaster.
First the combat, In short it's terrible and broken. Basically it's button mashing fest and it's mad repetitive and unsatisfying. Almost every combat encounter made me want to turn off the game and never get back to it.
Second the shooting, I don't know if I should actually call it shooting but the whole mechanic should be removed from the game or at least I shouldn't be forced to use it. Any boos fight or set piece is basically ruined by just awkwardly stopping to point and shoot at a certain target.
Third thing is story and characters, I couldn't actually find the story any good probably because it almost didn't exist. I didn't feel any sympathy toward Trip or any of the characters and the part where
Last thing is the "Hey" button. I mean really ? a button just for this meaningless action like that.
I actually liked the platforming. I would've liked this game a lot more if it was only platforming with no combat.
First the combat, In short it's terrible and broken. Basically it's button mashing fest and it's mad repetitive and unsatisfying. Almost every combat encounter made me want to turn off the game and never get back to it.
Second the shooting, I don't know if I should actually call it shooting but the whole mechanic should be removed from the game or at least I shouldn't be forced to use it. Any boos fight or set piece is basically ruined by just awkwardly stopping to point and shoot at a certain target.
Third thing is story and characters, I couldn't actually find the story any good probably because it almost didn't exist. I didn't feel any sympathy toward Trip or any of the characters and the part where
pig decides to sacrifice himself didn't make any sense.
Last thing is the "Hey" button. I mean really ? a button just for this meaningless action like that.
I actually liked the platforming. I would've liked this game a lot more if it was only platforming with no combat.
Ken Masters
Banned
Is there a difference between the 360/Ps3 versions? I was thinking of picking this game up
I could have sworn I already posted my final thoughts.
Since this thread is up again, and this post is doomed to page-bottom obscurity anyway:
Threw in the towel after crossing the bridge, at the
. That really hammered home how unfit this camera system is for third-person melee combat. Half the time you can't even see your enemy. You roll to dodge a swipe and your big-ass target just goes off the screen. Then it swipes again, and since the visual is the only cue -- goddammit Ninja Theory, did you learn nothing at all? -- you're fucked. If I cared about the story at all I'd put it on easy and blow through, but fuck it. This game is so not worth enduring.
Since this thread is up again, and this post is doomed to page-bottom obscurity anyway:
Threw in the towel after crossing the bridge, at the
mecha dog boss fight
Rocket786
Member
Just finished the game. Thought it was decent enough to play through once. I played it on hard, and it wasn't too frustrating other than the cloud parts where you are racing to save Trip from some mech. The controls were just not responsive enough for me. Maybe it was because of the consistent frame rate drops. Regardless, it was a fun ride through.
On a side note, I got the game from Amazon for $25, and the trade in value is $22 for the PS3 version. I don't know how they pull off these deals, but I sure do love Amazon. Got to play the game on my time without rushing through, all for only $3. Thanks Amazon!
On a side note, I got the game from Amazon for $25, and the trade in value is $22 for the PS3 version. I don't know how they pull off these deals, but I sure do love Amazon. Got to play the game on my time without rushing through, all for only $3. Thanks Amazon!
Similar threads
- Poll