Falkenwut
09-13-2009, 04:45 AM
NOTE: This is a fan-made detailed review. Those who do not wish to be spoiled best go back. This is specifically made for IOI programmers. I hope they will read this. Also, if you wish to make your own detailed review here or link this to the review sticked thread, do so.
I finished the game on PC, using keyboard and mouse with most features unlocked, but I'll give this game a 2nd round for sure.
Character design:
I found the characters to be very cute. Very well done for the cute japanese-esque enviroment. I personally tried to give all the characters a fair chance at each part of the game and I found that the characters are not equally compensative. Also, I noticed that you do not see any story-related scenes in the game. In the vignette, Hiro has a crush on Suzume, and I read somewhere that Kunoichi has a crush on Hiro. But there's no proof of this in the game whatsoever.
Hiro - The main character and holds of kuji magic forms. His sword makes a regular punch. Just like any other super-hero. I only disliked the fact that only hiro could challenge a boss, but it fits by level design, so I'll let it pass. I totally loved the last power where
you can posses the enemy soldiers. But problem about it is that it has no stealth value... I wish it did. (At least when i played it)
Futo - Strong and slow, can't argue with the steriotype xD... Although he feels a tiny bit too slow... but then again, if compensates for other characters
Suzume - She has a good trick up her sleave and a little lower damage then Hiro. Interesting choice of character design.
Shun - The archer, great for long range attacks but weak when up close. Very nice animations on him, especially when he hangs off the side of a building, but his running seems a little off for him, I know he tries to stay low all the time to stay camoflaged but he runs alot like futo. Also the fact that aiming takes a long time using this character. Mashing the mouse button makes him shoot faster. Although I expected more from what the trailer presented.
Tora - Although he's one of the cutest characters, I did not find him to be that necessary, he just feels like a mix of kunoichi and futo but there's nothing really grand about him which makes him a better choice of character compared to the others in any situation that I encountered.
Kunoichi - Also an interesting character, despite her being abit weak, her special
attack isn't anything special. Just like Tora, there's nothing grand about her which makes her a better choice of character compared to the other characters in any situation that I encountered
Kuji spells: Nothing really special about them, they feel alot like spells in millions of other games but fitting nontheless!
Stealth: Although it's one of the main features of this game, it doesn't feel like it. Climbing on the rooftops felt appropriatly stealthy, But in some cases, Bashing everyone felt more fun then hiding.
Enemy Design:
I must say I'm impressed. They are designed briliantly with the scary samurai masks of feudal japan. For idiots they are very well programmed! Although the generals are just wusses which annoyed me. I know it's supposed to make them funny but they're just annoying even to look at! Although I found the wussy general who's afraid to talk to the samurai warlord very cute! I pittied him xD
The bosses are VERY cleverly done! All 5 bosses are smartly programmed. Despite that their winning moves were repetitive. But non-the-less I enjoyed even looking at them
1st boss with blades: He looked wierd with the tiny legs, but a bit repetive.
2nd boss of farts: Very clever! Made me giggle alot xD. I could have never imagined seeing an intimidating enemy that uses farts and is capable of maneuvering them xD
3rd boss in the water: Cleverly designed! Although repetitive, the finishing moves where fun to see.
4th boss in the air: Interestingly designed. There's not much I can say about him though I found him cute.
5th and final boss: Straight to the point, Intimidating. He looks alot like a cliche of other bosses from other games. But It fits well.
Voice work:
Very good work from japanese voice-actors. They sounded appropriatly like minions or furious big monsters. However the english with japanese accent where sometimes off key. Specifically the wussy general who's afraid to talk to the samurai warlord and the samurai warlord himself a little off. But non-the less, excelent work. Another note:
Towards the end, there is a samurai who dies from a volcano bomb and uses the "Wilhelm scream". Please... Avoid using that. It is cliche of the ages. Plus it made the samurai sound less miniony
Level Design:
Again, very very impressive. A mix of both open world and linearity. This is what I love about IOI and Eidos games, you do not force the players to do 1 thing, the player chooses what he/she wishes to do. But sometimes it was annoying to spend alot of time running. I will not go into detail. But all I'll say is that I did not expect the part where you
climb the animated building for the final boss. At first i thought it was going to be a battle but i was totally surprised about it! Good work! Another note that annoyed me is when you are playing later through the levels you stumble upon notes left by the characters you already saved. It's abit annoying.. they could have just told you...
