Hello all, this is my first ever thread start so take pity if I do this wrong. I recently purchased a Wii U and picked up all of platinums games for it. I am a HUGE platinum fan, spending countless hours with Bayonetta 1 and Vanquish as well as watching my friend play Madworld (which looked like a lot of fun). I couldnt wait to spend my holidays playing W101. Heres my impressions:
STORY: This game has charm out the wazoo (whatever that is)! The characters are entertaining in a "80s superhero cartoon" way, and the story is so cheesy that it puts a smile on my face just thinking about it! In an industry filled with serious games, its a great change of pace to play something thats so light-hearted in tone.
GRAPHICS: I love the art style they chose for this game. The plastic, action figure look of each character adds to the over-the-top approach the game is going for. The settings are full of colour and the visuals are crisp. It feels as though Im playing a Saturday morning cartoon!
AUDIO: Great audio accompanying the game. Sure, it can get repetitive in areas, but nothing thats unbearable. I mean its not a soundtrack Ill want to listen to on its own, but it really plays up to the action on the screen.
CAMERA: As is the norm for fixed camera games, this one can piss you off with bad angles at certain moments. This is especially noticeable during platforming segments. This on its own wouldnt be a big issue, but when you compound that with the fact that there are so many characters on the screen it can lead to frustration. When the game switches to the gamepad, its practically a nightmare to move and look around.
DIFFICULTY: I love a good challenge and am aware of how challenging a Platinum game can get. That being said, this game offers no support to new players whatsoever. The game kicked my ass on "normal" right from the beginning. I dropped the difficulty to easy just so I could learn the mechanics. UNITE GUTS and SPRING are practically must-buys, leading me to wonder why they are tucked away in the shop and not given to the players. As you unlock new abilities, you must pause the game to the menu to see what the proper button combinations are. These combinations along with drawing the morphs lead to a very deep and challenging combat system, one that will take time and skill to master. As I finished operation 5, something just clicked and I started to get much better (nowhere near mastered), which lead to my enjoyment increasing. That being said, I can see where the initial stages would turn people off from even bothering to push through the game.
GAMEPLAY: The drawing mechanic for the game may have seemed like a great idea, but having moments where the game didnt register (either using the screen, or the r-stick) kept leading me to wonder what this game could have been like with button-assignments, or a MORPH-wheel. It also contradicts the Platinum formula of quick-paced action. Having the game slow down for you to draw a MORPH detracts a little from the battle (it also requires a twitch finger I simply do not have). I had crucial moments fall apart, great combos dropped, simply because the game didnt like what I was drawing. UNITE GUN and CLAW were the biggest culprits. As I mentioned above, when the game switches to its gamepad screen segments, drawing a MORPH became an unnecessary challenge.
The game also has quite a few gimmick segments (in fact, in my opinion, too many). One level you are boxing, next a SHMUP, next flying a ship, etc. Its not that these are terrible, but they add to the list of things you need to master if you want to be good at the game. There are quite a few things that just dont feel fully fleshed-out in terms of execution.
OVERALL: As a fellow GAFfer said Your first playthrough of the game IS the tutorial (I cant remember who said it, but it is so true). This can be a pretty big turn-off for new players. The story and characters compelled me to keep on playing, and Im glad I did. Ive discovered a deep combat-system in a VERY fun game. Im almost finished my first playthrough (on Chapter 7). I dont see myself giving it multiple playthroughs immediately, but I may return to it if Im bored and have downtime between games. I can best describe this game as a strategic action game, but I dont think that does it justice. It truly is a unique, fun game that has no equal and that in itself warrants a purchase. I dont agree fully with the GAF-hype for this game (i.e. GOAT, or even GOTY for 2013), but it is a game that put a big smile on my face. And then another one. And then Id laugh. Just like I did while watching those Saturday morning cartoons.
Thoughts?
