I tried first with a USB wired Xbox controller, and it didn't work... no idea why. (must be an issue with my mac / USB ports or something)
After that, I found an old standard USB PC joypad, and it worked perfectly after re-configuring the keys in the option menu. Game is more playable this way and so far I love it.
It feels rather weird to play it after all this time, and see some of the ideas we discussed years ago come to fruition. Visually it turned out much better than I dared hope for while I was working on it, and the atmosphere is great, but there's a bunch of design decisions that I disagree with. It seems to be getting rather mixed reviews, and it doesn't have a lot of hype. Honestly I can't see the game selling very well at this point, which is a real shame.
I'm kinda bummed this game appears to have not turned out amazing, because I think the art style is awesome. It's also coming out at the worst possible time of the entire year. It could not be more crowded.
Still, I'm glad the price is $10, but I might just wait til it's on sale. I've got plenty to play right now.
I'm kinda bummed this game appears to have not turned out amazing, because I think the art style is awesome. It's also coming out at the worst possible time of the entire year. It could not be more crowded.
Still, I'm glad the price is $10, but I might just wait til it's on sale. I've got plenty to play right now.
I really wanted this game but it's just wishlisted for now. Game released out of nowhere with no prior announcements. I already bought a ton of stuff this month and have plenty to keep me busy on top of an already massive backlog. A release day discount on Steam might have tempted me...
Pretty amazing that the game hasn't set off my normal high Swears-per-minute total that challenging platformers tend to bring out in me. Only one fuck you so far but a hell of a lot of eye rolling due to me messing up.
It's been solid and as expected so far. The only minor quibbles are that the text can be a little too small if you aren't close to the telly and I'd like there to be a button to cancel both of the beams on top of just double tapping B. Y could have been used when the player isn't in a interact area/state.
So, put some time into this and it's been pretty great so far. The gravity mechanic isn't as satisfying as the Bionic Arm, but the level design is absolutely there and a far cry from the abominations that we get in BCR2.
Finaly beat the game. 8 hours 53 minutes, died 373 times. And that's despite having programmed a lot of the mechanics and played most of the early levels before. Some parts were really frustrating, but overall it was a nice package.
I really wanted this game but it's just wishlisted for now. Game released out of nowhere with no prior announcements. I already bought a ton of stuff this month and have plenty to keep me busy on top of an already massive backlog. A release day discount on Steam might have tempted me...
I think a release day discount would really have helped this game. Now with the mixed reviews and the christmas sale so close there is no reason not to wait.
The game is nice. The mechanics may get more complex with the ligths after the first boss. The graphics look good but I am not a fan of the kind of colorful and blurry visual effects used for the background.
I'm cool with having to treat the game with a lot of respect but that fight is so flaky.
Bullets being obscured by smoke and the UI.
Normal enemies should be been killed the millisecond you touch the bounce pad. Falling down and being killed by an unseen jumping Prawn enemy is such a shitty thing to happen.
I'm cool with having to treat the game with a lot of respect but that fight is so flaky.
Bullets being obscured by smoke and the UI. Normal enemies should be been killed the millisecond you touch the bounce pad. Falling down and being killed by an unseen jumping Prawn enemy is such a shitty thing to happen.
This so hard even though they only caused me to die twice.
Strategy: Control your air over his head so you land on him to then drop as many beams as possible. When he's dropping grey bombs, just stay high up on your beams. Not worth running around on ground and accidentally hitting a bullet or the other enemies.
I'm somewhat surprised at the review scores. I always hoped this would turn into a new Braid, Limbo or Rochard but that doesn't seem to be the case when reading some of the reviews.
One complaint that seems to be in most of the reviews is the difficulty and frustration that comes with the game, especially due to checkpointing and controls when things get tough and most notably in boss battles. I have no problem with hard games if they are fair but this doesn't always seem the case here.
I'm still looking forward to playing the game (hopefully wednesday on EU PSN) but my expectations are more realistic and a good deal lower now. Which might not be a bad thing anyway.
I'm somewhat surprised at the review scores. I always hoped this would turn into a new Braid, Limbo or Rochard but that doesn't seem to be the case when reading some of the reviews.
