Support NeoGAF

[duckroll]

JP Title: Hyakumanton no Barabara
US Title: Patchwork Heroes
Available on PSN: Yes
Release Date: Today in Japan, Spring in the US

What is this game: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/01/announcing-patchwork-heroes-for-psp/

Is there a demo: Yes, on JP and Asia PSN. No US demo yet.

Where the fuck are the impressions: I just bought it off PSN, it's downloading.

 

[mehdi_san]

Very excited about this little game
I hope we will get a full release date for the US version. Until then, bring on the impressions !!!

 

[GhaleonQ]

I'm really, really excited for this. I still haven't tried the What Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord series due to their initial boneheaded digital download policy, but this looks phenomenal. The papercut/Flash animation hybrid style and music look seem incredibly inviting, the gameplay's a simple concept that can be expounded on easily, and the concept itself is great!

THE MAIN THEME USES KAZOOS, PEOPLE. http://www.gametrailers.com/video/japanese-debut-patchwork-heroes/59265

 

[ULTROS!]

I want this game. I loved the demo!

 

[reminder]

Spring in Europe, too. Why is everyone always ignoring us?

 

[345triangle]

it's a bit more expensive on PSN than i expected, but i just saw the UMD for like 4500 yen and i didn't know it was even getting a physical release. will wait for impressions!

 

[Jonnyram]

Buying this and Classic Dungeon off PSN as soon as I get home tonight.
But that might be quite late

 

[duckroll]

It's pretty good - if you liked the demo you'll like the full game. I've beaten 5 story stages so far, but I've replayed each of them twice at least because I wanted to rescue everyone. It's a pretty good puzzle/action portable game for the toilet. There are challenge stages in addition to story stages, and the difficulty levels include Easy, Normal and Time Attack. It's probably not something meant to be played for long sessions though, since your hand will start to hurt, and it might get repetitive.

 

[duckroll]

I cleared story stage 6 and played 2 of the challenge missions. The challenge missions use some of the same maps from the story missions but with different objectives. In the first challenge mission you don't have to destroy the ship at all, but instead you need to collect all the parts located around it. In the second challenge mission, your time limit is extremely tight, but there are stop watch power ups located at key points of the map which you must use to destroy the ship within the time limit. Pretty interesting!

 

[mehdi_san]

So how's the leveling system? Is it important in the story mode?

 

[duckroll]

Errr... what leveling system?

 

[mehdi_san]

The japanese trailer said something like collect screws to increase your level (or something like that???)

 

[duckroll]

I have no idea what you're talking about...

 

[mehdi_san]

My Japanese was bad sorry. I checked and it said collect screws in story mode to collect new challenges...

 

[I NEED SCISSORS]

Disc version coming to NA or EU? Or is it another one of those fucking PSN exclusives a la Patapon 2 and Holy Invasion? I ask because I really like that box art.

 

[reminder]

Disc version coming to NA or EU? Or is it another one of those fucking PSN exclusives a la Patapon 2 and Holy Invasion? I ask because I really like that box art.

Only PSN in the US and europe.

 

[duckroll]

I cleared Stage 7 and did 2 more Challenge Missions. The game is REALLY hurting my hands though. My wrists hurt a lot from gripping the PSP and playing games which require either too much mashing or holding of a single button so I can't really play this for long periods of time. It's kinda like how the Prinny demo destroyed my hands too. But the game is fun.

Stage 7 was really interesting - you start at an extraction point on the map which you cannot cut off. If you do you lose the mission immediately. You have to plan you actions throughout the stage such that you cut the entire ship up but the final part you end up on includes the extraction point. It took a few tries to master completely with no deaths, but it was really fun. The challenge missions are a great diversion away from the story missions because they include a lot of non-standard objectives and/or conditions.

I'll definitely recommend this for people who are fans of action puzzlers. Especially if it launches at budget price on PSN in the US and Europe.

 

[duckroll]

Completed Stage 8 and Challenge Missions 5 and 6. I guess no one else is playing this?

 

[GhaleonQ]

Only PSN in the US and europe.

I know that's the case in Europe, but in the U.S.?

 

[rollingstart]

I will buy it when it's on the US store for sure

 

[Big B]

looks like another creative game on the psp!

 

[Akainu]

The impression I got from the video was that it would be really easy, is it?

 

[duckroll]

The impression I got from the video was that it would be really easy, is it?

Well it depends on what you mean by easy. Like any other puzzle game, it starts off rather simple, and get harder. It's easy to complete a stage usually, but to complete it with a good score and with all prisoners rescued generally requires retries and replays to learn the stage better. It's by no means a cakewalk.

