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N++ NeoGAF OT

Title: N++
Developer: Metanet Software
Publisher: Metanet Software
Price: $20 normally, $16 US PS+ preorder price, price will be INCREASED after a free content update later
Genre: Single screen precision platformer
Platforms: PS4

What Is It?

N++ is a single-screen platformer based around careful control of momentum and timing. The game is played by "episode", a selection of 5 levels. Each level has gold to collect as an optional objective, attempting to collect all gold will generally greatly increase the difficulty of the episode. If you get stuck you can simply play a later episode and come back.

The game includes a series of "Intro" stages designed to get you familiar with all gameplay mechanics in a (somewhat) safe environment, which is where you should definitely start. The game is difficult but with a long fairly smooth difficulty curve and features instant restarts, infinite retries and the ability to skip a column of episodes to play later to keep frustration to a minimum.

Features

• 2,360 levels. 2,360 levels?! Two thousand three hundred sixty levels.
• Made entirely in minimalist vector graphics!
• "Probably won't be on sale often" and "actually we’ll be raising the price when the first big update comes out", so no excuses! (patch is said to roughly double the size of the game)
• 1080 peas.
• 60 Fs per S.
• Race mode! Get gold and reach the exit before your opponents to score better
• Co op levels! Specially designed levels require sacrifices or cooperation to complete puzzles.
• Up to 4 player local race/co op (no online, unless you count Shareplay)
• Per level and per episode leaderboards.
• Individual Level Apeedrunner's delight!
• 100% Speedrunner's nightmare!
• Fully featured level editor and online sharing. Create any type of level.
• Over 40 color palettes (mostly unlockable) and over 6 hours of music!
• A surprising amount of options including multiple colorblindness features and visibility tweaks.

Also see the offical Metanet Etsy store for some neat N++ merch

Screenshots

Reviews
Wired
Punk And Lizard
The Sixth Axis
God Is A Geek
Destructoid
Digital Spy
Videogamer.com
The Verge
Defunct Games (Video review)
Sir TapTap (me) Video review/let's play

Trailers
Launch Trailer
Release date reveal trailer
"Enemy spotlight" videos at the bottom of the offical website
(If anyone wants to do banners go ahead)

 

[DOG3NZAKA]

About damn time

 

[SerTapTap]

About damn time

Dang, "It's about time" would have been a good subtitle too.

 

[Blanquito]

This is the only game I've preordered... I had some extra PSN credit and $16 for this should be pretty good. I'm looking forward to the local coop/versus.

 

[Brewster's Wallet]

Didn't realise the team was so small (hence no Vita version).
Will have to wait till Christmas for to play it. Loved N+ so high hopes for this.

 

[transience]

been waiting years for this. can't wait to dig in tomorrow.

I would stay up and play it at midnight but I wouldn't sleep. you don't put N down that easily.

 

[Apoc29]

The purest platformer has returned. Bring it on!

 

[Rosur]

Its out wednesday for the UK right?

 

[SerTapTap]

Its out wednesday for the UK right?

I'm honestly not sure, most stuff just says "28th" and it's possible for them to publish the game on tuesdays in the UK (or any day) on PSN now.

What's the UK price BTW? I assume it's 20 euros in the rest of EU?

 

[toythatkills]

I have two level editor tips that people can make use of when they get the game.

Firstly, if you press L1 you can switch to "fine grid," which allows you to place enemies and things more accurately. Without doing this, your floor guards will often be hovering slightly above the floor and it looks weird.

Secondly, when making a difficult level, think about what makes it difficult and why. There's a few levels already where people have just made them hard by just putting as many enemies on screen as they can, completely at random. On the one hand they achieve their goal, the level is difficult, but these levels are very rarely fun to play.

Your level should always be fun before it's difficult, and difficult next.

Its out wednesday for the UK right?

Nope, tomorrow! £13.49 at launch I think for Plus. Around that, anyway.

 

[SkyTurnsRed]

The amount of levels in this is nuts. Really excited to get my hands on this, really enjoyed N+.

