-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts - Demo on XBLM Now
- Thread starter Gowans
- Start date
Aeana said:
Ok, I'm sorry. It's not comic sans. It's still fugly tho (which of course is just my humble opinion, but that is opinion is shared by many, which of course doesn't validate or invalidate said opinion).
My point is: the problem with Banjo's text and the fugly Viva Pinata text sticks out like a sore thumb because everything else Rare does is gold.
Still stuck on the eyes challenge.
Which rises a question : As the demo stands, I need 4 jiggies to go to the next level, and there are 4 jiggy challenges in the current level.
Does that mean you'll always have to complete every challenge of one level to open the next level ? Or will there be more options like in a 3D Mario?
I changed vehicle almost everytime I failed, sometimes just little tweaks, sometimes a whole other idea (some of which fell short because I didn't have enough pieces to make the corresponding contraption), tried a lot of things with springs too, but I still fail. Ugh.
Also, the egg canon sucks, I wonder what's the point of having something shoot if I can't tell him where to shoot (provided there's no auto aim)
And then there's this little animal whose name I forgot (never played a Banjo game), in the platform at the top of the snowy mount, who turns himself into a ball and asks me to launch him in the air as far as I can.
Now that's a great one, I'm serious, this is the kind of challenge I'm going to play hundreds of time, each time with a different vehicle, trying to beat the high score again and again... Or so I thought.
Because the little guy disappears after you've played it once. Meh. Why ? How can I play it again ?
This one should be the Jiggy challenge, not the ugly clanker one ;_;
Which rises a question : As the demo stands, I need 4 jiggies to go to the next level, and there are 4 jiggy challenges in the current level.
Does that mean you'll always have to complete every challenge of one level to open the next level ? Or will there be more options like in a 3D Mario?
I changed vehicle almost everytime I failed, sometimes just little tweaks, sometimes a whole other idea (some of which fell short because I didn't have enough pieces to make the corresponding contraption), tried a lot of things with springs too, but I still fail. Ugh.
Also, the egg canon sucks, I wonder what's the point of having something shoot if I can't tell him where to shoot (provided there's no auto aim)
And then there's this little animal whose name I forgot (never played a Banjo game), in the platform at the top of the snowy mount, who turns himself into a ball and asks me to launch him in the air as far as I can.
Now that's a great one, I'm serious, this is the kind of challenge I'm going to play hundreds of time, each time with a different vehicle, trying to beat the high score again and again... Or so I thought.
Because the little guy disappears after you've played it once. Meh. Why ? How can I play it again ?
This one should be the Jiggy challenge, not the ugly clanker one ;_;
BobFromPikeCreek
Member
Is your vehicle properly balanced? My first vehicle was too heavy in the front, so my egg canon was basically only shooting two feet in front of me since I was constantly tilted forward. When I fixed the balance I got a ton more range out of the canon.
polyh3dron
Banned
So guys, is Crushed redeemed?
The range is ok it seems, but since the "floor" isn't flat, it's very hard to "aim".
I've thought of that one since the first time I've played the challenge. I just want to complete it the way I'm supposed to complete it, ie by building a vehicle.
If it ends up being some sort of compulsory challenge in the whole game then I'll do it that way, but right now I'm trying to make the game work.
I think I'll just quit the demo and come back again to do the "launch me in the air" challenge once more
Paco said:
I've thought of that one since the first time I've played the challenge. I just want to complete it the way I'm supposed to complete it, ie by building a vehicle.
If it ends up being some sort of compulsory challenge in the whole game then I'll do it that way, but right now I'm trying to make the game work.
I think I'll just quit the demo and come back again to do the "launch me in the air" challenge once more
Michan said:
Uh no, never said that. I didn't even need the springs, I used the first Humba blueprint, went back a bit then forward and the Jinjo (so that's his name...) rolled all the way down the giant scarf.
But it's really something I'd want to try again, I do think this is the perfect high score mini game. That's the kind of thing I want to see in Nuts&Bolts, and seeing that I can't even try it again once I've won is a bit worrying :/
Speaking of people having weird trouble, I find it funny that some people find the soccer challenge weird or clunky. I used the Showdown Town vehicle, put the ball in, and drove it to the goal. I scored 5 goals in my first try.
funkmastergeneral
Banned
Nicktals said:
permabanned and nuked account. He acted like a bitch after the initial ban
sionyboy said:Ever thought of putting out two covers for the game, ala Harry Potter. One bright and colourful and full of gaiety, the other with Banjo walking towards the viewer, a blood stained wrench in one hand and Gruntilda's head in the other.
Or put in an 'Adult Graphics Filter' option, something that raises the contrast and adds a brown filter
Can't...breathe...too...gritty...and....desaturated. SO MUCH BROWN!
He looks so sad
Darth Tigris
Member
Ramenman said:
Is it timed? I thought you had to take down 12 enemies as quickly as possible. I had to try it 3 times before completing it and on the 3rd time is when I tried the 'attack instead of defend' approach. Hope that helps.
