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Sui Generis Beta Launches: Exanima

Do you remember the kickstarted isometric RPG Sui Generis with physics-based combat?

Probably!

Well the beta just launched on steam, and it is pretty damn awesome.

Pics from the beta that I took (menu, character creation, arena mode, story)
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Impressions: combat can look goofy if you have no idea what you are doing, but learning how to block, when to swing, and how to swing is extremely rewarding. Currently the game is pretty damn hard, cryptic, and unforgiving (you die and you have to start over).
I will post more impressions the more I play.
 

Dsyndrome

Member
Haven't heard about it before today, will check it out and the Kickstarter behind it when I get home. Definitely looks interesting.
 
I may have bought it thinking it was Sui Generis ;) Got too excited! Still really fun! I've been waiting almost three years to be able to try it!
 

ZiZ

Member
how did you get out of the room? I've tried ragdolling everywhere.

edit: never mind figured it out.
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
Been following Sui Generis and this looks really good. Honestly, I think the engine they've made here could stand up in a first person or traditional third person game.
 

Arulan

Member
I unfortunately missed the Kickstarter for Sui Generis, but I've been following updates on it for a little while now.

I decided to impulse buy Exanima to try out the mechanics. What I've played so far, albeit little, is very promising. If you're familiar with Mount & Blade you'll likely have an easier time picking it up, but isn't the same either. I haven't played too much of the "dungeon-crawling", but the physics interactions, lighting, and aesthetics are really nice. I can certainly see some players having issues with the controls at first, but I think there is depth in the systems (movement and combat specifically) that will allow personal skill to flourish.

I made a quick video of my 2nd and 3rd attempt at the Arena for a friend. I'll add a link here if anyone is interested. I had to turn off supersampling and HW AA so that the capture ran decently on my aging GPU.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHtdX2XTs-o
 

Nessus

Member
I kept hoping they'd add gamepad support but that doesn't seem very likely.

Love the concept of physics-based combat in a fantasy setting.
 
I kept hoping they'd add gamepad support but that doesn't seem very likely.

Love the concept of physics-based combat in a fantasy setting.

I have a hard time seeing how you would they would settle all the environmental manipulation let alone the combat on a controller (so much mouse movement and look in this).

I think it is a 0% possibility really.
 

Koobion

Member
Physics have always been my favorite feature in games. I was amazed by physics implementations in games like Half Life 2, and even Oblivion. I spent way too much time playing with the hanging chain in the very first room in that game.

To have the characters in this game move and react with physics is amazing to me, and I'm definitely checking this game out!
 

KKRT00

Member
NIce PoM, i really liked what they did with lighting as well.

I'm really interested in this game, but seems like it is far from being finished unfortunately.
I also would like it to be come more diablo-like in terms of loot.
 

d0g_bear

Member
This is the kickstarter that I backed that I most lost hope in. They really went quiet for a while and there were a couple of delays. Great to see a something real on steam.

There needs to be a tutorial for combat though ihavenoideawhatimdoing.png
 
There needs to be a tutorial for combat though ihavenoideawhatimdoing.png

There's a quick start guide in the options that they urge you to read in one of the first screens when you boot it up. But it just gives you an idea. I goofed around in the arena to kind of trial and error learn it.

I find this game mesmerizing, the combat is so unique. Sometimes I feel like I'm just flowing in the combat, and sometimes I feel like a drunk. :p

I wish the dungeon part would let you at least keep your loot like the arena mode does though.
 

Servizio

I don't really need a tag, but I figured I'd get one to make people jealous. Is it working?
This is like Resident Evil, QWOP, and Diablo.

I look forward to the release that let's me save scum like crazy, because getting the hang of the combat is taking me awhile. The ole block and smack seems to work well. I was liking the mace and buckler combo for a bit.

I had a pretty visceral reaction to taking a sledgehammer to the head in the arena, the physics and sound effects really came together there.

Pretty fun so far, but they're not kidding when they say this really different from anything else.
 
Took me a little bit, but I *get* the combat now. And it's damn fine! Really ambitious, but what sets it apart is the sheer dynamic nature of enemies, especially in the arena. It never feels like an opponent goes into cyclic downtime, if that makes any sense. You wouldn't even say they have an attack 'pattern', because that would be disingenuous to the nature of the encounter.

Very fresh. And when they implement more than just the sweep attacks -- lunges, especially -- it'll be magnificent.

Absolutely NOT a game you'd use with a controller. It requires a lot of fidelity, particularly with feints. It'd diminish the finesse by thumbing sticks about.

Very impressed.
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
Man I cannot for the life of me kill the red headed sword and board lady in the arena.

Dastardly ginger wench, I will have thee.
 

Digby

Neo Member
This is an amazing game. I think they really have the start of something special here. I hope they finish this and find the funds to finish their larger vision.

