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The Giant Bomb Quick Look Thread 2
- Thread starter Gowans
- Start date
That's it!
Quick Look: Resonance (Caravella, Davis | 32:49)
Global mayhem? Monsters? Whatever's going on in this adventure game, Vinny and Ryan have work to do
Great quicklook. Game looks very well made.
You can have great level design without using such obtuse mechanics. Dishonored will allow players to use a "Blink" ability, offering exploration without the clunky navigation. And I don't think there's anything wrong with standard jumping. Let me jump from rooftop to rooftop, sure. But it's when you require precise jumps over lasers and you can't go too fast or you'll fall/hit another laser but if you don't have enough momentum you'll just land right on that laser where it gets frustrating.
Of course, bad design is bad design, but it feels like people have been taking the Mass Effect 2 route and just removed anything that didn't work quite right instead of trying to improve it.
The new Deus Ex had a decent amount of freedom too.
slaughterking
Member
Quick Look: LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (Ryan/Brad) (42:58)
rohlfinator
Member
Agreed on this in general, but I disagree with the example of first person platforming. The only series that really got it right imo was Metroid Prime, and it worked there largely because they made it very straightforward and easy. Platforming takes a lot of precise spatial awareness of your character's body that's hard to get in first person, especially for in relation your character's feet. I just don't think there's a good way to require precision jumping in first person without making it overly frustrating.
I don't blame them for being confused as to what to do to progress through the level. I've been stuck quite a few times on previous Lego games with 0 idea on what to do. I wish the games would give you obvious hints if you are stuck wandering around in the same location for over 5 minutes or so.
The Wizard
Member
SteveWinwood
Member
Oh goodness, at that length they end up playing through like a fifth of the game.
Yea, was really surprised neither tried that. My first thought the moment the ooze-covered suit pedestal appeared on screen with a huge pool of water next to it. C'mon GB!
Edit: Just noticed the screenshot solution above. I will argue that Lego games could be better at re-posting those on-screen tips, maybe after a certain time period. I would have likely missed the tooltip as well, especially in a co-op game. Still, Brad was so close knowing he needed the Elec suit, just surprised he didn't notice the ooze pedestal was in the shape of a suit platform directly across from the elec switch.
From the comments,
Still, previous games didn't have this or gave irrelevant tips at the wrong times IIRC.
Mr. B Natural
Member
I had a hard time watching this. Not because of ryan's skills...the game seems kinda wonky, but because they were down on the awful puns. I just got done watching the Penny Arcade quicklook, which had equally forced and awful writing with equally shitty quantities of puns, and they were laughing and laughing. Preconceived notions couldn't be any more of a factor with GiantBomb lately.
Fun game to QL + Jeff/Vinny = All over my face
A game where Vinny can break almost everything is the best kind of game to watch. His inquisitive nature really shows up here. Jeff being there pushing things further is just icing on the cake.
RelentlessRolento
Member
Quick Look: Resonance (Caravella, Davis | 32:49)
Global mayhem? Monsters? Whatever's going on in this adventure game, Vinny and Ryan have work to do
watching that quick look I almost shit my pants... geeze that bedroom scene was intense. sold.
Messofanego
Banned
Dishonored just sidesteps the problem by just giving you a cheat, there's no skill in that platforming, it's just teleportation.
Haven't had any problems in the first-person platforming of Quantum Conundrum, it's a welcome challenge and is satisfying to accomplish.
Brad it says "Return to batcave" on the menu...Brad, Brad! BRAD YOU'RE ON THE MENU SCREEN. IT'S RIGHT THERE, BRAD. PLEASE IT'S RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF YOU.
"Hmm, I guess I'll just have to drive back there"
GOD DAMN IT, BRAD. I-YOU'RE IN THE MENU AGAIN! IT'S RI-...sigh.
MiniBossBattle
Member
This is why we can't have nice things. Being in a meeting about UI and menus for hours at my work is my own personal hell.
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
The LEGO games need to copy what Toy Story 3 did.
In that game you can press LB at any time to get a hint as to what to do, or choose for the game to flat out show you what to do.
In that game you can press LB at any time to get a hint as to what to do, or choose for the game to flat out show you what to do.
NoirVisage
Banned
I didn't see that in the quicklook, the platforming looked competent and straight forward to me, he made a fricking Alley oop on the first try, what more could you ask for? Aside from the horrible puns, this game hit all the right buttons for me, i think people are riding her for not staying with Valve and expecting the same level of writing and polish from a team with probably a 10th of their budget.
