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Child of Light Review Thread
- Thread starter Poetic.Injustice
- Start date
Well they want to sell new consoles i guess...
He specifically mentions the oculi in the review. I'm assuming gems =/= gear to him.
Basileus777
Member
It sounds like it'll be enough fun to justify $15, but not some amazing experience. Which is fine.
Weird that's the culprit, since I've never found her hair to look that good in motion.
Robert at Zeboyd Games
Banned
Yeah, this game's reception from certain sites and some of the reviews of our own games have just confirmed my plans that our next game will not have a Normal difficulty because that makes people think they SHOULD be playing it on that difficulty instead of picking the correct difficulty for the experience they want to have: http://zeboyd.com/2013/06/24/why-i-dont-think-our-next-game-will-have-a-normal-difficulty-setting/
In Child of Light's case, pretend that Normal difficulty is actually Easy. It's intended for young children, people who haven't played an RPG before, and people who just want to focus on the story. If you want entertaining, strategic combat, pick Hard mode.
Except functionally, it's totally gear. In fact, it's even more flexible than traditional gear systems because one oculi gives different benefits depending on which slot you equip it in (the attack slot, the defense slot, or the miscellaneous slot). For example, one gem might give your attack an element, defense against that element, or boost your HP depending on the slot. And some of the more advanced oculi give more interesting bonuses like starting you further along the time bar each turn or give you a big bonus to damage when low on health.
ramoisdead
Member
I've been playing games on Hard difficulties for quite a while now because I usually don't have the time to go replay a game back just to see what differences are between normal and hard.
When I get CoL, I'll probably play this on normal and then play it on hard since this game wouldn't take too long to beat, even though it'll push the backlog just a bit. It's probably what Gies should've done in the beginning if he found the game too easy.
When I get CoL, I'll probably play this on normal and then play it on hard since this game wouldn't take too long to beat, even though it'll push the backlog just a bit. It's probably what Gies should've done in the beginning if he found the game too easy.
GuitarAtomik
Member
Very excited for this! Glad to see the reviews are mostly positive.
Dragon1893
Member
I already posted this in the OT but here it is again:
20% off at GMG:
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20% off at GMG:
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eddievanclaylen
Member
I'm so glad that this game is getting a lot of praise. It looks beautiful and its been on my radar for quite some time. I know it's not going to be a very long game, but for $15 it's going to be totally worth it for me.
Messofanego
Banned
That Robert Boyd review of Aegies' review was pretty great.
Can't wait for reviewers to play Wolfenstein The New Order on "Can I Play, Daddy?" or "Don't Hurt Me" difficulty.
Can't wait for reviewers to play Wolfenstein The New Order on "Can I Play, Daddy?" or "Don't Hurt Me" difficulty.
Good idea. From a player's perspective, I really appreciate it when the developers communicate to me what the differences in the difficulty levels actually are. Labels can easily be misunderstood.
Robert at Zeboyd Games
Banned
Also, I mentioned this in the other thread, but I found it funny in how badly the reviewer failed to understand how the gameplay really works.
From the Edge review:
"Then your ranks are swollen by a warrior with a taunt to draw enemy attention, high health to ensure hes rarely in danger, and better damage output than anyone else in your party. Theres no reason not to use him, no incentive or need to mix up your approach, and the rest of the game is a walkover as what should be a tactical and dynamic combat system instead becomes one-note."
This is a game where speed is the god stat because it lets you make more moves, avoid getting interrupted, and makes it easier to interrupt the enemy. The character they're talking about has drastically lower speed than everybody else. Yeah, his attack power is the highest by default, but his actual DPS so to speak isn't very good. In short, the character they thought was clearly better than everyone else IMO is quite possibly the worst character in the game.
From the Edge review:
"Then your ranks are swollen by a warrior with a taunt to draw enemy attention, high health to ensure hes rarely in danger, and better damage output than anyone else in your party. Theres no reason not to use him, no incentive or need to mix up your approach, and the rest of the game is a walkover as what should be a tactical and dynamic combat system instead becomes one-note."
This is a game where speed is the god stat because it lets you make more moves, avoid getting interrupted, and makes it easier to interrupt the enemy. The character they're talking about has drastically lower speed than everybody else. Yeah, his attack power is the highest by default, but his actual DPS so to speak isn't very good. In short, the character they thought was clearly better than everyone else IMO is quite possibly the worst character in the game.
Edge really doesn't like anything outside top 10 NPD, doesn't it?
What Edge have you been reading reviews for?
This. Too many times "harder" means that enemies become damage sponges or other tacked in mechanic that make the game frustrating rather than "more challenging".
Yes that is true but if game offers higher/lower difficulty levels review should compare it.
Robert at Zeboyd Games
Banned
There's no problem with playing a game on Normal and reviewing it on Normal.
However, there's a huge problem with complaining in your review that a game is too easy when the game provides a harder difficulty AND even lets you increase the difficulty at any time.
However, there's a huge problem with complaining in your review that a game is too easy when the game provides a harder difficulty AND even lets you increase the difficulty at any time.
KoopaTheCasual
Junior Member
Woah, scores all over. But they seem to be generally positive reviews. Awesome.
