Anyone else try the demo that came with Zone of the Enders? I really enjoyed it. Just cutting up everything was a blast.
I didn't try the demo, but this game looks very interesting.
I'm a few days in on the retail release and holy SHIT the game is SPECTACULAR and full of all sorts of Platinum Games Inc.'s CRAZY STUPID ACTION (i.e. - running down the side of a crumbling clock tower and then bisecting a Metal Gear Ray symmetrically with your sword, or leaping across a barrage of rockets to slice a helicopter into 150 individual pieces.)
Per my hopes, dreams and wishes it is quite literally the baby of Bayonetta and Metal Gear.
Kojima picked the right team for the job and I sincerely hope that this gets them some much needed traction as a AAA studio.
"And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"
Seriously, is nobody playing this game??!!
"And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"
I played through the first boss fight and returned it. The camera is a war crime, your attacks don't feel like they're hitting half the time, there's no reason to ever release the "ninja run" button, the parry mechanic is poorly explained and provides inconsistent results, and the free blade mode doesn't really feel very good to use.
I loved Bayonetta and Vanquish, so this bummed me out. Sorry, Frankie.
No need to apologize to me!
I can see your concerns about the mechanics that you mention, but for me personally, a majority of what the game does really well makes everything else pretty forgivable.
I do agree that the camera swings on a pretty loose pivot and doesn't really make many strong decisions about which enemy to focus on, but I guess in this day and age I'm okay with managing it myself.
In fact, I'm not a huge fan of "lock on" targeting systems (and auto-follow cameras) in 3rd person action games anyway. Those tend to take me out of the action when they don't do what I want more than a loosey-goosey camera.
The parry system can be mastered without too much work, the VR missions help a lot with training, and upgrading your weapons and abilities help too. But, yes, there is very little hand-holding or tutorials.
As far as the benefits of not ninja-running, I think that's a hallmark of Platinum, even back when they were Clover - sure, our characters can walk slow, but why would you want to? If Vanquish didn't have an overheat "limiter" on the dashing I would have wanted to just do that the entire time. At least in Rising there are sections where you do some rudimentary "stealth" and some of the more advanced enemies will hear you running.
I'm having a blast, sorry to hear that you didn't like it.
"And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"
I've only played the demo and it was enough to make me hold off on picking this up. Something about what I played seemed conflicted in terms of its direction vs. other Platinum titles.
I don't want you to hate me, I want you to want to hate me - GamersUniteMagazine.com
Well, I love this game. Only finished the first chapter so far but the combat is great, the boss battles are thrilling and the story is actually entertaining and devoid of much of the turgid crap that choked many recent MGS games (then again, I am only in chapter 2 so far).
Also, I find myself far too entertained by the unofficial 'into how many pieces can you chop a dumpster?' minigame. For the record: just over 1000.
I've got the ZOE collection with the demo in it but I haven't had a chance to boot it up yet. I'm kind of swamped with modern games right now, and I'm having a killer time with Super Hydlide, so I plan to get to this soon. Sounds like Frankie and B-Boobie have slightly conflicting opinions. This makes it difficult for me to decide whether or not to get it because I generally agree with both of you!!
I'll just have to give it a try.
I hope this clarifies/helps with a purchase decision - I don't disagree with Boobie's assessments of the camera (it plays VERY loose) and while the game does very little to train you on the parry system (or the "zandatsu" deathstroke move, which is essential) it's master-able, but challenging.
The game WILL let you button mash as an alternative, but you won't score high, you won't earn battle points to spend on upgrades and you won't be able to refill your health in-game effectively.
The shortcomings don't break the game for me. What it does well in terms of signature Platinum over-the-top-ness totally WINS OUT IMO, moreso than Anarchy Reigns, which I enjoyed but found to be a way more repetitious and meandering affair (for a Platinum game).
Bayonetta is still their great, complex, masterpiece in this generation. This isn't as intricate, but has LOTS of Bayonetta DNA in it.
This is like, Platinum games making the most ACCESSIBLE game to people who are not Platinum games regulars if that makes sense.
Last edited by Frankie_Says_Relax; 02-27-2013 at 02:13 PM.
"And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"
Just beat it an hour ago. One of the best straight up action games EVER. I didn't care for the demo and I'm a huge metal gear fan...just wasn't so sure about it, but I couldn't resist buying it because of metal gear in the title. It's hard as hell and I LOVE the way the game doesn't hold your hand. "figure it out yourself it says." and it will kick your ass. when it comes down to it the game is just FUN. Starting new game plus as we speak.
Tho I haven't had much time to play it, I love it.
The camera definitely has issues, but that aside, this is easily one of, if not the best action game of this generation. Platinum can do no wrong. I'm not a big Metal Gear fan, but since I'm a huge fan of action games, this is right up my alley. As a plus, the story is not of the throw-away variety. I've been taking my time as I've been playing in order to listen to the codec conversations, and the story is genuinely interesting.
If you enjoyed any of the recent Ninja Gaiden games, you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't play this game. It is simply outstanding. The control is spot-on, the action is fast-paced, the music rocks(!), and the game is very challenging, yet rewarding. The whole mechanic of the Zandatsu adds a nice level of precision and focus to the fast-paced frantic action.
Man, I love this game, I just wish I had more time to play it. Right now, I'm about to fight Sundowner.
Downloaded and played the demo on 360 last night. I went through the training mode, which got me into the slicing and dicing but got yanked out to get into the mission. I figured there wasn't much else to learn so I proceeded to cut my way through the level.
I got to Blade Wolf (?) and got my ass handed to me. On several platters. It was frustrating but I knew I was doing something wrong. I tried parrying but no dice. Was my timing off?
I watched a video on Kotaku on how to beat the wolf and other than parrying I was on the right track. Read a bit and discovered how to parry (stick towards bad attacking bad guy and x if I'm not mistaken). Ahhhh. Then read that there was VR training for it. Double ahhh. I didn't get to see that. The Kotaku writers got raked over the coals for complaining about the controls. It was ugly.
So with that I'll try again. How long is this game anyways? I heard 5 hour mark.
Here's a pro-tip about parrying.
Light attack + stick towards the attacker.
Beyond that, it comes in two flavors, one where you just wind up "deflecting" whatever it is that hits you, and the other, when timed PERFECTLY on the impact of the strike it gives you a type of parry bonus that, with weaker enemies will trigger a very animated Zandatsu kill, and with more powerful enemies will typically trigger a dizzy/weak moment where you can get in and do a Zandatsu on a portion of them.
Anybody who has played Street Fighter III think of the parry system in that, you need to nail the action of the parry at the EXACT moment of impact for maximum effect, otherwise it just serves as a block.
And, yes, the game is relatively short if you blast through it, but there are lots of areas in each level that you can tool around in looking for bonus and goal materials and get into extra battle-point scoring fights.
I beat the game over the weekend and, like Bayonetta can easily see myself going through a few more times for the unlockables.
"And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"
A gem from Freddie Wong!
"And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"
Yes I played it and finished it about a week ago. It's a great game, the action is crazy fast and brutal. The only complaints I have are the camera, the short length of the game, and the lack of a dedicated block button (I hate how the triangle button doubles as the block/heavy attack button).