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[Pojo]

I think Nariko and Kai are likeable, but the rest of the cast have no depth. How about trading those two for Kratos and making Godess of War?

 

[Madman]

Too bad. I thought the first HS was good and had potential as a series. I hope NT learned from the mistakes that were made with HS, but the whole doing a movie on top of the game worries me. That's kind of what they did with HS and it seemed to have hurt the rest of the game.

 

[Nostromo]

Is that the Italian artist they had that did stunning artwork?

No, you are talking about Alessandro Taini.

 

[Doc Evils]

No, you are talking about Alessandro Taini.

Is he still there?

 

[Jtrizzy]

Ninjas can't jump Kittonwy. The game would have been much better with God of War controls.

 

[Lifeonmars?]

I just got around to playing the first one yesterday.

So repetitive, so boring. Thank god they're moving on.

 

[twinturbo2]

YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT NARIKO THAT WAY. WHAT WE HAD WAS REAL.

wut.

 

[Billy Fookchops]

Is he still there?

Yup.

 

[Pancakes R Us]

Oh dear, how disconcerting. It's the casual games guys, SCEE is canning all these games to make Crossword challenge and Pimp Training

 

[pieyow]

Their previous game was Kung Fu Chaos. I know Heavenly Sword is a hated game on these forums, but it was a MAJOR step up for a company with almost zero resume.

Heavenly Sword is hated on these forums? That's strange I remember seeing a lot of love for it before launch on the forums.

 

[Mefisutoferesu]

Oh dear, how disconcerting. It's the casual games guys, SCEE is canning all these games to make Crossword challenge and Pimp Training

Kutaragi returning to SCE confirmed!

 

[Kittonwy]

A couple of ppl leaving doesn't mean that the team has disbanded. NT is full of amazingly talented individuals (from programmers to artists..).

Yeah but ur teh father of NAO32 and your HDR implementation is still probably teh best out there, and as for DeanoC, well he's DEANOC.

 

[GenericPseudonym]

Heavenly Sword is hated on these forums? That's strange I remember seeing a lot of love for it before launch on the forums.

Sony fans needed to point to something, they gave up on it once Uncharted came out and was legitimately great.

 

[Kittonwy]

Ninjas can't jump Kittonwy. The game would have been much better with God of War controls.

God of War Chains of Olympus controls while freeing up the right stick for camera, I don't get the need for right stick dodge, it's a bit of a waste.

 

[Haunted]

Year of the PS3 continues.

The game was axed after months in development because it is no longer seen as commercially viable, our source tells us.

Seriously though, stuff like this is the reason people are looking towards sales-age in the first place. Good luck with whatever project NT is doing next.

 

[Kittonwy]

Sony fans needed to point to something, they gave up on it once Uncharted came out and was legitimately great.

Generalize much?

I don't think anyone gave up on Heavenly Sword, I had high hopes for it but I was disappointed that they didn't include any platforming and they refused to have a jump button. I think there are certain gameplay sensibilities that I expect a great game to have, I went on their site board, I said I wished there was a jump button and nobody listened, being able to jump would have opened up everything from combat to platforming/exploration.

UNCHARTED IS AFW.

 

[Forsete]

Year of the PS3 continues.

You still butthurt over that?

 

[GenericPseudonym]

Generalize much?

So long as it is appropriate.

 

[Kittonwy]

So long as it is appropriate.

But it ain't true.

 

[Agent X]

I bought Heavenly Sword, played all the way through and enjoyed it. It's sad that we might never see a follow-up to this game, but thankfully the story as it stands now can be considered "complete" and isn't banking on a cliffhanger ending to set up a sequel.

I'd be interested in finding out what Ninja Theory's next project is all about.

 

[ItAintEasyBeinCheesy]

OK since this whole thing has been disproven by the ACTUAL developer and someone in the know why does the argument continue?

And why is kotaku banned?

Anyways these new guys at SCEE and SCEA are pretty fucking awesome, glad to see they are cancelling titles that people KNOW wont do to well, kudos to them! frees up resources for other areas and titles.

 

[Kittonwy]

OK since this whole thing has been disproven by the ACTUAL developer and someone in the know why does the argument continue?

