that game terminology is 100% something we all do and kinda unique to each person. for me all health items are "herbs", an area of effect is an "all spell"
This looks wonderful! I know it's only the demo, but it's been a while since I've seen a game start you In Media Res. I feel like it makes sense for Exploration (MetroidVania) games.
Right? When I hear that phrase my first thought is "I think you've misunderstood the appeal of the genre." It looks to me like the developers have reinvented the Platformer. It looks gorgeous, and fun in an action-platformer way, but this has none of the things about Metroidvanias that make metroidvania my favorite game genre.
Pretty sure a streamlined Metroidvania is just a platformer? Metroidvania is defined by exploration which necessitates convolution otherwise there is nothing to explore.
Exactly my thoughy process when I heard streamlined Metroidvania did they remove the exploration? Or the back tracking? All of which are important aspects of what makes a Metroidvania.
1: Graphics and animation looks super cool. I feel this will be similar to Dust an Elysian Tale of being pretty for years and years to come. 2: Love the writing
14:10, 22:20: For my fellow D&D players, this is why every character needs a ranged weapon. You don't want to be the melee brute standing around or flailing in a vain attempt to do something useful. (Though I do have a bunch of gaming stories from when people tried foolish ideas to compensate for not having bought a few javelins or something. Or accepted a spare gun from a teammate, in TTRPGs where almost literally everyone has guns.) 41:25: It also feels like there are a bunch of small branches that were quietly closed for the demo. That, or a _lot_ of weird level geometry. 1:30: Oh, I assumed it was a semi-in-medias-res thing. Introducing us to the character dynamics and general plot gist and Ahui's explosive tendencies without getting bogged down in any of it, so you can get to the good stuff faster. Normal stuff. 5:25: Until this point, I wasn't sure whether the axe was a separate intelligent entity or just a magic item the purple-haired character was using to speak. But now I'm pretty confident it's the former, which is a shame, because the latter sounds like a neat idea. 10:25: It's a good feature. Good job, devs. 17:35: Hopefully that's clearer in the final game, in the place it's intended to be taught. 28:10: I hate when that happens. 42:05: Any axe works as a key if your Strength is high enough. 52:30: Advanced Pogo 1:05:20: There is an art to making levels like this-linear-ish levels with one clear path forward at all times, but minimal backtracking-and it's a good thing Itorah knows that art.
Campfire: Smaller, built in a fire ring/pit, mostly for warmth and cooking. Bonfire: Larger, made of burnable waste, has more varied use such as celebrations.
I would loooove to see Dan play this! It's a pretty long DLC, so I think it could be a good 10-12 episodes. Not sure if they can fit it into the schedule in october :/
If the devs are reading, two notes: 1) The downward air attack should do a lot more damage to the heavy armor guy. 2) if you're going to have a puzzle like that which uses moves that cost stamina, make breaking the blocks restore stamina or drop a resource that does the same.
Seems like Indvisible meets Ori and the Blind Forest. Though it's a demo, it's like a run of the mill action-platformer. Like Dan was saying, it's not clear if there are secrets to find. It looks pretty and charming, but I'm not seeing the mechanics that draw me to the genre. Thanks for sharing.
I want to be nice so I'll start with the positives. Music sounds nice. Artwork is a cut above most indie games I've seen. Great looking characters! (reminds me of Odin Sphere). On the other hand, the environment is way too linear and long. Level went from pretty to pretty repetitive long before the 30 min mark. Since monsters don't drop health or exp, I see little point in fighting them unless they interrupt platforming. Lots of methods of attacking but little reason to mix it up outside of specials. My heart sank when I saw an area that looked like it should have a hidden treasure and was just more empty space. Seems more like a Mega Man or 2D Sonic level without the speed.
Agreed. It is really pretty, but needs a lot of work. It feels like the controls and animation needs tightening up a bit, and just .. swifting up too. One of the things that makes games like Hollow Knight so satisfying to play is just how tight controls are, which makes navigating really quite challenging areas feel both controlable and satisfying. For instance the main character slides a little down a wall before Dan can get the next jump off, which makes it hard to get up, and jump puzzles less satisfying Also, the 'mother' enemies are a little too sturdy. They're just trash mobs; they don't need to take five hits to kill; two or three would feel more appropriate.
