pirateluigi
Member
Movement in a game is so important and Splatoon does it as well as any game I've ever played. It's completely different, but reminds me a lot of Spider-Man 2, where it was fun just to move around.
-
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.
The "game feel" of SPLATOON (and other games, if you wish!)
- Thread starter Neiteio
- Start date
This looks like an awesome way to describe the way a game feels without having the need to actually having to try out the game, don't get me wrong I still thing that trying out a game is the way to go rather than having someone describe it to you but the way that OP has written it I find is really great in a sense of explaining the game to someone who doesn't really play as much games as the next guy. Would love to see more of these kinds of post, nice job OP
On another note the movement is really fun to play around with and just has a nice flow to it and that swimming man is feels so good to use and climbing up walls with it feels so satisfying when you reach a nice vantage point to start splatting, man it's so nice!
On another note the movement is really fun to play around with and just has a nice flow to it and that swimming man is feels so good to use and climbing up walls with it feels so satisfying when you reach a nice vantage point to start splatting, man it's so nice!
victreeb3l
Member
Yep, the impact is awesome. Love hearing the splat sound and then the burst when you shoot other players. The sound of paint coming out of your gun is very soothing too.
Having just upgraded my Hero Shot to 2.0x fire rate (and gotten every Sunken Scroll), I started to shoot the ground in Octo Valley to test the now faster-than-Aerospray gun. After a while, I realized I ended up visiting every part of the valley and didn't even notice the time pass. That's how fun traversal is in this game: it's like Super Mario 64's castle all over again. I love this game.
Hibiki Kurosawa
Member
I just wish the horizontal turning with the analog stick didn't slow down while moving around. Also, I wish it had separate sensitivity settings for x and y.
fabricated backlash
Member
A bit of an oldie, but Prince of Persia Sands of Time. Once the controls clicked the game developed such a nice flow to the movement, that it became really quite magical.
Splatoon honestly has the most satisfying controls and navigation I've seen in any game so far. It's really a shame that the Single Player doesn't do more with the mechanics and ideas.
Personally I hope for Single Player DLC somewhere down the line.
Splatoon honestly has the most satisfying controls and navigation I've seen in any game so far. It's really a shame that the Single Player doesn't do more with the mechanics and ideas.
Personally I hope for Single Player DLC somewhere down the line.
Something about Splatoon is just so, so, so right. Agree with everyone else, it's fun just moving around. Crawling around the plaza in squid form is hilarious. The pressure-sensitive jumps that add a degree of accuracy a lot of other non-platforming games don't have. The sound effects (YES, that sound when dropping into your own ink from a height.. it's the best).
Nintendo's damn good at nailing the "game feel", but even so I'm impressed with what they've done in Splatoon. When everything comes together in a hard-fought multi match or like it does on the final boss, Splatoon is gaming heaven.
Nintendo's damn good at nailing the "game feel", but even so I'm impressed with what they've done in Splatoon. When everything comes together in a hard-fought multi match or like it does on the final boss, Splatoon is gaming heaven.
foxuzamaki
Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
It feels so damn good, everything you said is correct.
timetokill
Banned
Great thread.
This is a great explanation of why Splatoon is so damn addictive. Everything feels so great that you don't want to stop playing with it.
My ONLY complaint is that they don't let you take Miiverse screenshots of the results screen. SO annoying.
This is a great explanation of why Splatoon is so damn addictive. Everything feels so great that you don't want to stop playing with it.
My ONLY complaint is that they don't let you take Miiverse screenshots of the results screen. SO annoying.
Robert at Zeboyd Games
Banned
Dual analog + gyro micro-tuning is by far my favorite aiming control scheme. Loved it on the Vita, love it in Splatoon.
Yeah, Splatoon really does feel great, especially with gyro controls, everything is so damn smooth, aiming is precise with gyro controls. Having a button to reset the camera is great too, since it does involve gyro controls. Some might look at this as a button to "fix" the controls, but I see it as necessary with motion.
Parmadillo Marshmallow
Member
Haven't played Splatoon, but this sounds like the opposite of Witcher 3. Great game, terribad game feel.
MrOogieBoogie
BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
What's great is I almost never feel the need to reset the camera, that's how well the controls work.
timetokill
Banned
Yup. I just set the camera once before the match on the starting pad and almost never use it again.
The only other time I do it is when I want to "quick U-turn" but that is a rare occurrence.
Neff
Member
Splatoon is a perfect example of a developer paying attention to and fine-tuning subtle elements so that the cumulative effect is a joy at all times, regardless of what you're doing.
