cash_longfellow
Member
Anyone want to talk about how the game is instead of the other nonsense? I'd like to know how people are liking the game so far.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau - Reviews Thread
- Thread starter adamsapple
- Start date
I've been playing it on Ps5. I like it a lot, the platforming seems to have more of an emphasis than other games in the genre. The fact that it does not cost anything is a bonus, highly recommend playing it.
AltogetherAndrews
Banned
Lesser Ori is pretty on point based on what I've played so far. A lot of weird design decisions, too, that a more experienced dev probably would have avoided, but for a first game? Pretty decent. And the African theme is neat.
cash_longfellow
Member
Nice, just downloading now. Thanks!
Blitzmangoman
Member
In Act 3 now, still nothing "political" or anything like that. I like it.
I will hopefully finish it today.
I will hopefully finish it today.
Blitzmangoman
Member
I finished and got the platinum as well. Some sections towards the end were annoying lol, as in instakill sections and you had to repeat it.
Other than that, not a bad game, the fighting is mediocre but the story was fine. The soundtrack and visuals are also fine.
Would rate the game a 7/10.
Other than that, not a bad game, the fighting is mediocre but the story was fine. The soundtrack and visuals are also fine.
Would rate the game a 7/10.
Gaiff
SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
Not bad for a first project. If they do make another game, I hope they stay away from SBI.
I got all the way to the end and couldn't finish due to that escape platforming section. I got through the 2 escape platform sections in Act II, but this one is just too tough for me. Pretty frustrating as I enjoyed the game, otherwise. If there was literally one more checkpoint in there, I'd be able to get through it.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Played a bit of this today. The game itself is pretty decent, tight controls, good metroid-vania traversal and powers etc.
The one thing I don't get, however, is how a game this simple looking has a 30 FPS 'quality' and a very aliased 60 FPS 'performance' mode on the current gen, when similar games like Lost Crown run at 4K/120 fps without breaking a sweat.
The one thing I don't get, however, is how a game this simple looking has a 30 FPS 'quality' and a very aliased 60 FPS 'performance' mode on the current gen, when similar games like Lost Crown run at 4K/120 fps without breaking a sweat.
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Sounds like I need to play this game first, before I play Ori or Ori 2. Because the African theme is what's speaking to me the most.
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Shakka43
Member
Done with the game. Not bad, the combat is a very weak point but the level design and abilities are good. Overall a pretty enjoyable metroidvania.
Easy platinum for those that care, only 20(19+platinum) trophies and you can get most of them by just playing naturally, the collectables are easy to find and are not that many.
Easy platinum for those that care, only 20(19+platinum) trophies and you can get most of them by just playing naturally, the collectables are easy to find and are not that many.
Darkmakaimura
Can You Imagine What SureAI Is Going To Do With Garfield?
Same here. Since December of 2008. What a weird year that was for me.
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nikolino840
Member
U n i o n 0015
Member
I like this dude a lot. He's a fantastic actor, and it's awesome that he decided to build a team and make a game that was dear to his heart.
But this isn't how you sell a game, by saying that its the boogeyman racists that "prevented my game from being successful, and you know, I need some sympathy so go buy my game (which I've just discounted 25%)". You sell it by making it unique and fun to play. Besides the African theme, the majority of the game's reviews said that the gameplay was a competent if uninspired Metroidvania.
Personally, I think it's a little unfortunate that his game is getting torched by people who will not buy anything associated with SBI. But that's their right as consumers, and you as a creator have no right to guilt people into buying your product. I wish the guy had just made his game, him and his team, his writers, and not even bothered with an SBI partnership. Writers shouldn't need consultants. They need to listen to their voice, and convey that voice in its purest form to the consumer.
I'm still planning on picking this one up, but given that I (and most gamers) already have massive backlogs of stellar games, anything that doesn't have overwhelming positive feedback sits on a $10 waitlist for me.
Gaiff
SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
SBI tanked his game. People (including me) were on board with it until SBI came into the picture. He blatantly refused to address the controversy and let the association with them torch his game. If he takes another crack, I'll be on his side so long as SBI or those insulting DEI (or whatever they're called) companies aren't involved.
Also, his game is merely competent in an oversaturated genre. We're not exactly on short supply of amazing indie metroidvanais.
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Jaybe
Member
Dr.Morris79
Gold Member
Oh give it a fucking rest why don't you.
Gaming was fine before your bullshit agenda driven horse shit nonsense.
Go and be a roofer or some shit.
Gaiff
SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
I've actually asked him personally on Discord what was the extent of SBI's involvement and other people also did. He just ignored us. I was genuinely interested in supporting the game solely because of the setting and because there's a dearth of games inspired by African history/mythology, but the SBI made me hold off.
The thing with DEI companies is that they don't promote diversity. They promote division and I believe they're actively harmful to developers and/or creators who are part of minority groups. They help no one so I now utterly refuse to give them my money even if the creator is a well-intentioned black man like this fella.