@@larsgottlieb Enemies were definitely way too sturdy. If I had to guess, that would be rectified with enhancements to the ax at the blacksmith. Still, having more weapons with static strength as opposed to fewer that can be upgraded feels more metroidvania than this. Early Shantae games had many spells I seldom used but I enjoyed having options.
I was thinking about making a similar comment to this, but you summed up my feelings almost perfectly. The areas were way too long for how little there was in them, and the combat is nowhere near enough to make the journey worth it. I think there’s the start of a good game here, and would love to see how this looks given enough iterations
0:55 trying to watch on mobile and that font size choice for dialogue is a yikes!. could be a lot bigger D:. I present Chicory as a point of comparison.
So what is the artstyle used here? It's not pixelart and it doesn't look 3d it looks to be drawn with but each part of the body seems to be seperate? I'm not sure but it looks very interesting and the games looks really beautiful
As someone with chronic migraines and headaches I get easily visually overwhelmed, which is usually a problem with modern platforms and their overly busy backgrounds that are indistinguishable from the playfield - after about 5 minutes of play makes me feel like I want to jab my finger through my eye and swirl it around in my head to relieve to pressure. Not very enjoyable to say the least. This game has dome a wonderful job and I am getting none of that from your gameplay. That and the beautiful graphics alone make me want to try this out, if only to try and figure out how they got it so very right. As a handicapped disabled person I appreciate attention to usability and clarity much more than I used to.
It's still in development, but it does seem to be leaning a bit hard on its hollow knight inspiration, atleast feels like that when it comes to the enemy variety. All of the enemies seem to be reskinned Hollow knight mobs. That and "Pale feather" being the upgrade material instead of "Pale ore". Might be a complete coincidence all of it, but it doesnt feel like it is.
It seems to be HK but with dialled up Dark Souls elements (stamina, bonfires, etc.) and a lot less Metroidvania (a fairly linear path you can't get lost on)
And Hollow Knight was inspired by Dark Souls and Metroid. And Dark Souls was inspired by older DnD-based games. It's surprisingly difficult to find easy enemies that have never been done before in a 2D combat platformer. I will acknowledge that I don't see what makes it a Metroidvania though. Ori and the Will of the Wisps got the same criticism and was in development at a similar time to Hollow Knight. Pale feather is a bit on the nose, but strong inspiration doesn't automatically detract from a game, either. The full game will tell more clearly.
@@peterpeladon Ofcourse i know Hollow Knight didnt come out of the blue, it borrows and leans on its inspirations as well, same with Dark Souls. Everything is inspired by something else. It's just in this example they seem to have reskinned the monster design all from 1 place, making it more than "inspired by". Hollow Knights monster designs have all individually been done before as far as im aware, but not all from the same game.
@@Fronken89 The only one I could see to bear any resemblance to a HK mob is that flying one, and that may just be because Hollow Knight is the most recent instance of it, but all the other mobs, what with the little variety, have counterparts in pretty much any other platformer out there as far I can see.
@@Inferryu There's also the Crawlids (even shares the design with the armored head) and Hoppers. I know all enemy varieties have been done before, it's just that the most recent big success when it comes to said genre is Hollow Knight, and it's obvious they are lifting the enemy designs from it. I can't think of another specific game that includes every single mob design in 1 game.
48:12 The mark of a successful one is getting you to convert seamlessly to their lingo. For example, every letsplayer I have seen switched from "oh, like a souls' bonfire" to "BBBBBEEEENCH YES PLEASE" by the third hour of their playthrough of Hollow Knight :D Edit: except for shinies. Shinies are universal.
So far it seems as though the devs wanted to make some linear gameplay and omit a lot of the aspects of a metroidvania, of course it could be the demo itself but we'll see when it's fully released. The game seems a bit more like a shantae than a hollow knight.
So you're a Silent Protagonist whose ax does all the talking (literally and figuratively)? I kind of liked the idea of the standard game starting just like this, _in medias res._ The way the demo opens reminds me a lot of Final Fantasy X.