Randy Lanzarote
Member
That look on Kazooie's face, coupled with Bajo's positioning, makes that one scary....scary picture.
I have very mixed emotions on the demo. On the one hand, it feels a bit of a slog: it isn't traditional Banjo, and it was kind of frustrating to have an overworld that wasn't actually any fun to just "run" around. It felt too big, too enormous, and if they were going to have so many useless NPC's around at least either let me pick them up with my fancy energy wrench or have them be vocalized to keep from having to enter into conversations to get a sense of life in Showdown Town.
That being said, though, I thought the vehicle mechanic worked pretty darn well: I spent three hours creating various different vehicles, and there was a real feeling of accomplishment when I was able to design an airplane that worked (Once I realized that I needed to raise the seat up another level to keep it from dragging on the ground). The text is unreadable, so that's going to be a problem right off the bat (How did that get through testing, exactly?), but as for the game mechanics I had quite a lot of fun with them.
That being said, though, I thought the vehicle mechanic worked pretty darn well: I spent three hours creating various different vehicles, and there was a real feeling of accomplishment when I was able to design an airplane that worked (Once I realized that I needed to raise the seat up another level to keep it from dragging on the ground). The text is unreadable, so that's going to be a problem right off the bat (How did that get through testing, exactly?), but as for the game mechanics I had quite a lot of fun with them.
Iced_Eagle
Member
sionyboy said:
:lol :lol
I really liked the demo. It's definitely unique, and totally has that Banjo feeling.
For those who want their platforming fix and original Banjo, well play Banjo XBLA then! If you want the new hotness, play Banjo N&B.
Vast Inspiration
Banned
There are those that play the game with an open-mind;
They love the graphics for being so distinct and colourful, while being completely jaggy-free.
They love the layered orchestral music.
They love the gigantic world.
And they also seem to get that creation is a HUGE aspect of the gameplay and that if something doesn't feel right (game is too hard, controls are sluggish)....then that means that you should CREATE YOUR OWN VEHICLE.
Then there are those that couldn't give a shit anyway;
They don't find the graphics to be appealing.
They music isn't distinctive.
The world is a mess with nothing to do
And will completely write-off the gameplay as being stupid and boring and the controls to be bad while the challenges are too hard.
Which one are you?
They love the graphics for being so distinct and colourful, while being completely jaggy-free.
They love the layered orchestral music.
They love the gigantic world.
And they also seem to get that creation is a HUGE aspect of the gameplay and that if something doesn't feel right (game is too hard, controls are sluggish)....then that means that you should CREATE YOUR OWN VEHICLE.
Then there are those that couldn't give a shit anyway;
They don't find the graphics to be appealing.
They music isn't distinctive.
The world is a mess with nothing to do
And will completely write-off the gameplay as being stupid and boring and the controls to be bad while the challenges are too hard.
Which one are you?
Darth Tigris said:
Yeah, I finally tried the 'easy way' and I had a moment of confusion when the timer stopped at 1:52 like always except this time I had won. Hmm... So actually "defending" the eyes didn't serve any purpose.
Which is why the challenge was so frustrating if you did what you were told. You have to kill a set amount of Gruntbots before the eyes are destroyed, there's no "defend the eye for a set amount of time".
Meh.
Edit : OH CRAAAAP I just found a couple of wings. I've been playing this damn thing all day and I was finally going to force myself to shut down the console. ARGGHHHHHH >_<
EricDiesel
Member
I call it Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts of War
a Master Ninja
Member
Look at all dat Jiggy!EricDiesel said:
I call it Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts of War
Yoshi
Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
I've got a T.T trophy in both races with standard vehicles, I'm absolutely sure I could get them in the football challenge and the Clanker challenge, too.Majora said:
Tell me. I...Vast Inspiration said:
love the graphics for being so distinct and colourful, while being completely jaggy-free,
love the layered orchestral music,
love the gigantic world (so far, as long as it doesn't start getting on my nerves like DK64 did)
do get that creation is a huge aspect but I think that it is the designer's fault if something doesn't feel right or controls are sluggish. There are standard vehicles and they should at least control decently.
pizzapizza64
Member
Crayon said:
You're probably right.
Psychotext
Member
Without marketing it will. Game wont sell itself.Crayon said:
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
I think it'll sell (great).
Crayon
Member
Psychotext said:
The problem is.... how do you market it? Who is this game really for? Superficially it's a kids game but it seems to skew alot more enthusiast with the way it plays. Viva pinata fell into the same crack.
Kids (boys, specifically) consider themselves to old for this shit at about age 10. I fear that the real audience for this game is alot smaller than microsoft and rare think it is. Look at other forms of entertainment and you'll see that the skittles explosion look only appears in products for the very young. It wasn't always that way but that's just the way that this style has dated. If you compare Banjos family friendly look to that of Little Big Planet.... there is a vast difference. LBP is way more modern and appealing.
So banjo looks like something for very young children (we don't mind at all but we are not the average consumer by a long shot) yet all impressions point to a game that is not really tailored for young or new players what with the heavy text and time consuming vehicle creation. Just the mechanical reasoning involved in customizing vehicles may be too demanding for very young (4-8) children.