The way the game looks, sounds, controls and plays is easy to take for granted, but it's expertly done. The simple act of spraying paint or swimming feels wonderful. The running water sound as you swim through ink borders on therapeutic.
The way the game looks, sounds, controls and plays is easy to take for granted, but it's expertly done. The simple act of spraying paint or swimming feels wonderful. The running water sound as you swim through ink borders on therapeutic.
Apart from Splatoon or Mario 64, another mechanics perfection in terms of movement is Bayonetta.
Bayonetta is probably the benchmark regarding movement during a combat; there's a feeling no other action game is built upon that good mechanics.
Bayonetta relies on learning combos though. While brilliant, her movements are demanding, not as immediately satisfying.
I always post about how I love simple mechanics. This is why Uncharted 2's multiplayer mode was my favorite thing for months. Simple. Engaging. And with a rewarding learning curve.
Splatoon is my new U2. As addictive.Even more arcade with better movement mechanics. Splatoon also manages to feel brand new, like in the good old days when we had a Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Power Stone, etc. every couple of months.
Splatoon feels a void. It offers an experience that doesn't exist elsewhere. I could speak about this game for a long time so I'll stop there and go back to it.
Bayonetta is probably the benchmark regarding movement during a combat; there's a feeling no other action game is built upon that good mechanics.
Bayonetta relies on learning combos though. While brilliant, her movements are demanding, not as immediately satisfying.
I always post about how I love simple mechanics. This is why Uncharted 2's multiplayer mode was my favorite thing for months. Simple. Engaging. And with a rewarding learning curve.
Splatoon is my new U2. As addictive.Even more arcade with better movement mechanics. Splatoon also manages to feel brand new, like in the good old days when we had a Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Power Stone, etc. every couple of months.
Splatoon feels a void. It offers an experience that doesn't exist elsewhere. I could speak about this game for a long time so I'll stop there and go back to it.
haha I do this too... !! The tighter the circle ... the better the game ... monster hunter has a hilarious looking spin...
I also like to hold right on the left stick and left on the right stick so the character is running the opposite the camera movement and I get real dizzy...
foxuzamaki
Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
Black inklings represent
ShadowElliot
Banned
I LOVE that sound! I always jump from a high height just to hear that sound. It's a wonderful detail.
Yesssss, yes. Splatoon feels great. The analogue controls of the character are just the right sensitivity (something that so many devs still seem to get wrong for some reason *cough* Witcher 3 *cough*), with a range of speeds. The jumping is handled in the classic, and essentially perfect, Super Mario style of holding the button longer to jump higher/further. It's one of the best types of tactile feedback, since it tricks your brain into thinking that pressing the button harder, putting more effort into the game, results in longer jumps. Which really gives the player a good tactile sense of the game world.
I love being in the ink and hearing the music fade. It has an interesting effect on me. This game is hectic. It's go go go all the time. I can't think of a time when shooting that I'm not full throttle. And everything in the game reinforces that, from the sounds, visuals, and music. But being submerged in ink, and knowing that no one can see you, and having the music tone itself down, it gives you a feeling of calmness, and safety. If you move slowly enough through the ink, you won't make any ripples, but in a hectic game like this, it's hard to come down from that adrenaline rush and actually move slowly. The faded music helps me with that, I think.
Shooting is wonderful, not only the motion controls providing what you called triple analogue aiming, but just being so smooth and intuitive. One of my favorite things hiding in the ink and tilting the gamepad slightly in order to line up a grenade throw, and then just tapping the R button and then sinking back into the ink.
The game also has some of the best uses of audio cues, both for satisfaction of tactile feedback, and gameplay uses. The sound when your ink hits an enemy, which is different from the regular sound, and that wonderful broken glass effect when you kill someone with a charger. The ping when someone activates a special, the guitar shredding when the killer whale is activated. Everything is punchy and clean. Which also helps to balance the gameplay.
And of course the kerplunk of landing in ink from high up is one of the best sound effects ever.
The dynamics between shooting and swimming complement each other well also. They provide a crucial gameplay balance (you have to choose between shooting and moving slowly, or not shooting and moving quickly), but they also provide a nice positive/negative pacing to the tactile feedback loop. Walking, on its own, feels fine. In fact it feels good. The control of your character is spot on. But when compared to swimming, it feels sluggish and slow. Swimming on it's own feels good too, but when compared to walking, it's elevated to new heights. It feels so good to swim after walking for a while. The lows compliment the highs, giving the movement in the game a nice pacing.
I actually wrote a little piece about tactile feedback in Rusty's Real Deal Baseball, specifically the dynamics between positive and negative feedback. Tactile feedback is one of the most important things in a game. It can make me play an average game for much longer than I normally would (Destniy), and I don't believe enough developers put enough care into it. I've played too many games lately that just didn't control well enough.