The publisher of this game has another free demo called "Plan B from Outer Space: A Bavarian Odyssey" that I think Dan and Carrie might enjoy. It's funny, but lots of reading. Like, Nier Replicant dream forest quantities of reading. I played this demo after watching and realized you can hit Down while running down an incline to slide down it, almost Mario Bros 3 style, and if you jump at the bottom you'll get a speed boost and keep your momentum when you land, makes some of the traversal parts go a bit faster and feel more involved. I wonder if that's what they were going for when they call it a "streamlined metroidvania", where streamlined means traversal gets much faster once you learn how to most effectively interact with the terrain? To early to tell, maybe.
Even though they're very different games, I can't help but see parallels with Indivisible, what with the young girl jumping and climbing her way to victory while swinging a big ol' axe. That game draws a lot of influence from Indian culture, while this one seems to be pulling from Central American lore. I'm intrigued, but not sold yet. Warrants further investigation.
pretty graphics, good music, good theme. Mechanics need more polishing. Several things I'd change: 1. speed from running should be conserved when bouncing regardless of button state (Guessing this is why Dan had so much trouble on that one section). 2. wall slides should start more gradually to allow the player to press jump. 3. pogo should be preserved after pogoing, or it should be made easier somehow, maybe even just get rid of the little pause when starting the down attack. I get the desire to make it like Hollow Knights pogo, but that attack was near instant, and this one feels more like the character is getting on a pogo stick. Pogo sticks don't disappear every jump. 4. The axe range needs to be a bit longer. Its an axe that is taller than the character, it just looks like it has about 2/3s of the range that it should. Maybe that would make the enemies feel a bit less sturdy as well.
This game looks and feels SO much like Indivisible. I have to wonder if some of the same people worked on both games. Lol. If nothing else, they had to be inspired by Indivisible, right?
Re: "Streamlined Metroidvania" First off, I continue to hate how game genres are named after the first games that tried them instead of the mechanics of the game. Second, a better example of a "streamlined metroidvania" would be the recent Shantae games, where the exploration-platforming is separated by zones on a HUB instead of one huge connected path. (Sorry for being critical, I just have a pet peeve about video game genres)
I prefer "Upgrade Hunter" over "Metroidvania" for that reason, since the genre is typically defined by finding various upgrades to open up progression.
Unfortunately my first impression is that all the camera movement makes me a bit nauseous. It'd be great if they slowed the camera down some when it pans back to you after stopping a run.
Hmm, I'm not that sold on the idea of a 'streamlined' Metroidvania. Part of what I love about the Metroidvania as a genera is how convoluted and interconnected the world design is and I don't quite enjoy the more 'linear' metroidvania styles as much. There are exceptions; Metroid 4, Fusion is an example of a linear metroidvania that has a very good world design and has an in universe explanation for why it's linear. Still, this looks like a fun game and I'll definitely think about adding it to my 'to play' list when it reaches its full release.
The Visuals are quite amazing! But the gameplay part of the whole experience feels rather shallow :-/ Still, gonna throw it on the good old wishlist and see how it has evolved once it comes out^^
I'm glad it's not just me; but I don't see how this is a "Streamlined" Metroidvania; it looks like major points of interest are actually further apart than something like Super Metroid. And what's in-between? A bunch of pointless enemies that seem mostly tedious to fight. There are plenty of ledges where it looks like there should be secrets or treasure, but maybe they just removed that from the Demo? Really a shame, this demo might just be a result of this game not putting its best foot forward.
Beautiful game with some promising new ideas, but the repetition is what lost me. More variety in both enemies and environment would fit the bill, but if they don't have the resources, they need to cut these levels by at least two thirds. I'll never judge a studio for not having the time and people to make a huge game, but they need to know their limits and develop accordingly. Could also be that a lot more content is coming, but what he played felt very "finished" and I would be surprised if it changed dramatically before release.
The game's graphics looks neat enough but for me I never got the feeling that the monsters really acts as they are there. I go the feeling that the monsters was just "there" and moving randomly about. Then the player hero always stares infront of her, regardless of what happens. I just don't get the feeling that game's world is alive.
Art and music are lovely, but I feel like this game is doing itself a disservice by billing itself as a Metroidvania. The game doesn't look bad per se, but it does look like a disappointing Metroidvania. Maybe it's just demo/early game restrictions, but there's very little of the branching path structure you'd expect, even ones blocked off by something that makes you go 'aha, I'll bet I can get through there later!' And it might also just be Hollow Knight having spoiled me for other Metroidvanias.