Anyways these new guys at SCEE and SCEA are pretty fucking awesome, glad to see they are cancelling titles that people KNOW wont do to well, kudos to them! frees up resources for other areas and titles.

Interview with Shuhei Yoshida:

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/featu...topslot;title;1&om_act=convert&om_clk=topslot

Talks about lots of stuff including canning games early instead of being stuck late in development. I think under him SCEA game development overall across the board showed growth and improvement. Canning Getaway and Eight Days must have been HARD.

 

[Nolan.]

Didn't HS cost like $20 million and 4 years to make? I remember hearing that in one of those developer commentaries that was released online.

Sony banked on this, Lair, EOJ, Motorstorm, and Folklore to carry the PS3 throughout 2007. And everyone knows the result.

This should be good news. Sony should just use the money to moneyhat Big devs. Microsoft is smart by using their money to get exclusives like GTA DLC, Last Remnant, Bioshock, etc. Sony should follow, and maybe the PS3's debacle run would finally end.

Folklore had nowhere near the budget of most of those. Which is a bit of a shame I think. I enjoyed folklore a lot more than ''$20 million'' budget heavenly sword.

 

[Kittonwy]

Didn't HS cost like $20 million and 4 years to make? I remember hearing that in one of those developer commentaries that was released online.

Sony banked on this, Lair, EOJ, Motorstorm, and Folklore to carry the PS3 throughout 2007. And everyone knows the result.

This should be good news. Sony should just use the money to moneyhat Big devs. Microsoft is smart by using their money to get exclusives like GTA DLC, Last Remnant, Bioshock, etc. Sony should follow, and maybe the PS3's debacle run would finally end.

Over-reliance on third-party publishers was what got them in this mess in the first place, they didn't have enough first-party IPs to be in a position where, no matter what third-party publishers do, they can still push their console with software.

The problem was the they banked on the wrong games, but that's just part of the game. Motorstorm was a success for them though, but it needed more time both in terms of content and in terms of online MP implementation, I think they did the right thing buying Evolution and ditching Factor 5, not sure what went on between SCEWW Europe and Ninja Theory but I wouldn't have funded another Heavenly Sword game without a major gameplay revision.

 

[FightyF]

Blame Sony? Heavenly Sword was development for like 3 to 4 years now? And it seems Sony was extremely gracious with the funding.

They would have to be gracious, developing games for the PS3 and maintaining the high standard of Sony's 1st parties isn't an easy thing.

It looked like Ninja Theory had an excellent prototype of the game running on PC in 2004. Perhaps it took them a good amount of time to get it running well on the PS3?

Also, from what Shane Kim said, it looked like MS had a limited budget and they couldn't afford to do HS at the time.

Of course it seems like the best case scenario is to create multiplatform releases, but another issue is resources, who knows if NT has large enough of a team/funding to do that.

 

[Mefisutoferesu]

Over-reliance on third-party publishers was what got them in this mess in the first place, they didn't have enough first-party IPs to be in a position where, no matter what third-party publishers do, they can still push their console with software.

What? Sony had a huge stable of games in the west last generation and even Sony Japan was reasonably prolific... It's THIS generation that the well has seemingly run dry, though that's in part because they don't have any 3rd party support to keep them going in between releases. I'd argue they're in a worse position than they were last generation. SCE in the West is trying to compete with FPS and TPS games to be even with MS, but in doing so have summarily ignored the genres they were KNOWN for with the PS2. SCE Japan is laughable at best, a couple PSN games and some low budget productions from GR aren't going to cut it. They've seemingly done NOTHING to expand or even announce any projects, and even their one big title, White Knight is looking like Sony's TFLO...

Maybe, it's because of the huge upfront losses and an uncertain market, but there's certainly not much effort from their side... IMO.

This should be good news. Sony should just use the money to moneyhat Big devs. Microsoft is smart by using their money to get exclusives like GTA DLC, Last Remnant, Bioshock, etc. Sony should follow, and maybe the PS3's debacle run would finally end.

See this is bad economics, having 1st parties duke it out in bidding wars for 3rd party titles isn't smart... it's just a battle of attrition and money is better spent investing inwards building the company up... it works great when a new company needs a way in to an industry (sorta seeding their position in a market), or for companies to make an occasional bold statement about their product (kinda like an ad)... but when every side partakes it's a bad thing...

