• 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.

Official Heavenly Sword Thread - Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads

CSSer

Member
Rented the game and just finished it. The last battle was difficult at first, but was easy once you got the hang of it. I'm not going to try Hell mode, but normal mode was too easy. Some of the aftertouch missions/puzzles felt like a chore, and some missions just felt tacked on for no reason. The cutscenes were really good, like everyone says.
 

tha_con

Banned
I rented it and beat it, the last battle was really really intense and fun. Though, once you learn how to counter effectively, it becomes extremely easy, much like the last boss fight in God of War.
 

Foil

Member
Ehh the framerate kinda stinks in this game imo. The visuals are gorgeous but the framerate brings that down quite a bit for me. If they could get the sequel looking the same and running at a smooth 60 frames per second it'd be jaw dropping. Even a smooth 30 would be better than what they have now, but for this type of game 60 is the way to go.

Needs more variety, longer game, better overall design, far better puzzles, some actual exploration, none of the stupid "press this button now crap", expanded combat system, and add in a block button. I don't mind the blocking system they have in now, but I'd prefer an actual block button. Boss fights could be more epic in the next one, and it needs more enemy variety, and just make sure any sixaxis controls are always optional because most sixaxis stuff (in every game) is fucking awful. Gameplay wise it's got a long ways to go before bumping heads with the big boys.

This series does have a lot of potential though and they did some things like cutscenes, character design, music, and others really damn well. I hope they get to work on Heavenly Sword 2 asap.
 
dark10x said:
Nah, my PS3 is perfectly fine. Every video I've seen of the game has been just as bad.

It's not that the framerate is LOWER than SotC (it's not), there's just something about the way the game feels that drove me crazy. The animations felt overly quick and jerky and the game just never seemed to run proerply. It felt like a PC game running on a machine that can't quite handle it.

So, yeah, it really wasn't the framerate by itself that bugged me. The type of animation combined with an unstable, tearing framerate really did it.

sorry to quote an older post, but can't help but feel exactly this way right now

...I just
beat roach
and my opinion of the game has went from generally positive to sorta "meh" now to the point where I just wanna finish it

I hate to admit it, but the lack of technical polish (or maybe the fact that Ninja Theory simply bit off more than they can chew) has REALLY bit this title in the ass.
the framerate is almost NEVER running at 30fps in a large majority of areas and they way NT decided to have the engine "grab" content off the harddrive constantly only makes things worse...much like running a title on the PC when you don't have enough ram....
At times it really is fucking gastly the way the shit just "jumps" all over the place...and the constant tearing doesn't make things any more tolerable
Shadows are also flat out ugly most of time, with the exception being during Nariko monologues/stage select sections....obviously done because not that much is having to "balanced" as far as rendering budgets are concerned...

...but yes, I can honestly say that this is the first time in a long while when the techinical shortcomings of a title have been so bad that it has really influenced my opinion so negatively...

sorry, but as of right now this title feels like a 6-7/10 for me =/

...only reaaal saving grace is the good to excellent art direction and Andy Serkis contribution to the project
 
AgentOtaku said:
sorry to quote an older post, but can't help but feel exactly this way right now

...I just
beat roach
and my opinion of the game has went from generally positive to sorta "meh" now to the point where I just wanna finish it

I hate to admit it, but the lack of technical polish (or maybe the fact that Ninja Theory simply bit off more than they can chew) has REALLY bit this title in the ass.
the framerate is almost NEVER running at 30fps in a large majority of areas and they way NT decided to have the engine "grab" content off the harddrive constantly only makes things worse...much like running a title on the PC when you don't have enough ram....
At times it really is fucking gastly the way the shit just "jumps" all over the place...and the constant tearing doesn't make things any more tolerable
Shadows are also flat out ugly most of time, with the exception being during Nariko monologues/stage select sections....obviously done because not that much is having to "balanced" as far as rendering budgets are concerned...

...but yes, I can honestly say that this is the first time in a long while when the techinical shortcomings of a title have been so bad that it has really influenced my opinion so negatively...

sorry, but as of right now this title feels like a 6-7/10 for me =/

...only reaaal saving grace is the good to excellent art direction and Andy Serkis contribution to the project

Heh, on the opposite spectrum, the frame rate etc hasn't bothered me that much at all, and I felt the roach fight was one of the most enjoyable stages in the game
 

Thunderbear

Mawio Gawaxy iz da Wheeson hee pways games
nelsonroyale said:
Heh, on the opposite spectrum, the frame rate etc hasn't bothered me that much at all, and I felt the roach fight was one of the most enjoyable stages in the game

Roach fight was awesome but framerate bothered me hehe. So I land in the middle of you two.
 
Posted this in the october pickup thread aswell.
but figured that maybe you guys wont look there.


It was a bitch trying to figure out how to transfer the photos from my PS3 to my computer.
now I need a place to upload the damn files I got these 4.

dont know if you guys have seen them before.