Yeah it feels like calling itself a Metroidvania is supposed to be a hype up marketing tactic but it just ends up disappointing people who expect the non-linearity that defined the genre. It should just be honest and call itself an action-platformer, Shovel Knight is an action-platformer so it's not like it's anything to be ashamed of.
I'm fairly confident "streamlined" means "we've made a visually appealing but mechanically uninspired platformer, and we'd very much like to distinguish our work in a crowded market." It's a completely understandable impulse, but... The best-case scenario is that the developers are so inexperienced that they can't properly tag/market their work. I think the worst case is that they know what they've made doesn't _really_ match the conventions of the genre they're trying to name drop, but here we are anyway: A "streamlined" "Metroidvania."
This looks very rad, but as usual, minus a lot of points for 'we've populated this game with really cool furries with lovingly-detailed designs who are clearly the norm for this setting, but you have to play the Only Human.' Animal Crossing Syndrome is such a pain.
I think the proper name for "streamlined Metroidvania" is "platformer".
Possibly "action platformer". Possibly with a note added about upgrades being important. But yeah.
There's also "platform adventure" but yes, it's a platformer XD
that game terminology is 100% something we all do and kinda unique to each person. for me all health items are "herbs", an area of effect is an "all spell"
and any grunt is a mook.
That crouched attack is the best attack animation I've ever seen
The music's giving me some Hades vibes, and that's certainly not a bad thing
This looks like it needs a fast travel system at those bonfires. Who's gonna walk ALL THE WAY BACK for upgrades? That's gonna take forever.
This looks wonderful!
I know it's only the demo, but it's been a while since I've seen a game start you In Media Res. I feel like it makes sense for Exploration (MetroidVania) games.
The idea of a 'streamlined Metroidvania' seems almost contradictory in a way.
Right? When I hear that phrase my first thought is "I think you've misunderstood the appeal of the genre."
It looks to me like the developers have reinvented the Platformer. It looks gorgeous, and fun in an action-platformer way, but this has none of the things about Metroidvanias that make metroidvania my favorite game genre.
Pretty sure a streamlined Metroidvania is just a platformer? Metroidvania is defined by exploration which necessitates convolution otherwise there is nothing to explore.
Exactly my thoughy process when I heard streamlined Metroidvania did they remove the exploration? Or the back tracking? All of which are important aspects of what makes a Metroidvania.
1: Graphics and animation looks super cool. I feel this will be similar to Dust an Elysian Tale of being pretty for years and years to come.
2: Love the writing
I had the same "Dust" Feeling! Gorgeous game!
Exactly what I was thinking
I had the same feeling. I'll definitely pick it up. Dan made it feel so fun
14:10, 22:20: For my fellow D&D players, this is why every character needs a ranged weapon. You don't want to be the melee brute standing around or flailing in a vain attempt to do something useful. (Though I do have a bunch of gaming stories from when people tried foolish ideas to compensate for not having bought a few javelins or something. Or accepted a spare gun from a teammate, in TTRPGs where almost literally everyone has guns.)
41:25: It also feels like there are a bunch of small branches that were quietly closed for the demo. That, or a _lot_ of weird level geometry.
1:30: Oh, I assumed it was a semi-in-medias-res thing. Introducing us to the character dynamics and general plot gist and Ahui's explosive tendencies without getting bogged down in any of it, so you can get to the good stuff faster. Normal stuff.
5:25: Until this point, I wasn't sure whether the axe was a separate intelligent entity or just a magic item the purple-haired character was using to speak. But now I'm pretty confident it's the former, which is a shame, because the latter sounds like a neat idea.
10:25: It's a good feature. Good job, devs.
17:35: Hopefully that's clearer in the final game, in the place it's intended to be taught.
28:10: I hate when that happens.
42:05: Any axe works as a key if your Strength is high enough.
52:30: Advanced Pogo
1:05:20: There is an art to making levels like this-linear-ish levels with one clear path forward at all times, but minimal backtracking-and it's a good thing Itorah knows that art.
i adore the way the foliage is drawn! so pretty !
Campfire: Smaller, built in a fire ring/pit, mostly for warmth and cooking.
Bonfire: Larger, made of burnable waste, has more varied use such as celebrations.
Any plans to play the outer wilds DLC? It's a bit spooky so this is the perfect month for it.
Ooooh spoopy.
