So Prince of Persia sounds like a Ubisoft game/ Official EB POP thread

[y2kev]

God himuro you are dumb. MY BRAIN IS KEPT ACTIVE

"How the hell do I get down there without dying?"

BY FOLLOWING THE VIDEO I JUST WATCHED

[dammitmattt]

I'm not dismissing it, I'm just curious. I mean, I haven't fully dismissed it at all, I still want to play it. It's just that it seems like every single one of my favorite series is starting to go down the toilet and it's starting to make me one jaded gamer.

I think gaming is as good as ever.  Many older series I enjoyed had already run their course and I fully welcome many of the great new IPs that we've been getting over the last few years.  I dunno...just be happier!

[Himu]

God himuro you are dumb. MY BRAIN IS KEPT ACTIVE

I hate brain dead puzzles that are just novelty like the ones seen in Okami.

Also, SoT didn't always tell you how to do shit. And you didn't read what I even said, I said that for the first PoP, not SoT. The 2d one. That game was balls against the wall.

I'm not dismissing it, I'm just curious. I mean, I haven't fully dismissed it at all, I still want to play it. It's just that it seems like every single one of my favorite series is starting to go down the toilet and it's starting to make me one jaded gamer.

I think gaming is as good as ever.  Many older series I enjoyed had already run their course and I fully welcome many of the great new IPs that we've been getting over the last few years.  I dunno...just be happier!

I like games just as much as ever, I just think next gen is balls.

[dark1x]

Uncharted is the sad sacred cow of Ps3 fans, when more attention should be given to MLB The Show 2008 and Valkyria Chronicles

I bought two copies of Valkyria Chronicles (one for me, another for someone else).  It's a great game.

[hyp]

uncharted's shooting mechanics are solid, yes, but oh so boring and unexciting in the long run. and there's absolutely ZERO variety in the scenarios. they all play out the same way. they might look a little different, but they're all essentially the same shoot-out arenas with several entrances for scripted, spawning enemies over and over and over again. there's no variety in the enemy designs either. later on there's a bunch of special guys with special weapons but the difference in how you approach them in combat is marginal at best. and they all behave pretty much the same.

bolded for her pleasure.  uncharted felt like a snorefest from the start.  which is why i'm wary of the addition of "stealth"

[Brehvolution]

I thought this was a PoP thread. 

[Mr. Gundam]

When I picked this up last night, the kid working at Gamestop was making fun of it because it is, and I quote, "a bad Super Mario Galaxy clone."

 

[Eel O'Brian]

gamestop kids are tards

[Himu]

When I picked this up last night, the kid working at Gamestop was making fun of it because it is, and I quote, "a bad Super Mario Galaxy clone."

 

 

[Don Flamenco]

When I picked this up last night, the kid working at Gamestop was making fun of it because it is, and I quote, "a bad Super Mario Galaxy clone."

 

  my god, I hear the worst things at that store too. 

a convo I heard the last time I was there went a little like this:
"It's really just oblvion but they added guns."
"Yeah, Bethesda can only make one game."
"it's pretty much a huge disappointment."
"I know. I mean, I'm gonna play through it, but I'm not really gonna like it"

The last line is verbatim.  The guy is going to put himself through an ungodly amount of hours of Fallout 3 while actively disliking it.

[Eel O'Brian]

they are always making comments on the games i buy

just stfu and ring me up, register monkey

[Mr. Gundam]

they are always making comments on the games i buy

just stfu and ring me up, register monkey

One of these days I should be like "You know what, since you hate this game so much, I've decided that I don't want to give you my money" and then just walk out.

It's one thing to hire people who know something about games to work in your store, it's another to hire stupid fanboys who don't know when to shut up.

[dammitmattt]

I like games just as much as ever, I just think next gen is balls.

Only if you solely have a fetish for big budget Japanese games.

[demi]

they are always making comments on the games i buy

just stfu and ring me up, register monkey

One of these days I should be like "You know what, since you hate this game so much, I've decided that I don't want to give you my money" and then just walk out.