Splatoon is master class, though.
I love being in the ink and hearing the music fade. It has an interesting effect on me. This game is hectic. It's go go go all the time. I can't think of a time when shooting that I'm not full throttle. And everything in the game reinforces that, from the sounds, visuals, and music. But being submerged in ink, and knowing that no one can see you, and having the music tone itself down, it gives you a feeling of calmness, and safety. If you move slowly enough through the ink, you won't make any ripples, but in a hectic game like this, it's hard to come down from that adrenaline rush and actually move slowly. The faded music helps me with that, I think.
Shooting is wonderful, not only the motion controls providing what you called triple analogue aiming, but just being so smooth and intuitive. One of my favorite things hiding in the ink and tilting the gamepad slightly in order to line up a grenade throw, and then just tapping the R button and then sinking back into the ink.
The game also has some of the best uses of audio cues, both for satisfaction of tactile feedback, and gameplay uses. The sound when your ink hits an enemy, which is different from the regular sound, and that wonderful broken glass effect when you kill someone with a charger. The ping when someone activates a special, the guitar shredding when the killer whale is activated. Everything is punchy and clean. Which also helps to balance the gameplay.
And of course the kerplunk of landing in ink from high up is one of the best sound effects ever.
The dynamics between shooting and swimming complement each other well also. They provide a crucial gameplay balance (you have to choose between shooting and moving slowly, or not shooting and moving quickly), but they also provide a nice positive/negative pacing to the tactile feedback loop. Walking, on its own, feels fine. In fact it feels good. The control of your character is spot on. But when compared to swimming, it feels sluggish and slow. Swimming on it's own feels good too, but when compared to walking, it's elevated to new heights. It feels so good to swim after walking for a while. The lows compliment the highs, giving the movement in the game a nice pacing.
I actually wrote a little piece about tactile feedback in Rusty's Real Deal Baseball, specifically the dynamics between positive and negative feedback. Tactile feedback is one of the most important things in a game. It can make me play an average game for much longer than I normally would (Destniy), and I don't believe enough developers put enough care into it. I've played too many games lately that just didn't control well enough.
Splatoon is master class, though.
TwiztidElf
Member
Chucking the biggest rock you could lift off the bridge into the river.
To Far Away Times
Member
Splatoon has to be one of the most mechanically tight games ever in terms of controls and game design. Take the usual coat of Nintendo polish and put another coat on top of that.
It's a very special game. We'll be talking about this one for years to come.
It's a very special game. We'll be talking about this one for years to come.
MrSaturn99
Member
I just love skipping around the plaza. The Inklings jump so high, lol
I just wish it was a real online lobby where others can hang out together.
Don't underestimate that 'plunk' sound effect. It's like chucking stones in a pond; it's just satisfying on its own to hear that displacement sound. Painting a wall and leaping into it, up and over, is incredibly satisfying.
Oh yeah, the music fading in ink is really important! Like Gsnap notes, it really gives this sensation of safety in the ink. It's your travel time, your stealth time; it automatically makes you think perhaps more considered, think tactically. At least it makes me think that way.
I want to talk about the gyros a little; I think anecdotally this might by the most-well received implementation ever, even with strange choices like no x/y individual calibration and motion on means no y axis on sticks. But it's incredibly satisfying in a close encounter battle to just up and spin the gamepad around to aim and shoot and SCORE. I need to practice it more but it lends thi sense of control to your movement. It's funny, on PC, you usually get the aim satisfaction but not necessarily the movement satisfaction; on consoles, you usually get movement satisfaction but not aim satisfaction. Splatoon's got it both.
---
Someone earlier mentioned Bayonetta and to me that game was previously the pinnacle of 'feel'. It wasn't perfect, but the ability to cancel out of everything - the panther snarl when dodging into Beast Within - of course, the immediate visual and aural feedback of a Witch Time or the raw power of a Wicked Weave just annihilating foes... Bayo is another game that has 'feel' down pat.
Oh yeah, the music fading in ink is really important! Like Gsnap notes, it really gives this sensation of safety in the ink. It's your travel time, your stealth time; it automatically makes you think perhaps more considered, think tactically. At least it makes me think that way.
I want to talk about the gyros a little; I think anecdotally this might by the most-well received implementation ever, even with strange choices like no x/y individual calibration and motion on means no y axis on sticks. But it's incredibly satisfying in a close encounter battle to just up and spin the gamepad around to aim and shoot and SCORE. I need to practice it more but it lends thi sense of control to your movement. It's funny, on PC, you usually get the aim satisfaction but not necessarily the movement satisfaction; on consoles, you usually get movement satisfaction but not aim satisfaction. Splatoon's got it both.