Yeah Its Perfect for this month
Wholeheartedly endorse this
Would love to see it, but not sure where they could cram it into the schedule.
I would loooove to see Dan play this! It's a pretty long DLC, so I think it could be a good 10-12 episodes. Not sure if they can fit it into the schedule in october :/
If the devs are reading, two notes: 1) The downward air attack should do a lot more damage to the heavy armor guy. 2) if you're going to have a puzzle like that which uses moves that cost stamina, make breaking the blocks restore stamina or drop a resource that does the same.
1:32 that face and those ears convey way too much "not amused" to be allowed
Seems like Indvisible meets Ori and the Blind Forest. Though it's a demo, it's like a run of the mill action-platformer. Like Dan was saying, it's not clear if there are secrets to find. It looks pretty and charming, but I'm not seeing the mechanics that draw me to the genre. Thanks for sharing.
Dan, I still call the currency in every game from Diablo to Mass Effect gold. You can call it a bonfire, it's fine.
I want to be nice so I'll start with the positives. Music sounds nice. Artwork is a cut above most indie games I've seen. Great looking characters! (reminds me of Odin Sphere). On the other hand, the environment is way too linear and long. Level went from pretty to pretty repetitive long before the 30 min mark. Since monsters don't drop health or exp, I see little point in fighting them unless they interrupt platforming. Lots of methods of attacking but little reason to mix it up outside of specials. My heart sank when I saw an area that looked like it should have a hidden treasure and was just more empty space. Seems more like a Mega Man or 2D Sonic level without the speed.
Agreed. It is really pretty, but needs a lot of work.
It feels like the controls and animation needs tightening up a bit, and just .. swifting up too. One of the things that makes games like Hollow Knight so satisfying to play is just how tight controls are, which makes navigating really quite challenging areas feel both controlable and satisfying. For instance the main character slides a little down a wall before Dan can get the next jump off, which makes it hard to get up, and jump puzzles less satisfying
Also, the 'mother' enemies are a little too sturdy. They're just trash mobs; they don't need to take five hits to kill; two or three would feel more appropriate.
@@larsgottlieb Enemies were definitely way too sturdy. If I had to guess, that would be rectified with enhancements to the ax at the blacksmith. Still, having more weapons with static strength as opposed to fewer that can be upgraded feels more metroidvania than this. Early Shantae games had many spells I seldom used but I enjoyed having options.
I was thinking about making a similar comment to this, but you summed up my feelings almost perfectly. The areas were way too long for how little there was in them, and the combat is nowhere near enough to make the journey worth it. I think there’s the start of a good game here, and would love to see how this looks given enough iterations
Couldn't help but read the title in that jingle for Ricolla, the cough drops. "IIIIIIII-tor-uhhhhh"
0:55 trying to watch on mobile and that font size choice for dialogue is a yikes!. could be a lot bigger D:.
I present Chicory as a point of comparison.
43:10 So So this is more like Megaman then, the Zero trilogy to be precise.
I can't quite put my finger on what, but something here is giving me Indivisible vibes.
I like to think you are playing as the AXE and the human is just your carrier XD XD XD
So what is the artstyle used here? It's not pixelart and it doesn't look 3d it looks to be drawn with but each part of the body seems to be seperate? I'm not sure but it looks very interesting and the games looks really beautiful
As someone with chronic migraines and headaches I get easily visually overwhelmed, which is usually a problem with modern platforms and their overly busy backgrounds that are indistinguishable from the playfield - after about 5 minutes of play makes me feel like I want to jab my finger through my eye and swirl it around in my head to relieve to pressure. Not very enjoyable to say the least. This game has dome a wonderful job and I am getting none of that from your gameplay. That and the beautiful graphics alone make me want to try this out, if only to try and figure out how they got it so very right. As a handicapped disabled person I appreciate attention to usability and clarity much more than I used to.
It's still in development, but it does seem to be leaning a bit hard on its hollow knight inspiration, atleast feels like that when it comes to the enemy variety. All of the enemies seem to be reskinned Hollow knight mobs. That and "Pale feather" being the upgrade material instead of "Pale ore". Might be a complete coincidence all of it, but it doesnt feel like it is.