LOL, what would that accomplish? I'd be like "peace" and move onto the next customer

[Mr. Gundam]

they are always making comments on the games i buy

just stfu and ring me up, register monkey

One of these days I should be like "You know what, since you hate this game so much, I've decided that I don't want to give you my money" and then just walk out.

LOL, what would that accomplish? I'd be like "peace" and move onto the next customer

It might get them reprimanded by their manager if they happened to be there, or if I canceled all my preorders with them.

[patrickula]

Maybe if you kick over the magazine rack on the way out 

[dammitmattt]

It might get them reprimanded by their manager if they happened to be there, or if I canceled all my preorders with them.

It would be much more effective to call the district manager and write in to the Office of the President.  At the very least, I'm sure you'll get some type of compensation for it.

I worked there on and off for 7 years and worked with mostly cool people who never acted like this.  I don't understand the kids these days who bring the message board mentality into work.

[Mr. Gundam]

Would you buy a car from someone who told you it was a waste of money? Probably not.

[Don Flamenco]

The best was when I was still trading systems into that place (before I knew better.)  I traded a PS2 for an Xbox and the clerk freaked out...I forgot what he said, but he got real sarcastic and was like "Oh yeah, really smart move, the PS2 has no games" etc.  I brought up KOTOR and Shenmue 2 to get with it and he cooled down and said something like "hmm, well, I guess those are two good reasons to own an xbox." lolowned.


edit: but I'm gonna apply there for part time work next year along with my internship i'm doing.   

[dammitmattt]

The best was when I was still trading systems into that place (before I knew better.)  I traded a PS2 for an Xbox and the clerk freaked out...I forgot what he said, but he got real sarcastic and was like "Oh yeah, really smart move, the PS2 has no games" etc.  I brought up KOTOR and Shenmue 2 to get with it and he cooled down and said something like "hmm, well, I guess those are two good reasons to own an xbox." lolowned.

edit: but I'm gonna apply there for part time work next year along with my internship i'm doing.   

You might think that's a good idea, but it's really not.  I didn't mind the job, but the pay was shit.  You can do a lot better if you're just looking to make a few bucks on the side.

The best thing that came out of my EB employment was the friends I made through the job, but those were made over years of employment.

[y2kev]

queen

[WrikaWrek]

Gonna play this game now, suck on that.

[Don Flamenco]

Freedom go to hell

Fixed.

[WrikaWrek]

Just defeated the 1st semi boss battle.

Game is fun. And so so so so so so beautiful....

[drohne]

this sounds so awful and looks so great. that fucking commercial with the sigur ros is going to sell me this. and i'm going to hate it. and i don't even like sigur ros

[The Fake Shemp]

I'm enjoying this game a lot.  Collecting the orbs light seeds is fucking addicting.  I gather that you have to hit A or B a lot for the platforming, but the timing is key and I really dig the scale of it all.

[Don Flamenco]

this sounds so awful and looks so great. that fucking commercial with the sigur ros is going to sell me this. and i'm going to hate it. and i don't even like sigur ros

back to shitty trailers discussion.  well, that was an awesome trailer, but shitty in that the actual game is wise-crackin' uncharted dude raider with autoplatforming....in persia.


but enough bashing, I will play it early next year.

[TVC15]

this sounds so awful and looks so great. that fucking commercial with the sigur ros is going to sell me this. and i'm going to hate it. and i don't even like sigur ros

I don't think it's awful.  I think it's just pretty mediocre, especially in light of the three previous games.  If I picked this up for 20 bucks (which you could probably do in a few months), I probably wouldn't be bitching so much.

[Bebpo]

I started playing this tonight.  Did a few levels.  I take back everything I said bad about Ubisoft.  This game is great.
If anyone says otherwise I say:  THE PRINCE RUNS ON THE CEILING, HOW COOL IS THAT!?!?