 

[Narpas Sword0]

Pumped for game, disappointed by lack of online

 

[YianGaruga]

I'm honestly not sure, most stuff just says "28th" and it's possible for them to publish the game on tuesdays in the UK (or any day) on PSN now.

What's the UK price BTW? I assume it's 20 euros in the rest of EU?

I only know it'll have a 10% Plus dicount in EU, so 19.99€ -> 17.99€ for the first week I think.
And yeah, 28th for EU as well, so probably out at around midnight here (~8 hours from now)
https://twitter.com/metanetsoftware/status/625269037589786625

 

[krpiper]

It's out at midnight eastern right?

If so no work tomorrow I know what I'm doing alllllllll night!

 

[toythatkills]

Pumped for game, disappointed by lack of online

If the online was going to be poor (and hey, it's PSN) then it's better for everyone that it's not there. You wouldn't have much fun playing co-op which can require split-second timing if there's constant lag.

Obviously I'd rather online was there, but I'll take no online over bad online.

 

[soultron]

Pumped for this. Preordered last night. Cannot wait to hear the full soundtrack.

OP should include a link to metanet's Etsy store where they have really awesome physical goods like shirts and sticker packs!

 

[Frank Serpico]

The price will increase? to what?

 

[YianGaruga]

The price will increase? to what?

They didn't say

 

[EagleEyes]

Wait, there's no online co-op? How in the hell can the original N+ have online co-op in 2008 and this one doesn't. smh

 

[SerTapTap]

$25 or $30 is probably a safe bet. They said it will "roughly double the size of the game". IMO don't worry about what the price will be, just buy if you're interested. But reviews are tomorrow if you need more info, I'll have one up.

Pumped for this. Preordered last night. Cannot wait to hear the full soundtrack.

OP should include a link to metanet's Etsy store where they have really awesome physical goods like shirts and sticker packs!

Hey that is cool, didn't know about that! Added.

 

[transience]

Note from the other thread: apparently there is no online multiplayer this time around, just level sharing and leaderboards. Just a word of caution in case youre expecting that like I was.

 

[Hispanicguy]

"Ninjas with A++itude" was going to be my contribution, lol.

Thanks for the OT! Pre-loaded and ready to play.

 

[Draft]

The first truly next gen game on Sony PLAYSTATION 4.

Note from the other thread: apparently there is no online multiplayer this time around, just level sharing and leaderboards. Just a word of caution in case youre expecting that like I was.

What. That's a pretty serious downgrade!

 

[Kanye]

Real mad that this isn't out yet.

 

[Aesthet1c]

I was super pumped for this, but the lack of online really deflated that. I understand they are a small team but no online seems like a huge oversight.

 

[mare]

Wait, there's no online co-op? How in the hell can the original N+ have online co-op in 2008 and this one doesn't. smh

I'll re-post my reply from the other thread for convenience -- answering the question "will you patch in online MP?":

well, it's tough. N++ is a worst-case scenario for lag: http://www.polygon.com/2014/3/11/549...mode-towerfall

There's no place to hide it, so much so that even tvs/monitors with moderate latency can make the game extremely frustrating to play.

We were not satisfied with N+'s online multiplayer, and got a LOT of complaints from players as well. We know online multiplayer will not be a very good experience, and we're not motivated to add something we know won't be very good.

It will also require a substantial amount of time to add -- network code is horrible stuff, and it would take at least 6 full-time months to write, maybe more if debugging doesn't go well. We think that time could be better spent.

So I won't rule it out completely, but to be honest, it's extremely unlikely.

 

[VanWinkle]

Is this the first time a digital game will INCREASE in price post-launch?

Seems utterly bizarre to me.

 

[SerTapTap]

I already asked the dev to comment on the multiplayer situation since a lot of people were complaining, I don't think race mode is quite what you think though. I can't imagine playing this game with even minor lag.

Is this the first time a digital game will INCREASE in price post-launch?

Seems utterly bizarre to me.

It's very common for early access games, and launch discounts are practically the same thing but for a shorter amount of time.

I actually like the idea, give people reason to buy right around release because the whole bundle/PS+/Steam Sale mentality is super unhealthy IMO.