One complaint that seems to be in most of the reviews is the difficulty and frustration that comes with the game, especially due to checkpointing and controls when things get tough and most notably in boss battles. I have no problem with hard games if they are fair but this doesn't always seem the case here.
I'm still looking forward to playing the game (hopefully wednesday on EU PSN) but my expectations are more realistic and a good deal lower now. Which might not be a bad thing anyway.
I was pretty hyped for the game but reading some of the reviews think I might pass. Not really in the mood for frustration and there are plenty of other things to play at the moment. I got Machinarium off PS+, have The Unfinished Swan on my PS3's HDD and Okami just came out. Maybe some other time.
Edit: does Steam have a demo for this? Looked but couldn't see anything.
One complaint that seems to be in most of the reviews is the difficulty and frustration that comes with the game, especially due to checkpointing and controls when things get tough and most notably in boss battles.
Finally got to sink my teeth into this game - really enjoying it.
As someone who loved Braid and Limbo, this is right up that alley. It feels a little "looser" than those two - in both controls and graphical stylings - but it's still very fun. Like others have said, it's pretty damn tough, but I'm into that so that works for me! It'll definitely scratch that 2D itch I've had since I beat Mark of the Ninja.
If there are any broke college kids who really want to play this game but don't have the cash to spare, PM me your .edu e-mail address and I'll send ya some love.
Sad this game isn't getting more attention. I've been flooded with games and full time/part time job, studying, so had to make this a quick review. Enjoy.
Has anyone from EU been able to buy this game at all? It's nowhere to be seen on the Belgian store and judging from the EU blog comments, it seems there are more countries with the same problem.
Has anyone from EU been able to buy this game at all? It's nowhere to be seen on the Belgian store and judging from the EU blog comments, it seems there are more countries with the same problem.
Sad this game isn't getting more attention. I've been flooded with games and full time/part time job, studying, so had to make this a quick review. Enjoy.
nice review (though the inexplicable random "sounds" you made kinda made my head hurt lol) still, gave me a good idea about what to expect, put it on my Wishlist and probably gonna get it during the winter sale now!
Ok thanks. Hopefully it's available in my country too. Can't check now but will check/buy after work. I just noticed it's 68 on Metacritic so i'm starting to worry if i will actually enjoy the game but for that price, it still seems worth checking out.
nice review (though the inexplicable random "sounds" you made kinda made my head hurt lol) still, gave me a good idea about what to expect, put it on my Wishlist and probably gonna get it during the winter sale now!
So far, i'm really enjoying this game. I was a bit worried when reading some of the reviews but i'm very glad i decided to buy this game anyway.
The art direction is great. In fact, it's getting better and better with each level. I'm currently at the sleeping room area and it looks so beautiful (with the scrolling clouds/moon). The atmosphere/story/world/characters is nice and intriguing. The sound effects and music add a lot to the atmosphere.
The gameplay is genuinely fun. The beam mechanic is a nice idea and there are some clever puzzles in there. It's nice to see that there are quite a few hidden places and things to collect.
I died quite a few times already but it never felt frustrating so far. Dying is sometimes necessary in order to understand the puzzle or to perfect the execution.
Technically, there are some issues now and again on PS3. There is quite a big chunck of loading involved and the sidescrolling isn't always 100% smooth. Might be some tearing in there aswell. But it doesn't detract from the overall experience. Also, checkpointing could have been a bit more clever in some places (especially in keeping track of things you have collected,...).
All in all, so far, i love it and can't wait to continue. It is indeed a delightful adventure.
Damn, that second boss fight (the rooftop city crook) is destroying all the positive feelings i had for this game up until then. The sudden difficulty spike is ridiculous. Judging by the internet (forums, walkthroughs), i'm not the only one. A one hit kill after wich you have to restart from scratch is just not my idea of fun.
I can't see myself beating this boss so this might be the end of this game for me. I don't know how far i am from the end if the game but it's such a shame since i had a lot of fun up until now. Anything other than the boss fights has been really great.