Platforming is better than the recent TRs and Uncharted so far IMO.  I think the magic checkpoint system is brilliant as it frees them up to do platforming where YOU CAN ACTUALLY FALL unlike so many games where it's almost impossible to miss a jump.  Also I prefer magic checkpoint to 2 second black loading screen that takes you out of the game everytime you fall like in ME.

The animation is stiff and the graphics are PS2 HD and the voice acting is entertaining but really unfitting.  But none of that matters, the game is great so far.  Even the combat, while generally shallow it's more deep than the one button AC and therefore more fun.

Yeah, yeah it's not as good as the brilliant SoT and maybe WW and TTT were good too, but guess what?  I never played WW/TTT before artistically they looked like macho man shit.  At least this looks aesthetically pleasing so I can enjoy the gameplay.

[Van Cruncheon]

but you don't so anything special to make him run on the ceiling, control-wise; you just HOLD A like you do to climb and wall run. i'm not learning a new technique ala tomb raider, i'm just holding A as usual.

[y2kev]

Bebpo's impressions are like bizarro impressions. PS2 graphics but improved platforming? You had a wider array of platforming moves and more control over the Prince's actions in the Sands of Time Trilogy. I mean...period.

[Bebpo]

Bebpo's impressions are like bizarro impressions. PS2 graphics but improved platforming? You had a wider array of platforming moves and more control over the Prince's actions in the Sands of Time Trilogy. I mean...period.

I didn't say improved platforming over the old PoPs.  I said I'm finding the platforming better than TRL/TRU/Uncharted.

Sure every move you do is either button A or B, but when did platformers become about how many buttons there are?  Mirrors Edge uses 2 buttons for the most part for all it's platforming and the platforming in ME is very solid.  Platformers are about timing and while this PoP is very lenient on timings it still requires some skill.  The whole "climb here, shimmey here, slide down and jump while sliding, catch log, etc... is EXACTLY like Tomb Raider except Tomb Raider has stricter timings so you fall more.  But PoP's level design so far seems to make more sense than TR and the camera is a million times better.  PoP isn't as good of a platformer as say, ME, but I think it's standing decently high so far in the mainstream linear platforming crowd that games like TR and Uncharted fall in.

And the graphics are very PS2 HD.  The textures are totally flat with cell shading that looks like PS2 cell-shaded games.  The lighting is non-existent and the locations are very simple in textures and geometry.  The main differences is good IQ and huge environments that PS2-gen couldn't pull off.  Personally I've thought the visuals looked PS2 HDish since all the screenshots.  I still think the game looks fantastic but that's solely art design and not tech at all.  Game looks very much like a Japanese developed game outside the animation which is weaker than you would expect for a Japanese developer.

[Bebpo]

Ok, I do miss the trips from the 2d PoP and SoT.  Getting the timings on running through chomping blades was always fun.  Maybe they'll be in the later parts?

My biggest complaint is just that this PoP seems short as hell if you can spot the line.  I'm running through all these levels in 3-5 mins each and it's only collecting light seeds that take up any real time.  I mean I thought Mirrors Edge stages were kind of short at 9-15 mins each, but the starting stages in PoP are hardly long enough to be called a stage.  They flow nicely, they're just super short at this point.  Hopefully they get longer when you reach stage tier 2.

[The Fake Shemp]

but you don't so anything special to make him run on the ceiling, control-wise; you just HOLD A like you do to climb and wall run. i'm not learning a new technique ala tomb raider, i'm just holding A as usual.

[Himu]

Ok, I do miss the trips from the 2d PoP and SoT.  Getting the timings on running through chomping blades was always fun.  Maybe they'll be in the later parts?

These are the things I'm talking about. That shit is badass. It's not in the new game?

