I'm quite the opposite; I literally can't remember any boss in Fall beyond Megatron. Well, you yourself remember Trypticon and Omega Supreme which are precisely the two end of campaign bosses I mentioned. Fall has nothing of the sort, and while the final mission is pretty cool in how it mixes a lot of gameplay styles, the final boss himself is utterly disappointing.
Fall's final level with the huge battle between the Ark and the Nemesis is far more impressive than anything in War.
For me gameplay comes first, second, and third, so excellent gameplay and boredom are conceptually incompatible.
I simply wouldn't call Devastation's gameplay excellent. Its mechanics, yes, but like all Platinum games, it's a game where you have to make your own fun to some degree, which is going to make it something that not everyone appreciates.
Eh? Why should I care what "the vast majority of players" see?
Because in this instance the game came up in the context of recommendations to someone else.
No, it's simply that good of a game. You think that having a combat system that stands alongside, if not surpasses, the likes of Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising is not extraordinary, let alone for a toy licensed game with this budget? It's nothing short of a miracle; if anything Devastation is tragically underrated. And you can't pin that on "Platinum fanboyism" when I will readily admit that Korra and TMNT are infinitely worse products.
Look, anyone can like whatever they want, but let's avoid arguments like "other people won't see its gameplay depth" or the inevitable and trite "fanboyism".
No. When it comes to this game I see no other explanation for the hyperbole that surrounds it, particularly on this forum. If someone is willing to dig into it and find that depth, great, but it's only there if you go looking for it, and most people aren't willing to do that, so it should be taken into account when recommendations are in play. Platinum games only sell to a moderate number of people specifically because of this. The point that it's cheap now is well-taken, but, like Dark Souls, one must keep in mind that the "repetitive but deep" aspect of Platinum's games tends to be an acquired taste. And no, I don't think it's miraculous in the slightest that the thing Platinum is known for is a part of a game they made. I see no reason to hold the rest of the product to a lower standard than normal just because it's licensed. It's a repetitive, short, fairly uninspired game that has a really complex combat system if you want to dig into it, yet gives you no gameplay-driven reason to dig into it beyond "because it's there." I don't find that particularly compelling.
I loved Devastation as a gamer and as a TF fan. War and Fall I enjoyed as a TF fan, but not so much as a gamer. They were objectively excellent, and I especially loved the flight based vehicle sections in War; I just didn't care for the TPS combat so much. I didn't find any reason to go back and play again. Devastation is just such a joy - it feels more like I imagine Transformer fighting should feel. I never get tried of playing that game, and the boss battles are some of my most favourite memories in all of gaming.
See this is the kind of thing that mystifies me about the way people talk about this game. To me Devastation doesn't feel a thing like what Transformer fighting should feel like. At no point in my entire life have I imagined Transformer fighting as being a bunch of nonsensical air combo juggling and alt mode mid-air ramming. It's super-gamey, and not at all believable combat for giant robots who have always been about ranged combat the majority of the time. And that's fine, because that's what Platinum is going for, but the combat style feels grafted on to the license more than growing out of it in the case of every character in the game besides Grimlock. The Cybertron games, while not nearly as complex from a gameplay perspective, feel more like Transformer-style combat, for better or worse.
As for the boss battles being favorite moments in the medium, well...I just can't get in your shoes on that one. They sure look cool, but there's just not much to them beyond trying to win without breaking combo or getting hit (something I did my first try against Devastator) and getting the max rating, which I just don't care much about.
Frankly, I apologize for the Devastation derail. For the most part I try to avoid talking about it on GAF because I recognize that I am part of a vanishing minority who finds it merely okay overall. I certainly wouldn't discourage anyone from playing it, but I have accepted that I will never understand why some people think it's this towering achievement in gaming.
. I personally voted for Arcee because I want to see a fembot rule (disappointed that Windblade isn't an option).