Once again, he ditches SBI and all this garbage for his next game and he has my undying support, even if the game isn't all that amazing, I'll at least encourage him to keep trying until he makes something great.
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Dr.Morris79
Gold Member
Never gonna happen. It's all a grift. That's money you don't just 'drop' because you've had a change of heart..
These people don't have ethics, it's purely money driven. This isn't the 80's anymore with people actually doing it as a passion for fun.
Just get all of this shit out of gaming. Like you said yourself. It's pure division
We don't, and have NEVER! needed it.
Gaiff
SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
Then he'll have to make do with the money he gets from those grants. The industry has spoken and SBI or their ilk isn't wanted.
Sure, major IPs like Spider-Man or Assassin's Creed will be successful regardless, but smaller games and studios such as this one will be seriously hurt by associating themselves with these companies.
Controversy can help boost engagement and popularity when your product is already established to begin with. If not, it can just kill it before it even hits the ground. Sucks for him, and I'm saying this as a black Caribbean man. I was rooting for this game the moment I saw it, but he made his own bed and something something.
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Connificent
Al Pachinko, Konami President
Shouldve took the GP stimulus package
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Gaiff
SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
It was on PS+ so I think he got a nice lump sum upfront.
Gamer_By_Proxy
Member
I haven't seen a single word about this game since the reviews dropped. Even with it in PS+. I played the first few minutes but haven't gone back to it. Too many better games to play.
Jaybe
Member
One reason I detest the major game subscription services is it puts the catalog purchases into the platform owner's control to spend and they reward Sweet Baby Inc / DEI using developers like this, which then enriches SBI and other firms of their ilk.
NeoIkaruGAF
Gold Member
Just finished the game and some quotes in the OP are beyond hilarious.
This is a 6/10 game at best. Map-wise it's babby's first metroidvania, ridiculously linear with tons of fast-travel points and very few situations where you might want to backtrack a little. The map basically spoils every secret for you, too. Traversal is pure ADHD, you jump and wall jump and double jump around a lot and it's clear you have to do so because they didn't know what else to give the player to do. It feels good enough, at least. Too bad the camera often struggles to follow you around if you get too much in the mood.
Graphics are good enough. Too bad a lot of chromatic choices make things difficult to read. Sometimes it can be difficult to tell your character apart from the scenery, especially if you're wearing the red mask. This is at its worst in combat, where there's times when it's literally impossible to tell where your character is between a zip and a jump and being knocked back by enemies or projectiles that will never miss. Combat is definitely the game's worst part. It doesn't help that, as usual, every single button on the pad MUST have a function because it's there.
The SBI involvement controversy is funny regarding this game, because the game actually feels almost insulting to the culture it wants to homage. It's the cheesiest grief story you can imagine, with strong western vibes from dialogue to delivery, to the oversimplification of everything and the main character even mocking some ancient heroes himself. It really feels like a group of random chalk-white blokes who just lost their pet hamster read a couple of Wikipedia entries on this stuff and thought they could voice their grieve through this game. I think you shouldn't handle religious themes if you're blatantly agnostic (or a full-blown atheist, like I'd expect everyone in a modern game development team to proudly be).
Zau is so similar to Ori that at times it feels it's plagiarizing that game, and it doesn't even make a very good job of it.
This is a 6/10 game at best. Map-wise it's babby's first metroidvania, ridiculously linear with tons of fast-travel points and very few situations where you might want to backtrack a little. The map basically spoils every secret for you, too. Traversal is pure ADHD, you jump and wall jump and double jump around a lot and it's clear you have to do so because they didn't know what else to give the player to do. It feels good enough, at least. Too bad the camera often struggles to follow you around if you get too much in the mood.
Graphics are good enough. Too bad a lot of chromatic choices make things difficult to read. Sometimes it can be difficult to tell your character apart from the scenery, especially if you're wearing the red mask. This is at its worst in combat, where there's times when it's literally impossible to tell where your character is between a zip and a jump and being knocked back by enemies or projectiles that will never miss. Combat is definitely the game's worst part. It doesn't help that, as usual, every single button on the pad MUST have a function because it's there.
The SBI involvement controversy is funny regarding this game, because the game actually feels almost insulting to the culture it wants to homage. It's the cheesiest grief story you can imagine, with strong western vibes from dialogue to delivery, to the oversimplification of everything and the main character even mocking some ancient heroes himself. It really feels like a group of random chalk-white blokes who just lost their pet hamster read a couple of Wikipedia entries on this stuff and thought they could voice their grieve through this game. I think you shouldn't handle religious themes if you're blatantly agnostic (or a full-blown atheist, like I'd expect everyone in a modern game development team to proudly be).
Zau is so similar to Ori that at times it feels it's plagiarizing that game, and it doesn't even make a very good job of it.
Duchess
Member
Thanks for writing this up. A shame, as it looked decent enough in reviews, etc. Will skip now.
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