chickdigger802
Banned
yeah, wasn't it written by the farcry 3 dude? yeeek
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Child of Light Review Thread
- Thread starter Poetic.Injustice
- Start date
yeah, wasn't it written by the farcry 3 dude? yeeek
Really the only thing I'm concerned about with this game, being from the writer of Far Cry 3 and all.
I'm sure the gameplay will deliver (had me at Grandia battle system), but the story/writing are the real unknown quantities with this one.
Robert at Zeboyd Games
Banned
Can't really comment much on the story itself since I haven't quite finished it and don't want to give away spoilers, but in the end, I don't really care for the writing. The entire script has a rhyming scheme which sometimes feels clever but more often than not, feels really forced. Not only that, but they'll often include multiple characters in the same dialogue box to keep the rhyme going which makes it harder to follow than it needed to be.
Overall, I'd say that the visuals, gameplay (specifically combat), and music are the highlights and not so much the story/dialogue, but maybe the ending will really wow me.
Overall, I'd say that the visuals, gameplay (specifically combat), and music are the highlights and not so much the story/dialogue, but maybe the ending will really wow me.
DirtyLarry
Member
So can someone elaborate on the RPG elements of the game? Specifically how important are they?
I am not a huge RPG player but I love platformers.
The visual style and level design that I have seen make it seem like a platformer, but it is continuously referred to as an RPG.
So I am wondering is this game more of an RPG presented as a platformer?
Or more of a platformer with RPG elements?
I am not a huge RPG player but I love platformers.
The visual style and level design that I have seen make it seem like a platformer, but it is continuously referred to as an RPG.
So I am wondering is this game more of an RPG presented as a platformer?
Or more of a platformer with RPG elements?
Child of Light is best described as sidescrolling RPG - it's barely a platformer.
And as for narrative, it's certainly not a selling point of the game. It's a whimsical fairytale, nothing especially strong but I don't think it detracts from the whole. However I don't put a lot of emphasis/value on that in general.
witchedwiz
Member
Mm Reviews are a bit too widespread, given i usually trust edge....
Gaf census?
Gaf census?
0ptimusPayne
Member
In desperate need for another game on my X1. Seems like the ps4/x1 versions are on a technical scale the same, So ill probably get it for my xbox.
I've read Gamespot and Edge's reviews and I think I will wait to pick it up in a steam sale. The only thing that had really me interested is the Grandia-like combat and it seems to be so simple (only 2 characters in battles) from what I read that I don't think it will be enough to have me pick it up right now. The complaint about the 70 skills not mattering was already raised in another thread where people called it an illusion of choice and it seems to be the case. That's too bad. Edge reviews is also talking about how you level up after pretty much every battle for a good while. That reminds me of those awful unbalanced iOS RPGs.
Game's seems to look really good but I'm not feeling anything from the storybook thematic.
Game's seems to look really good but I'm not feeling anything from the storybook thematic.
DirtyLarry
Member
Thanks for the response. I admittedly did not know much about the game other than the screenshots and one or two trailers I have seen, so it makes absolutely sense how it is a sidescrolling RPG and not a platformer. I was just seeing what I wanted I believe.
I still adore the visual style though, so do plan on picking it up later down the road just ti see it in action.
Robert at Zeboyd Games
Banned
Actually, there are relatively few abilities in the game. For example, the main character has Attack, Defend, a couple attack spells, a buff spell, and some Target: All variants. You get most of your skill variety by swapping characters in and out.
The 2 characters in battle worried me before I played it, but between the firefly 3rd character & instant battle swapping, the whole system works really well. Very fun on Hard mode.
Someone tell me, is Polygon a professional game review outlet? Last time I checked they are. Seeing as how reviews are a major part of their business would it have killed them to at least try all of the difficulties at least once? They didnt even have to play through the game multiple times as you can switch difficulties on the fly. How about, you know, once you have all the abilities in the game, switch to hard difficulty for 20 minutes and give an impression of how combat is then? Or you know assign a reviewer who even plays JRPGs much less likes them or understands them??
Professional car reviews generally dont fail to tell me the topspeed or the 0-60 time just because the vast majority of people wont take it all the way to 120mph or take their car to the track for a quarter mile race.