I don't know how rare managed to drift so far out of touch. Anyone rememebr shiny's Wild 9? That aesthetic/humor would have been a far better choice for this game. I know that's a left field example but just something to think about.
40 bucks and free banjo64 dl are good incentives but don't do much to actually broaden this games appeal.
Psychotext
Member
Doesn't really matter how you market it... just that it gets marketed. The last trailer they did would be enough to get interest from most people.Crayon said:
Certainly enough to try the demo anyway.
PataHikari
Banned
pj325is said:
If you fly to the top you realize it's because there's a snow machine way up there sprinkling snow
Joe Shlabotnik
Banned
Crayon said:
All probably true, but it's not really ours to worry or care about. I hope it sells well enough to not be a total money pit for Rare, but only because I don't like to see people lose money on things they've put a lot of work and time into.
I guess I'm asking whether you're worried about the creative decisions or the business decisions. Personally I'd rather have one "Skittles-explosion" Rare Banjo-vehicle-platformer than three "safe" commercially viable Rare games.
Yoshi said:
handling is always a big issue when dealing with vehicles in all games. it stands to reason that later vehicles may actually control a lot better with upgraded parts and better designs.
i didn't really have so much problem with the general driving around, but when attempting to do missions, then i could never get the vehicles to turn like i wanted, especially at higher speeds. i was trying to think about how they could make the vehicles seem to control ok early in the game, so as not to alienate players with bad controls (i thought this was also a mistake in the VP mating games) but allow room for improvement later on in the game.
the first solution i thought of was to minimize the improvement in handling from lowest level to highest level and begin with something more reasonable and exaggerate the other stats such as speed, reversing speed, etc. i'm not sure it's a good solution :\
the second solution was to change the design of the early puzzles and levels such that handling wasn't an issue. simpler races -- perhaps a straight stretch with hurdles? perhaps even beginning with on-rails vehicles where you begin with a mine cart and modified only the body to have more armor and weapons and at different locations, and maybe later a spring to jump the ubiquitous broken tracks
something simple, where control wasn't so much of an issue, and then later open up the world and begin with vehicles that had better controller.Psychotext
Member
Haven't seen a single thing, not on websites or TV. It's looking like another Rare game that MS is letting die.Grecco said:
Also, just remembered they don't even refer to it in their recent press releases when they talk about upcoming games.
All of this reads as more of a personal rant than valid criticism. As mentioned earlier, I can certainly understand and appreciate that the aesthetics of Nuts & Bolts won't appeal to every taste, but this applies to every game on the market. To flip your argument, I personally don't find the cardboard-cutout, pulley-and-wheel style of LBP the least bit appealing, though I fully support the motivation behind the project, and will probably pick up a copy to do my part in ensuring that more titles in my favorite genre will be funded.Crayon said:
Crayon
Member
Kuroyume said:
mmmm... I have a hard time seeing it that way. To clarify, I'm talking about a purely superficial assessment of the game's style. No to do with the writing or gameplay.
For instance: Picture Banjo and Sackboy which would you like to wear on a tshirt?
Which plushie would you pick up as valentie gift for your girlfriend?
Ever heard of Ugly Dolls? They are all the rage with all ages. Sackboy is universally appealing and cool in a way that Banjo is clearly not. Things like this can be subjective but in this case it seems obvious. At least in the culture I am familiar with.
edit
GreekWolf said:
You could be right it might just be me.
Always-honest
Banned
Kuroyume said:
well, not me.. i think it's not very enjoyable .. but i'm sure others will find it hilarious.
it's a well designed game though. don't get me wrong.
rohlfinator
Member
Wow... this demo was a blast. I wasn't totally sold on the game, but it's a ton of fun just to mess around making goofy vehicles (especially anything with springs). Some of the challenges were a bit bland, but I trust things will improve as more interesting parts become available.
Multiplayer is pretty awesome, too -- my roommate and I stayed up until 3AM tweaking a couple of vehicles for online battles. I could see the battle modes becoming very addicting, provided that there's room for creative vehicle design and not just one "win everything" design.
I can't say for sure whether I would have preferred a straight-up platformer, but that ship has already sailed, and this concept has proven itself to be worthwhile, IMO.
Multiplayer is pretty awesome, too -- my roommate and I stayed up until 3AM tweaking a couple of vehicles for online battles. I could see the battle modes becoming very addicting, provided that there's room for creative vehicle design and not just one "win everything" design.
I can't say for sure whether I would have preferred a straight-up platformer, but that ship has already sailed, and this concept has proven itself to be worthwhile, IMO.
Classic_Gs
Member
I have to say the demo did not do anything for me and all of the super small text at the begining didn't help. Was interested but will pass.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
Crayon said:
Actually, in all seriousness, as a professional cartoonist I have to take a bit of umbrage when it comes to character design. I wasn't kidding with my avatar. I truly believe that the Lord of Games is one of the most ingeniously designed characters, visually, in the history of gaming.