When the physics work, it's creates combat that is simply incredible - there's nothing like it anywhere. When it doesn't, it looks like two drunk homeless people pretending to sword fight. Ive found that when it starts to look like that, you're doing it wrong. After 5 hours, I think I "get" how the combat works. It's very rewarding. I've just done the arena, but if a fleshed out world with this combat baked into it is what they have planned long term, count me in.

I found these YouTube combat tutorials on RPS. They helped me a lot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGh2NwqT8Ts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rja7TSg7EUc
 

Fire-Dragon-DoL

Neo Member
This game looks insanely cool.
I'm definitely buying it, I like the environment SO MUCH (dark fantasy low-fantasy is best environment for me), graphics seems really nice.

I initially thought it was a Diablo-like game and got disappointed, then I watched the video and.... WOAH :O
 

Servizio

I don't really need a tag, but I figured I'd get one to make people jealous. Is it working?
I've been doing the Arena off and on all evening. When I got back into it, I thought they must have tweaked the AI's, I was doing so poorly. Now I'm managing to get all the way to the sword and board redhead without taking any permanent damage. And then of course she slices and dices me consistently. I've gotten past her...Three times, maybe? She's so zippy and with excellent reach with that sword.

I also played around with the physiques, seeing how the different builds stack up. I don't really see any advantage to being fat at all? I would have thought it gave you more HP, but if it does it's totally inconsequential compared to getting hit more. And being max height is such a liability, your legs get hit all the time. Mid height, top center physique seems to be working really well for me.

Also, I think this is the first character creator that has let me unintentionally re-create my grandma with such high accuracy. I hope they keep expanding on it, it's pretty neat.

I've pretty much been using the two handed sword exclusively. Reach, speed, great damage. So long as you keep your distance, you can really punish any opening. I've established fairly effective strategies for each of the fighters you go up against so far with it. With the right timing, I can get most enemies to walk into the second backswing if you hold the left click down. Occasionally, an overhead chop is really devastating against anyone with a shield, but the timing on that is really tricky and leaves you pretty open. What kind of weapons are you guys using?

The campaign is still pretty hard, pretty much because it's so easy to get cornered by multiple enemies. The update notes seem to imply there's more than one map, but I haven't managed to get past the first one. Anyone find any secrets or unusual weapons so far? I've found the compass but that's it. The handsaw seems to end up being a pretty viable weapon just because of how quick it is. The sledgehammer is pretty fun to use if you can sneak up behind someone and do the overhead smash.

I keep wishing I had quickslots for the torch and switching weapons.
 
So I decided to pick this up, and I'm both pleased and disappointed. The latter because I learned after the fact that it's actually a stand-alone prelude to a larger project that's still in development. And the actual dungeon crawling is kind of bare bones. Environments are samey, and of course being Early Access, it's lacking in other areas

But god damn, the combat. It's physics based, and while at times it feels more like pulling a puppet around rather than controlling a person, when you get a rhythm down and are in the heat of fight, it's so so satisfying. It feels desperate and realistic. Attacks have weight and force behind them, and blows and misses will throw you off balance. Bodies and blades get tangled up and pushed around. It's Demons Souls' "Don't use broadswords or pole-arms in a narrow corridor" logic expanded with realistic physics. It's Mount and Blade directional combat, but 100x's better.

http://fat.gfycat.com/DirectShamelessHoneyeater.webm
 

Dark_castle

Junior Member
Playing Trine makes me realize how physics-based gameplay can be very interesting and refreshing to play. Granted that was a platformer, but I like the sound of this.
 

Kwixotik

Member
Gonna necrobump this thread for a moment. Tried this game today after finding it via Giantbombs list of games similar to bloodborne. It seems like it has potential but I really don't understand why WASD has to be relative to the cursor rather than the camera. You could still change your character's orientation directionally with the cursor and control his movement with WASD relative to the camera and not lose combat system depth. Imo the strange control scheme just artificially increases the difficulty by making the controls unintuitive. It's kind of turning me off of the game. If I want that kind of difficulty I'll play Super Mario World in an emulator and just "randomize" the controls on my game pad ...

Id love to hear other perspectives though.
 
This fucking game has completely changed my outlook on combat in action RPGs (of the top down kind.) Hilarious and really awkward at first then becomes completely awesome. It's entirely physics driven to the point where even things in the character creator like height and weight impact the simulation (short characters have a lower center of gravity and thus more balance but taller characters have more reach with their swings, thin characters are more agile but have less force behind their hits) All the gifs in this post are from the arena mode which serves as a combat boot camp. The current main game is a permadeath dungeon crawler that is heavy on atmosphere and very light on hand holding, you're encouraged to avoid fights early on and pay close attention to your surroundings and fucking break out some graph paper to draw a map. It's early access still and shaping up to be something really special.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/362490/

http://www.baremettle.com/


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I watched MickeyKnox stream this the other day for about an hour the other day. The combat and physics systems are bad ass. Game looks tough as shit too. I'd love to see a co-op/PVP component.
 