Edge doesn't like anything in general, especially blockbuster titles. They're really hard on everything, but their analysis is usually fair and consistent.
silver.tongue
Member
Reviews from 5 to 10s... Love it or hate it.
Gonn have to try to figure it out.
Gonn have to try to figure it out.
dreamer3kx
Member
I have to read the lower scored reviews to see whats going on, its getting mostly very good reviews.
Exactly, it takes a certain amount of chutzpah to be aware of different difficulty levels, choose to play on normal and then write "I felt starved for more depth than I ever found". It's a line that suggests a certain degree of desire that might be sated by, say, trying the higher difficulty level.
Not so much starved then as a bit peckish, but not enough to actually get off the settee and see what's in the fridge.
robotzombie
Member
This is a very important distinction. I mean, what is the point of being a professional video game reviewer and not being able to delve into the different difficulties a bit to see what the game actually has to offer? It would be one thing if Hard difficulty was locked at the start and you are forced to play through Normal and Normal is a breeze. But this game has Hard as a starting option along with apparently the ability to bump the difficulty mid game. So how in the world can you take a review seriously that says the game is too easy under these circumstances?
The guy literally never even attempted to try Hard difficulty and this is supposed to be a review we value?
JetSetRadio
Banned
Need more impressions from people who actually paid for it. I mean, it's still ubisoft.
King Gilga
Member
Normal should be normal, not easy. Normal being too easy is a legitimate complaint imo, it's the difficulty that 99% of players will play it at, it should be normal.
If the dev's want normal to be easy for the sake of accessibility or appeal or younger audiences or w/e, they should clearly communicate that at the difficulty select screen (which I don't know if this game does or does not).
Like this:
or This.
Cave Johnson
Member
EDGE said:
What the hell is wrong with the developers at Ubisoft? Why are they consistently pushing out these obnoxious upgrade systems through and through? Jesus, they really are truly masters of the shallow-ocean design that even the "indie" part of the team has to resort to such cheap gimmicks. Are they really so creatively bankrupt they have to borrow elements from their other, more ubiquitous franchises? Or is this some sort of Ubisoft mandate that demands other developers to embed these features in every game they're supposed to play. No wonder this game is getting a middling score from EDGE, the review pretty much described what I need to read.
This game has my attention at one point but now I'm beginning to learn a good lesson right here and then: Never trust a seller who fools you twice - in Ubisoft's case.. ALL OF THE TIME.
Oh, and I'm surprised nobody brought up the long credits in classic Ubisoft fashion.
It's not a legitimate complaint, people should be picking whatever difficulty they're best suited to. When the hardest difficulty is still too easy then there might be a problem.
This. Exactly this.
robotzombie
Member
But that is something that should be explored in a review. That's literally the point of reviews, to have someone tackle and explore the game to provide analysis such as this.
Are you suggesting that the game should only be weighed based on the merit of its Normal mode simply because the makers made a bad decision in their difficulty naming conventions? Or that the reviewer should just flip a switch to Hard mode to try it out for a bit and see if it fixes some of the issues he originally had with the game?
I mean you honestly value a review that plays a game on a difficulty, complains that the game isn't difficult enough, and doesn't ever try another difficulty that is available at any moment to him?
Robert at Zeboyd Games
Banned
That's a naming problem though.
Don't know if they'll do it, but I sent a message off to one of the developers recommending that they change the difficulty names to "Beginner" and "Expert" in a patch since that's more indicative of the experience they provide than their current Normal/Hard.
Child of Light's upgrade systems are hardly obnoxious.
The LV-Up system is really simple. You get a skill point with each LV-Up and use it to buy an upgrade. Each character has 3 completely linear paths so it's about as simple as you can make it while still giving the player some control.
The equipment system isn't particularly complicated either. Combine 3 of the same type of gem for a more powerful version of the gem. Combine 2 or 3 different colors for a different type of gem of the same power level.
Credits are about 12 minutes long.
EDIT: And yes, you'll understand the Oculi crafting system in about 60 seconds. It's not at all obtuse.
Ludicrous Speed
Banned
Damn, those reviews are all over the place. Guess I'll wait for some gaf impressions
Messofanego
Banned
Nice to read reviews from the smaller sites, and Seda's review especially detailing the difference between normal and hard being significant.
I'll have to keep that 3D characters vs 2D backgrounds complaint in mind.
Good to hear that the rhyming structure to the writing was successful from most reviews.
I'll have to keep that 3D characters vs 2D backgrounds complaint in mind.
Good to hear that the rhyming structure to the writing was successful from most reviews.
-MD-
Member
dark_prinny
Banned
Picking this up, for sure.
Thanks. The rhyming does get a little old, perhaps, but I think fit well with the rest of the game. Don't expect super complex characters or a deep, thought-provoking narrative. It is a fairytale after all.
Jimmyfenix
Member
us Brits gotta stick together ? :/
Last year then xD?
Messofanego
Banned
"Child of Light Isn't Shite" amazing lol. Great video thingy.
TalentBurke
Member
I hope this generation gets overloaded with RPGs, I'm craving a good RPG so I think I will be buying this tomorrow.