Have to say that I agree with what you guys have already said. The game looks fantastic and plays really well - it's so fun to just fly around, explore, grab collectibles and discover secret areas. The battle system is really enjoyable and dynamic - play on Hard! It demands your constant attention but I haven't been frustrated by it at all and I've only died once in 3 or so hours of play - and the RPG elements are exactly the type of thing that I love and that could actually have been superfluous in a game like this but keep progression interesting.
Maybe it's not really important what your stats and the bonuses are. Like, maybe it doesn't make a big difference. I can see why someone might be of the opinion that it's all kind of unnecessary and doesn't really give you any real feeling of accomplishment. But I don't care; I love RPGs and I'll take skill trees anywhere I can get 'em.
I do find that, on Hard, the one companion capable of healing (the very first one who joins your party) is kind of a necessary mainstay, because blowing through potions isn't really feasible. I've been cycling guys in and out in my last few battles - it's pretty active and fun.
My only complaint is that the writing is straight-up terrible. It can't be easy to write an entire script in rhyme, but... So few of the lines are clever or have any real meter, and I don't really get why they made the decision to write it this way if - and I'm not trying to be mean or contemptuous - the lead writer is just incapable of stringing together respectable verse. I'm a big fan of poetry, and I was excited for this game's story, but... The writing definitely hurts the game. Every once in a while, there's a good line or two, but I'm disappointed in the script overall. I wouldn't even complain about it - I mean, the game's fun, and the world is stunningly beautiful - but I'm almost miffed that they tried to hype up the poetic aspect in pre-release. It just seems pretentious now to have done that. Oh well.
The game is superb and everyone should play it. I'm in love with the Ubi Art framework and all of the art design and music and I can't wait to play more tomorrow.
My only complaint is that the writing is straight-up terrible. It can't be easy to write an entire script in rhyme, but... So few of the lines are clever or have any real meter, and I don't really get why they made the decision to write it this way if - and I'm not trying to be mean or contemptuous - the lead writer is just incapable of stringing together respectable verse. I'm a big fan of poetry, and I was excited for this game's story, but... The writing definitely hurts the game. Every once in a while, there's a good line or two, but I'm disappointed in the script overall. I wouldn't even complain about it - I mean, the game's fun, and the world is stunningly beautiful - but I'm almost miffed that they tried to hype up the poetic aspect in pre-release. It just seems pretentious now to have done that. Oh well.
Thanks - you've just moved this way down my "Need to check this out!" list. I'm okay with functional writing (Bioware, I'm looking at you!), I'm okay with humdrum plots if I find the characters engaging, but unintentional bad writing that draws attention to itself? Bleh.
This is also one of those games where I don't think I've got much of an idea what they're like from reading a review; I'm definitely hoping for a worthwhile video review to check out.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Looking forward to trying this game out tonight. Definitely getting it for the art and gameplay, so I can only hope the writing isn't that bad. We shall see.
Getting the WiiU version, because I'd expect that version to just be better than the PS3 one. It's not at all because I don't want to dig out a non-arcade stick controller for the PS3, no.
had a quick bash at this after it downloaded last night. didn't get terribly far, but was impressed non the less. love the art and the music. the style of the game is just so delightfully charming. might be a few days before i get to really play it, but i certainly look forward to it.
It depends on how the game scales its difficulties. With a lot of RPG hard does just mean grind more. What does Child of Light specifically change based on its difficulty? I doubt it would address Gies issues with the game, which is that it lacked complexity.
Besides enemies being more powerful in Hard mode, there are light vases in combat that give you firefly meter in Hard mode, but also give you HP & MP restoration in Normal mode.
Practically speaking, Hard mode means that you actually have to take advantage of frequent party swapping, item use, and interrupts to succeed, whereas in Normal mode, you can do pretty much anything and win.
Thanks - you've just moved this way down my "Need to check this out!" list.
Everything else is super-good, though! I don't want to dissuade anyone from checking it out - it's a lot of fun to play and it's so unique in its presentation. But that's your call. The combat and non-combat portions of gameplay are both so fun - and so worth playing - that I actually woke up this morning feeling guilty about how negative I was last night about the writing. But I feel like it needed to be said.
It depends on how the game scales its difficulties. With a lot of RPG hard does just mean grind more. What does Child of Light specifically change based on its difficulty? I doubt it would address Gies issues with the game, which is that it lacked complexity.
Besides enemies being more powerful in Hard mode, there are light vases in combat that give you firefly meter in Hard mode, but also give you HP & MP restoration in Normal mode.
Practically speaking, Hard mode means that you actually have to take advantage of frequent party swapping, item use, and interrupts to succeed, whereas in Normal mode, you can do pretty much anything and win.
Personally, as someone who has played a lot of RPGs I know I've had to break myself out of defaulting to Normal. But I'm so used to the days where picking a difficulty wasn't optional.
That said I know there are sometimes I still play on normal because I just want to beat the game without to many problems.
I completely agree that difficulty levels need a blurb. It can be very brief, it doesn't have to break down the game mechanics. Just a simple statement of intent.