I'm starting to understand why only 5 people are listed on the leaderboards...
Damn, that second boss fight (the rooftop city crook) is destroying all the positive feelings i had for this game up until then. The sudden difficulty spike is ridiculous. Judging by the internet (forums, walkthroughs), i'm not the only one. A one hit kill after wich you have to restart from scratch is just not my idea of fun.
I can't see myself beating this boss so this might be the end of this game for me. I don't know how far i am from the end if the game but it's such a shame since i had a lot of fun up until now. Anything other than the boss fights has been really great.
I'm starting to understand why only 5 people are listed on the leaderboards...
When bouncing up to the top you want to wait until the boss is far away from the bounce pad or starting to move away from it. You can lodge yourself on top and get 4-5 hits in one go (~60-70% damage).
If you are floating in a beam none of the balls the boss drops will hurt you. The only problem with that is if you stay in the beam too long the boss goes higher and it takes a little while for him to lower himself.
The sodding jumping prawn will drop life vests most of the time if they are destroyed.
Pretty close to the end now. A good chunk of the way
into the Moon. The hidden path to the moon was fantastic until the game pulled it's shiv out again and stabbed me in the belly a few more times
I found most of the bosses extremely frustrating, especially that one. I spent over 2 hours being killed repeatedly before I got lucky. The worst part for me was the bullets speeding up after you take off a significant chunk of his health.
Somehow I managed to finish the game, and while there was plenty that I enjoyed, there were so many parts where there's absolutely no margin for error whatsoever and even the slightest mistake means starting from scratch - most of the bosses and every chase sequence.
Having read all available tips, i have spent one hour on the crook boss battle and stopped because i was ready to throw my controller at my tv.
I managed to fill up the balloon almost completely once but was then greeted with a new bullet pattern that is impossible to dodge until you actually have the opportunity to learn the pattern => die, start over from scratch until hopefully i'll reach that bullet pattern again sometime so i can practise and die => start over from scratch,... Also, the jumping enemies don't appear in my game which means i can't unlock a safity vest => one hit instant death.
This is poor game design that would have been spotted by the tiniest bit of external testing. Incredible how Might & Delight managed to screw up their own (rather fantastic) game in such a way. I mean, i appreciate the fact the some players might want it "hard and retro" but why didn't they make normal mode a bit easier (at least in the boss battles, the rest was very do-able) and make the hard more really hard (if that is what turns them on as game developers)?
It seems my delightful adventure has stopped at the rooftop city boss. I think it's the first time that i had to stop playing a game because of frustration.
If there are any broke college kids who really want to play this game but don't have the cash to spare, PM me your .edu e-mail address and I'll send ya some love.
So, impressions of the trial are not particularly positive, I didn't even bother getting to the end of it.
This is a game that should be right up my street because basically my two favourite things are 2D platformers and puzzles. Here we are, though, and I'm disappointed.
The absolute shittiest thing about it is the controller deadzone, or lack thereof. Anyone with an Xbox 360 controller a few years old can tell you that the damn thing drifts left, and for a professional developer to not compensate for this is terrible. It means it's almost impossible to line anything up properly because if I have to move a few pixels left, there's a pretty decent chance that I'm just going to run off the end of a platform instead. Checkpoint restart. Yay.
The other problem so far is a lack of objectives. The one thing a puzzle game HAS to do is give you an objective, whether it's "obtain this item" or "get over there," so that you can then work out how to achieve it. Pid seems to just exist, and you're supposed to somehow "know" where the game wants you to go even though there's nothing to suggest you should be trying to go there. I'm not saying it should say "GO HERE" on the screen in big letters or anything, but in LIMBO, say, the player always just knows where they're heading or what they have to do, whereas Pid fails in that respect.
Absolutely horrible trial and error as well. Is that a pitfall or will the screen scroll down when I drop? Is that an enemy or an inanimate object? Will it kill me anyway?
So many little things that are just anti-gameplay. Does it really get better, 'cause the reviews and opinions here were all fairly positive?
So, impressions of the trial are not particularly positive, I didn't even bother getting to the end of it.
