First, let me start by saying TEW may eclipse Bayo 2 and Tropical Freeze as my Game of the Year. It's rare in any year (let alone 2014) to see a horror-themed game of such length and variety, one with no hand-holding, and with such punishing encounters. So many memorable moments, each fueled by the adrenaline rush of feeling in control (thanks to tight mechanics), yet vulnerable (due to scarcity of resources)...
But more on that in a moment.
I was expecting an uneven experience from TEW, given the mixed reception here on GAF. But playing it post-patch on PS4, I love everything about it. The alleged "jank?" I don't see any, outside of the "gamey"-looking way Seb opens doors and breaks crates -- a holdover from RE4. The forced black bars and camera zoom? Only heightened the tension for me, making certain bosses especially suspenseful (Ch. 10 spoiler:
). Also worth noting, the game plays with different types of fear, from nervous avoidance and panicky flight, to barely scraping by with crudely improvised combat. The first couple chapters establish the groundwork for stealth, how oftentimes the best approach is to avoid the enemy, silently picking them off if you can. The game opens up from Ch. 3 onwards, and only continues to evolve, layering in new suspenseful set-pieces. In hindsight, it's admirable how the game organically teaches the player how to handle themselves in each situation.
At any rate, I highly recommend this game.
Now then, about the topic in the title: GAME BALANCE. This might be the single most impressive quality of the game. I don't know how Shinji Mikami did it, but on the default difficulty of Survival, I never had much ammo. No matter how carefully I picked my shots... No matter how well I conserved my ammo... I was constantly at risk of having nothing to defend myself (because TEW players know melee won't save you). I think the most ammo I ever had was 20 bullets in my upgraded pistol. Beyond that, in a best-case scenario, I might have had five shotgun shells, four sniper bullets, three magnum rounds, and only enough trap parts to make a few bolts for the agony crossbow. Maybe I'd have a few grenades, if I were lucky. The health-restoring syringes seemed a bit more common, but they won't defeat the enemies trying to kill you!
In many encounters, I found myself straight-up out of ammo, and for at least one encounter, I think I would've had to restart the chapter if I were less equipped than I was (Ch. 6 mid-boss spoiler:
). This really drove home the need to conserve ammo, making each fight against the trash mobs (who themselves are no pushover, and can quickly overwhelm) that much more harrowing. I had to make on-the-fly judgment calls, like whether now was the right time to use my last explosive bolt, etc.
I think on average I died to most bosses in this game 20+ times... Perhaps I'm not the most skillful player, but I've beat Demon's Souls, etc., and I found the bosses here much harder. They're just so fast, erratic and ruthless. Some of them are downright unnerving (again,
in Ch. 10). Many of the battles take place in environments that are hard to read under pressure (Ch. 7 spoiler:
). Many boss arenas are filled with traps and blind corners, and some of them require you to shoot switches, pull levers and turn cranks, leaving yourself open to attack. And when your sole means of fighting back is so quickly exhausted, due to scarcity of ammo (if you even -had- ammo when you arrived at that checkpoint in the first place), you end up running for dear life, trying to exploit the environment to slow the boss down, until some means of fighting back reveals itself, whether it's the occasional trap you can trigger, or a single harpoon bolt sticking out of the wall. On so many occasions, my last bullet was what clinched the fight. Had my aim slightly strayed and missed its mark, I would've been one-hit killed and had to repeat a 10-minute battle (and 10 minutes can feel excruciatingly long at this game's level of intensity).
All of this... makes the game incredible.
It's amazing to me how the game maintains this delicate balance of "capable but just barely" over the duration of the entire game. It seems like many people finish the game in 15-20 hours. For me, it took around 30 hours, since I'm a chickenshit who had to study enemy patrol routines at length before making my move. However you play it, though, it's a lengthy game, and the game's difficulty scales so well to your character upgrades. A lot of thought clearly went into balancing this game, whether it's the way enemy movements seem to just barely lag behind if you manage your sprinting stamina just so, or how ammo reveals itself in subtle ways when you most need it, but only if you survive long enough to notice.
Ultimately, TEW is like RE4, but without the power creep of endless ammo and overpowered melee moves. It's an adventure of similar scope and scale, with the same variety and pacing, but without the supreme sense of player empowerment. Rather, TEW robs the player of power on a regular basis (and the moments where it grants power are a blessed release). It's the antithesis of most games these days, and for that I commend it, since it's certainly not the most marketable move.
Anyone else impressed with this aspect of TEW, or TEW in general?
But more on that in a moment.
I was expecting an uneven experience from TEW, given the mixed reception here on GAF. But playing it post-patch on PS4, I love everything about it. The alleged "jank?" I don't see any, outside of the "gamey"-looking way Seb opens doors and breaks crates -- a holdover from RE4. The forced black bars and camera zoom? Only heightened the tension for me, making certain bosses especially suspenseful (Ch. 10 spoiler:
trying to shoot the ceiling lever and being unable to see Laura due to the black bars/camera zoom is INTENSE
At any rate, I highly recommend this game.
Now then, about the topic in the title: GAME BALANCE. This might be the single most impressive quality of the game. I don't know how Shinji Mikami did it, but on the default difficulty of Survival, I never had much ammo. No matter how carefully I picked my shots... No matter how well I conserved my ammo... I was constantly at risk of having nothing to defend myself (because TEW players know melee won't save you). I think the most ammo I ever had was 20 bullets in my upgraded pistol. Beyond that, in a best-case scenario, I might have had five shotgun shells, four sniper bullets, three magnum rounds, and only enough trap parts to make a few bolts for the agony crossbow. Maybe I'd have a few grenades, if I were lucky. The health-restoring syringes seemed a bit more common, but they won't defeat the enemies trying to kill you!
In many encounters, I found myself straight-up out of ammo, and for at least one encounter, I think I would've had to restart the chapter if I were less equipped than I was (Ch. 6 mid-boss spoiler:
The 1v1 Sadist fight, if you've already exhausted the level's stockpile of ammo
I think on average I died to most bosses in this game 20+ times... Perhaps I'm not the most skillful player, but I've beat Demon's Souls, etc., and I found the bosses here much harder. They're just so fast, erratic and ruthless. Some of them are downright unnerving (again,
Laura
The Keeper's lair
All of this... makes the game incredible.
It's amazing to me how the game maintains this delicate balance of "capable but just barely" over the duration of the entire game. It seems like many people finish the game in 15-20 hours. For me, it took around 30 hours, since I'm a chickenshit who had to study enemy patrol routines at length before making my move. However you play it, though, it's a lengthy game, and the game's difficulty scales so well to your character upgrades. A lot of thought clearly went into balancing this game, whether it's the way enemy movements seem to just barely lag behind if you manage your sprinting stamina just so, or how ammo reveals itself in subtle ways when you most need it, but only if you survive long enough to notice.
Ultimately, TEW is like RE4, but without the power creep of endless ammo and overpowered melee moves. It's an adventure of similar scope and scale, with the same variety and pacing, but without the supreme sense of player empowerment. Rather, TEW robs the player of power on a regular basis (and the moments where it grants power are a blessed release). It's the antithesis of most games these days, and for that I commend it, since it's certainly not the most marketable move.
Anyone else impressed with this aspect of TEW, or TEW in general?
