First impressions of the game is that it's fairly annoying, mostly because it doesn't tell you the rules and you have to figure them all out on your own.

1) New skill points

To acquire a new skill point you have to succeed on ALL optional objectives. This means if an alarm is raised or you fail to kill all the enemies or kill a civilian, the game may as well backtrack you because you'll want the skills.

2) Activating skills... How?

So there's quite a few fancy skills you can get, but they all seem to be only activate-able during combat. This means making interesting use of skills isn't an option, say, throwing a hologram disc on the floor and having it activate before the round starts, or throwing your sword as soon as you smash through the window.

Also... I got the skill to throw my sword mid jump and... HOW do i do that? There's no tool tips, no button assignments, no nothing. I'm guessing it becomes an option during combat at some point (like the hologram)...

3) Lots of annoying rules.

Never jump in front of a ninja (unless he's bent over), don't try to knock someone out of the way from directly below (You'll just headbump and if someone's aiming at you from the spot you were just at, you're dead), the grappling hook on down jumps doesn't work as expected, if you try to change your direction/grapple and don't mark anything to grapple you'll continue your fall instead of having an alternate option.

4) Bullets/sword slashes can only hurt YOU! (and no one else)

So no maneuvering or using holograms so they will kill eachother... which is an annoyance.


What the game really needs so far (about 6 levels in) is a slow down mechanic so you can take actions smoothly instead of having a 1/10th of a second button prompt to kill a guard after smashing through a window and missing the chance for a free kill, or just setting up the grappling hook shot better so you don't overextend it and miss breaking the glass you were really trying to do.


It also needs to let you use your skills outside of combat so you can set things up or make things easier for yourself.

Also a zoom in/out so you can see the whole damn level at the same time to get the idea of how it's structured rather than scrolling 10 screens worth and mentally putting the map together in your head.

Also why can't i smash out lights? Turning off or out the lights would help so much, either stealthfully (unscrewing them a bit) or forcefully (smashing them with my sword) should work.


So first verdict get ready to be annoyed... Really annoyed.

30 replies and not a single one visible? hmmm...

So I've beaten the game, and a few things more to talk about (on top of the OP).

1) Missing story.

The comic is great as an intro but doesn't give us any information, other than she's little little girl in the photo that was taken some 20 years before. Who everyone else is, if they are still alive or how they are related to her doesn't get any context.

The ending lacks any conclusions. Maybe NG+ will give me more, but i'm not expecting much.

edit: Before a boss level got a message about how she thought you were her friend and her dad/grandpa's friend... Not much to work with for story...

2) No fixed/assigned buttons

note: I played this with a controller, since when i watched a bit about it, it was recommended (since jumping was annoying with the mouse). Keep that in mind with the screenshot and following paragraphs

By this i'm meaning the first choice of what it calculates will be A, then B, then X then Y. Early on the hologram is A most of the time, but A could also be to reel you in with the grappling hook to the ceiling, or to throw the sword, or finish off guy the nearest guy... etc. You start to get used to A meaning one thing and it kicks you in the nuts when it does something completely different and you get hit with a bullet.

Also sometimes when there's multiple choice options for an enemy (teleport and stuff, kill, throw sword, etc) half the button press prompts to activate that ability is missing so you won't have a fucking clue what to press... [s]I'll include a screenshot next time i get one of those cases.[/s] The screenshot shows what i mean...

edit2: As a note... to use the purple skirken ability i used one of the trigger buttons.... seems i threw my sword instead of stunning everyone...

3) Difficulty Spike/Curve

After fighting the old man (first chapter) things get about 10x harder. Some of it's based on level design, some of it based on choke-points in levels where there's no sneaking possible... period... At least 2 areas (Skyscraper being one of them) have two separated rooms where glass lets the guards see, so you'll be fighting off 5 guys while in the other room someone's calling in for security so you have to try and make a long jump across to stop the call...

4) Confusing Pause system & no climbing during combat

So if you want to go strategically you hit pause, and then you can aim and jump... except if you're out of combat, it won't pause after 1 second (or landing), instead it will happily continue unfettered. Quite annoying when you know you have to get to someone in 5 seconds (vs 9 if it stayed paused) from a story and a half away. The easiest way to keep it paused, is to constantly try to jump, so you'll enter the paused/jumping mode as soon as it's an option.