 

[BoilersFan23]

Folklore had nowhere near the budget of most of those. Which is a bit of a shame I think. I enjoyed folklore a lot more than ''$20 million'' budget heavenly sword.

I agree. I enjoyed the Folklore demo way more, and oh course I enjoyed the full game of Folklore more. IMO, I wish Folklore sold as well as Heavenly Sword did in NA and Europe.

Anyways these new guys at SCEE and SCEA are pretty fucking awesome, glad to see they are cancelling titles that people KNOW wont do to well, kudos to them! frees up resources for other areas and titles.

Agreed. I felt SCE WW took on too many projects (especially SCEE London). IMO, stick to making 1-2 games per team (or fewer) and work on getting them out quicker, rather than work on several projects slowly. Also, I think it's a good idea they are removing games. Lair and Heavenly Sword should have been dropped IMO.

 

[Hunter D]

Heavenly sword was hyped hard until the demo was released with its 20-30 fps and sometimes dipping into the teens. I even asked in Heavenly sword pre-release threads if any of the guys on the heavenly sword team had worked on a decent fighting game. Its no secret that the DMCs, Shinobi, and NGs dev teams had guys that worked on decent to good fighting games. Even the GOW team had guys on it that understood what made games like street fighter and VF better than DOA and KOF or why KI and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was fun, but broken. Though as usual with this gen people only cared about the way the game looked. The game had some good ideas and looked nice, but who makes a brawler that runs at an inconsistent 30 fps? In the end NT delivered another good looking game with good ideas that ended up having mediocre gameplay.

Sony should have spent that money on securing a 3rd party exclusive or an rpg.

 

[The Friendly Monster]

Sony should have spent that money on securing a 3rd party exclusive or an rpg.

Why do people keep saying this? Would you really be happier if there were fewer games, so long as the best ones were exclusive to your system of choice?

 

[McLovin]

Damn I loved Heavenly Sword.. the cut-scenes where amazing and the controls let you do some crazy combos if you knew how to use them right

 

[Kittonwy]

What? Sony had a huge stable of games in the west last generation and even Sony Japan was reasonably prolific... It's THIS generation that the well has seemingly run dry, though that's in part because they don't have any 3rd party support to keep them going in between releases. I'd argue they're in a worse position than they were last generation. SCE in the West is trying to compete with FPS and TPS games to be even with MS, but in doing so have summarily ignored the genres they were KNOWN for with the PS2. SCE Japan is laughable at best, a couple PSN games and some low budget productions from GR aren't going to cut it. They've seemingly done NOTHING to expand or even announce any projects, and even their one big title, White Knight is looking like Sony's TFLO...

No kidding.

My point was that they left it up to third-party publishers to put together the line-up for them, but when third-party publishers delay their products on the PS3, well you've got the PS3 launch.

I don't know why there's a problem with Insomniac going with Resistance, I like them branching out into the FPS genre, more importantly they've shown they can actually make a great FPS, not to mention we got Ratchet right after.

And maybe, perhaps, that the folks at Naughty Dog wanted to make something OTHER than YET ANOTHER JAK GAME? I figure the game just kind of evolved into this third-person shooter because they probably only have enough time to concentrate on specific things, puzzles take a long time to design and iterate.

And inFAMOUS isn't even a shooter, Dylan can't even use firearms because the electricity coursing through his body would set off gunpowder. Warhawk was around since the PS1 era, whatelse was Incog going to do? Yet another Twisted Metal game? It's too bad for Sly Cooper and Jak fans but both of those studios are working on great IPs, personally I'm looking forward to UNCHARTED 2!!!111!!!

and inFAMOUS!!!111!!!

more than I ever looked forward to a Jak title or a Sly title.

The problem was that first-party developers in Japan were waiting for third-party developers to bail out the machine, but the calvalry never came. If SCEWW Japan had a couple of big IP outside of Gran Turismo, they could have pushed the console themselves, they were too busy milking the PS2 with Ape Escape sequels and Wild Arms sequels to actually get started working on the new console. Over the years IPs like Arc the Lad and Wild Arms have gone by the wayside and the PS2 was dominated by RPGs like FF, except the problem was the FF is owned by Square.

