The game is artistically impressive. I appreciate the intriguing blend of a 1950's vision of the future, looney tunes inspired anthropomorphized animals and aesthetics. The camera work is dynamic and exciting, giving the game a cinematic feel. The sound design is suitably heavy, industrial and brutal which is what one would expect from a dystopian game. The main issue with the game is that its fundamental message is not subtle and makes the worldview of the designers unmistakeable. "All Animals Are Equal", this is what modern society supposedly tells the population. But, in the designer's view of the world, all Ravens (a classic allegorical animal for black people) are brutally mistreated. The cute little furry creatures could be representative of any minority, but they are in solidarity with the ravens. The pigs (a classic allegory for white police and capitalists) are obsessed with light or racial purity. The wolves are at the top of the corporate ladder, controlling everyone. The game is art, and art is subjective, but the creators make their worldview clear at the beginning of the game when they say it deals with "racism". It certainly does that, but in a reductionist manner, where all pigs (white people) are irredeemable, consumption and purity obsessed zealots, the wolves (white corporate elites) profit off the blind obedience of the pigs and delight in the torment of the ravens (black people). There is no balanced view : it is pigs / wolves (white people) bad, and ravens / furry creatures (black people, minorities) good. Please note, I gave the game 3 stars, in recognition of its artistic merits. But, the game indisputably is designed to make a statement, and, as a player, I say the message is not representative of modern western society. Racism has definitely existed in America, but in now way was it ever as simple as all blacks "oppressed" by all whites. Such a worldview is untrue, and doesn't advance mutual understanding or appreciation
Gotcha! I yelled in triump as I beat the incredibly exasperating boss in the room with destructible pillars. I had been chipping away at him for close to 45 minutes. And that's when I realized what my feelings are for this game. Titan Souls does provide the sense of triumph when defeating a particularly challenging boss, but the victories never feel that satisfying. The issue lies in the combat mechanics. The abilities of the protagonist are intentionally simple, but this results in the capacity to defeat the bosses often depending more on fortuitous geometry than raw skill on the part of the player. I think that a well designed game is a lot like a scientific theory. If the game's mechanics are well designed than once the player has developed sufficient skill, they should be able to reliably overcome the same challenge consistently. Naturally games have a bit of Chaos Theory in them, and results will never be 100% predictable, but if the mechanics are sound and the controls are tight, skilled players should be able to reliably best a completed challenge with relative ease. There is some of that in Titan Souls, and players can definitely get better, but the simplistic combat mechanics juxtaposed with bosses that often have far superior speed, and arena design that puts the player's movement acuity at a severe disadvantage, often results in a player's victory being one of more luck, than skill. Even when a player knows the bosses attack patterns, knows the correct sequence of moves to produce victory, the languid movement of the hero, and sluggishness of the controls, just results in a half hearted sense of accomplishment when you win. So, the core of the game, the boss battles, are a frustrating experience, because of a poverty in the central combat mechanics and sluggish controls. There can be satisfying victories, but far too often I find myself saying, "Phew. Guess I was lucky." Exploration is pleasant. Music is EXCELLENT. Buy on >50% sale.
Combat distilled down to its essence. This game is as tough as nails, but you can feel yourself growing as you play. I'm 5 hours in and only on the 3rd boss. Getting my ass handed to me over and over, but I keep coming back for more. I can tell this is going to be a go to game for me when I need a quick hour of gametime to just enjoy some raw gameplay. I'll definitely be updating this review as I continue playing.
I'll be updating this review as I play through Evil Within 1, but I'm 22 hours in and only at Chapter 7. True, I'm an extremely deliberate player, almost a perfectionist, but I am finding incredible value in the game. I couldn't disagree with the critics more (like Yahtzee from Zero Punctuation). This game is a VERY worthy spiritual sequel to Resident Evil 4 and Shinji Mikami absolutely delivers the goods once again! One of the main points of criticism for Yahtzee was the impenetrable story. I certainly wouldn't call RE 4's story a masterwork of video game storytelling, and EW 1 is more of the same in my book. SETTINGS True, the game does change settings abruptly. One chapter you're in a disturbing Mental Hospital. Another chapter you're in a village that is eerily reminiscent of the one in the beginning of RE 4 complete with chainsaw wielding madman. Then you're in the ruins of a Medieval Castle complete with beautiful cliffside panorama framed at the last moments of sunset. Some people, like Yahtzee, would find this smacks of a schizophrenic inability to adhere to a cohesive narrative and setting. I think the plot device that allows for the wild change in settings is perfectly reasonable and makes sense within the context of the story. And absolutely allows for the dramatic changes in location. To me, these changes are shocking, interesting and very welcome, adding incredible variety. GAMEPLAY I want to draw attention to the inclusion of the "Trap Disarming" mechanic in the game. I am finding it very cleverly implemented. Some people might feel it ruins the pacing of the game, making it difficult to engage in a "run and gun" style firefight with the zombie like denizens you encounter. My playstyle is very cautious, very deliberate, very conservative, so sneaking around the levels, carefully disarming the traps, is exactly my style. I find the mechanic adds a great extra layer of gameplay, and you even get rewarded with loot for bothering to do so. Nice