Examples: Mass Effect 3 had "story mode". It was made clear that it was a gameplay-light mode for people who just wanted to see the plot. That's cool, I don't like overly difficult games but I do not want to skip any gameplay. With one sentence BW had clued me in that I, normally an ez-mode player, was not going to want the easy mode here.
Conversely, the last couple Saints Row games billed their easy mode as "playing at your own pace". That's great, a simple statement that lets me know it's easy, slower paced, but not actually lopping out chunks of gameplay where the difficulty couldn't be scaled.
I'm sure something can be done for the top end difficulty levels as well. "This is for people who are really good at shooters" or "This difficulty designed for people who hate fun and enjoy spending more time on the dead/re-loading screens than they do playing."
It's not horribly uncommon these days for difficulty blurbs. The most common would definitely be "for people new to the genre, for experienced players, for people who are complete masochists/perfectionists and want to be slaughtered horribly" or so.
Now I have to find out why the PC version doesn't have sound so I can play it.
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DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
I think the idea of the "normal" difficulty is very interesting in games.
If you keep it labeled as normal people complain about the game's ease.
But if you were to re-label it to easy and make that the new default, people would still default to normal and then some would end up frustrated by the difficulty.
So many psychological aspects tied to that one little screen.
Now I have to find out why the PC version doesn't have sound so I can play it.
Yeah, you need to fix that, because the sound is gorgeous. As is the art. And the gameplay is fun. I think I love this game, and I just met the caster ally.
I think the idea of the "normal" difficulty is very interesting in games.
If you keep it labeled as normal people complain about the game's ease.
But if you were to re-label it to easy and make that the new default, people would still default to normal and then some would end up frustrated by the difficulty.
So many psychological aspects tied to that one little screen.
It's a throwback to earlier games where playing on an easy difficulty would give you a bad ending, prevent you from even getting an ending, or even in some cases not let you play through the later levels at all (Hello, Golden Axe).
Even now in rpg type games it's typical for harder difficulties to offer unique items that can't be found in easier difficulties.
All this leads to people feeling punished for not playing hardcore/insane/expert w/e modes.
Personally I don't give a fuck, I'll mod in all the shit you tried to hold back from me as I see fit.
After actually getting 1,000 crouched kills in BL2 to unlock the dhal tiger stripe skin I permanently broke the part of my brain that made me feel bad about cheating and modding.
I don't find the writing that terrible most of the time. But maybe that's because I have 0 knowledge of poetry (forgot what little I learned of it in highschool) and I just go 'oh, words that rhyme, neat!'
I don't find the writing that terrible most of the time. But maybe that's because I have 0 knowledge of poetry (forgot what little I learned of it in highschool) and I just go 'oh, words that rhyme, neat!'
There's rhyming and then there's meter. I gather that the text in this (I've yet to pick it up, not sure when I'll get to it, as I've been working on my backlog some) is not in meter, which would have been very impressive. For an example of what something sounds like when it rhymes and adheres to meter, Dr. Seuss is good (his books are written entirely in meter).
I don't find the writing that terrible most of the time. But maybe that's because I have 0 knowledge of poetry (forgot what little I learned of it in highschool) and I just go 'oh, words that rhyme, neat!'
There's rhyming and then there's meter. I gather that the text in this (I've yet to pick it up, not sure when I'll get to it, as I've been working on my backlog some) is not in meter, which would have been very impressive. For an example of what something sounds like when it rhymes and adheres to meter, Dr. Seuss is good (his books are written entirely in meter).
Yeah, the scansion is all over the place, but it still works well, I think. Especially when you meet your first party member.
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DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
Man, this game is so fun and people complaining about difficulty should try hard. it isn't super punishing but you need to use your tools more efficiently.
Hard mode has really been the perfect challenge for me so far. I'm concerned that there might not be a "happy medium" if Normal mode is really too easy, though. I at least recommend people to try Hard and just switch it down if you think it's too rough.
The game certainly is as beautiful as I was expecting. I can see why some people might complain about the writing, but it hasn't bothered me yet. The characters still manage to be charming despite it.
Someone in Ubisoft Montreal must really have some pull in the company if they're given enough leeway to make games like Child of Light and Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon that would otherwise be seen by a big publisher like this as too niche.
Not that I'm complaining. Both games are freaking brilliant.
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Maybe it's not really important what your stats and the bonuses are. Like, maybe it doesn't make a big difference. I can see why someone might be of the opinion that it's all kind of unnecessary and doesn't really give you any real feeling of accomplishment. But I don't care; I love RPGs and I'll take skill trees anywhere I can get 'em.
I do find that, on Hard, the one companion capable of healing (the very first one who joins your party) is kind of a necessary mainstay, because blowing through potions isn't really feasible. I've been cycling guys in and out in my last few battles - it's pretty active and fun.
