Continuing my ramped discussion on various video game titles over the month of December, I turn my direction to Rayman Origins. A title which came out in November this year which has been overlooked by many gamers, with its depressing sales is this a game which deserves what it gets, or is it a title with unimagined beauty.
The title was once to be a download game, with the developer expecting to produce the game in downloadable chapter instalments. Over the years the game got further delayed and it ended up been combined into one super game and released much later than expected.
The sales for the title showed that gamers don’t want this game. I believe that there are much more stronger factors at play with why it didn’t perform as well as expected or what it should have. However keeping it in consideration I do see reasons in this day and age why a 2D platformer would be overlooked by many gamers, and it could quite possibly have been a bad choice in design to have created such a title. However this isn’t to say that it is a bad thing it existed, the game was the first to be developed on a brand new engine Ubisoft have created, which brings amazing 2D art to games. It would be disappointing and a bad choice for Ubisoft if this engine never gets used again.
Rayman Origins overall plays like any other 2D platformer, if you think Mario then you pretty much have this game to a T almost. There are a few design choices and design changes which overall make it a fresh experience. The levels are amazingly detailed and jammed packed with various imaginative designs which you wouldn’t expect on a Mario title or even simular designed titles such as Wario Shake It, or A Boy and His Blob.
As for the soundtrack I’ve heard good things about the composer, however I didn’t really look into it too much. As for my person opinions regarding the soundtrack, I feel at times it can be forgotten and you will be more immersed in the title then the soundtrack. However when the music is noticeable it is one quality composted soundtrack and shouldn’t be held against the title.
The story is a bit of an issue, because how the game is set up Rayman and his pals are on a tree just snoring their heads off. Apparently that is enough for the people who live under the tree to declare all out war on Rayman and his buddies. I didn’t really get the point as to why I’m going out to fight these buddies, but anything introduced story wise only enhanced the basic premises behind the game, and overall the story is over shadowed by the platforming. Which in this style of game isn’t really a bad thing.
So we have established this game is quite good graphics, sound and story wise. In fact besides my nit picking I don’t think I’ve raised a proper issue with this title which would make it so overlooked by many. What I’m trying to say is if you own any console which this appears on (Wii, Xbox and PS3) then there shouldn’t be a reason why you don’t own this title.
James Noir is just like any other 3DS title, in that it has a great idea behind in, for example Steel Diver but fails to execute it, once again Steel Diver. So with video game rants been the flavour of articles which I’ve been publishing this past month, I decided to continue them into holiday season with James Noir.
The game was originally anticipated for the systems launch, but slowly it ended up been a game for the holiday season, with it launching in November. So how did it end up stacking up? That is the question which many people who are wary of what the system offers and the games available would like to know. Even those who see it as another Ubisoft title, one which could quite possible be shovel ware. The resulting answer however isn’t as clear cut as peoples gaming prodigious, no it is a complicated answer which ends up making this article even more worth the read.
I wanted to get this game since it was announced, and like many felt that Ubisoft would be picking up the gauntlet which so many developers left behind on the original DS system which amazing puzzle games which ranged from games having detailed emotion swinging stories such as any of CiNGs works, to games like the Phoenix Wright series and Professor Layton, full of puzzles and brain teasers which made the system worthwhile. Well in a way Ubisoft does continue the legacy of a strong puzzle/adventure game on Nintendo handhelds, however on the other it falls short. The main observation I find is that if the game came out when it was originally scheduled, aka around launch, then it would of been one of the best games for the system. However with the title launching alongside big hitters such as Mario Kart 7 and Mario Land 3D. (wow lots of Mario ay?) The title ended up falling short behind more detailed and thought out games released later in the year.
Well we have established that the game wasn’t as magical as what was once thought, but does the game offer the player anything? Well redeeming qualities are not the games strong suit, with it feeling like a tech demo unpolished to just have the game finally out, which has been the case with many of Ubisofts titles of late such as From Dust and the next downloadable title from them I am Alive. Anything besides puzzles in this game are attached to the title to a degree that it seems it just ticks a box for the game to have it, rather than offering anything solid. However that said, I did enjoy the overall story line which was that you are a contestant on a prime time game show which revolves around an old FBI friend coming to you about various murders which you guessed it- have puzzles at the scene. This overall back and forth between the game show and the FBI friend was probably one of the main things in the title which was done well. While the end twist is a bit predictable, at the end of the day the journey to get to that twist was quite magical and well worth the time.