Maybe, it's because of the huge upfront losses and an uncertain market, but there's certainly not much effort from their side... IMO.

They bet on the wrong horse when it came to Factor 5's Lair and Ninja Theory's Heavenly Sword wasn't the epic they were looking for, and somebody should have been held responsible for that, there have been lots of mistakes, they fucked up royally in Japan. Ultimately the person at the top in terms of game development is now gone, it's time to move on. It seems that Yoshida is intent on making some changes.

See this is bad economics, having 1st parties duke it out in bidding wars for 3rd party titles isn't smart... it's just a battle of attrition and money is better spent investing inwards building the company up... it works great when a new company needs a way in to an industry (sorta seeding their position in a market), or for companies to make an occasional bold statement about their product (kinda like an ad)... but when every side partakes it's a bad thing...

I would rather have them grow their teams into ones that can make popular IPs than simply forking over money for market deals to secure every single third-party title up for sale, have their own DQ instead of having to lose sleep over which way Yuji Horii is going to swing.

 

[KernelPanic]

I would rather have them grow their teams into ones that can make popular IPs than simply forking over money for market deals to secure every single third-party title up for sale, have their own DQ instead of having to lose sleep over which way Yuji Horii is going to swing.

Well it looks like they went after the important ones. Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid 4.

Doesn't look like GTA4 was up for grabs.

 

[Mau ®]

Heavenly Sword is actually my favorite PS3 game. Im not very sad over this news though, as HS wraps up nicely.

Most studios love working with Sony and they're not ashamed to go on or off record about it. Sony gave these guys the opportunity that every under-the-radar developer wants and couldnt get it done without a delay and sending Sony Cambridge on it. Better off without them.

 

[Cipherr]

Heavenly Sword didn't exactly set the world on fire, makes sense to concentrate on a new IP rather than a sequel.

Dont really know what to say though, HS seemed like the perfect mixture of what drove the gamers insane last gen. Little bit of looking like God of War, Little bit of skin on teh ladeez, tons of violence and a narrative. A spot on Heroes, I thought it would be a hit, but sometimes it just doesn't happen.

 

[Bearillusion]

A couple of ppl leaving doesn't mean that the team has disbanded. NT is full of amazingly talented individuals (from programmers to artists..).

Talented indivduals. Maybe. People who value a locked framerate? No.

 

[xbhaskarx]

If only there was some way to easily crosscheck "Who cares, Heavenly Sword sucked anyways" comments against "WOW, Heavenly Sword is an amazing AAA game!" comments...

 

[WORLDWIDEWII]

i just this game today and on a scale from 1 - 10, i would rate this game 7.

goods:
Nariko is interesting.
good used of sixaxis motion control
interesting environments
camera angle is good


bads:

Spoiler

Nariko is dead at the end of the game

villain characters are not interesting at all.
long load time.
few unexplained story line
combat system is not great

 

[supermackem]

I have to say im gutted, i liked the first game i could see its flaws of which there were many but the ground work had been laid for a second game to put right those flaws and build on solid foundations of the first. Thats another good title canned by scee what the hell is going on over there.

 

[Brashnir]

If only there was some way to easily crosscheck "Who cares, Heavenly Sword sucked anyways" comments against "WOW, Heavenly Sword is an amazing AAA game!" comments...

here's the game's official thread - knock yourself out.

http://www.ga-forum.com/showthread.php?t=185334&highlight=Heavenly+Sword+official

 

[Mefisutoferesu]

No kidding.

My point was that they left it up to third-party publishers to put together the line-up for them, but when third-party publishers delay their products on the PS3, well you've got the PS3 launch.

I don't know why there's a problem with Insomniac going with Resistance, I like them branching out into the FPS genre, more importantly they've shown they can actually make a great FPS, not to mention we got Ratchet right after.

And maybe, perhaps, that the folks at Naughty Dog wanted to make something OTHER than YET ANOTHER JAK GAME? I figure the game just kind of evolved into this third-person shooter because they probably only have enough time to concentrate on specific things, puzzles take a long time to design and iterate.

