Join my as I take a close look at a variety of gaming topics including: level design, storytelling, systems assessment, game comparisons, and player experience.
Awesome video! Hemwick definitely gets bashed for it's boss however I really enjoy this area for what it is. I also love how tight it feels and isn't just giving you a bigger area for the sake of it. Also Elden Ring drew several points of inspiration from this level whether intentional or not. The cainhurst tombstone action is so similar to the map tombstones in ER as well as the witches themselves.
I was looking for free games on Steam, then I saw this game and added it to my library but didn't play it. Two weeks later I decided to open it, and has become one of my favorite games ever. PD: amazing review, new sub ✨
I found the game mostly an exercise in constantly refocusing my eyes from screen edges back to center on my char so I could see how she was oriented before I landed or was hit. Rarely felt like death was due to anything but inability to read orientation of my char in my peripheral vision while simultaneously aiming or looking ahead. This was exacerbated by some critical design mistakes. Not directionally color/shape contrasting the player char more was a big design mistake. You need to look at your char in middle of screen to orient yourself to not die, but also look out at edges of screen to see terrain coming & shoot enemies before they shoot you. This means either the muddy, brown/tan poorly color differentiated terrain is in your peripheral where it's hard to read or player char is in your peripheral where her white/red/grey symmetrical design makes it difficult to read her orientation without refocusing your eyes on her. The effects on your char of bullet impacts & blood make it even harder to tell which way you're oriented due to color/shape inconsistency & overlaid VFX sprites. When your char is all dark red from blood, it's impossible to tell which way she's facing in peripheral vision. All of the clues which indicate the left/right direction of your character are tiny details on the sprite as well. Even the most prominent asymmetry, her red cloak, is a dark red the same color as the blood VFX, gets lost in them all the time & doesn't register well in peripheral vision anyway against the mostly brown/grey background. Difficult to tell which way you're facing if you lose track without refocusing on your character. This actually happens more than you'd think due to the back & forth level design & how often you end up rolling backwards or stopped. The 'turnaround' button also requires holding to fully turn, so sometimes at low speed you try to turn, but don't hold it quite long enough & end up not facing the direction you expected. Would've been much better to make facing left the left bumper and facing right the right bumper so you always can orient with confidence without having to check your character's facing by refocusing eyes on her.
The purpose of open worlds is to explore them. A game in which exploration is no/low value cannot benefit from an open world. They didn't 'evolve' to open world format, they just didn't know what else to do as far as adding enticing gimmicks to the base formula for successor games, so they copied what action games were doing at the time. And it was mostly a failure bc open world actually detracts from course design while adding... what exactly? Nothing of value to a downhill racing game, that's for sure. In most cases it adding nothing but a 'vibe' of a world in other games, which is immediately destroyed by the fast travel necessary to subvert the tedium of traversing a world sparsely populated with anything of interest, as most open worlds are.
Well made video, but I disagree on parry. Making parry no longer high risk-high reward by giving it a partial success state when you shoot early & letting you recover most of your health when you parry late is a bad idea because parry may feel good, but it's a 1-dimensional mechanic. Vs most enemies it is "push button on time to win", at which point you enter an invul execute animation that 1hkos most enemies while ignoring all other enemies. Compare this to any well made fighter, brawler, or 3d action game like ninja gaiden where spacing, timing, frame advantage, crowd management, & threat prioritization are all in play nearly all the time vs the 'i win button' of parry. Just look at the the multiplayer vs gun parry spam to know how destructive this mechanic is.
I would rather grind in Hemwick for several hours than ever have to re-experience finding my way through the forbidden woods the first time (as a lot gremlin no less) 😬
Just finished it. The final thirty minutes or so really saved it. I thought it felt maybe an hour too long. There is a long stretch where the game is just the same handful of puzzles over and over again and it just felt like it went on and on, and it felt like it was just spinning its wheels. Thankfully it does pick up, and like I said, the final act of the game really pulled me in, and it has a nice emotional pay off. Yes, the art design and score were definitely the highlights.
