I really, really wanted to like Axiom Verge, but I disliked pretty much every single part of it.
The devs emphasized entirely the wrong Metroidvania traits in that game. You know those weapons you end up never using because there's one or two best ones? Here's fifty junk guns that make finding stuff disappointing instead of rewarding. You know those times your progress gets blocked because you didn't shoot that one block waaaaay on the other side of the map with just the right new gun? Yeah, we do that to you like five times. Isn't it awful when your map is helpful and informative and assists you in figuring out what to do next? Not a problem here!
It was like they developed the game immediately after the first Metroid game came out, instead of decades down the road when there were dozens of games to crib from to have smarter, better ways of doing most anything.
+1
Brainiac 8Don't call me Shirley...Registered Userregular
I gave Xeodrifter a shot. Lost two of my three health getting to the boss, got hit on it's first move, respawned at the checkpoint and still only had one health.
Deleted forever.
I gave Xeodrifter a shot. Lost two of my three health getting to the boss, got hit on it's first move, respawned at the checkpoint and still only had one health.
Deleted forever.
The enemies that fly up out of the pipes, metroid style, always drop health. They're the only enemies that do, and they're outside every boss door.
I really, really wanted to like Axiom Verge, but I disliked pretty much every single part of it.
The devs emphasized entirely the wrong Metroidvania traits in that game. You know those weapons you end up never using because there's one or two best ones? Here's fifty junk guns that make finding stuff disappointing instead of rewarding. You know those times your progress gets blocked because you didn't shoot that one block waaaaay on the other side of the map with just the right new gun? Yeah, we do that to you like five times. Isn't it awful when your map is helpful and informative and assists you in figuring out what to do next? Not a problem here!
It was like they developed the game immediately after the first Metroid game came out, instead of decades down the road when there were dozens of games to crib from to have smarter, better ways of doing most anything.
My understanding is that the Dev (singular - it was entirely just the one guy) just really really liked old-school hard metroid
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Ninja Snarl PMy helmet is my burden.Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered Userregular
The thing is, I like a challenge, and the Verge's problems had nothing to do with challenge and everything to do with obfuscating the shit out of everything, intentionally or unintentionally. I've beaten stuff like I Wanna Be The Guy and Super Meatboy, which were at least entertaining in their challenge. For Verge, not being able to remember which few blocks of while you couldn't shoot through at one point hours ago isn't a challenge, it's just obnoxious.
I respect what one guy was able to accomplish, but man, he made some poor decisions that really hurt the game. Which is a real shame, because there was some pretty rad stuff there.
The thing is, I like a challenge, and the Verge's problems had nothing to do with challenge and everything to do with obfuscating the shit out of everything, intentionally or unintentionally. I've beaten stuff like I Wanna Be The Guy and Super Meatboy, which were at least entertaining in their challenge. For Verge, not being able to remember which few blocks of while you couldn't shoot through at one point hours ago isn't a challenge, it's just obnoxious.
I respect what one guy was able to accomplish, but man, he made some poor decisions that really hurt the game. Which is a real shame, because there was some pretty rad stuff there.
I would say the other half of the problem was the fact that all the powers had really esoteric designs. That tiny parasite thing you could shoot and control, sure it was functionally identical to the morph ball, but it was so hard for me to mentally equate the two. I passed by so many narrow paths thinking I'd have to wait until I got the ball move, stupidly not realizing I already had it... it just wasn't a ball.
"The sausage of Green Earth explodes with flavor like the cannon of culinary delight."
Ninja Snarl PMy helmet is my burden.Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered Userregular
Yeah, I don't regret getting it, I just wish there had been some things that had been thought out rather than "felt" out.
And there really is a severe lack of Metroidvania games, to be sure. Probably because making a good one is so tough, and making a really crappy one is all too easy. No small challenge to balance the right mix of exploration and backtracking.
Though it would be nice if there were at least more attempts at the genre, seeing as it's one of my favorites.
I offered to help out on Ghost Song, but the dev says he's making it in Stencyl, which is rubbish for collaboration. Though I did make this for him just for fun:
Axiom Verge awakened something in me I never knew existed, which is that I seem to love settings in which terrifying organic-machine hybrids are running rampant over a nightmare landscape ruled by immortal god robots. I'll never bother going through to get 100% completion, but every moment I played that game was just an absolute joy due to the combination of mechanics, visuals, and oh my god the music.
i didn't like how axiom verge was tiny i liked big metroid
Marty: The future, it's where you're going? Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
Yeah, I don't regret getting it, I just wish there had been some things that had been thought out rather than "felt" out.