I really want to like this but I still can't get into the combat. And I suck at it :(

I spent the first like 2 hours I played this laughing uncontrollably on a stream with a friend, it wasn't until I read through the whole quick start page in the menu that I started wrapping my head around the mechanics. You just have to adjust to the tank controls and most crucially that THE CHARACTER WILL ALWAYS TURN TO FACE THE CURSOR IN COMBAT MODE this little detail is what allows you fine control over your actions, becomes all about zoning/knowing how to get in and out of range of your weapon and the enemy's weapon, and using feints to get the enemy to fuck up. Also important, BLOCKING/PARRYING is achieved by NOT starting an attack and aiming your cursor (which in turn aims your character) in the direction of the blow. Attacks are initiated by holding down left mouse to begin a Right to Left swing that if uninterrupted will follow up with a Left to Right swing, you can start your attack with a Left to Right swing (very useful) by moving the cursor to the left of your character click an hold mouse one while moving the cursor back to the right. You can do a downward overhead attack by double clicking and holding mouse 1. Since it's all physics driven, your swings are made more or less effective by the momentum your body is putting into them from directional (WASD) movement. Oh and SPACE will auto center the camera behind your character's back. You can eventually try to get all fancy by using the crouch key to get a lower attack stance but that shit usually just puts your head right at swing level and that's a bad scene.

When it eventually "clicks" it will ruin you for other action rpgs, every fight is filled with an insane amount of tension because the game is so unforgiving and one misstep and I mean literally stepping in the wrong direction/at the wrong time/into the wrong piece of set dressing/tripping over a stool will ruin your day, each regular encounter feels like fighting an invader in Dark Souls.

This thing put its hooks in me DEEP.
 

Hastati

Member
I spent the first like 2 hours I played this laughing uncontrollably on a stream with a friend, it wasn't until I read through the whole quick start page in the menu that I started wrapping my head around the mechanics. You just have to adjust to the tank controls and most crucially that THE CHARACTER WILL ALWAYS TURN TO FACE THE CURSOR IN COMBAT MODE this little detail is what allows you fine control over your actions, becomes all about zoning/knowing how to get in and out of range of your weapon and the enemy's weapon, and using feints to get the enemy to fuck up. Also important, BLOCKING/PARRYING is achieved by NOT starting an attack and aiming your cursor (which in turn aims your character) in the direction of the blow. Attacks are initiated by holding down left mouse to begin a Right to Left swing that if uninterrupted will follow up with a Left to Right swing, you can start your attack with a Left to Right swing (very useful) by moving the cursor to the left of your character click an hold mouse one while moving the cursor back to the right. You can do a downward overhead attack by double clicking and holding mouse 1. Since it's all physics driven, your swings are made more or less effective by the momentum your body is putting into them from directional (WASD) movement. Oh and SPACE will auto center the camera behind your character's back. You can eventually try to get all fancy by using the crouch key to get a lower attack stance but that shit usually just puts your head right at swing level and that's a bad scene.

When it eventually "clicks" it will ruin you for other action rpgs, every fight is filled with an insane amount of tension because the game is so unforgiving and one misstep and I mean literally stepping in the wrong direction/at the wrong time/into the wrong piece of set dressing/tripping over a stool will ruin your day, each regular encounter feels like fighting an invader in Dark Souls.

This thing put its hooks in me DEEP.


That sounds so great, thank you for the impressions.

Sounds like something Miyazaki might want to consider for future FROM titles....
 
Messing around with movement options featuring the sprint button and some crouching pirouette action!

So.

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Mother.

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Fucking.

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Good!

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Ohshit

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Hastati

Member
^

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Bad ass.

Yeah, this is maybe the most impressive combat sequence I've seen in a videogame. Outside of brief moments of perfection in DMC4/Dark Souls. Just awesome, I hope other developers take note (although it looks like this whole system has been incredibly challenging to realize).
 
Yeah, this is maybe the most impressive combat sequence I've seen in a videogame. Outside of brief moments of perfection in DMC4/Dark Souls. Just awesome, I hope other developers take note (although it looks like this whole system has been incredibly challenging to realize).

Also completely intentional and under my control, it's basically M&K puppeteering, the crouch swing lowers your center of gravity and builds momentum, following through the swing as it misses lets you carry your momentum all the way around (that red circle is the mouse cursor and the character always turns to face it) letting go of crouch mid spin gives you upward momentum which flows into the overhead block (initiated by moving the cursor up to meet the attack)

This is the best feeling melee combat in an action rpg period.
 
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