Hpage02-09.jpg

Hpage02-18.jpg

Hpage02-03c.jpg

Hpage01-09.jpg


so if anyone wants a bigger version of these let me know of a good site to upload them at and that DONT RESIZE the damn photos you upload
 

Mifune

Mehmber
Just beat the game this afternoon. After the first two chapters, I was absolutely loving it. Sad to say I soured on the game somewhat for the rest of it.

THE GOOD
Loved the shooting segments for the most part. Steering arrows into bad guys with the Sixaxis is way more fun than it has any right to be.

The core fighting is really fun. You really feel like a badass when you use the power stance to blow guys off the screen. Looks awesome, too.

Boss battles are intense and epic. I like the way that the game breaks up the boss battles with Kai stages. Nice touch.

Cutscenes looks great. Oh god the faces! Bohan is a solid villain, thanks to Serkis.

THE BAD
Ummm...framerate, screen tearing, all the stuff that has been mentioned ad nauseum. Technical issues really do undermine the overall effect.

Story is boring generic fantasy stuff. This kind of surprised me, since so much PR speak has been spent on the bells and whistles of the game (Serkis involved in creative process, etc.). The henchmen are unique, I guess, but at times if feels like they teleported in from another game.

Lack of exploration, platforming, puzzles, anything but fighting and shooting. Yes, I understand Ninja Theory are going for a straight brawler, but a little bit of exploration would have gone a long way to bring a better sense of cohesion to the whole experience. At times it feels like you complete a level and then you start the next one in a completely different place. I never really got a sense of the geography of this world, since the game steered me from one conflict to another with nothing in between.

I'm not one to complain that a game is too short, but...this game is too short. I think I beat it in about five to six hours. The lack of other stuff (see above) plus a low difficulty (not a problem to a noob like me) just make the game feel like it's over before it even gets started.

OVERALL
Yeah, more negative than positive above, but overall I think it's a fun game (say a "B"). It's way too short, a little shallow, but still a good ride. Oh but what could have been... I expect great things from the sequel, Ninja Theory.
 
OMFG

last fight....SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BAD :lol

...I can't even finish this game cause its just so bullshit...getting rid of this tommorow

Last game I did this with off the top of my head was with Far Cry waaay back on the PC.....

....okay I'll try one more time....but its still bad :p
 

Thunderbear

Mawio Gawaxy iz da Wheeson hee pways games
Come on, he's not very hard. All you need to do is stay away and counter his fireballs with the appropriate stance. I've had way more annoying end bosses.
 
Got the game the other day and just finished it this afternoon. Maybe my expectations were lower than most people, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed playing the game. This is probably heresy, but I liked HS better than Ninja Gaiden/Black/Sigma/etc. The game was less frustrating but still had enough challenge to keep me interested, art direction was better, pacing was good, and mixing up the fighting and shooting segments was nice (I loved the shooting, especially
the mission where Kai had to protect Shen
). I knew it was short going in, but I didn't mind because I was entertained the whole way through and it didn't feel unnecessarily long and drawn out.

One of the biggest surprises for me so far this year.
 
DeanoCalver said:
ICE isn't an engine but various bits of tech from SCEA. We used some (largely indirectly tbh as some SCEE ATG libraries use them but still its in there) so fairs fair with the credit.
You worked on HS? It was a good game and we want our sequel. Yeah it had some problems and wasn't really the "Ninja Gaiden" I thought it would be, but I guess you guys went for a idfferent style and not some "serious" fighting. Still good all around for your first major game.

And I want
Nariko back!
:(
 
CrushDance said:
You worked on HS? It was a good game and we want our sequel. Yeah it had some problems and wasn't really the "Ninja Gaiden" I thought it would be, but I guess you guys went for a idfferent style and not some "serious" fighting. Still good all around for your first major game.

And I want
Nariko back!
:(

Ummm...hmmm.
 

Flynn

Member
Mifune said:
Just beat the game this afternoon. After the first two chapters, I was absolutely loving it. Sad to say I soured on the game somewhat for the rest of it.

THE GOOD
Loved the shooting segments for the most part. Steering arrows into bad guys with the Sixaxis is way more fun than it has any right to be.

The core fighting is really fun. You really feel like a badass when you use the power stance to blow guys off the screen. Looks awesome, too.

Boss battles are intense and epic. I like the way that the game breaks up the boss battles with Kai stages. Nice touch.

Cutscenes looks great. Oh god the faces! Bohan is a solid villain, thanks to Serkis.

THE BAD
Ummm...framerate, screen tearing, all the stuff that has been mentioned ad nauseum. Technical issues really do undermine the overall effect.

Story is boring generic fantasy stuff. This kind of surprised me, since so much PR speak has been spent on the bells and whistles of the game (Serkis involved in creative process, etc.). The henchmen are unique, I guess, but at times if feels like they teleported in from another game.