And there really is a severe lack of Metroidvania games, to be sure. Probably because making a good one is so tough, and making a really crappy one is all too easy. No small challenge to balance the right mix of exploration and backtracking.
Though it would be nice if there were at least more attempts at the genre, seeing as it's one of my favorites.
To some degree, there's also the bosses - it's really easy to make a cheap boss... rather than one that just makes you feel awesome.
Yeah, I don't regret getting it, I just wish there had been some things that had been thought out rather than "felt" out.
And there really is a severe lack of Metroidvania games, to be sure. Probably because making a good one is so tough, and making a really crappy one is all too easy. No small challenge to balance the right mix of exploration and backtracking.
Though it would be nice if there were at least more attempts at the genre, seeing as it's one of my favorites.
To some degree, there's also the bosses - it's really easy to make a cheap boss... rather than one that just makes you feel awesome.
Teslagrad (a Metroidvania-lite) had that problem with its bosses. You'd die in one hit but all of the bosses had moves that you had to learn so you'd invariably die multiple times learning a pattern only to start dying all over again once they changed the pattern due to you getting a hit in.
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Ninja Snarl PMy helmet is my burden.Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered Userregular
The lack of a high-speed movement option for something like 90% of the game certainly didn't help Verge. I found the experience to improve hugely once you get the teleport option; I found it enormously frustrating to know I was going to hit by attacks and just have no way to evade them, simply because you move much too slowly. Had the same problem with Dark Souls; repeatedly pissed me off that I knew an attack was coming, but my evade options were ass because I had to tie them to an obscure knowledge of enemy attack animations (almost to a frame-by-frame level, which was dumb), rather than my own ability to simply react quickly.
The Prime series lets you dash-evade from the start, which is such a simple thing and yet lets you avoid so much damage if you stay on your toes.
+1
Shortytouching the meatIntergalactic Cool CourtRegistered Userregular
Even though the figure should be highly pose-able I really don't like when figures have so many noticeable points of articulation. That's what made the armored Samus such an excellent figure, those points were already part of the design so it looked damn near perfect.
It's too bad because I like the sculpt of ZSS's head there.
Even though the figure should be highly pose-able I really don't like when figures have so many noticeable points of articulation. That's what made the armored Samus such an excellent figure, those points were already part of the design so it looked damn near perfect.
It's too bad because I like the sculpt of ZSS's head there.
Yeah I agree. I'll still probably pick that one up. It's the first ZSS figure/statue I've seen that doesn't look like total garbage (i.e. nothing like the character). (not counting the one I saw on eBay that was I guess from Zero Mission and was going for like $1000 or something ridiculous)
She could probably stand to look a bit more athletic, but yeah, I'm glad they didn't use The Game That Shall Not Be Named as a guide.
They did, did you not see the sign in the background? :P Also I'm pretty sure that's her exact face from that game.
Is it? She looks less busty and doesn't have the ridiculous boots. Or maybe I'm just hopeful.
Maybe it's a combination? I dunno. The face is 100% from that game for sure. Were the boots only in Smash Bros or were they there too? I can't remember.
The Prime 3 suit has all that federation tech on it to mitigate the phazon corruption, making it have all this silver plating all over it eventually. I don't remember how it starts off looking, though that picture looks like Prime 1's.
Was there a difference between the Prime 1 and Prime 3 suits? Because I thought they already did Prime 1 (unless that was the Other M suit?)
Hmm. Samus didn't have her traditional suit for very long in Prime 3 so I'm not really remembering the specifics. However I can say that they made a lot of changes since Prime 1, most noticeably to me the color and reflectiveness. Prime 2's suit wasn't nearly as shiny at 1's.
Her heels are closer to boots now and her proportions seem closer to Prime. It could be Nintendo gave them an updated design but told them to use the latest game for advertising
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The Varia suit in Prime vs Prime 3 was largely unchanged except for the visor shape (it has an extra bit at the top, making it less chevron-like) and the panel lines on the helmet.
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Dark Raven XLaugh hard, run fast,be kindRegistered Userregular
Not a fan of Zero Suit in general, but if they included a head swap gimmick, that'd be pretty rad - having an unmasked Metroid Prime fig?
Dunno how possible that is, won't go getting my hopes up, but releasing a new armoured Samus in such close proximity to ZSS is interesting...