Professional movie reviews for action flicks arent 1 sentence long claiming that the movie is good because it has explosions and fights even if the majority of people going to those movies are going just for that.
Professional car reviews generally dont fail to tell me the topspeed or the 0-60 time just because the vast majority of people wont take it all the way to 120mph or take their car to the track for a quarter mile race.
Professional movie reviews for action flicks arent 1 sentence long claiming that the movie is good because it has explosions and fights even if the majority of people going to those movies are going just for that.
Harts316
Member
It's always funny to see Gies dig his heels in when he gets called out on his BS.
Polygon is such a weird site. They try really really hard to come off as an elite site that is a "premium" brand all wrapped up in their pretentious design. Then you have Gies running around like an immature baby who lacks professionalism.
Polygon is such a weird site. They try really really hard to come off as an elite site that is a "premium" brand all wrapped up in their pretentious design. Then you have Gies running around like an immature baby who lacks professionalism.
Yeah love his defense of hey I'm doing the bare minimum at my job. Our world would be so much better if every person had the same mentality in their professional life.
When I review a game, and I am by no means a professional, I do this if the default seems to be too hard or too easy. It's really not much to ask for.
Harts316
Member
His general attitude and immature reactions to criticism seem to be at odds with the image they are trying to project with their site.
You might want to have a look at the review I posted a page back -- the presentation of the story is mostly what it focuses on, and that particular reviewer has issues with it. Similarly, The Guardian's preview says that the game's poetry is "so unutterably terrible that as soon as a subtitle appears you'll be bracing yourself for more jarring, punishment-grade doggerel."
On the flip side, Nintendo Life, for example, loves it. And they usually have pretty solid reviews.
Nintendo Life said:
Oh Gies has "pretentious" down pat. He completely toes the company line in that respect.
3rdamention
Member
When I read Gies' Review, its funny he was disappointed the game was too easy, or didn't offer enough depth on the Easy Difficulty. I guess for him, most games are difficult and offer great depth on easy, why else would he even have chosen it? If it is his lack of experience with RPGs, then why is he reviewing it in the first place? He seemed surprised, or at least ,disappointed in how it played on Easy Difficulty, but never delved into Normal or Hard.
Oh well, I guess he should take a freaking gamble and play a game on Normal like most gamers do. It is a review, shouldn't he at least toy around with the other difficulties for a minute or two? Then he could at least comment on how these had no bearing on his opinions on the lack of depth. However, it is probably hard to play a game on Normal or Hard while you are playing with all your kitty cats and tweeting pics of them with one hand while gaming with the other. I kid, I kid.
In all seriousness, the guy just cannot get out of his own way. He always seems to open himself up to criticism by his own doing. If he was a more likeable person, with a more positive engaging personality, I think he wouldn't be given so much crap.
Think he was playing on "normal". Trouble is that normal seems to be easier than other games, and even though you can change difficulty on the fly for some reason he didn't think to change it to hard.
1. I expect any review of a game with multiple difficulty settings to dabble in more that one of them in order to report how this difficulty change is achieved and if\how it affects the game and mechanics - so that's strike one.
2. It's hard to a reviewer and his review seriously when a major complaint is against the difficulty\depth but he fails to press a button to raise the challenge and check if his complaint still holds true or it brings out other stuff worth to point out - strike two.
3. Twitter nonsense again - strike three. Does Giles ever admit it when he's in the wrong?
2. It's hard to a reviewer and his review seriously when a major complaint is against the difficulty\depth but he fails to press a button to raise the challenge and check if his complaint still holds true or it brings out other stuff worth to point out - strike two.
3. Twitter nonsense again - strike three. Does Giles ever admit it when he's in the wrong?
Silence! Do not question the Gies. For only he and his knights of the polygon table know the worth of difficulty settings and when frame rate truly matters in a game.
On a side note Robert it's selling me on this game.
TouchMyBox
Member
I always thought that Gies was confused and used the same scoring system used in golf.
At least, everything makes a whole lot more sense with that knowledge.
At least, everything makes a whole lot more sense with that knowledge.
bigboss370
Member
someone was streaming a review copy of the game on PS4 livestream, dunno if they still are.
Not defending Gies here but I doubt many reviewers have the time or inclination to test out all the difficulty levels just for the sake of saying they did.