---
Someone earlier mentioned Bayonetta and to me that game was previously the pinnacle of 'feel'. It wasn't perfect, but the ability to cancel out of everything - the panther snarl when dodging into Beast Within - of course, the immediate visual and aural feedback of a Witch Time or the raw power of a Wicked Weave just annihilating foes... Bayo is another game that has 'feel' down pat.
I compared Splatoon to Super Meat Boy in another thread, so this is a good place for a follow-up to that idea.
Splatoon feels really good because of the inherent agility of the swimming. The jump-swim-jump-shimmyupawall-swim-swim-jump. You start to feel like you have the run of the level, with the way you're able to easily traverse everything. The texture of the paint and the sound effects when you jump out makes it feel like you're rocketing forward (even if you're not actually going that far).
Super Meat Boy felt the same way. He moves so quickly, with so little friction with the ground. But he stops on a dime and feels really responsive overall. Jumping up the wall gets that same effect that Splatoon has. You hug the wall and can quickly scale it. Or you go pivoting from the wall across the screen. Another one of those where you feel like you have complete run of the level (despite the saws everywhere trying to kill you). The controls are elegant and the physics rarely get in the way.
Splatoon feels really good because of the inherent agility of the swimming. The jump-swim-jump-shimmyupawall-swim-swim-jump. You start to feel like you have the run of the level, with the way you're able to easily traverse everything. The texture of the paint and the sound effects when you jump out makes it feel like you're rocketing forward (even if you're not actually going that far).
Super Meat Boy felt the same way. He moves so quickly, with so little friction with the ground. But he stops on a dime and feels really responsive overall. Jumping up the wall gets that same effect that Splatoon has. You hug the wall and can quickly scale it. Or you go pivoting from the wall across the screen. Another one of those where you feel like you have complete run of the level (despite the saws everywhere trying to kill you). The controls are elegant and the physics rarely get in the way.
Abdul Hafeez
Member
Good game feel is the opposite of The Witcher 3 and GTA V (except the driving model is pretty good).
Examples include: Super Meat Boy, Braid, VLAMBEER GAMES, Spelunky, most 2D and 3D Mario platformers, Super Time Force, Hotline Miami, and some other games. The Souls games usually feel really good when you're not running into technical issues.
Some people would argue Rogue Legacy feels good, but I found it really bad.
Examples include: Super Meat Boy, Braid, VLAMBEER GAMES, Spelunky, most 2D and 3D Mario platformers, Super Time Force, Hotline Miami, and some other games. The Souls games usually feel really good when you're not running into technical issues.
Some people would argue Rogue Legacy feels good, but I found it really bad.
Ever had a hard time sitting on the toilet? Very satisfying when you hear that noise.
Davey Cakes
Member
Absolutely one of the reasons Super Meat Boy is one of the best 2D platformers ever. It just feels fantastic to play.
davidbloop
Member
I am loving Splatoon, took me a while to get used to the gyro but now that I have its all gelling so perfectly.
I'd also like to add Shovel Knight to the list of games with great movement mechanics, game just feels right.
I'd also like to add Shovel Knight to the list of games with great movement mechanics, game just feels right.
Absolutely. Shovel Knight has masterful game feel, right from the very first jump.
I LOVE the fact that repeated jumps makes your character skip. It's little touches like that that really make me appreciate Splatoon
Moon_frogger
Member
I hope journalists don't latch on to 'gamefeel' as some sort of real descriptor. It's nonsense at worst and vaguely harmful to real critical discourse at best. It sounds like a long lost category from gamepro magazine's daft reviews.
Well you can call it by a different phrase if you want (I use the phrase tactile feedback, since "game feel" does seems a little loose), but if you've played any video game ever you know it isn't nonsense.
Various uses of screen shake, momentum, weight, start-up, cooldown, framerate, audio and visual feedback, etc. affect the tactile feedback of a game. And some games suck at it.
To claim otherwise would be nonsense.
All I know is they must have spent a lot of time fine-tuning this game's "game feel" because it's all perfect. Everything feels satisfying, from the simple act of firing your gun to turning into a squid and swimming through your ink. The controls, visuals, and sound all work together in perfect harmony to make everything feel just right.
And one thing that makes it feel so good to me is that everything is done with just the sticks and four buttons. It's so simple compared to most other shooters. It's just fire, grenade, jump, and squid.
Also, the squid mechanic is genius and whoever came up with that deserves a raise.