Lack of exploration, platforming, puzzles, anything but fighting and shooting. Yes, I understand Ninja Theory are going for a straight brawler, but a little bit of exploration would have gone a long way to bring a better sense of cohesion to the whole experience. At times it feels like you complete a level and then you start the next one in a completely different place. I never really got a sense of the geography of this world, since the game steered me from one conflict to another with nothing in between.

I'm not one to complain that a game is too short, but...this game is too short. I think I beat it in about five to six hours. The lack of other stuff (see above) plus a low difficulty (not a problem to a noob like me) just make the game feel like it's over before it even gets started.

OVERALL
Yeah, more negative than positive above, but overall I think it's a fun game (say a "B"). It's way too short, a little shallow, but still a good ride. Oh but what could have been... I expect great things from the sequel, Ninja Theory.

Ninja Theory needs to take out the God of War guys for about 200 lunches.
 

TEH-CJ

Banned
DeanoCalver said:
ICE isn't an engine but various bits of tech from SCEA. We used some (largely indirectly tbh as some SCEE ATG libraries use them but still its in there) so fairs fair with the credit.

Ah i see

cheers ;)
 
So I was just flicking through issue 158 of Play (UK) and noticed a Heavenly Sword walkthrough. Ignoring the fact that I can't imagine anyone actually needing a walkthrough I had a quick flick through and noticed something very strange;

PLAY said:
When he takes flight he is about to barrage you with the lightning-quick bolts. Blue or orange, they are very hard to dodge and they hurt! You have to roll to the side at the exact moment he lets go of the bolt and repeatedly roll until he stops throwing them.

WTF! Who writes this shit and how do Play consider themselves qualified to review the game when they can't even figure out how to play it? I went back and checked the tips for the second Fox encounter. Sure enough, no mention of countering, just blocking until he stops throwing blades. I have no idea what they made of that third urn!

I guess some people need a walkthrough after all.:lol
 

Oni Jazar

Member
Beat the game yesterday and I wanted to throw my two cents. I really enjoyed it for what it was. It felt like an old Kung Fu movie. The production values of the cutscenes along with the beautiful setting went a long way to making the game an enjoyable experience. While it lacked a lot of polish there was a lot of unique elements that this game had, and it would be ashame if it was ignored.

The picture-in-picture for instance was a cool way to show you specific scenes close up without having to lose control of the character. I don't know of any other games that do this (although I haven't played GOW - which HS emulates). Sixaxis controls were great IMO. I felt like a kid again moving the controller around like a doofus. :D The acting and directing were top notch. The scenes with Kai and Fox specifically are fucking awesome. The scene where
Kai falls off the cage on a noose
shocked me and make me want to kick his ass. The last final stages before the boss have a great sense of whooping ass in jaw dropping vistas.

While it's a shame that the game is short and that there are techincal issues like long load times and framerate drops/tearing, I definitely think that everyone should at least rent the game and check out what the game has to offer.
 

karasu

Member
It's not very much like GOW at all.

I hope that sequel is longer and that Kai-with Heavenly Sword in hand-is the lead character!
 

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
Oni Jazar said:
The picture-in-picture for instance was a cool way to show you specific scenes close up without having to lose control of the character. I don't know of any other games that do this (although I haven't played GOW - which HS emulates)..
Nope, GoW doesn't have anything of sorts.
 

Tieno

Member
Oni Jazar said:
If Heavenly Sword is the first game to use Picture-in-picture while playing then that's a pretty big deal. I liked it a lot
PDZ does it and XIII probably too, although I haven't played that game.
 
Okay, I need help. How in the fuck do I get three glyphs in the mission where all you have to do is run back to the fort (end of chapter 5 maybe)? It's the only Nariko section I don't have 3 glyphs for (there are certain Kai missions I just don't like and can't be bothered replaying) and I just can't do it, there isn't enough time!
 

Thrakier

Member
Great game, I like it.

I now tried to get three Stars on the first Mission. But I only get two. Any hawt tips on how to get three stars?
 

Desiderus

Member
i must be one of the few that hate the JP boxart and likes the North American and its flip cover way more (take it the JP has that too).

oh and that trailer...the hell.
 

Oda

Member
Hey I just recently got around to trying the demo, and I noticed during the cutscenes there was a weird stuttering problem. Is this present in the final version, or just a demo issue? Also, is the demo really that short, or did it time out on me? After that tower thing fell I got like 2 more minutes of playing, then guys busted through a door and it abruptly ended.

Really enjoyed it though. The presentation and visuals are astounding.
 
Oda said:
Hey I just recently got around to trying the demo, and I noticed during the cutscenes there was a weird stuttering problem. Is this present in the final version, or just a demo issue? Also, is the demo really that short, or did it time out on me? After that tower thing fell I got like 2 more minutes of playing, then guys busted through a door and it abruptly ended.

Really enjoyed it though. The presentation and visuals are astounding.

that stuterring stuff is gone from the final game mostly. maybe its there on a couple of rare occasions in the cutscenes.
 
Top Bottom