Speaking of time, the game isn’t really that long. Depending on what puzzles you pick, and how good you are at solving them, you can knock the game over relatively quick. However I don’t believe this is a downside to the title.
The major issues I have with the game, for me which where enjoyment altering where mainly the controls in some stages of the game. When the game used 3D environments the puzzles which used this style where quite annoying to control at times, and were not cut and dry like the rest of the titles controls. The games verity in puzzles also at times had you completing “X puzzle type 4 or 5”, which was quite a disappointment, however in that regard there was a good amount of puzzle types for the player anyway, and they were much different at times then the puzzles you would usually find in say Layton or another puzzle solving title.
Overall I did find the title enjoyable, however if players don’t know what they are going into when picking up this title I feel they will not appreshate the title as much as I did or if they where more informed about the style of the game. Picking up this game at full retail price would be a bit of a disappointment as well, so if you wish to get this game at some point I recommend getting it when it hits an appropriate price point you are willing to part money if it doesn’t reach your expectations. However overall I’d say it would of been in the top 10 games on the system (and probably still is with the lack of games on the system) around launch, but since bigger named titles from Nintendo have appeared on the system I feel it has lost that position.
It is time for another video game article, or just an article in general- with content been lacking the past few weeks I thought it would be best to return on a big bang, by sharing my opinions on some of the top video games which came out this holiday season. Now the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
Skyward Sword is the next game in The Legend of Zelda series. Like Mario Kart 7 the game promises a lot of new ways the game will interact with the player. It is also highly acclaimed and it is also a lie, like Mario Kart 7 there are issues with the game, and it comes down to “the game is fun to play, but at the end of the day it is designed like crap”. Which means another article roundup which goes deep into the latest from Nintendo to see what just went wrong?
While fans will disagree with me on the “there are issues” front, there quite certainly are issues, and one of the major issues is one which has been dismissed many times and even proven “false” by fans. That is the Motion Controls.
Skyward Sword introduces some brand new motion controls and one of the games which really should have come out years ago instead of now. The motion controls it uses have been around for quite some time from a peripheral called the Motion Plus and the Wii Remote Plus. However they haven’t really been used to their advantage in many if not any title, so Skyward Sword was the game to say “hey Motion Controls can be in hardcore games tooo”. Which Nintendo did prove their point that motion controls can be used to a traditional game, however the issue lies with the end product not with the idea.
For the most part, motion controls work- there is no arguing that. Even though fans backlashed media outlets who said otherwise and even made their own videos showing how accurate at times the controls can be. With the basic premise that whatever you do in your living room is copied to the screen. The simple fact is that the technology isn’t perfect and this is by now quite old technology, especially with the motion plus been an attachment from years gone by. The technology in the Wii Remote Plus is basically the same, which means old technology which just can’t really interpret what you’re doing 100% at times. Anyone who says otherwise is clearly blinded in this instance. The technology isn’t perfect I guess is the key message here. Which means when this imperfect technology is used for a traditional game with many functions which need to be replicated for control there is going to be times where it just doesn’t get what you want to do. I’m not saying this happens all the time, but it does happen and people dismissing that it doesn’t happen is the issue with Skyward Sword. When controls are mapped quite similar to other things you can do, it can get a bit muddled up and you might end up doing the wrong thing. I find it also loses the centre sometimes too, which can be an issue when centre is now much lower or higher then how you have been playing for the last half hour or so and suddenly you go to do something which ends up resulting in you throwing your bomb on top of yourself or something.
Moving on from motion controls which isn’t quite an issue as it doesn’t happen all the time and can mostly be fixed with resetting calibration is the new way the game works. There are two new ways the game works and I’m going to talk about the over world first. As the over world has been used in a similar style before with the Nintendo DS titles been the main culprits of using this style. What this style is, is an over world which isn’t really there, Spirit Tracks over world was just planes of fields which had simple monsters scattered around and a train running through it. Phantom Hourglass of course took Wind Wakers approach to having a huge ocean. Skyward Sword takes things one step further by limiting the over world on land to segmented areas which are accessed by the sky. The sky of course is filled with rocks which get collectables thrown to them from the land below. There really isn’t much in the sky to explore and the main primary location you go to in the sky is Skyloft a friendly little town which is pretty basic but amazing in its own right. There doesn’t seem much real feel of community in the town outside of the primary story interactions or the basic side quests which get thrown out once in a while. In sort, it is no Majoras Mask.
