Sunday, July 7, 2013
expectations going forward
so tomorrow should be a regular blog day, but I'm spending Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at my Grandmother's house, which has a grant total of 0 internets. Don't worry, though. I'll still be playing and reviewing. You just won't be able to see them until Friday, when I post all of them at once. So yeah, expect that...
PhaseShift
Hmm...a 2D, top-down space shooter featuring two worlds to shift through...Apparently the guys at DigiPen love them some Ikaruga
Alright, well this game isn't quite the same as Ikaruga. Instead of your ship shifting colors to suit its environment, in PhaseShift, you use wormholes to travel between two different colored dimensions. Most of this game's problems come from a mishandling of the concept, not a mishandling of design elements. So let me talk about design first before I activate whine mode.
The game, especially the stills used in menus and whatnot, look gorgeous. Rachael Downing, the lead artist for the game, has some real talent; and apparently she knows it because her name appears twice on the game's description page...wait a minute, everyone's name appears twice...what?
The game feels decent enough. When you get hit, you hear that classic electric-y burn-y noise that's just begging to be accompanied by a rumbling controller. You do move rather slowly, but your movement speed is just quick enough to be able to dodge enemy fire efficiently, so that's not the problem. I think the problem is that since there are 2 worlds on the screen at all times, only one of which you are in, you're always going to be limited to a very narrow area, meaning even when the game doesn't decide to earn its name as a "bullet hell," You're going to feel very confined.
Which of course brings me to this whole "swap worlds with wormholes thing." First, let me say that I do really like this idea. The two worlds are varied enough in design to make the game's nonexistent narrative rather interesting. One world features mechanical enemy starships while the other features organic lifeforms. It's a joy to behold, but is it worth all the frustrations this concept brings?
First off, let's talk about the wormholes. In games like Ikarguga, you're able to swap between polarities at any time. in PhaseShift, you have to wait for a wormhole to come by. I don't see the point of this; it just seems like an unnecessary invitation for frustration.
Also, there's no reward for going through a wormhole. Each world typically has the same amount of enemies and firepower at any given time, so the only differences between the worlds are the visual style, the music playing in the background, and the firing patterns of the enemies. The visual style's novelty wears off in like 2 seconds, and while it never stops being fun to look at, it's hardly enough to influence your decision on which world to stay in. After all, this is a bullet hell. You don't have time to appreciate the aesthetics and you certainly don't have time to analyze your enemies' firing patterns, especially on the screen that you're not in. So, you're probably going to end up staying in the world with the best background music, making the entire mechanic pretty much pointless.
I'm guessing someone noticed this while this game was being playtested and that the ensuing conversation went something like this:
"Guys, we need to influence the player to switch worlds every now and again, otherwise the entire game is just a shoot 'em up that only uses half the screen."
"Alright, how about rewarding the player with points every time they use a wormhole?"
"Good start, but points are kind of arbitrary. Why don't we give them a powerup for every three wormholes they use?"
"Excellent idea, so should I get rid of the powerups that we hid inside the enemies?"
...and it was all going perfectly well until...
"Guys, guys, what are you thinking? Don't you know that punishment is a more powerful incentive than reward?"
"Um...well, yeah, but-"
"The player doesn't deserve more poewrups, he or she should be punished for not playing our game the way we want"
"But doesn't that seem a little-"
"Here's how we do it. Every so often, completely at random, a big "warning" will flash in front of the screen, followed by an undodgeable insta-kill attack that the player has to use wormholes to escape."
"That doesn't sound fun at all"
"Well it's the way I want it, so either program it in or I'll upload that embarrassing video of you to Youtube."
And lo, a good game was ruined. Luckily for me, I already have embarrassing videos on Youtube, so my shame is totally gone and I feel free to criticize this game for the misguided project that it is. It's not a bad game by any means, but the flaws are tough to overlook.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay dichotomous
Links
Shifts Don't Phase Me: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24649
P.S- If you want to see that embarrassing video of me, you'll just have to find it on your own :P
Alright, well this game isn't quite the same as Ikaruga. Instead of your ship shifting colors to suit its environment, in PhaseShift, you use wormholes to travel between two different colored dimensions. Most of this game's problems come from a mishandling of the concept, not a mishandling of design elements. So let me talk about design first before I activate whine mode.
The game, especially the stills used in menus and whatnot, look gorgeous. Rachael Downing, the lead artist for the game, has some real talent; and apparently she knows it because her name appears twice on the game's description page...wait a minute, everyone's name appears twice...what?
The game feels decent enough. When you get hit, you hear that classic electric-y burn-y noise that's just begging to be accompanied by a rumbling controller. You do move rather slowly, but your movement speed is just quick enough to be able to dodge enemy fire efficiently, so that's not the problem. I think the problem is that since there are 2 worlds on the screen at all times, only one of which you are in, you're always going to be limited to a very narrow area, meaning even when the game doesn't decide to earn its name as a "bullet hell," You're going to feel very confined.
Which of course brings me to this whole "swap worlds with wormholes thing." First, let me say that I do really like this idea. The two worlds are varied enough in design to make the game's nonexistent narrative rather interesting. One world features mechanical enemy starships while the other features organic lifeforms. It's a joy to behold, but is it worth all the frustrations this concept brings?
First off, let's talk about the wormholes. In games like Ikarguga, you're able to swap between polarities at any time. in PhaseShift, you have to wait for a wormhole to come by. I don't see the point of this; it just seems like an unnecessary invitation for frustration.
Also, there's no reward for going through a wormhole. Each world typically has the same amount of enemies and firepower at any given time, so the only differences between the worlds are the visual style, the music playing in the background, and the firing patterns of the enemies. The visual style's novelty wears off in like 2 seconds, and while it never stops being fun to look at, it's hardly enough to influence your decision on which world to stay in. After all, this is a bullet hell. You don't have time to appreciate the aesthetics and you certainly don't have time to analyze your enemies' firing patterns, especially on the screen that you're not in. So, you're probably going to end up staying in the world with the best background music, making the entire mechanic pretty much pointless.
I'm guessing someone noticed this while this game was being playtested and that the ensuing conversation went something like this:
"Guys, we need to influence the player to switch worlds every now and again, otherwise the entire game is just a shoot 'em up that only uses half the screen."
"Alright, how about rewarding the player with points every time they use a wormhole?"
"Good start, but points are kind of arbitrary. Why don't we give them a powerup for every three wormholes they use?"
"Excellent idea, so should I get rid of the powerups that we hid inside the enemies?"
...and it was all going perfectly well until...
"Guys, guys, what are you thinking? Don't you know that punishment is a more powerful incentive than reward?"
"Um...well, yeah, but-"
"The player doesn't deserve more poewrups, he or she should be punished for not playing our game the way we want"
"But doesn't that seem a little-"
"Here's how we do it. Every so often, completely at random, a big "warning" will flash in front of the screen, followed by an undodgeable insta-kill attack that the player has to use wormholes to escape."
"That doesn't sound fun at all"
"Well it's the way I want it, so either program it in or I'll upload that embarrassing video of you to Youtube."
And lo, a good game was ruined. Luckily for me, I already have embarrassing videos on Youtube, so my shame is totally gone and I feel free to criticize this game for the misguided project that it is. It's not a bad game by any means, but the flaws are tough to overlook.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay dichotomous
Links
Shifts Don't Phase Me: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24649
P.S- If you want to see that embarrassing video of me, you'll just have to find it on your own :P
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