Music:
Very very fitting. Peter Svarre made a perfect job in the music score. I don't know
if Jesper Kyd would have done a better job, but I still think that giving Peter Svarre
the score still kicked off a success.
Flaws:
There aren't many from my side. But most of them are pretty clear.
From my side would be Gameplay:
Not that it wasn't good, but it felt kinda sticky sometimes, that's normal, I'll let that pass. Also I must say that this game is too complicated for 7 year olds. There are too many factors for young children to enjoy it, Unless they play games everyday, like myself xD
Repetitiveness:
Alot of people noted this out. Same from me, some of the gameplay felt alot like button mashing but at least you let the player choose his/her approach
Glacier engine:
This is not from me but alot of people complain about this. I highly recommend you start work on fixing the FPS issue then starting on your next game.Otherwise you WILL have trouble on your next release. Also, the fact that gamers need to use the xbox 360 controller is a down-side to the glacier engine. Although I know how to fix that issue, I didn't use a controller for this game because my controller is getting old.
Easter Eggs:
I didn't search thoroughly for this but they're not clear! I wish someone would point them out!! Or at least tell me where to look, Coz I'll defenatly give this game a 2nd go!
Overall: Impressive, brilliant, clever, Japanese. 8 out of 10. Some gamers may not be interested for a second go, but I HIGHLY recommend a 1 go.
Suggestions:
1> DO NOT MAKE A MOVIE!!!! A tv series would be perfect for this.
2> If a sequel has to be made, DO NOT REVIVE THE EVIL WARLORD SAMURAI, IT would be an annoying cliche, especially for fans of this game. I recommend getting his brother or sister to do the job.
3> Multiplayer: Despite the fact that this game didn't have, It fit well for a single player game. Inserting it for Co-op mode ONLY would be enough (like kane and lynch)
4> Merchindise: If there isn't START MAKING IT NOW! :rasp:
5> If a sequel has to be made, I would put a wandering ronin who is an ally/enemy of the mini ninjas. I know it's a little cliche, but none-the-less...
6> FIX THE GLACIER ENGINE (as i noted before)
7> If a sequel has to be made, Do not increase graphics. The game was fun as it is, and increasing graphics would ruin the style of the game.
I finished the game on PC, using keyboard and mouse with most features unlocked, but I'll give this game a 2nd round for sure.
Character design:
I found the characters to be very cute. Very well done for the cute japanese-esque enviroment. I personally tried to give all the characters a fair chance at each part of the game and I found that the characters are not equally compensative. Also, I noticed that you do not see any story-related scenes in the game. In the vignette, Hiro has a crush on Suzume, and I read somewhere that Kunoichi has a crush on Hiro. But there's no proof of this in the game whatsoever.
Hiro - The main character and holds of kuji magic forms. His sword makes a regular punch. Just like any other super-hero. I only disliked the fact that only hiro could challenge a boss, but it fits by level design, so I'll let it pass. I totally loved the last power where
you can posses the enemy soldiers. But problem about it is that it has no stealth value... I wish it did. (At least when i played it)
Futo - Strong and slow, can't argue with the steriotype xD... Although he feels a tiny bit too slow... but then again, if compensates for other characters
Suzume - She has a good trick up her sleave and a little lower damage then Hiro. Interesting choice of character design.
Shun - The archer, great for long range attacks but weak when up close. Very nice animations on him, especially when he hangs off the side of a building, but his running seems a little off for him, I know he tries to stay low all the time to stay camoflaged but he runs alot like futo. Also the fact that aiming takes a long time using this character. Mashing the mouse button makes him shoot faster. Although I expected more from what the trailer presented.
Tora - Although he's one of the cutest characters, I did not find him to be that necessary, he just feels like a mix of kunoichi and futo but there's nothing really grand about him which makes him a better choice of character compared to the others in any situation that I encountered.
Kunoichi - Also an interesting character, despite her being abit weak, her special
attack isn't anything special. Just like Tora, there's nothing grand about her which makes her a better choice of character compared to the other characters in any situation that I encountered
Kuji spells: Nothing really special about them, they feel alot like spells in millions of other games but fitting nontheless!