And one thing that makes it feel so good to me is that everything is done with just the sticks and four buttons. It's so simple compared to most other shooters. It's just fire, grenade, jump, and squid.
Also, the squid mechanic is genius and whoever came up with that deserves a raise.
Moon_frogger
Member
I didn't claim this at all. I claimed boiling it down to some non existent property like 'gamefeel' is nonsense, because it is. there are far, far more factors than what you describe that contribute to this supposed tangible property. Difficulty curve, input lag, hit boxes, the list goes on and on and on. Might as well just use the more accepted but equally worthless term 'gameplay'. What use is 'gamefeel' when we already have another equally dubious term that's already widely accepted? what can 'gamefeel' describe that 'gameplay' doesn't cover already? 'gamefeel' is just a descriptor for someone who doesn't have the vocabulary or experience to describe what they like/dislike about a game. I'm not telling you guys to stop using it, just hoping it doesn't start appearing in real critical discussion about games, ie actual game reviews.
Benzychenz
Member
Well it's more used for fast paced games/action games. 'Gameplay' can be used for tactical games, turn based games, simulators etc where the mechanics don't have any 'feeling' to them because they're just menus.
Did you even look at the OP? He describes in detail what he means by "game feel".
Bitching about the use of "game feel" or "gameplay" is like bitching about the use of "cinematography" in film.
Gameplay has nothing to do with how the game feels to play. Gameplay is the level of interaction with the game and it's systems. When Mario jumps on a koopa, the koopa goes into its shell. Mario can then kick the koopa shell at an enemy. The koopa shell kills the enemy, but then the shell hits a wall and bounces back and hits Mario and Mario dies. The system of interaction and interplay between the various game elements is the gameplay. It's what you do with what you have, and how the game counters or reacts. That has nothing to do with how Mario's jump feels, and it's certainly not dubious or worthless because it exists. How could you even say it doesn't?
The fact of the matter is, they could have made it so that jumping with Mario felt bad, but they didn't. Splatoon's various mechanics could feel bad, but they don't. Tactile feedback (or game feel) is a real thing affected by various attributes (difficulty curve is not one of them, but the way). Just because these terms encompass several aspects doesn't make them bad or non-existent. They're good terms, people just don't use them well, unfortunately.
desribing gameplay and describing how the gameplay feels are completely different topics. i would rather a reviewer try to explain fun simple movement in a game is compared to breaking down hit boxes and shit.
For me, the real triumph of Splatoon is how all the pieces fit together. The way I can spray a surface while running, instantly drop into my ink trail, speed forward a few meters, leap into the air like a dolphin and switch mid-air back to kid-mode to continue firing is just gaming bliss.
Combining those two totally different yet equally critical modes in such a fluid way isn't something you see very often.
Combining those two totally different yet equally critical modes in such a fluid way isn't something you see very often.
ArclightBorealis
Member
The movement in general really is one of the best feeling parts about Splatoon, especially since movement feel is one of the biggest elements of enjoyment with games for me. The effect from blowing up another Inkling during battle is also pretty satisfying because of that distinct pop effect and your ink marking the space in which they were killed.
As far as other games go, replaying Ninja Gaiden recently got me thinking about it and I really like how those games handle the framing and visual look of certain attacks to make those hits feel especially powerful. Things like the Ultimate Technique, and how there's that incredibly brief white flash like someone just fired a light gun at the screen right as you connect the attack. Plus the camera zoom ins and switches to get that nice dramatic shot as you see Ryu cleave the heads off of foes you just charged through, or repeatedly slash them as he leaves after images of each attack in his wake. NGII especially amps this up with the brief flash happening during regular moves like flying swallows, and the camera angles used during Obliteration Techniques which are incredibly quick and seamless during gameplay. There's just so much intensity in those actions and how quickly it all moves. Nothing lingers too long and for games as fast those that feels right.
As far as other games go, replaying Ninja Gaiden recently got me thinking about it and I really like how those games handle the framing and visual look of certain attacks to make those hits feel especially powerful. Things like the Ultimate Technique, and how there's that incredibly brief white flash like someone just fired a light gun at the screen right as you connect the attack. Plus the camera zoom ins and switches to get that nice dramatic shot as you see Ryu cleave the heads off of foes you just charged through, or repeatedly slash them as he leaves after images of each attack in his wake. NGII especially amps this up with the brief flash happening during regular moves like flying swallows, and the camera angles used during Obliteration Techniques which are incredibly quick and seamless during gameplay. There's just so much intensity in those actions and how quickly it all moves. Nothing lingers too long and for games as fast those that feels right.