 

[duckroll]

11 story missions and 12 challenge missions completed. It's getting pretty tough now, and I also unlocked the Hard difficulty for all missions now. Challenge mission 12 was a real bitch! On some missions your normal cutting attack is completely disabled, so you have to rely on bombs and the special attack (from building up your power bar) to complete the stages. Evil!

 

[Doctor_No]

I got this game along with Classic Dungeon on my Go; God Eater isn't on PSN, and I was kinda feeling pissed and was not in the mood to break out old PSP to play that game, but I'm feeling pretty good now with two quality games to keep me distracted.

Anyway, love the art direction in this game, but the game was far too easy for me until Stage 7, since then its become a real challenge, and as a consequence is becoming much more enjoyable. I'm currently at Stage 10 and my game completion stat is around 10% so I'm guessing there are maybe a lot of stages (maybe a 100?). Another original non-derivative cool PSP title from Acquire.

 

[asmodeal]

Aside from the 7 easy stage of short trial mode, there are 30 story mode stages and 50 challenge mode stages. 4 lvl of difficulty with easy, normal, hard and pro for each and story mode has also time attack.

 

[jaundicejuice]

Only PSN in the US and europe.

Pity, I would have bought it if it had a UMD release.

 

[Doctor_No]

It's probably not something meant to be played for long sessions though, since your hand will start to hurt, and it might get repetitive.

When I first started to play this game my hand really started to hurt, but I figured out the reason why. I use the d-pad for my movements, but when I'm 'cutting' the ship the player gets dramatically slowed down, so I instinctively press harder.

I've noticed this while playing Classic Dungeon as well, where there are grass and other obstacles that suddenly slow your character down, I press harder, an instinctual and futile response to increase the speed of my charter.

In neither case is it the fault of the controls or the game, but playing with the analog nub for 100man-Ton no Barabara has dramatically reduced the strain of my hand.

Aside from the 7 easy stage of short trial mode, there are 30 story mode stages and 50 challenge mode stages. 4 lvl of difficulty with easy, normal, hard and pro for each and story mode has also time attack.

This makes sense. I'm past stage 16 and its getting pretty hard, though still doable on normal. I could imagine 'pro' being insanely hard, especially if you want to keep all your guys alive and save everyone. The more I play it, the more I'm discovering and appreciating that it has a bit of depth as new enemy types are introduced. For instance, there are some enemies that only attack you when you're 'cutting', others that only attack you when you're not. They both can be on the same field, the later stages, unlike the earlier stages, you really have to think about where to cut off first and how to maneuver relative to the obstacles and to the different types of enemies. Its a good combination of strategy and action.

 

[asmodeal]

Dam, I was playing like crazy to unlock the yuusha no kuze ni namaikida stage (okogiru Yuusha Titori) but you can access it easily on the title screen with L,R,L,R,L,R.

 

[duckroll]

Cleared story stages through mission 15. Stuck on Challenge mission 15. Any tips?

 

[lordoftherink]

Pity, I would have bought it if it had a UMD release.

Damn, same here

 

[Doctor_No]

Dam, I was playing like crazy to unlock the yuusha no kuze ni namaikida stage (okogiru Yuusha Titori) but you can access it easily on the title screen with L,R,L,R,L,R.

Didn't know about this and tried it out. Its cute, but it basically plays like a demo for Yuusha no kuse ni namaikida or2. There's even an ad for or2 & 3D after you beat it.

Cleared story stages through mission 15. Stuck on Challenge mission 15. Any tips?

The protection stages are definitely hard. The tactic I used was to first work my way all the way towards the right hand of the screen and then start taking pieces off from there working my way to the left freeing the captives. Luckily the each piece of the ship is connected by thinner railways so its easy to target where to cut.

The ship is held together by three thin pieces in the middle, if you cut it in half then the side with the girl (Asuri) will fall off. What I did was detach the large piece on the upper right with the captive which are held together with two walkways with the goal to make the right part of the screen lighter the left. After the right side of the ship is gone, I start taking off ancillary pieces bit by bit. That's the way I did it at least.

 

[Gamecocks625]

I'm definitely interested. Has there been a price point announced for the US version?

 

[Shig]

I'm definitely interested. Has there been a price point announced for the US version?

Not yet, but it'll almost certainly be in the range of $15-20.

 

[duckroll]

The protection stages are definitely hard. The tactic I used was to first work my way all the way towards the right hand of the screen and then start taking pieces off from there working my way to the left freeing the captives. Luckily the each piece of the ship is connected by thinner railways so its easy to target where to cut.

The ship is held together by three thin pieces in the middle, if you cut it in half then the side with the girl (Asuri) will fall off. What I did was detach the large piece on the upper right with the captive which are held together with two walkways with the goal to make the right part of the screen lighter the left. After the right side of the ship is gone, I start taking off ancillary pieces bit by bit. That's the way I did it at least.