Stealth: Although it's one of the main features of this game, it doesn't feel like it. Climbing on the rooftops felt appropriatly stealthy, But in some cases, Bashing everyone felt more fun then hiding.
Enemy Design:
I must say I'm impressed. They are designed briliantly with the scary samurai masks of feudal japan. For idiots they are very well programmed! Although the generals are just wusses which annoyed me. I know it's supposed to make them funny but they're just annoying even to look at! Although I found the wussy general who's afraid to talk to the samurai warlord very cute! I pittied him xD
The bosses are VERY cleverly done! All 5 bosses are smartly programmed. Despite that their winning moves were repetitive. But non-the-less I enjoyed even looking at them
1st boss with blades: He looked wierd with the tiny legs, but a bit repetive.
2nd boss of farts: Very clever! Made me giggle alot xD. I could have never imagined seeing an intimidating enemy that uses farts and is capable of maneuvering them xD
3rd boss in the water: Cleverly designed! Although repetitive, the finishing moves where fun to see.
4th boss in the air: Interestingly designed. There's not much I can say about him though I found him cute.
5th and final boss: Straight to the point, Intimidating. He looks alot like a cliche of other bosses from other games. But It fits well.
Voice work:
Very good work from japanese voice-actors. They sounded appropriatly like minions or furious big monsters. However the english with japanese accent where sometimes off key. Specifically the wussy general who's afraid to talk to the samurai warlord and the samurai warlord himself a little off. But non-the less, excelent work. Another note:
Towards the end, there is a samurai who dies from a volcano bomb and uses the "Wilhelm scream". Please... Avoid using that. It is cliche of the ages. Plus it made the samurai sound less miniony
Level Design:
Again, very very impressive. A mix of both open world and linearity. This is what I love about IOI and Eidos games, you do not force the players to do 1 thing, the player chooses what he/she wishes to do. But sometimes it was annoying to spend alot of time running. I will not go into detail. But all I'll say is that I did not expect the part where you
climb the animated building for the final boss. At first i thought it was going to be a battle but i was totally surprised about it! Good work! Another note that annoyed me is when you are playing later through the levels you stumble upon notes left by the characters you already saved. It's abit annoying.. they could have just told you...
Music:
Very very fitting. Peter Svarre made a perfect job in the music score. I don't know
if Jesper Kyd would have done a better job, but I still think that giving Peter Svarre
the score still kicked off a success.
Flaws:
There aren't many from my side. But most of them are pretty clear.
From my side would be Gameplay:
Not that it wasn't good, but it felt kinda sticky sometimes, that's normal, I'll let that pass. Also I must say that this game is too complicated for 7 year olds. There are too many factors for young children to enjoy it, Unless they play games everyday, like myself xD
Repetitiveness:
Alot of people noted this out. Same from me, some of the gameplay felt alot like button mashing but at least you let the player choose his/her approach
Glacier engine:
This is not from me but alot of people complain about this. I highly recommend you start work on fixing the FPS issue then starting on your next game.Otherwise you WILL have trouble on your next release. Also, the fact that gamers need to use the xbox 360 controller is a down-side to the glacier engine. Although I know how to fix that issue, I didn't use a controller for this game because my controller is getting old.
Easter Eggs:
I didn't search thoroughly for this but they're not clear! I wish someone would point them out!! Or at least tell me where to look, Coz I'll defenatly give this game a 2nd go!
Overall: Impressive, brilliant, clever, Japanese. 8 out of 10. Some gamers may not be interested for a second go, but I HIGHLY recommend a 1 go.
Suggestions:
1> DO NOT MAKE A MOVIE!!!! A tv series would be perfect for this.
2> If a sequel has to be made, DO NOT REVIVE THE EVIL WARLORD SAMURAI, IT would be an annoying cliche, especially for fans of this game. I recommend getting his brother or sister to do the job.
3> Multiplayer: Despite the fact that this game didn't have, It fit well for a single player game. Inserting it for Co-op mode ONLY would be enough (like kane and lynch)
4> Merchindise: If there isn't START MAKING IT NOW! :rasp:
5> If a sequel has to be made, I would put a wandering ronin who is an ally/enemy of the mini ninjas. I know it's a little cliche, but none-the-less...
6> FIX THE GLACIER ENGINE (as i noted before)
7> If a sequel has to be made, Do not increase graphics. The game was fun as it is, and increasing graphics would ruin the style of the game.