Well, not so much budget, but they just don't have Erik Wolpaw. So it's Portal without the writing, and I don't want to play that game.
NoirVisage
Banned
you think he works for free? its budget.
But eh, i've heard worst reasons to not want to play a game, even if i disagree with it being like her first game, i actually liked portal because of the mechanics, i was indifferent to the cheeky shodan-like Ai and the cake being a lie..honestly the only thing this and portal share gameplay wise is 1st person puzzle solving.
I have it on my steam account so I might give it a try it at some point but it really doesn't look that interesting. Too bad cause I really like Portal.
These last 2 quicklooks are like night and day in terms of how to approach games. Vinny probably died/failed more than Brad did, yet fuck it if wasn't more stupidly entertaining. Brad as always just over thinking the simple stuff to the point of tedium or failing to recognize the game cues on screen. (Though I will grant them that there are some things in the Lego game that made the puzzle a bit less obvious than it was).
I can already imagine him playing the Tiny and Big game for the QL instead, it would be 30 minutes of Brad sitting there and going "But what if I cut here, what will it do, not but I need this angle, maybe if I do this instead, but no, there has to be another way" and doing nothing, meanwhile Vinny just says fuck it, let's do this and goes with it. Night and day.
I can already imagine him playing the Tiny and Big game for the QL instead, it would be 30 minutes of Brad sitting there and going "But what if I cut here, what will it do, not but I need this angle, maybe if I do this instead, but no, there has to be another way" and doing nothing, meanwhile Vinny just says fuck it, let's do this and goes with it. Night and day.
That's why Brad/Vinny quicklooks are great. It's mostly just Vinny egging Brad to do dumb things.
They really don't because they're so simple to figure out. It blows my mind that they couldn't do puzzles in a kid's game.
XANDER CAGE
Member
Admittedly, some of those puzzles weren't helped by spotty game mechanics. You need to stand in juuuuust the right spot for some of those freezing puzzles, and it definitely gets frustrating.
I've finished the whole game without getting frustrated at any puzzle, and I'm pretty awful at your Portals and whatnot. The only puzzle I had trouble with was the hidden level one which is purposely vague.
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
Right, 'they're kids games' isn't really an argument.
It's pretty common for adults to completely gloss over something that is very obvious to children. There's probably some huge research document on this somewhere.
Given the success of the Lego franchise and the amount of parents who play them with their kids, I like to think that if it was a problem, it would have been addressed. Those games are easy enough as it is. Do they really need an 'i win' puzzle button as well? Might as well just make them push forward the game at that point.
Kids can't play the press forward and win games until they are older thanks to all the shooting and blood.
Arlecchino
Member
I was literally thinking this exact thing. This is completely out of my ass, but I would think having a higher pool of knowledge and historical information to pull from, would make you miss stuff. That being said, it's incredibly helpful if you aware of this, to learn to "think like a kid", for the lack of a better term.
randomlyrossy
Member
Watching the LEGO Batman Quick Look it's perfectly reasonable that they got stuck. They clearly had it in their head that the platform with the green goo was like a refill spot for the hose thing. As for the water thing, Ryan very clearly aims his water hose at the goo platform for a good few seconds at one point and the water doesn't hit it, even though it looks like it is.
You can cry user error but I think it's as much the games fault as it is theres. Surely it should have some sort of hint system for this sort of thing for when players are not making any progress.
You can cry user error but I think it's as much the games fault as it is theres. Surely it should have some sort of hint system for this sort of thing for when players are not making any progress.
Messofanego
Banned
I have had a crush on Brad Muir's teeth for the longest time.
Anatoli Bacharach
Member
Yeah no kidding, that guy has an awesome face. I get happy just looking at it.
B_Rik_Schitthaus
Banned
I watched the live feed from half way though and was worried Brad Muir had left DF for some card game group.
weekend_warrior
Banned
Tiny and Big QL was amazing.
weekend_warrior
Banned
Lego Batman looked awesome, I don't think they gave it a fair shake in the QL.
close to the edge
Member
The Magic QL was awesome, not only on an entertainment perspective but I used to play Magic when I was about 13-14 and this kinda made me want to play it again.
They need to do a second one that actually has the plainswalkers mode in it. It's the biggest and newest feature of the game. It's also really fun.