NeverDead
I'm genuinely surprised by how underappreciated and overlooked this is.
Its like someone mixed Devil may cry, Dark souls/hack-n-slash elements, a traditional, old school non-cover shooter, and
PAIN all together into one game. It appears deceptively straight forward, but it has a lot of intrincacies that aren't directly explained to you and easily missed. Its also got a relatively steep learning curve and high skill ceiling. If you're approaching this like a typical TPS, you're doing it wrong. This game requires you to rethink and relearn all of that from scratch. It has a specific gameflow you have to adapt to. The gameplay doesn't seem very intuitive at first especially, since part of it relies on you getting a hang of the game's physics. That might seem quite challenging and frustrating at first, for some, because it might come off as unpredictable and unfair. I imagine that's probably played a major reason in why it was so massively panned upon release. Some didn't even finish the campaign before settling on a score.
There's such a cool amount of variety on how to strategically approach battles:
-If your arms are dismembered you can continue firing even if you're apart (holding down R1 and L1)
-you can even do the above while you're trying to roll yourself back into one piece.
-throw your arms or use your limbs as grenades (an ability you acquire later on)
-throw your arm and watch it flail around spraying in every direction (pretty useful in a packed room or tight corridors), while shooting with the other
-throw an arm and play fetch with dog-like enemies or/and remote detonate it (an ability you acquire later on)
-exploit your environment and use debris (statues, walls, pillars, ceilings, etc. are your friends) to damage your enemies in various ways. Goes both ways though since enemies can use the same environment against you.
-act as a conduit for fire or electricity and use it to stun your enemies or set them on fire. There's even an ability that allows you to shoot electric and fire bullets if you're electricuted or in flames.
-mulltiple abilities to apply/customize to your own play style/build/loadout on the fly. As you progress, more abilities become available to you that can be purchased with XP earned throughout the game. There's even an ability in the vain of Max Payne's slow-mo which warns you of incoming attacks.
-stun enemies with the shotgun to gain a temporary opening
-taking off your own head and throwing it to a further distance to position yourself better and regenerate away from your enemies.
You can borderline control every part/limb of your body. I even think you can get away with just having both arms attached to your head while rolling around and shooting in different directions.
The sword might feel awkward to use (its apparently similar to Metal gear rising, but without the slowmo), but you'll get used to it and its highly effective. Once everything clicks, it actually feels great. You'll feel awesome for mastering the navigation and scale of options. I don't want to sound hyperbolic, but I genuinely think some aspects of the gameplay are very innovative if not (r)evolutionary. Its just the difficulty curve can hinder some people some from really understanding how to play it properly. Thus making it seem unpleasent, tedious, and unenjoyable. The story itself is nonsensial though. Its just there to be entertaining and nothing else, much like a good, quirky low budget b-flick similar to Evil dead and the like. It does its job, isn't very intrusive and isn't meant to be taken seriously (I'll admit its kind of grown on me after my second playthrough though and itsn't all that bad actually). However, the core fun and entertainment value is centered around the gameplay.
The more I play it, the more I like it. I'm playing it a second time on the highest difficulty right now and all your XP resets and transfers from your previous playthrough. I can seriously see myself replaying this again at some point.
I can imagine some people could've gotten put off/frustrated over losing your head repeatedly to put it back in place. When you become familiar enough with how the game works, losing your head will occure far less frequently or become entirely avoidable. Some boss attacks aren't telegraphed properly though because hints can seem too subtle and require you to jump/dodge in the last 1-2 seconds before impact. That's especially true for the last two bosses. But, even that is something you'll eventually adapt to once you've learned how to play the game properly after a while. The last two bosses, on the highest difficulty, felt like a breeze on my second playthrough.
If you're the kind of gamer that gets easily frustrated, thinks physics-based gameplay can be unfair, doesn't enjoy puzzle solving, enjoys a deep story above anything else, and requires handholding all the time, then this isn't for you.
If you're the kind of gamer that has patience then this is for you.
If you're the kind of gamer that get satisfaction from getting skillful at a demanding gameplay system/style then this is for you.
If you're the kind of gamer that like action games then this is for you.
If you're the kind of gamer that can enjoy a b-flick, with a dash of cheesy sense of humor, then this is for you.
If you're the kind of gamer that likes Ninja Gaiden and Dark souls then this is for you.
If you're the kind of gamer that who likes to take on Vanquish tactical challenges regularly then this is for you.
If you're the kind of gamer that enjoy twitch shooters then this is for you.
If you're the kind of gamer that likes puzzles intertwined with shooting games then this is for you.
If you're the kind of gamer that enjoy satisfying combat then this is for you.
If you're the kind of gamer that enjoys a challenge then this
is for you.
I think its kind of ahead (no pun intended) of its time and can legitimately see this gaining a dedicated cult following over time similar to God hand. I'm
not joking. I'm adamant about this. The scenario even reminds me of the abysmal Godhand reviews prior to its now cult popularity. The only difference being it didn't have someone like Mikami with clout behind it to make people question whether or not the poor reception was valid. Nojiri knew EXACTLY what he was doing when he designed this game. I sincerely think this is a deeply misunderstood game.
I get the impression this was Nojiri's own unique spin on the Cuhraaayzee/character action genre similar to Devil may cry. Nojiri made the mistake assuming the majority of players would be willling to take their time to fully understand the game. The reality is that a majority of the media very likely got fucking filtered. I feel sad for Nojiri. Seriously, the guy was fucking robbed.
This game has kind of cemented my idea of ineptitude within the gaming media. These people aren't qualified to review games. I've been looking through gameplay footage of the game from IGN, Destrucoid and Gamespot, they don't even know what they're doing or even trying. Its all half-assed. This is legitimately one of the most original, ambitious, innovative and unique titles to have been released in the past decade and they're largely responsible for its flop. Nojiri was punished for no reason. These so called reviewers pushed it to fail and drove/discouraged a promising game designer out of the industry. What a bunch of cunts. Fucking scandalous, man. Fuck the media. This is a hidden gem, 2/10 on Sterling's ass. What a gross display of incompetence. I'm so glad I gave this game a chance without being aware of the hate. Otherwise I could've assumed it was bottom of the barrel garbage which couldn't be further from the truth.
I don't normally do long, winded write-ups, but this game warranted it. Especially, after all the negativity its garnered for no reason mixed with absolute nonsense.
7,5~8,5/10. Would recommend.
Tl:dr; Anyone who calls this a bad game is a casual
and you can't convince me otherwise.
P.S: For the sake of someone being interested in trying it out: If you feel normal mode is too difficult, consider changing to easy and purchase the "sixth sense" ability (Max payne slow down mechanic) ASAP. It'll ease your frustration when you can predict incoming threats.
P.P.S: Now take a listen to NeverDead's main theme by Megadeth:
There aren't any multiplayer or speedrun trophies.