This is a game that should be right up my street because basically my two favourite things are 2D platformers and puzzles. Here we are, though, and I'm disappointed.
The other problem so far is a lack of objectives. The one thing a puzzle game HAS to do is give you an objective, whether it's "obtain this item" or "get over there," so that you can then work out how to achieve it. Pid seems to just exist, and you're supposed to somehow "know" where the game wants you to go even though there's nothing to suggest you should be trying to go there. I'm not saying it should say "GO HERE" on the screen in big letters or anything, but in LIMBO, say, the player always just knows where they're heading or what they have to do, whereas Pid fails in that respect.
I played the PS3 demo earlier tonight and felt the exact same way. I had no idea what it was when I downloaded it and was disappointed it was yet another 2.5D puzzle platformer.
I thought with the art style it could at least have been like Winterbottom and been charming but it just didn't work for me.
I didn't finish the demo either. It just felt slow and unimpressive. I was stuck waiting for my light beams to disappear more than once if I put it in the wrong spot. The game isn't bad, but nothing about it grabbed me and made me want to spend $10.
I didn't finish the demo either. It just felt slow and unimpressive. I was stuck waiting for my light beams to disappear more than once if I put it in the wrong spot. The game isn't bad, but nothing about it grabbed me and made me want to spend $10.
I had another go at the crook boss fight yesterday and was wondering: do you actually have to do something to get the blue jumping enemies (that unlock extra vests)? In the 2 hours of trying this boss fight, i haven't had one single jumping enemy. I assume this is some kind of bug? Has anyone played this boss on PS3?
With some extra vests, i might just be able to beat the boss but without them, i probably won't.
I had another go at the crook boss fight yesterday and was wondering: do you actually have to do something to get the blue jumping enemies (that unlock extra vests)? In the 2 hours of trying this boss fight, i haven't had one single jumping enemy. I assume this is some kind of bug? Has anyone played this boss on PS3?
With some extra vests, i might just be able to beat the boss but without them, i probably won't.
Sooooo, I just started this. The section where you get the crystal/beam power from the chest, there is an area above housing some stars. How does one reach this? I figure the fact that I was unable to figure it out means that I have lots of frustration to look forward to.
Sooooo, I just started this. The section where you get the crystal/beam power from the chest, there is an area above housing some stars. How does one reach this? I figure the fact that I was unable to figure it out means that I have lots of frustration to look forward to.
Throw a gem on the floor and float up and jump on the white platform to the left. Jump up to the wall on the left and throw another gem. When you are in the beam push the thumbstick to the left and up and try and throw another gem on to the wall above the other one and you can then float over to the ledge in the middle and jump up.
Completed pid a few days ago, 12 hours and 642 deaths. I'm amazed it wasn't over a thousand deaths.
Started up Hard mode straight away and laughed at the first difficult spike and immediately turned it off.
Was enjoying the full version of this a lot more than the trial. Seems like the trial does that thing where instead of giving you the first part of the game, it gives you loads of random sections out of order, which means you have little idea how to overcome them because you haven't gained the necessary skills in the parts of the game it skips over. Actually playing it properly is a much nicer experience and I was having fun.
Unfortunately, and ultimately, it's still completely fucking unplayable thanks to that shit controller deadzone code. The second I got to a section that requires any kind of precision I simply can't do it without buying a brand new controller first so I've had to quit. It's easy enough to compensate for this when you're programming a game, and it's really irritating that they haven't.
. I managed to eventually beat the crook boss without being hit. From then onwards, i've had a lot of fun with the game.
Detailed impressions/review if/when i manage to finish. I assume i'm not that far from the end now. Either the leaderboards are broken, or i'll be the 11th person reaching the end on PS3 (if i do reach the end)
. I managed to eventually beat the crook boss without being hit. From then onwards, i've had a lot of fun with the game.
Detailed impressions/review if/when i manage to finish. I assume i'm not that far from the end now. Either the leaderboards are broken, or i'll be the 11th person reaching the end on PS3 (if i do reach the end)
Congrats on getting past the Crook. He's the most challenging boss in the game, only a bit of patience is needed for other moments later in the game.
