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Scalebound will be easier than Platinum's previous titles

Ushiwaka

Member
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Scalebound, Platinum Games’ Xbox One-exclusive action-adventure game, will be easier than the studio's notoriously hard action titles in order to make it more accessible, game director Hideki Kamiya told IGN at TGS.

Kamiya is renowned for his stylish action genre games such as Bayonetta and Devil May Cry, all of which require a level of dedication and a high skill set to dominate.

“So the games that I have worked on in the past we can say that they are more about sort of mastery…” Kamiya said in the latest interview. “For this game, Scalebound, of course taking all of the titles that we have worked on, so it is unlike any [game] that we made. And on top of that, the setting of the game, the realm, the world as well as the subject matter, the dragons, and are hoping that will attract a wider audience.”

“Easy or difficult can be defined it so many different ways. For example, if it was a very text or dialog heavy game, but yet you went to point where you felt puzzled,” he said when we asked if that meant that Scalebound will be easier than his previous action games. “So in the past it was really intense, you now really high impact high pace sort of action games that require skills.
“In that sense, it may not deliver the experience you’ve seen from our games but at the same that doesn't mean that it will be easy.”
he explained, adding that there will be various creative ways to approach the battles and encounters.

“So the games that I have worked on, I’ll give one example with Devil May Cry, that was years ago,” he explained. “I was young too when I made that game and if had a user or fan in front of me that said ‘I really tried, but I guess I suck or I just can't get this enemy’ it was easy for me to say ‘that is your kind of skills, you kind of suck.’ That is not the type of difficulty that we are going to demand from the players.”

IGN

Lock if old.
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
They try to find mass appeal with this. I think Platinum Games deserve to have that and I'm sure Microsoft will try to help with it. You must have reviewers able to play your game to have those multiple quotes on the cover for the marketing.
 

twobear

sputum-flecked apoplexy
I proposed before that the fact that they're working on UE4 suggests that they're not going for something like Bayonetta or DMC. I'm expecting a pace closer to the Souls series. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if that's basically what MS went to Platinum to ask for.
 

Alx

Member
I never find their games on normal to be that hard to begin with.

I especially thought Bayonetta was surprisingly accessible, with a good progression. I could finish all difficulties without hitting a wall or feeling cheated by the game difficulty.
 

twobear

sputum-flecked apoplexy
Gotta court that casual Xbox One audience.

The fact that Xbone has lower sales than PS4 would seem to suggest that it has a smaller casual audience than PS4.

People love the shit out of Okami and that game is super easy...

Yeah, people always forget about Okami when they think about Kamiya. 30fps (I think), adventure game, not particularly difficult. Very good, but something of an outlier for Kamiya. I'm expecting something similar from Scalebound.
 

BadWolf

Member
Sounds like he's following some specific guidelines instead of making the game he wants to make.

Will still probably rock though.
 

theDeeDubs

Member
The title seems a little different than what he actually said.

"It's a different game so the game difficulty will be different"
-Kamiya

"Kamiya said his game will be easier!!1!"
-IGN
 

pa22word

Member
All I'm going to say on this is that I have enough faith in PG to deliver to give them a chance on this despite the worrying PR...and that I foresee the Kamiya twitter thread will be bumped several times over the next few days over this bit of news ;)
 

Azlan

Member
Edit: Nevemind.

He does say it will be easier than some of their previous fast paced action titles. That is not necessarily a bad thing I suppose. I do like a good challenge, but will hold judgement until I see gameplay.
 

TreIII

Member
People love the shit out of Okami and that game is super easy...
Beat me to it.

Okami certainly isn't my favorite Kamiya game (Viewtiful Joe holds that honor), but it's still a good game all the same.

If Scalebound had more in common with that, it'd be fine in my opinion.
 

F0rneus

Tears in the rain
Wasn't there an interview where they said Bloodborne would be "more welcoming" than Souls or something?

They didn't say that Bloodborne would be easier. But that punishment for death would be somewhat lesser than in the Souls series. You still lose your souls/blood upon death and all, and the game still kills you dead over and over.
 

Mesoian

Member
All I think this means is that Scalebound isn't going to have it's roots grounded in traditional character action.
 
I see no problems with this. Platinum is a studio that deserves to have a mainstream success, and the only thing that has been holding them back besides a lack of marketing is their tendency to make the entire first playthrough of a game the tutorial and poorly explain some of the mechanics/controls. I literally played through most of Metal Gear Rising (everything up to the second Jetstream Sam duel) without knowing how to consistently parry because the game never taught me that I needed to flick the stick in the direction of each enemy's attack. I learned that trick from Angry Joe's review of the game.
 

TheOddOne

Member
“Easy or difficult can be defined it so many different ways. For example, if it was a very text or dialog heavy game, but yet you went to point where you felt puzzled,” he said when we asked if that meant that Scalebound will be easier than his previous action games. “So in the past it was really intense, you now really high impact high pace sort of action games that require skills.

“In that sense, it may not deliver the experience you’ve seen from our games but at the same that doesn't mean that it will be easy.” he explained, adding that there will be various creative ways to approach the battles and encounters.

“So the games that I have worked on, I’ll give one example with Devil May Cry, that was years ago,” he explained. “I was young too when I made that game and if had a user or fan in front of me that said ‘I really tried, but I guess I suck or I just can't get this enemy’ it was easy for me to say ‘that is your kind of skills, you kind of suck.’ That is not the type of difficulty that we are going to demand from the players.”
= Scalebound will be easier than Platinum's previous titles?

The only thing about this interview that is interesting is the multi approach to combat they are taking.
 

mrmickfran

Member
There goes some of my interest in the game. Now all he has to say is that there'll be a shooting minigame and then I'll lose all interest and not have to buy an Xbone :p
 
As long as he ensures there's optional difficulties to offer players who want it or want to keep playing after the first time through, I don't see the problem. His games do tend to hurt themselves, commercially, by focusing on high skill barriers to start.
 

derFeef

Member
= Scalebound will be easier than Platinum's previous titles?

The only thing about this interview that is interesting is the multi approach to combat they are taking.

Yeah, the thread title is really wrong. Sadly people do not read the interview.
edit: I know it's IGN's title... but that does not make it better.
 

Tain

Member
I never expected it to be like W101, but it'll be annoying if the highest difficulty out of the box is easier than Bayonetta's. Kamiya's actual quote pointed out by the OP doesn't translate into "Scalebound will be easier than Platinum's previous titles" very cleanly, though.
 

Jarlaxle

Member
I certainly don't consider myself a great action player by any standards but I was able to beat DMC 1-3 and Bayonetta without a ton of trouble. Of course I died a bunch and didn't get the best ranks or whatever and not the flahsiest of combos but the games really weren't that difficult.

Am I way off base here? Am I actually much better than I think I am? I don't believe that to be the case.
 
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