There is nothing wrong with the bonfire mob. It's supposed to teach you to pick off enemies one by one when there's too many of them to rush in and slay them all at once. The Escapist (back when it was good) did a great video that explains how this scene directs you to that lesson. In a nutshell, the gunman that is sitting behind the cart will draw your attention to the staircase, and if you continue that path, you'll aggro a couple of the enemies around the bonfire, but not all of them. This is a very deliberatw choice by the developers and it shows the player that large groups are much more manageable when you separate them.
Also as someone who has never played a Fromsoft title, it worked to teach me to run past shit when I did further into the area without yet finding the shortcuts and wanted to feel like I was still progressing. Without needing to haul ass past the bonfire - and subsequently learning when not to pick a fight - I don't think I would've stuck with the game
I agree. The cut sequences where odd. The puzzles often felt repetitive and a bit of a chore. Move logs, climb ropes again for the 50th time. The art style is a bit confused many enemies are solid black in bright environments which does not fit well. The caves and SF elements looked the best. There ate not any emotional scenes really. You never learn more of her sister or family and also learn very little of the world and story. Still the animation and controlls were great and its a well implemented game that I would recommend to anyone. But Another World, Limbo and Inside had a much stronger impact on me.
While I think there are some really valid points here it misses out a huge factor. In the early 2000s action/extreme sports were in the forefront of popular culture. The games of the genre 20 years ago were designed to be mass appeal and were created by major game studios. With the exception of riders republic, every notable extreme sports game of recent is an indie title (Shredders/Skater XL/Session/BMX Streets) and much more sim than arcade. The reason being as the target audience is actual participants of that sport who value realism over everything else. You aren't describing how to create a 'better' snowboarding game but how to make an enjoyable snowboarding game for non-snowboarders. I think one of the best examples of creativity within the extreme sports genres of recent years is Olli Olli world. It just feels great, fluid gameplay, great levels and fun characters. There is a space for a snowboarding game like this for sure.
the long run in the middle of Sheepy was one of the best sequences i've ever experienced in a video game, I really want more similar stuff from the dev team this was a very well developed video, subbing
Hey, dev here. Turns out there is an issue with the native linux version not working with Steam input. You can fix this by enabling Proton via the gear icon -> Properties -> Compatibility -. force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool. Any version of Proton should work. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, we will work on fixing this.
hehe. nyxing. anyway yeah Laika is an easy all time favorite of mine despite being super recent, the full game meshes everything together just as well as the demo if not dramatically better - and the story is *so* well-done, start to finish, and the sidequests are so incredibly well-written as well. it's not a flawless game - looking at you, boss fights - but start to finish, it's yet another testament to how formulaic success is lame and synthesis from various influences to support vital central themes is a path to a truly great game.
Definitely not :) I'd say it's still accessible to get into it if it looks appealing to you. I've only played on keyboard & mouse but plenty players are on controller.
Helldivers, it has come to our attention that an imposter Titan of Twilight has been seen patrolling the galactic map. Our sources tell us that the commander of this vessel is either an Automaton spy or the ship is run entirely by a corrupt robot AI. If you come across this ship on your way to spreading democracy, use any means necessary to blow it up on sight, then reach out to Super Earth authorities... in that order.
And how would you feel if someone said the same about a game you like, would that mean you’re a boring person? Of course not, but it doesn’t mean you’d feel happy hearing/reading that. Lol
it's really cool to see a modern game be able to bring those feelings of community and comradery of gamers just having fun instead of heavy competition or meta gaming hope more games like that come out
In my opinion.. this game has no bad area... it's complete and super awesome... now after 8 years from the start of the game we still playing this masterpiece
Agreed with you man. Hemwick is in my top 3 favorite areas in the entire game. Every Halloween, I go to central yarnham and hemwick chernal lane for the 🎃vibes🎃