 

[WhiskeyKnight]

I didn't realize this even existed.

Loved the original and psyched for a new one.

 

[mullet2000]

Is this the first time a digital game will INCREASE in price post-launch?

Seems utterly bizarre to me.

There was another game recently that did it, but the name of it is escaping me.

 

[darkside31337]

Is this the first time a digital game will INCREASE in price post-launch?

Seems utterly bizarre to me.

This happens all the time with early access games, its actually the norm there. I guess this is the equivalent to that, its more like base game + expansion only you get the expansion free if you buy in now.

 

[SerTapTap]

This happens all the time with early access games, its actually the norm there. I guess this is the equivalent to that, its more like base game + expansion only you get the expansion free if you buy in now.

Yeah, though rather than Early Access I'd say it's more like a free GOTY upgrade if you buy early, and they won't be selling the non-GOTY version in the future hence price increase.

 

[Draft]

Any chance this will be ported to the Xbox 360 with online co-op?

 

[VanWinkle]

I already asked the dev to comment on the multiplayer situation since a lot of people were complaining, I don't think race mode is quite what you think though. I can't imagine playing this game with even minor lag.



It's very common for early access games, and launch discounts are practically the same thing but for a shorter amount of time.

I actually like the idea, give people reason to buy right around release because the whole bundle/PS+/Steam Sale mentality is super unhealthy IMO.

This happens all the time with early access games, its actually the norm there. I guess this is the equivalent to that, its more like base game + expansion only you get the expansion free if you buy in now.

Well, yeah. I just didn't think of this like an Early Access game. In that, it makes sense, because the game is not finished and it's kind of a gamble in a sense to buy it.

It's not a huge deal, and if they were going to launch it at a higher price and then decided to lower it at launch because they weren't done with the extra content, that's cool. It just seems weird since it's sort of a unique case.


Regardless, I'm excited to play.

 

[@MUWANdo]

There was another game recently that did it, but the name of it is escaping me.

Spin the Bottle: Bumpie's Party (Wii U) and Castle Doctrine (PC) spring to mind.

 

[toythatkills]

Reviews
Embargoed until 8 AM PT july 28th

Just as an aside, how can you embargo a review for hours after a game has been released? It's so bizarre.

I'm allowed to download it and tell everyone what I think of it, but IGN isn't?

 

[YianGaruga]

Just as an aside, how can you embargo a review for hours after a game has been released? It's so bizarre.

I'm allowed to download it and tell everyone what I think of it, but IGN isn't?

Doesn't the game release in the afternoon in the US?

 

[SerTapTap]

Just as an aside, how can you embargo a review for hours after a game has been released? It's so bizarre.

I'm allowed to download it and tell everyone what I think of it, but IGN isn't?

I was a bit puzzled by that, I wasn't expecting a midnight release and morning the day of release is pretty standard for indie releases so I didn't think anything of it until I heard about the release time. I'm not sure even the dev knew though, when digital stores update can be pretty crazy. Tembo randomly launched early on Xbox Live and served the wrong version on Steam. I don't envy devs for dealing with platform holders

 

[robotrock]

Doesn't the game release in the afternoon in the US?

12:00 AM EST.

 

[Toki767]

Just as an aside, how can you embargo a review for hours after a game has been released? It's so bizarre.

I'm allowed to download it and tell everyone what I think of it, but IGN isn't?

Ask Ubisoft with their Assassin's Creed Unity embargo.

 

[The Lamonster]

Had a blast making my own levels in N+. Can't wait to check this out tomorrow.

 

[baconcow]

Looks great. Watched some hour-long tournament, last night. Want to pre-order it, but not with a post-launch embargo. Not sure why they do those.

 

[MrS]

Looks great. Watched some hour-long tournament, last night. Want to pre-order it, but not with a post-launch embargo. Not sure why they do those.

I watched that too and it was awesome. Can't wait to play this! Hopefully it'll be available at midnight in UK.

 

[backflip10019]

Is this exclusive to PS4? Or will it launch on PC/Xbox One at a later date?

 

[Azzawon]

There was another game recently that did it, but the name of it is escaping me.