It seems to be HK but with dialled up Dark Souls elements (stamina, bonfires, etc.) and a lot less Metroidvania (a fairly linear path you can't get lost on)
And Hollow Knight was inspired by Dark Souls and Metroid. And Dark Souls was inspired by older DnD-based games. It's surprisingly difficult to find easy enemies that have never been done before in a 2D combat platformer. I will acknowledge that I don't see what makes it a Metroidvania though. Ori and the Will of the Wisps got the same criticism and was in development at a similar time to Hollow Knight.
Pale feather is a bit on the nose, but strong inspiration doesn't automatically detract from a game, either. The full game will tell more clearly.
@@peterpeladon Ofcourse i know Hollow Knight didnt come out of the blue, it borrows and leans on its inspirations as well, same with Dark Souls. Everything is inspired by something else. It's just in this example they seem to have reskinned the monster design all from 1 place, making it more than "inspired by". Hollow Knights monster designs have all individually been done before as far as im aware, but not all from the same game.
@@Fronken89 The only one I could see to bear any resemblance to a HK mob is that flying one, and that may just be because Hollow Knight is the most recent instance of it, but all the other mobs, what with the little variety, have counterparts in pretty much any other platformer out there as far I can see.
@@Inferryu There's also the Crawlids (even shares the design with the armored head) and Hoppers. I know all enemy varieties have been done before, it's just that the most recent big success when it comes to said genre is Hollow Knight, and it's obvious they are lifting the enemy designs from it. I can't think of another specific game that includes every single mob design in 1 game.
48:12 The mark of a successful one is getting you to convert seamlessly to their lingo.
For example, every letsplayer I have seen switched from "oh, like a souls' bonfire" to "BBBBBEEEENCH YES PLEASE" by the third hour of their playthrough of Hollow Knight :D
Edit: except for shinies. Shinies are universal.
At 32:04 but that guy at the start had a spear without a face.
So far it seems as though the devs wanted to make some linear gameplay and omit a lot of the aspects of a metroidvania, of course it could be the demo itself but we'll see when it's fully released. The game seems a bit more like a shantae than a hollow knight.
So you're a Silent Protagonist whose ax does all the talking (literally and figuratively)?
I kind of liked the idea of the standard game starting just like this, _in medias res._ The way the demo opens reminds me a lot of Final Fantasy X.
The publisher of this game has another free demo called "Plan B from Outer Space: A Bavarian Odyssey" that I think Dan and Carrie might enjoy. It's funny, but lots of reading. Like, Nier Replicant dream forest quantities of reading.
I played this demo after watching and realized you can hit Down while running down an incline to slide down it, almost Mario Bros 3 style, and if you jump at the bottom you'll get a speed boost and keep your momentum when you land, makes some of the traversal parts go a bit faster and feel more involved. I wonder if that's what they were going for when they call it a "streamlined metroidvania", where streamlined means traversal gets much faster once you learn how to most effectively interact with the terrain? To early to tell, maybe.
This gives me so many "Indivisible" vibes. Gotta pour one out for what happened to all those talented devs/artists
One minus point for not having the BoomCat as the playable character.
Let me blow stuff up!
Pure projection: they could be for later levels or even a new game+
Hah. Look at me and my 48, I mean, 49 game Steam wishlist.
what's the smash attack? i'm confused.
Even though they're very different games, I can't help but see parallels with Indivisible, what with the young girl jumping and climbing her way to victory while swinging a big ol' axe. That game draws a lot of influence from Indian culture, while this one seems to be pulling from Central American lore. I'm intrigued, but not sold yet. Warrants further investigation.
pretty graphics, good music, good theme. Mechanics need more polishing. Several things I'd change: 1. speed from running should be conserved when bouncing regardless of button state (Guessing this is why Dan had so much trouble on that one section). 2. wall slides should start more gradually to allow the player to press jump. 3. pogo should be preserved after pogoing, or it should be made easier somehow, maybe even just get rid of the little pause when starting the down attack. I get the desire to make it like Hollow Knights pogo, but that attack was near instant, and this one feels more like the character is getting on a pogo stick. Pogo sticks don't disappear every jump. 4. The axe range needs to be a bit longer. Its an axe that is taller than the character, it just looks like it has about 2/3s of the range that it should. Maybe that would make the enemies feel a bit less sturdy as well.
It is a pretty looking game but it doesn't hold my attention, maybe because we currently don't have any story that gathers us in or my attention span.