My only complaint is that the writing is straight-up terrible. It can't be easy to write an entire script in rhyme, but... So few of the lines are clever or have any real meter, and I don't really get why they made the decision to write it this way if - and I'm not trying to be mean or contemptuous - the lead writer is just incapable of stringing together respectable verse. I'm a big fan of poetry, and I was excited for this game's story, but... The writing definitely hurts the game. Every once in a while, there's a good line or two, but I'm disappointed in the script overall. I wouldn't even complain about it - I mean, the game's fun, and the world is stunningly beautiful - but I'm almost miffed that they tried to hype up the poetic aspect in pre-release. It just seems pretentious now to have done that. Oh well.
The game is superb and everyone should play it. I'm in love with the Ubi Art framework and all of the art design and music and I can't wait to play more tomorrow.
"We have years of struggle ahead, mostly within ourselves." - Made in USA
Nif-T. I'll probably get that version, then.
Steam: pazython
This is also one of those games where I don't think I've got much of an idea what they're like from reading a review; I'm definitely hoping for a worthwhile video review to check out.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Getting the WiiU version, because I'd expect that version to just be better than the PS3 one. It's not at all because I don't want to dig out a non-arcade stick controller for the PS3, no.
failed to DL the first time and by the time I got it 100% it was bed time .... looking forward to it tonight!
Besides enemies being more powerful in Hard mode, there are light vases in combat that give you firefly meter in Hard mode, but also give you HP & MP restoration in Normal mode.
Practically speaking, Hard mode means that you actually have to take advantage of frequent party swapping, item use, and interrupts to succeed, whereas in Normal mode, you can do pretty much anything and win.
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd Games
Everything else is super-good, though! I don't want to dissuade anyone from checking it out - it's a lot of fun to play and it's so unique in its presentation. But that's your call. The combat and non-combat portions of gameplay are both so fun - and so worth playing - that I actually woke up this morning feeling guilty about how negative I was last night about the writing. But I feel like it needed to be said.
But I love the game and I've only just started!
Personally, as someone who has played a lot of RPGs I know I've had to break myself out of defaulting to Normal. But I'm so used to the days where picking a difficulty wasn't optional.
That said I know there are sometimes I still play on normal because I just want to beat the game without to many problems.
"We have years of struggle ahead, mostly within ourselves." - Made in USA
"We have years of struggle ahead, mostly within ourselves." - Made in USA
Examples: Mass Effect 3 had "story mode". It was made clear that it was a gameplay-light mode for people who just wanted to see the plot. That's cool, I don't like overly difficult games but I do not want to skip any gameplay. With one sentence BW had clued me in that I, normally an ez-mode player, was not going to want the easy mode here.
Conversely, the last couple Saints Row games billed their easy mode as "playing at your own pace". That's great, a simple statement that lets me know it's easy, slower paced, but not actually lopping out chunks of gameplay where the difficulty couldn't be scaled.
I'm sure something can be done for the top end difficulty levels as well. "This is for people who are really good at shooters" or "This difficulty designed for people who hate fun and enjoy spending more time on the dead/re-loading screens than they do playing."
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
If you keep it labeled as normal people complain about the game's ease.
But if you were to re-label it to easy and make that the new default, people would still default to normal and then some would end up frustrated by the difficulty.
So many psychological aspects tied to that one little screen.
Which difficulty SHOULD I play? I'm not super hardcore on these games, but I'm not a dummy either.
Yeah, you need to fix that, because the sound is gorgeous. As is the art. And the gameplay is fun. I think I love this game, and I just met the caster ally.
You can change difficulty mid-game so I'd say pick Hard and if you find it too difficult, switch down.
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd Games
"We have years of struggle ahead, mostly within ourselves." - Made in USA
It's a throwback to earlier games where playing on an easy difficulty would give you a bad ending, prevent you from even getting an ending, or even in some cases not let you play through the later levels at all (Hello, Golden Axe).
Even now in rpg type games it's typical for harder difficulties to offer unique items that can't be found in easier difficulties.
All this leads to people feeling punished for not playing hardcore/insane/expert w/e modes.
Personally I don't give a fuck, I'll mod in all the shit you tried to hold back from me as I see fit.
After actually getting 1,000 crouched kills in BL2 to unlock the dhal tiger stripe skin I permanently broke the part of my brain that made me feel bad about cheating and modding.
"We have years of struggle ahead, mostly within ourselves." - Made in USA
Those colors looks like they were made for the OLED screen.
Battle.net: Fireflash#1425
Steam Friend code: 45386507
There's rhyming and then there's meter. I gather that the text in this (I've yet to pick it up, not sure when I'll get to it, as I've been working on my backlog some) is not in meter, which would have been very impressive. For an example of what something sounds like when it rhymes and adheres to meter, Dr. Seuss is good (his books are written entirely in meter).
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
Yeah, the scansion is all over the place, but it still works well, I think. Especially when you meet your first party member.
easily the prettiest I've played (narrowly beating Okami)
Battle.net: Fireflash#1425
Steam Friend code: 45386507
Yeah, this game is super pretty.
The game certainly is as beautiful as I was expecting. I can see why some people might complain about the writing, but it hasn't bothered me yet. The characters still manage to be charming despite it.
Not that I'm complaining. Both games are freaking brilliant.
"We have years of struggle ahead, mostly within ourselves." - Made in USA