You can change the difficulty on the fly he could have just changed the difficulty for one section of the game and had an idea of its effect.
But with this game you can change the difficulty on the fly, it's hardly time consuming to press a button and see what it does. There's no excuse.
Edit: Beaten. In related news:
Don't think I've ever seen him admit to being at fault on anything, would be nice to be proven wrong.
robotzombie
Member
His job is literally to play video games and tell people about them, he gets paid money to do that, think about that
Neuromancer
Member
I wonder if Gies changes controls between normal/inverted or if he always just goes with whatever the developer set.
ethomaz
Banned
I always go with whatever the developer set... never changed a controller in my life and never have trouble with any game too.
Here's my review. Absolutely adored the game.
http://press-start.com.au/2014/04/29/child-light-review/
http://press-start.com.au/2014/04/29/child-light-review/
Robert at Zeboyd Games
Banned
Yeah, it's pretty horrible. If each site was weighed equally in that Metacritic average, it would currently be sitting at 84.12%. But if you get a couple of popular heavily weighted sites that hate the game, your Metacritic rank just tanks.
From what I can tell, the lowest scores for the game are Edge (5/10), Polygon (6.5/10), and Joystiq (3.5/5). Edge & Polygon complained that the game lacked depth & difficulty (which is easily fixed by playing it on Hard), while Susan Arendt's review at Joystiq said she felt it was competently made but lacked soul. Everybody else is giving it 80% or higher with a few sites like RPGamer giving it a perfect score.
Looking at the Joystiq review, it sounds like her main issue is with the dialogue style making it hard to get into the story. Which to be fair, is a valid complain as that's probably the most divisive part of the game.
breakfuss
Member
So you'd feel better if everyone gave it the same score? All 8.5s? I find it hilarious that no one complains when Polygon deviates by actually beating the average. I need to stop getting sucked into these debates because people will believe what they want. Though I'm not sure what you assume their motives are with this particular review. It's hardly a high profile release.
Robert at Zeboyd Games
Banned
No, I'm saying that Metacritic is a horrible site and the fact that it's not even a straight average across sites.
Somebody thinks about buying a game and does a cursory look at Metacritic, sees an "average" score of 78% and decides against it. Not realizing that almost everyone thought it was a good to great game (80%-85%) with a couple sites thinking it was a masterpiece (90%+) but because a couple of popular sites that are heavily weighted in the Metacritic average hated it, it dropped the score down into the dreaded mediocre range.
And this particular instance hits a nerve with me in particular because Polygon's review (the first review from a major site that was up since they broke the review embargo) complained about a lack of depth & difficulty while refusing to acknowledge the existence of higher difficulty levels which were included precisely to address just that problem. We've had that exact same issue with some reviews of our own games - people complaining that our game's are too easy and yet not playing them on Hard or Insane mode.
He plays with the most ridiculous controller grip I've ever seen. He cannot use a controller as it was intended to be used.
AmethystEnd
Member
I am a master and proponent of the Monster Hunter claw(tm) technique so I can't judge him too harshly, but what in the fuck is he doing there?
I dunno. I'm trying to figure out what benefit you get from that grip. I've tried it myself and it doesn't seem to have one. How do you button mash for instance? Take your thumb off the right analog, re-position the controller in your hand then use your thumb?
That's pretty much how I play with a controller if I need to use face buttons and triggers in a game. It was especially helpful when I was speedrunning Demon's Souls, since it allowed me to easily control the camera, run/dodge, and hit things at the same time.
And yes, you would just have to re-position your hand if you wanted to button mash. It's pretty easy to change the configuration of your hand when you need to.
That's fair enough, but would you complain about the controls in a game if they were designed around the controller be held the traditional way? Because Gies does.
-MD-
Member
What the fuck is that? He holds a controller that way?
There's really no reason for him to complain. Just change your grip. I'm always changing my grip depending on what I'm playing or what I'm doing in a game. It doesn't take much to adjust.
RPGCrazied
Member
EDGE is pretty hard on most games. Specially for RPG's.
Otherwise looking like great scores.
Otherwise looking like great scores.
Absolutely. I'm a proponent of the "muscle spasm" technique for games that have a ridiculous amount of button mashing myself. Obviously you can't use that technique for other games so you adjust.
I've been told it's called the Southpaw Claw.