DiRT Rally.

I want to preorder so bad, but I can't in the UK as it's nowhere to be found on the store

 

[mare]

huh, we hadn't thought about that the embargo was technically after launch -- maybe launch was slated for "sometime mid-day" July 28th and was moved up to midnight? We don't really know about that stuff, it seems the dates/times etc are handled by Sony because of the PLAY promo. We just told everyone what Sony told us to tell people, since we've never done an embargo before ever and don't really know what the deal is!

 

[mare]

DiRT Rally.

I want to preorder so bad, but I can't in the UK as it's nowhere to be found on the store

Sorry -- that's because each division of Sony is a completely different entity, and pre-orders are part of the PLAY promotion. We've heard that there will be a store page for N++ as soon as it launches, at which time it'll also be 10% off in the EU for two weeks following launch.

 

[SerTapTap]

I emailed them for some clarity about the embargo situation--it was an informal email and I don't really think "post release embargo" was the intent. Early morning day of release is totally standard for PSN indie releases, but the games are usually up at like 4 PM not midnight GMT. Indies don't usually lift embargo pre-release because they have no way to sustain that marketing push.

Nevermind there's a dev

I want to preorder so bad, but I can't in the UK as it's nowhere to be found on the store

No preorder in the UK. Kind of worked out well in a way, PSN is stupid and can't give working review codes to preorder games, I had to review with a UK code. PSN does a lot of stupid stuff in the review process. Then again I've been screwed over by Steam too, I don't honestly think they care too much about reviewers' UX. Store page only at launch is a standard thing for any game without preorders, also a pain in the butt (both for users and reviewers). We can't try DLC before launch either.

Also since it's pubfund and part of the Play promo it's possible SCEA has some say in how the preorder/discount/etc work.

Is this exclusive to PS4? Or will it launch on PC/Xbox One at a later date?

It's a pubfund game and not published by SCE, so it's theoretically possible but they've never discussed other platforms other than the Vita, which seems to depend on sales and dev time. Metanet is literally two people last I checked so I wouldn't expect quick ports.

 

[mare]

Is this exclusive to PS4? Or will it launch on PC/Xbox One at a later date?

If it sells well enough on PS4, we really hope to be able to afford to port. We're a tiny team with limited resources, so we have to make decisions carefully. Steam and Vita are on the list of possibilities, and Xbox One if they'll accept it. We can't guarantee anything, and certainly can't guarantee everything -- we just have to see how it goes.

Fingers crossed it sells well though -- we want to bring this game to lots of players.

 

[mare]

Here's a more detailed reply from our blog about the online interactions:

We had to choose whether to implement online level sharing or network multiplayer — we couldn’t afford to do both, in terms of time as well as money.

We thought level sharing would be better, because the netcode was never going to be as good as in-person (N+ was always laggy and buggy, we really felt terrible about it, and we got a lot of complaints). The N games are sadly the worst-case for online networking because there’s absolutely no way to hide latency

(We’ve even had problems with latency while showing the game, at PAX last year the TVs we rented made it almost unplayable due to latency; even 100ms makes a big difference!)

So, we had to decide between adding great online level sharing, or okay online multiplayer. We’re perfectionists so we decided to go with what we knew we could execute well on.

Also, a lot of the Co-op and Race levels were designed for in-person multiplayer; the Co-op levels require a lot more coordination than in N+, and in Race, there are many levels with sort of “troll” traps which kill all the other players, which is fun when you’re playing with friends (because if you pull stuff like that too much they’ll just punch you) but would just be enraging if some anonymous stranger did it to you.

We feel bad because we know a lot of people don’t have friends nearby who can come over to play (and/or don’t have 4 controllers), but we’re really happy with how the game turned out, we think that the local multiplayer is very strong, so we hope that everyone understands our decision.

It would have taken another 8-12 months if we wanted to add online multiplayer (we only have a single programmer who is *very* busy with the rest of the game), and we already felt bad for how long people were waiting! (Plus, at this point we’ve spent so much time/money making the game that it’s unclear whether we’re going to break even… however it’s exactly what we wanted so we’re happy with that.)