At the end of the day there really isn’t much substance in this over world style, with previous games which had a similar limited over world- dare I say it, having much more substance. It really is at the core a simple minimalistic point A to point B over world, which does seem fine but limits the overall player exploration to major areas well as minor areas. Which also makes the game feel out of place when we move onto the second new thing Skyward Sword features which is essentially the “underworld” aka the “area which isn’t in the sky” basically been “anything you can touch is one big dungeon”.
There are a few issues with this style of game play which is present primary because of other design decisions. Such as the limited over world and quite possibly the most annoying thing to mankind Fi. However more on that later, for now the underworld is the dungeon idea.
It isn’t really a bad idea at all, in fact I would love it if more Zelda games tried to encapsulate this idea. However the execution in Skyward Sword comes down to the fact that if the underworld (really probably the best way to describe it in this instance) is an extended dungeon why are the temples so huge at times and other times so small. There doesn’t seem to be a point in what makes one landmark considerably huge where another is considerably small. For me level design should try and make the temples more building style, as well as having more locations within the temple not specifically related to ending up at the boss room. My other problem with the execution in Skyward Sword can be shown much more prodomadly later in the game where many of the locations time is spent solving massive puzzles or problems which take a considerable amount of time only to get to another area which isn’t the area your primary heading too, but is still quite considerably huge.
Overall the areas just needed more variety and culture within them. This would of made them more interesting, a few more towns, shanty’s whatever- it would have been more differentiated.
As for Fi, her design is essentially someone who has played the game before and likes to spoil bits for you.
It is time for another video game article, or just an article in general- with content been lacking the past few weeks I thought it would be best to return on a big bang, by sharing my opinions on some of the top video games which came out this holiday season. First up Mario Kart 7.
The latest 3DS title which is worth buying is a shock among many fans who thought the system would remain a paper weight, an actuarial game you say? Yes the 3DS seems to have games and Mario Kart 7 is the first one from Nintendo which isn’t a remake or a tech demo. So that should mean we should expect good things from Mario Kart 7? Wrong, it is a bastardised version of Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart DS. The two titles in the franchise which have a strong stigma of been playable and enjoyable attached to them. In short good games, so when they were mashed together it just didn’t happen- they became a shadow of what just went by and took primarily the bad things from the two titles instead of the good things.
Don’t get me wrong, Mario Kart 7 is a good game, but just like many other releases this holiday season especially from Nintendo fall to the simple factor of “you will enjoy it, however tech and design wise- it is a huge disappointment”.
Let’s start off with the new features in the game which are meant to be the biggest things to come to Mario Kart since the banana was introduced. I think you know what I’m referring to, the swimming and the flying- the thing Nintendo says will revolutionise the series. So the big question is does it?
Overall I was happy with the new flying and swimming features. However my big complaint here is that I don’t believe they were fully taken advantage of as core features. Flying seemed to be more gliding and essentially gave a few second boost to what normally a bunch of boosts on a slope would give you lift from. What I’m trying to say here is that the feature really could have not existed at all and it would of still given the game the overall basic functionality that the feature promises. Moving on to the swimming I felt it was more in tack than the flying portions of the title. However for the most part levels took it as an opportunity to have “underwater sections” rather than give it any reason of purpose to existing. Again the feature fell short and didn’t really grasp any desire to want to go underwater, it more the fact the level was going there so you have to go there. However I do have to commend the best parts of the swimming function was when there were just little holes in the level and you would fall through into a whole massive world under the track. Or in some of the retro levels with beaches you could go out much further before you died, with an underwater section existing alongside the level it seemed to add a new dimension and twist to the game. It was a shame that these functions didn’t always add depth to the edges of the map and instead were treated as a gimmick. Essentially I wanted the ability to jump back into the race even if I fell to the ocean bellow, maybe more caves and alcoves designed to get to the player back on the main track, or even include short cuts- that would have really enhanced the feature enough to be subtle and amazing.
While I’m talking about the levels I want to talk about the levels in general, there is one word which the kids throw around a lot which I think fits perfectly- they suck.