Oh brilliant
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BRIAN BLESSEDMaybe you aren't SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGHHHRegistered Userregular
I liked the ZSS Other M statue by Good Smile, even if the game itself wasn't great
:<
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Warlock82Never pet a burning dogRegistered Userregular
I liked the ZSS Other M statue by Good Smile, even if the game itself wasn't great
:<
See that was the main one I was thinking of when I said I thought the past statues looked bad :P There is just something about that one that looks "off" - like, her face isn't right or something.
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The devs emphasized entirely the wrong Metroidvania traits in that game. You know those weapons you end up never using because there's one or two best ones? Here's fifty junk guns that make finding stuff disappointing instead of rewarding. You know those times your progress gets blocked because you didn't shoot that one block waaaaay on the other side of the map with just the right new gun? Yeah, we do that to you like five times. Isn't it awful when your map is helpful and informative and assists you in figuring out what to do next? Not a problem here!
It was like they developed the game immediately after the first Metroid game came out, instead of decades down the road when there were dozens of games to crib from to have smarter, better ways of doing most anything.
This was me too. I loved Xeodrifter, and it's weapon upgrade system was fun to use.
But the boss being the same creature constantly irritated me to no end.
I liked the game enough to get all the trophies on my PS4, but I don't have much of a desire to play through it again.
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Deleted forever.
The enemies that fly up out of the pipes, metroid style, always drop health. They're the only enemies that do, and they're outside every boss door.
My understanding is that the Dev (singular - it was entirely just the one guy) just really really liked old-school hard metroid
3DS: 0447-9966-6178
I respect what one guy was able to accomplish, but man, he made some poor decisions that really hurt the game. Which is a real shame, because there was some pretty rad stuff there.
I would say the other half of the problem was the fact that all the powers had really esoteric designs. That tiny parasite thing you could shoot and control, sure it was functionally identical to the morph ball, but it was so hard for me to mentally equate the two. I passed by so many narrow paths thinking I'd have to wait until I got the ball move, stupidly not realizing I already had it... it just wasn't a ball.
And there really is a severe lack of Metroidvania games, to be sure. Probably because making a good one is so tough, and making a really crappy one is all too easy. No small challenge to balance the right mix of exploration and backtracking.
Though it would be nice if there were at least more attempts at the genre, seeing as it's one of my favorites.
Which both shows and is an impressive feat.
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
To some degree, there's also the bosses - it's really easy to make a cheap boss... rather than one that just makes you feel awesome.
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PSN: AbEntropy
Teslagrad (a Metroidvania-lite) had that problem with its bosses. You'd die in one hit but all of the bosses had moves that you had to learn so you'd invariably die multiple times learning a pattern only to start dying all over again once they changed the pattern due to you getting a hit in.
The Prime series lets you dash-evade from the start, which is such a simple thing and yet lets you avoid so much damage if you stay on your toes.
one guy, yeah
he did all the programming and animation and even composed the score, which is so good I listen to it on its own
e: for the record I loved all of axiom verge, it was easily my favorite game of '15
http://nintendoinquirer.com/blog/2016/02/06/tons-new-nintendo-figures-wonderfest-2016/
It's too bad because I like the sculpt of ZSS's head there.
Yeah I agree. I'll still probably pick that one up. It's the first ZSS figure/statue I've seen that doesn't look like total garbage (i.e. nothing like the character). (not counting the one I saw on eBay that was I guess from Zero Mission and was going for like $1000 or something ridiculous)
They did, did you not see the sign in the background? :P Also I'm pretty sure that's her exact face from that game.
Is it? She looks less busty and doesn't have the ridiculous boots. Or maybe I'm just hopeful.
Maybe it's a combination? I dunno. The face is 100% from that game for sure. Were the boots only in Smash Bros or were they there too? I can't remember.
Evidence of the MP3 Figma, which should please a lot of fans as it's a more straightforward update of the Super Metroid suit.
Hmm. Samus didn't have her traditional suit for very long in Prime 3 so I'm not really remembering the specifics. However I can say that they made a lot of changes since Prime 1, most noticeably to me the color and reflectiveness. Prime 2's suit wasn't nearly as shiny at 1's.
Dunno how possible that is, won't go getting my hopes up, but releasing a new armoured Samus in such close proximity to ZSS is interesting...
:<
See that was the main one I was thinking of when I said I thought the past statues looked bad :P There is just something about that one that looks "off" - like, her face isn't right or something.
This one? Because I think the face on this one is gorgeous.
Yeah, there is just something about her that looks off model to me. Maybe it's more her body which seems a little too tall and thin.
I don't think it's that she's too tall -- Samus is supposed to be, what, 6'3"? -- it's that her thighs are exactly as long as her torso.