The leaderboards aren't broken. When I finished there were only 35 on the xbla list. When you complete the game it doesn't automatically submit your details, you have to choose to submit them.
Can't believe i'm sitting here watching the credits. It seems i stumbled through to the end eventually 740 or so deaths and 13 hours (but that apparently does not include the 2 hours i've spent on the crook boss since i always quit straight to xmb). I decided to submit my score to the leaderboards but it isn't showing yet. After all those effort, i hope it does
I had to look up a walkthrough on 2 or 3 occasions in the last levels and thank god i found a loophole in the last boss (there is one spot where you can stand where the boss can't hit you but you can hit him). But hey, at that point i felt any means was allowed to get to the end
In a way, i'm glad the game is done and in an other way, i'm sad the game is over. Which pretty much sums up how i feel about this game. I truly enjoyed 80% of the game and hated the other 20%. Those 80% were as good, fun and clever as Braid or Limbo which is high praise indeed (i loved those two games). It's just that the 20% lowered my spirit at times. But the fact that i kept going (not being a super hardcore gamer who mostly tries to avoid frustrating gameplay) means that there actually was a very nice game in there somewhere.
In the end, i'd give it a 8.5/10. Could have been 9/10 with a better difficulty balance.
+ a lot of gameplay for so little money (this game is looonnnggggg)
+ great visual style and art direction (warm colors, nice use of light,...)
+ good music
+ great soundeffects (playing with headphones revealed a lot of little details in the sound)
+ unique world, characters and story
+ the core mechanic (beams) was fun and original
+ lots of great new gameplay elements throughout the game kept it fresh (loved the
catacombs
part)
+ nice combination of puzzles and platforming, rewarding puzzle solving
- technically not as smooth as should be (especially the side scrolling)
- a lot of loading (after you die and in the levels themselves)
- instant death and loading + not knowing what's below => discourages to search for secrets,...
- some basic game design issues (UI sometimes overlapping the enemies, story text that reappears after every death...)
- some frustrating parts (
crook and outside levels on the moon
were not fun)
- the beam mechanic was not really meant for fast and very precise platforming (chase levels)
- no chapter select (was hoping to replay some levels but i won't replay some others)
- i didn't enjoy the boss battles that much but then again, i don't like boss battle gameplay in general
I have a feeling that if Might & Delight had balanced the difficulty a bit better, making it a tad easier (e.g. by supplying more life vests,...), it would have reviewed a lot better than it did.
However, i'm glad i bought the game. It was a great game for the most part. I hope Might & Delight learn from this and make another one. I'd definately be interested.
Throw a gem on the floor and float up and jump on the white platform to the left. Jump up to the wall on the left and throw another gem. When you are in the beam push the thumbstick to the left and up and try and throw another gem on to the wall above the other one and you can then float over to the ledge in the middle and jump up.
Completed pid a few days ago, 12 hours and 642 deaths. I'm amazed it wasn't over a thousand deaths.
Started up Hard mode straight away and laughed at the first difficult spike and immediately turned it off.
What was your final verdict on the game, canIhasAnAccount? Liked it?
Apparently, the developers are working on a major update that will be available soon according to their facebook page. The game is also included in the steam autumn sale.
What was your final verdict on the game, canIhasAnAccount? Liked it?
Apparently, the developers are working on a major update that will be available soon according to their facebook page. The game is also included in the steam autumn sale.
Yep, I liked the game but I went in with realist expectations. The game really surprised me with the scale of the adventure. Apart from the few dodgy moments there is a unique and varied experience that is full of style and so many different ideas. But the adherence to archaic ideas really stops me from being enthusiastic about the game.
If someone asked about it, a recommendation would be heavily caveated. If the patch tweaks the few dodgy bits then it would be much easier to recommend but unfortunately it's probably too late for them to change the perception of the game. If it leads to M&D going tits up at least they made something they wanted to make.
A post-mortem on pid would be interesting. They initially handled PR quite well with getting Beefy Media on board at the start but it seems like they completely underestimated the push needed at launch.