[Tieno]

Duckman's favourite website 'Eurogamer' gave POP a 6/10

With all these things in combination, the result is a game where you pick an area to save from the corruption, go there, run to the top, do a fight, gather some orbs and then repeat. The platforming fluency is seductive, but it's a language of indifferent thumbing yawned through timing windows as wide as a house. The crushing thing about Prince of Persia, however, isn't this. It's that we're faced with yet another poor game planted in a bed of fantastic technology and interesting mechanics, which, rather than empowering the player to solve interesting problems in new and exciting ways, merely sends you for a long and elaborate stroll through a beautiful world devoid of challenge or variation, and marred by excessive repetition.

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=324101&page=2

[Himu]

ahahaha holy shit next gen sucks.

[cool breeze]

I've played for 5 minutes or so and 3 achievements.  Platforming does seem pretty automatic, but it's really damn nice to look at.

and yeah, this is Nathan Drake. The game even has a quip button 

[Don Flamenco]

Ok, I do miss the trips from the 2d PoP and SoT.  Getting the timings on running through chomping blades was always fun.  Maybe they'll be in the later parts?

These are the things I'm talking about. That shit is badass. It's not in the new game?

that would require dying and the new hardcasual games only want to give the illusion of danger without the consequences.

[Bebpo]

that would require dying and the new hardcasual games only want to give the illusion of danger without the consequences.

There's no reason it wouldn't work in this game.  If you got chomped the girl would just pull you back.  Same as drowning in goo.

[y2kev]

Yeah, I'm a convert on the dying thing. That alone doesn't really affect the game's difficulty--it is just a no-loading checkpoint system (though the checkpoints are VERY frequent under this system). Buuuut the platforming itself is just easy and linear.

[Bebpo]

Yeah, I'm a convert on the dying thing. That alone doesn't really affect the game's difficulty--it is just a no-loading checkpoint system (though the checkpoints are VERY frequent under this system). Buuuut the platforming itself is just easy and linear.

Yeah, I can see the complaints and if the rest of the game is just the same as the first 4 areas then 

I think the main difference between this game and other platformers is you don't have to look around and figure out how to get somewhere.  It's usually really obvious. 

Also are you forced to collect the light seeds or is it entirely optional?  It seems enjoyable as an optional quest, but would get very repetitive if it was forced.

[The Fake Shemp]

Only knock is that I wish it had more puzzles and a little less hand holding, but the game is very fun and enjoyable - I hope they keep the light seeds or something like that with the sequel and amp up the puzzles/difficulty.

[demi]

Light Seeds are required for progression, but you dont need to collect them all.

[The Fake Shemp]

To be honest, though, since combat is sparse and mediocre - collecting the Light Seeds is the most fun thing in the game.  I love it.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

you LIKE the Light Seeds?

[y2kev]

People like this game for entirely different reasons than why people liked SoT.

[The Fake Shemp]

It's one of the few moments in the game where it rewards the player by letting him/her combine abilities and platforming to get the seeds.  It's not like you can automatically get all of them - you actually have to think, "What ability do I need to get up there?  How do I get up there?"

[y2kev]

It's one of the few moments in the game where it rewards the player by letting him/her combine abilities and platforming to get the seeds.  It's not like you can automatically get all of them - you actually have to think, "What ability do I need to get up there?  How do I get up there?"

I just don't see this, though. The abilities you need are explicitly spelled out by the color pad, and if it's padless, you only have the abilities the world makes incredibly obvious through the countless "visual clues."

[The Fake Shemp]

Not true, there are a bunch of seeds spread throughout that are "unreachable" unless you find a color pad that gets you to certain areas that allow you to get to the seeds.  Or let you get them incidentally (like flying).

So then you need to find the pad and if you don't have the power, you need to get it.  I like that stuff.

[cool breeze]

Yeah, I'm a convert on the dying thing. That alone doesn't really affect the game's difficulty--it is just a no-loading checkpoint system (though the checkpoints are VERY frequent under this system). Buuuut the platforming itself is just easy and linear.

There is a checkpoint every single time you touch flat ground.