Second is during combat, you can't run/sprint, or climb, you can only jump. This means if you're hanging over the edge of a room you can't pull yourself up (or if you can, i haven't seen any details on how to do so).

So some things i DO like.

The animation/images reminds me greatly of Samari Jack... That blockly sharp edged look, you'll know what i'm talking about.

The music is crisp and good.

Final thoughts: Needs a little more polish, a few more levels, and add more of the story (Maybe not cutscenes, but a hand-written diary perhaps?).

Also if you don't like dying over and over again or doing the wrong action because the game didn't give you the right options for what you wanted, you might skip this game. If you can get past it's flaws and are more hard core, go for it!

hmmm maybe I'll try this with a controller

thanks for the infos

I pretty much just started it and have killed 2 bosses so far, it's not bad

Played this again, and the annoyances have shown themselves more this time than last time.

Clipping through walls, getting stuck under the floor, in a box you can't escape, etc, etc.

I press a button expecting to move up to the ceiling but instead i teleport right into gunfire.

A number of levels are near impossible and you only beat them by brute forcing until you manage to succeed.

On top of that i can't download the comics because GoG is having some issue and it's '403 Forbidden' right now oddly enough so i can't even get to that.

So i'll add on. a TLDR in case you didn't read my original post(s) that did the review.

No story (or so breif it's pointless)
Bugs / glitching through walls
Hardcore Difficulty spike
A number of 'optional objectives' includes 'don't harm civilians' even when there aren't any on the level (And in NG+ they aren't optional but still say they are)
The menu is finicky and you have to fight with it a bit
No real tutorial, neither on the best way to do a slowdown so you can try to maximize kills before getting spotted, nor on how the powers work.
Newgame Plus ramps up the difficulty by adding or replacing enemies that are annoying to deal with, and some enemies behave differently so previously made techniques are useless

In a nutshell it needs a bit more polish, a little more work. But if you can muster your way through it, get it on sale, preferably under $5 and play it.

So i'll just give a final score here.

Graphics: 3/5
Music/SE/VO: 2/5
Story: 1/5
Annoyances: -3
Total: 3/15, 2/10, 1/5

Note: Normally i do 3 annoyances to a -1, but the difficulty bugs and NG+ mode just tests my patience.

Due to the ramping difficulty it's rare you have a chance to feel like a badass and instead are just repeatedly trying the same scene at different approaches which gave you issues the first time through but now are more impossible.

Alright, so third play-through. Did a normal new game. After the previous 6 hours or so playing as a refresher of the game, and then playing it again, the bugs weren't as obvious. Sure i went through walls a couple times, and so did enemies, but i could recover without having to reload a checkpoint.

The game's 'Hints' says it isn't a stealth game, and you can kill indiscriminately, however being stealthy letting you take out enemies without going into battle mode. And a couple levels the more enemies you take out or go certain paths, the easier the remainder of the level is.

With that i can remove 1 annoyance, taking it to 4/15, but i still don't recommend it for anyone who isn't willing to brute force it.

Total: 4/15, 2.6/10, 1.3/5

Last note. I do actually like the art style. Though most of the males (pistol holders) look like Professor Utonium.

Fun fun. So finally, 7 playthroughs and managed to beat NG+, there is nothing more there. And after many many deaths (since it's a one hit kill). Though there's a number of unspoken rules on how the mechanics/game works that you figure out on your own.

Example, breaking glass anyone nearby will report it, but if there's 2 glasses from a person they won't hear you.
The exact distance when someone will see you and won't see you in light. (Still not sure, but it's a decent ways)
You can pass guards/civilians in the dark with no repercussions
If you knock a guard into a ninja they will kill them for you (A few places that's useful)
Pausing/slow mechanics (wish it would stay paused rather than having to constantly hold the stick a certain direction
The teleport to your previous hologram is the most annoying upgrade ever
Computers/elevators will make guards/civilians investigate.
A dead body leaning against a red door, when it turns green the door will open (A couple places this can screw you)
If you can get 3 points and are unseen you can clear nearly whole rooms (Land on someone, kill them, then slow-mo and throw the sword over and over again)
You can break though a window, go to the ceiling and take out a few guards before being noticed (or maybe the whole room without a lockdown taking place)
You can knock someone down, and if being aimed at go to the wall up a few inches above the aim line (not far) when next they aim to shoot at you you could kill the guy you knocked down.

Anyways, i am done with the game.