And inFAMOUS isn't even a shooter, Dylan can't even use firearms because the electricity coursing through his body would set off gunpowder. Warhawk was around since the PS1 era, whatelse was Incog going to do? Yet another Twisted Metal game? It's too bad for Sly Cooper and Jak fans but both of those studios are working on great IPs, personally I'm looking forward to UNCHARTED 2!!!111!!!

and inFAMOUS!!!111!!!

more than I ever looked forward to a Jak title or a Sly title.

I have nothing wrong with insomniac or ND or SP branching into other genres, nor did I mention wanting them to continue their previous franchises (I'd prefer Insomniac quit with Ratchet, myself and I don't really want another Jak game... I'd be happy with another Sly game unless it's more like 3, if so I'd rather it just die), however their shift in genre's leaves a pretty sizable hole in others and since Sony sorta became well known for them, not having anything in their portfolio sorta pigeon holed them and left those, like myself, wanting to see the next big platformer from Sony disappointed. I want originality just as much as the next guy, probably more going off of what I read on GAF. Perhaps, my "what they're known for" comment threw you off, but I was talking about genres, not franchises.

 

[GauntletFan]

I've yet to play this game all the way through, but I do remember this being hyped to the high heavens by GAF when it came out. So no-one likes it now?

 

[Kittonwy]

I have nothing wrong with insomniac or ND or SP branching into other genres, nor did I mention wanting them to continue their previous franchises (I'd prefer Insomniac quit with Ratchet, myself and I don't really want another Jak game... I'd be happy with another Sly game unless it's more like 3, if so I'd rather it just die), however their shift in genre's leaves a pretty sizable hole in others and since Sony sorta became well known for them, not having anything in their portfolio sorta pigeon holed them and left those, like myself, wanting to see the next big platformer from Sony disappointed. I want originality just as much as the next guy, probably more going off of what I read on GAF. Perhaps, my "what they're known for" comment threw you off, but I was talking about genres, not franchises.

Well I hope with Uncharted 2 they put more puzzles and platforming in the game. I think inFAMOUS will have some climbing and jumping platforming stuff.

 

[Darkone]

Ohh FUCK, Eight Days got Canned i was so expecting for this game.

 

[McBradders]

All this angst over Heavenly Sword?

Really?

Let 'em go make movies for a "fraction of the cost" and get back to us when they're rolling in Hollywood money.

The track record is not exactly stellar here.

 

[Egg Shen]

I've yet to play this game all the way through, but I do remember this being hyped to the high heavens by GAF when it came out. So no-one likes it now?

I played through it when it came out and remember being more impressed by the cut scenes than by the gameplay, but I didn't think it was absolutely terrible...just somehow, unfinished. It definitely wasn't this vision of perfection that the media previews made it out to be.

 

[Insane Metal]

wut.

Holy shit, beautiful!

 

[DrXym]

HS was a good game, it was just too short and a little bit samey. I think review scores reflect that and thus dampened sales. Fundamentally I think the principle of the game's design was sound and the plot was great but I don't see how the blame for low sales lies with Sony unless they somehow interfered with the game, such as pushing it out too soon or whatever.

 

[GameGamer]

bads:
villain characters are not interesting at all.
long load time.
few unexplained story line
combat system is not great

HS was one of the few games to me where the villains were interesting and well done.

The lack of jump was unbelievable though.

 

[Kittonwy]

HS was a good game, it was just too short and a little bit samey. I think review scores reflect that and thus dampened sales. Fundamentally I think the principle of the game's design was sound and the plot was great but I don't see how the blame for low sales lies with Sony unless they somehow interfered with the game, such as pushing it out too soon or whatever.

They've had a long time with the game, I thought the gameplay just wasn't fleshed out enough, not enough variety and not enough freedom even within what they were doing. Things like having to press a button when walking up to a ladder just to go up the ladder, and no jump button and platforming, and minimal traversal, just takes away from what could have been a great experience.

 

[gcubed]

They've had a long time with the game, I thought the gameplay just wasn't fleshed out enough, not enough variety and not enough freedom even within what they were doing. Things like having to press a button when walking up to a ladder just to go up the ladder, and no jump button and platforming, and minimal traversal, just takes away from what could have been a great experience.

i agree, but thats why i agree that HS2, however they could have made it after that ending, could have been great. There was a really good base there, they just needs to flesh out the gameplay better.