Sooo I havnt run into any actual non-stealth combat really. As soon as you're spotted you get sent back to the beginning of the area. There is a much greater emphasis on remaining unseen than the first two games. The stealth kills are fun to pull off at least. I'm only on the third stage though so things could definitely change.
malkoth on
"Be who you are, and say what you feel because those who mind dont matter, and those who matter dont mind." - Dr. Seuss
There is non-stealth combat but you have to have a sword. The sword controls are slightly clunky (because they require too much precision) and work better in boss situations (where you can take more than one hit) than they do in levels.
When you're discovered there's a cutscene with you poofing back to the beginning, which honestly I wish was skippable. I know they're adding to your time but just add the time penalty without me having to wait next time.
My other gripes are that the controls for using items are sometimes confusing and have caused me to mess up and be discovered (the control stick looks around, and to fire you don't use the trigger, you use a motion... contrary to most other Wii games). Also most things are context sensitive. There's motions you can do when you kill people that kill them in certain ways of course, but for an example of something clunky:
To hug a wall you press A. Then you move the control stick and move to the edge of a wall. Move the control stick again to peek around the corner. Now here's where it gets hairy... if you move the control stick in the opposite direction you'll stop peeking. If you press A you'll leap out from behind the wall. Pressing B is used to move away from the wall (stop hugging it)... unless you're peeking in which case you have to press B twice. It's just that extra button press (having to press B twice) that's screwed up my timing once too often.
Also sometimes if there's a body next to something else that's context sensitive (for instance a hiding spot) the game will choose the "pick up body" command over the "hide under this thing" command.
This is not to say that it's a bad game. In fact except for the frustration of having to watch the "found you" scenes over and over (the game is not easy) I'm having a blast. Each level takes about an hour the first time through and the story so far is interesting. I'm already interested in replaying levels (although I haven't because I want to see the end of the story first). The graphics are pretty nice. There's nice light and shadows in a lot of scenes (although not all), lots of reflections shiny bits on things (except most water for some reason), and there's a lot of nice character models and level geometry (though again, not all of it). Also I have a 4:3 tv and text sometimes goes off the edge of the screen a bit. That's probably part of what 1UP meant by things like inconsistent production values.
I'm slightly perplexed at the no 480p option, although speaking honestly in the actual game the only thing you notice it on is text. I had this perhaps weird thought that they did it purposefully to make everything slightly fuzzy (like free FSAA). Or it could just be one of those inexplicable things.
All in all I'd say it's definitely an 8.0 game. No more, no less. It has its issues but is still a ton of fun and worth a purchase.
I'm confused as to just WHY the combat is so bad. how did they mess up blocking so horribly?
Did they even playtest that part?
Honestly, it's not much of a problem so far, since so far every single combat situation has been avoidable. And I've noticed that there are a multiple ways to get rid of each guard in a lot of situations. Either just sneak up behind the guy normally and smack him, or hide in a pot and ambush him when he walks by before stowing his body in the same pot, or sneak around him by crawling under a porch or through a convenient hole.
this game definitely feels like it has more of a puzzle element and less of an action one compared to the other ones, considering the penalty for getting caught. there is no climbing on the rooftops to dispense death, but there are rafters and such you can climb in buildings to stay on top of things. oh and apparently there is a way to play as
Onikage!
malkoth on
"Be who you are, and say what you feel because those who mind dont matter, and those who matter dont mind." - Dr. Seuss
If you hate sword combat there's a really simple way to almost completely avoid it.
Never ever pick up a sword from the ground (or if you do, trade it out for something else as soon as you can.)
If you don't have a sword, you can't do regular sword combat. You will still have to do boss battles, but you'll automatically be given a temporary sword for those.
However, it's damn good that Tenchu is still alive and kicking. After a few of those shitty spin offs, (Z and Fatal Shadows) I started to fear the worst.
Posts
There is non-stealth combat but you have to have a sword. The sword controls are slightly clunky (because they require too much precision) and work better in boss situations (where you can take more than one hit) than they do in levels.
When you're discovered there's a cutscene with you poofing back to the beginning, which honestly I wish was skippable. I know they're adding to your time but just add the time penalty without me having to wait next time.
My other gripes are that the controls for using items are sometimes confusing and have caused me to mess up and be discovered (the control stick looks around, and to fire you don't use the trigger, you use a motion... contrary to most other Wii games). Also most things are context sensitive. There's motions you can do when you kill people that kill them in certain ways of course, but for an example of something clunky:
To hug a wall you press A. Then you move the control stick and move to the edge of a wall. Move the control stick again to peek around the corner. Now here's where it gets hairy... if you move the control stick in the opposite direction you'll stop peeking. If you press A you'll leap out from behind the wall. Pressing B is used to move away from the wall (stop hugging it)... unless you're peeking in which case you have to press B twice. It's just that extra button press (having to press B twice) that's screwed up my timing once too often.
Also sometimes if there's a body next to something else that's context sensitive (for instance a hiding spot) the game will choose the "pick up body" command over the "hide under this thing" command.
This is not to say that it's a bad game. In fact except for the frustration of having to watch the "found you" scenes over and over (the game is not easy) I'm having a blast. Each level takes about an hour the first time through and the story so far is interesting. I'm already interested in replaying levels (although I haven't because I want to see the end of the story first). The graphics are pretty nice. There's nice light and shadows in a lot of scenes (although not all), lots of reflections shiny bits on things (except most water for some reason), and there's a lot of nice character models and level geometry (though again, not all of it). Also I have a 4:3 tv and text sometimes goes off the edge of the screen a bit. That's probably part of what 1UP meant by things like inconsistent production values.
I'm slightly perplexed at the no 480p option, although speaking honestly in the actual game the only thing you notice it on is text. I had this perhaps weird thought that they did it purposefully to make everything slightly fuzzy (like free FSAA). Or it could just be one of those inexplicable things.
All in all I'd say it's definitely an 8.0 game. No more, no less. It has its issues but is still a ton of fun and worth a purchase.
Did they even playtest that part?
Honestly, it's not much of a problem so far, since so far every single combat situation has been avoidable. And I've noticed that there are a multiple ways to get rid of each guard in a lot of situations. Either just sneak up behind the guy normally and smack him, or hide in a pot and ambush him when he walks by before stowing his body in the same pot, or sneak around him by crawling under a porch or through a convenient hole.
Also some kills are incredibly non-obvious.
Also I should get some better review snippets than the ones from metacritic, but that's just me thinking out loud...
Yes, second of April. Getting the source now...
There ya go
(it might seem that it's the other way around, but it says it there in the US format)
If you hate sword combat there's a really simple way to almost completely avoid it.
Never ever pick up a sword from the ground (or if you do, trade it out for something else as soon as you can.)
If you don't have a sword, you can't do regular sword combat. You will still have to do boss battles, but you'll automatically be given a temporary sword for those.
However, it's damn good that Tenchu is still alive and kicking. After a few of those shitty spin offs, (Z and Fatal Shadows) I started to fear the worst.
Rikimaru is a goddamn pimp of a Ninja.