Sorry, I cleared the 15th story mission. It's the 15th challenge mission I'm having difficulty with. It's the one with tons of bugs all over a beetle map. >_<

 

[KTallguy]

Is there a PS3 version or is it just PSP ?

 

[duckroll]

Is there a PS3 version or is it just PSP ?

It's a PSP game.

 

[GhaleonQ]

Damn, same here

Has anyone confirmed this for the U.S., though?

 

[duckroll]

Has anyone confirmed this for the U.S., though?

That's what the US blog says.

"Here’s a first look at Patchwork Heroes, a new title that will be flying onto your PSP this spring via the PlayStation Network."

 

[KTallguy]

Hmm, originally I thought it was for PS3, but I will def. check the demo out

 

[GhaleonQ]

That's what the US blog says.

"Here’s a first look at Patchwork Heroes, a new title that will be flying onto your PSP this spring via the PlayStation Network."

*sigh* Japanese version it is, then.

 

[Doctor_No]

Sorry, I cleared the 15th story mission. It's the 15th challenge mission I'm having difficulty with. It's the one with tons of bugs all over a beetle map. >_<

My bad I've been focusing on the story side and the challenge missions are, as their name suggests, challenging. I was kinda worried I wasn't going to get my ¥3800 worth with this game; I know its going to be cheaper in the North America & Europe. Judging from the previews and the early part of the game, I really did think I was going to blast through this or was going to get bored with it in a few hours, but the later portions really do have some real depth and challenge to it. While I don't have really long playing sessions, much like Acquire's Yuusha no kuseni namaikida/Holy Invasion Of Privacy, Badman I keep coming back to it.

 

[d+pad]

I'm *really* glad this is coming to the US, but I sure wish there was an option to buy a UMD version, too.

At least it should be fairly cheap on PSN, right?

 

[mehdi_san]

This is maybe a very dumb question, but I am asking very sincerely: why is everyone asking for a UMD version although we're getting a cheaper PSN one?

 

[KTallguy]

How big is the full version file size?

I downloaded the demo and put 10 minutes into it, didn't quite get to the Yaruki-attack thing, but I balked when I saw the 3800 yen price tag.

 

[duckroll]

It's about 190meg. Why does that matter though?

 

[Shig]

This is maybe a very dumb question, but I am asking very sincerely: why is everyone asking for a UMD version although we're getting a cheaper PSN one?

People love to complain.

I don't blame Sony one bit. Some may say there's no charity in a business, but boy, Sony even bothering to localize stuff like this sure seems to run contrary to that. It's nuts to me that people try to justify not supporting the effort of a company that, against all common sense, seems to be earnestly trying to get good games into their hands.

Never mind that all of these people vocalizing support for UMDs were nowhere to be found when Sony released LocoRoco 2 for a ridiculously generous price, or when NIS asked them to put their money where their mouth was and pledge orders toward a pressing of Badman, to mention but a few of many examples.

 

[Bebpo]

This is maybe a very dumb question, but I am asking very sincerely: why is everyone asking for a UMD version although we're getting a cheaper PSN one?

Some people like to have physical copy of a game on their shelf.
Some people don't believe these games will be re-downloadable 20 years from now, whereas your UMD will still work.

 

[d+pad]

People love to complain.

I don't blame Sony one bit. Some may say there's no charity in a business, but boy, Sony even bothering to localize stuff like this sure seems to run contrary to that. It's nuts to me that people try to justify not supporting the effort of a company that, against all common sense, seems to be earnestly trying to get good games into their hands.

Never mind that all of these people vocalizing support for UMDs were nowhere to be found when Sony released LocoRoco 2 for a ridiculously generous price, or when NIS asked them to put their money where their mouth was and pledge orders toward a pressing of Badman, to mention but a few of many examples.

Hmmm, although I'm sure that's true for some people, it's not true for everyone. I just like owning physical copies of the games I buy. I like cases and instruction manuals and an actual disc/cartridge, etc.

I'm not saying Sony *should* release a UMD version of this game, I'm saying that I, personally, would like a UMD version of the game.

Oh, and I've already pre-ordered the UMD version of Badman 2 -- which includes Badman 1 -- so there

 

[mehdi_san]

Some people like to have physical copy of a game on their shelf.
Some people don't believe these games will be re-downloadable 20 years from now, whereas your UMD will still work.

Well I would understand them if it was MGS PW or Kingdom Hearts maybe, but this is a little cute puzzle/action game. Don't you people would rather have it on your memory stick so you can play short times between 2 sessions of, let's say, MGS (that would be in your UMD drive)?
Also, as Shig say, without PSN this game maybe wouldn't sell enough to justify the english localization !
Do these people complaining also complain that Braid didn't come on Bluray? Or pixeljunk shooter?