This game looks and feels SO much like Indivisible. I have to wonder if some of the same people worked on both games. Lol. If nothing else, they had to be inspired by Indivisible, right?
Re: "Streamlined Metroidvania"
First off, I continue to hate how game genres are named after the first games that tried them instead of the mechanics of the game.
Second, a better example of a "streamlined metroidvania" would be the recent Shantae games, where the exploration-platforming is separated by zones on a HUB instead of one huge connected path.
(Sorry for being critical, I just have a pet peeve about video game genres)
I prefer "Upgrade Hunter" over "Metroidvania" for that reason, since the genre is typically defined by finding various upgrades to open up progression.
Unfortunately my first impression is that all the camera movement makes me a bit nauseous. It'd be great if they slowed the camera down some when it pans back to you after stopping a run.
Very Studio Ghibi 😍.
Looks interesting
They made a game about the Torah?
Presumably a futuristic version, since it's called iTorah.
I instantly read it as an anagram of hatori...
Is though?
What about beacon Pine
Comment for the algorithm.
Looks cool.
When to kill enemies?
- When it is hard
- When it is easy
- All of the above
Answer: All of the above
Hmm, I'm not that sold on the idea of a 'streamlined' Metroidvania. Part of what I love about the Metroidvania as a genera is how convoluted and interconnected the world design is and I don't quite enjoy the more 'linear' metroidvania styles as much. There are exceptions; Metroid 4, Fusion is an example of a linear metroidvania that has a very good world design and has an in universe explanation for why it's linear.
Still, this looks like a fun game and I'll definitely think about adding it to my 'to play' list when it reaches its full release.
The Visuals are quite amazing!
But the gameplay part of the whole experience feels rather shallow :-/
Still, gonna throw it on the good old wishlist and see how it has evolved once it comes out^^
Metroidvanias are always great
I'm glad it's not just me; but I don't see how this is a "Streamlined" Metroidvania; it looks like major points of interest are actually further apart than something like Super Metroid. And what's in-between? A bunch of pointless enemies that seem mostly tedious to fight. There are plenty of ledges where it looks like there should be secrets or treasure, but maybe they just removed that from the Demo? Really a shame, this demo might just be a result of this game not putting its best foot forward.
Beautiful game with some promising new ideas, but the repetition is what lost me. More variety in both enemies and environment would fit the bill, but if they don't have the resources, they need to cut these levels by at least two thirds. I'll never judge a studio for not having the time and people to make a huge game, but they need to know their limits and develop accordingly. Could also be that a lot more content is coming, but what he played felt very "finished" and I would be surprised if it changed dramatically before release.
no keywe today? or is it just coming out later?
The game's graphics looks neat enough but for me I never got the feeling that the monsters really acts as they are there. I go the feeling that the monsters was just "there" and moving randomly about.
Then the player hero always stares infront of her, regardless of what happens.
I just don't get the feeling that game's world is alive.
Art and music are lovely, but I feel like this game is doing itself a disservice by billing itself as a Metroidvania. The game doesn't look bad per se, but it does look like a disappointing Metroidvania. Maybe it's just demo/early game restrictions, but there's very little of the branching path structure you'd expect, even ones blocked off by something that makes you go 'aha, I'll bet I can get through there later!' And it might also just be Hollow Knight having spoiled me for other Metroidvanias.
Yeah it feels like calling itself a Metroidvania is supposed to be a hype up marketing tactic but it just ends up disappointing people who expect the non-linearity that defined the genre. It should just be honest and call itself an action-platformer, Shovel Knight is an action-platformer so it's not like it's anything to be ashamed of.
I'm fairly confident "streamlined" means "we've made a visually appealing but mechanically uninspired platformer, and we'd very much like to distinguish our work in a crowded market."
It's a completely understandable impulse, but... The best-case scenario is that the developers are so inexperienced that they can't properly tag/market their work. I think the worst case is that they know what they've made doesn't _really_ match the conventions of the genre they're trying to name drop, but here we are anyway: A "streamlined" "Metroidvania."
Play biomutant please
This looks very rad, but as usual, minus a lot of points for 'we've populated this game with really cool furries with lovingly-detailed designs who are clearly the norm for this setting, but you have to play the Only Human.' Animal Crossing Syndrome is such a pain.