My primary issue with the levels is the new ones just feel unimaginative and quite boring. There isn’t really many levels which I can defiantly with 100% certainty say I like. For me the winners were the sprints, which are a new feature to Mario Kart 7 where levels are not just the run of the mill 3 lap tracks. There is only a few sprints in the game, which is of course Rainbow Road, which I believe is the best Rainbow Road ever in a Mario Kart game, it isn’t boring and flat like the SNES one, and also isn’t over the top like the Wii and DS ones had become. It also has a moon and a planet you race on, clearly that alone should make it a top track in anyone’s books. The other sprints are of course the Wuhu Island levels, of which are two an island loop and a mountain loop. These have had mixed reactions from fans, but at the same time I believe these are strong levels in Mario Kart 7. The only complaint I have with them is maybe they could have had more variety in music. Such as Smash Bros style music system where levels can have multiple music tracks. My other favourite levels include Melody Motorway, which I think is pretty creative and Shy Guy Bazaar. The rest range from been acceptable to downright boring, such as the predictable levels such as Alpine Pass. Also Koopa City which is called Bowsers something a rather in America is also a good level, but I feel it’s out of place in a Mario game and feels more like FZero then Mario Kart. On the path of small complaints and nit-picking I believe Rosalina’s Ice World has the biggest issue in the whole game, the music you see sounds more like Pokémon then Mario.
Retro Levels are amazing, okay maybe not. First impressions have always been “best retro lineup in the whole series”, but slowly people have been saying “but these where the worst levels in their respective games”, so it occurred to me, maybe they are so good because the new levels are so bad? It’s refreshing after playing hours of the new levels to move onto the retro cup which has much more solid race tracks. Besides Mushroom Gorge which I hated on the Wii for the same reason as Alpine Pass, aka it is predictable, boring and generic. The retro lineup features solid tracks such as Coconut Mall, Walugi Pinball, Kalimari Desert and Maple Treeway. I even enjoy Dino Dino Jungle and Airship Fortress at times.
Moving on to the motion controls, I feel while I’m dismissing the levels I should mention them. There is only one option to use motion which is in the first person mode, which is quite different to the third person motion controls which the Wii version offered. This new first person mode feels a bit odd and works at some points in the game, but in others it doesn’t. It limits the view the player gets much more drastically than the third person mode, which wouldn’t be a problem if motion controls where quite “easy” to achieve. In that line of logic what I’m trying to say is if you tilt the 3DS ever so slightly you will be running into a wall when you have a good combination cart customization. I feel as if the paths in the levels are not as wide as the Wii version, which is a problem with motion controls as tight cornering is almost impossible at times.
Well you might even ask, why even use the motion controls at all? Well I find them to be much more fluid then the slider. Which just feels wrong when playing the game for long periods of time, you will find you will slip off or can’t really get the slider to point in the right direction at times after long periods of play. In the end I would have been much happier if there was a way to play third person and have the motion controls in place.
So we have covered motion controls, levels and the new level features. Lets move on to another big hitter, the community functions. I believe this is a great step for Nintendo when it comes to online games. That been said it is overly disappointing after all the hype associated to the function, when all it does is make a room with limited customization features which sets the features as locked to the room once decided. It’s really disappointing how it is set up. However like I said before, a step in the right direction.
Also while I’m nit-picking, does anyone really play the 3DS with 3D on anymore? I know I don’t, and after hearing that Mario Kart 7 was meant to be “super awesome” when it came to 3D, I just knew I had to try it. Well it was even more disappointing than any other game I’ve played with 3D functions. Even James Noirs crossed eyed hyper set 3D is better than this. At least in that game it seemed to have a purpose. But in this, it’s either so good it doesn’t seem like it’s on at all, or it’s so bad that it just doesn’t make anything pop in a meaningful way.
Overall I feel that Nintendo should make a franchise which tries to be a successor to the Mario Kart range, because it’s getting time for a reboot and fast. Maybe make a game which is more all-stars or Mario but an array of third party characters like Fortune Street is. Which I’m disappointed isn’t taking over the Mario Party franchise. That aside, before I finish off, one major annoyance was the shooting items back for me. I found I couldn’t do it for a long time for some reason, then today I did it once and I don’t know how- because I just did the stuff I’d usually do when trying it. Maybe it was because I was more impaintaint with the feature and did the “move” over and over.