And I enjoy the game, probably more than others here seemed to, but it is a bit exhausting to play.  It's doing the same thing over and over again without any real variety there in the first place.  I'm probably gonna start Far Cry 2 now because I just can't continue on with only playing PoP because I would actually fall asleep.  I was on the verge of passing out after collecting more light seeds to get the next power to continue on, then I noticed I haven't even collected half of what you're required to finish the game.  Maybe later tonight I'll listen to a podcast and just collect things while listening to avoid sleeping so I can continue on with the story stuff...not to say the story and stuff is interesting at all, or even well presented.  I don't even know what's going on at this point but the King acts like a filthy hobo and yells crazy shit at you two every time you visit the main place.  At least dialogue isn't one guy speaking while you walk around a room wondering why the fuck you can't skip it.

I do like that no dying thing since I'm a fan of taking random leaps of faith without dealing the consequences, but the problem here is that the levels are almost too well designed to stop you from reaching areas you weren't supposed to by exploiting your abilities.

[y2kev]

Not true, there are a bunch of seeds spread throughout that are "unreachable" unless you find a color pad that gets you to certain areas that allow you to get to the seeds.  Or let you get them incidentally (like flying).

So then you need to find the pad and if you don't have the power, you need to get it.  I like that stuff.

I don't see how this "not trues" anything I said. I said the abilities you need are always spelled out by the color pad you see. This is true. This does not really contradict what you said (you've got to have the ability and get to the color pad).

But there's very little manual dexterity or real thought involved here.

I find the game very relaxing. Compare collecting these orbs to collecting the orbs in crackdown. In addition to being difficult to reach (what can you jump on, what can you climb on), they were often hard to actually get to using the in-game mechanics. It was challenging. This isn't really challenging...it's almost busywork.

[The Fake Shemp]

I guess I need to repeat it again, but simply hitting a power pad does not net you said light seeds in weird spots.  In many cases, you need to acquire the power pad to get you to an area that will allow you to acquire the light seeds with some nifty platforming.

Unless you have the psychic gift to determine what EXACT power (when several areas have multiple ones spread throughout) you need and what exact ledge/platform it will take you to and what exact route you will take from there to get the light seeds.

Is it rocket science?  No, but it does take some thought.  Do I get this power to unlock a whole area or grab that one to get me to the ledge where there are ten light seeds?  Especially when those ten light seeds can get me a whole new power!  There are also light seeds that can do not have distinct visual clues on how to get them and usually you have a couple of options on how to get them.

It's fun.

[cool breeze]

apparently I haven't even collected a third of the power seeds.  Watching the 1up footage it shows you need 540 at one point.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

how many light seeds do you need to finish the game?

I would like to collect as few as possible because it's busywork and the opposite of game design

if I am actually required to collect them at some point then I'm selling this game when I get home tonight :/

[WrikaWrek]

Lol at the Ps2 Hd graphics comments.

I guess unless the game throws photorealism at your face like an hammer you don't see the details. Bebpo can't comment on graphics from now on, officially.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

the worst part about the game is that it feels like the environments, the world map (what), the characters, the audio, the combat were all designed by different groups who never talked to each other

[Jansen]

-It's beautiful
-It sounds amazing
-The platforming feels a little disconnected from the player--pressing A once results in the prince scurrying up a wall even if that requires him to "grab" twice
-The level design seems to be fuk brilliant
-Performance is great
-The CE is garbage
-Combat is boring but very cinematic
-The no dying thing works well
-The writing is not as snappy
-The prince is voiced by Nathan Drake
-It's impossible to get lost because the game tells you where to go
-There are no puzzles so far of any kind

sounds positively dreadful

should have been a wii game

[drew]

no puzzles
+
no platforming
=
not PoP

should have been a ds game

[Bebpo]

Lol at the Ps2 Hd graphics comments.

I guess unless the game throws photorealism at your face like an hammer you don't see the details. Bebpo can't comment on graphics from now on, officially.

...or some people missed how good cell-shading got on PS2.  Like Swaggaz said, if you played PoP on an SDTV it probably looks like Rogue Galaxy.