........Ok, well, didn't expect this.
You know, when I said "Or you could just tell us now..." earlier, I thought I was just joking
Looking through this, this is looking pretty darn good. Yes indeed.
A bit of feedback on some of it here, and I'll attempt to keep this not being 10 pages long for once.
First of all, the worldmap stuff. This sounds pretty freaking great. Just what I wanted from this aspect in the first game. How is the turn-based aspect going to work along with the real-time bits of the platforming sections though? I seem to recall that this was troublesome with the first game, in earlier parts of the beta.
And is there going to be anything of an exploration element with that as well? That's something that was definitely missing with the first game. There was no actual exploration of the world map whatsoever. When it was time to go to a new continent, you could look around and see the entire, complete thing before you even went into the settlement for the first time.
It also sounds like the locations of different tiles in relation to each other is going to matter more with this one as well? That's one of my biggest complaints with the first game, is that the actual layout and organization of the continent only REALLY mattered in terms of how many shelters/buoys it took to reach those spots, and also what monsters would migrate. Kept the map bits from being as interesting as they could be.
Second, the actual platforming segments. The one thing that bugs me a bit about the "slices" idea is.... er.... how to explain this..... Well, I've seen it in some other games that use a similar idea, where it's hand-crafted bits that are then assembled randomly, and one problem that tends to crop up is that you get specific sections/obstacles/structures/whatever repeating themselves; like, each time you reach a particular type of chunk/slice/obstacle that has, maybe a wall to scale, and some platforms to jump on, it might be a challenge the FIRST time you see it, but after awhile it gets sorta to a point of "Oh, it's that bit with the wall again, ok, I do it like THIS, same as the last 2000 times I saw this bit". Usually, in my experience, this can get kinda repetetive, and tends not to feel "new" or like actual exploration, once you've seen the different available chunks often enough. Is there some part to the system that might prevent that sorta feel? I'm thinking of Spelunky here, actually, which uses the same sort of system but then slaps a noise-filter (I think that's what it's called) over everything; ends up looking more, uh, "organic" instead of pre-made, while still being pre-made. I found it MUCH harder to really notice in that game.
Next, characters: Are you stepping away from the randomized-stats idea with these? Like, actual, named characters that have persistent basic traits from one game to the next?
Also, spells. The one big problem that the first game has with these is pretty simple: everyone just uses the straight-shot spells alot of the time. Many of the more quirky, interesting spells get ignored, because the basic shot spells will do the job the best ANYWAY. So spells were in fact interchangeable, but there was not reason for most players to actually do so... they'd stick to just a couple regardless. If you're keeping some of the quirkier spells in (or coming up with new quirky spells), what is going to be the motivation to use these, versus "just shoot it"? Also, lack of shields = very good thing. Crap but those are overpowered in the first game!
Character health too: I'd thought the same thing, characters had WAY too much health. Though, this seems to be a running problem in games of this sort as it is. Even the very first Metroid, once you get ONE energy tank and the Varia, you're basically indestructible. The only things that remain a threat at that point are the Metroids themselves and the bosses.... everything else just cant do enough damage to be a problem. So many games of this type have that problem.... I'm not sure I can think of even one that doesnt. That sounds like a very good change indeed.
Lessee..... ok, buildings to capture, I think it was? Is this going to involve sending survivors into them, or the player entering and clobbering something, or both? This aspect sounds particularly interesting.
Control scheme also sounds alot better. Me being stuck using a gamepad, I always had exactly 4 spells active at any one time ANYWAY (PS3 controller's triggers are what I used for this), so this is a bit I definitely havent any complaints with. Also sounds like the player isnt going to just have immediate access to double-jump and then stick with it ALL THE TIME, which might also be a nice change.
....and I dont suppose characters might be able to SWIM this time? Always seemed a bit odd that these super-athletic uber-mages who could leap across entire landscapes and destroy giant robots by shooting pure death out of their face or something COULD NOT SWIM and sunk like a rock.
The classes and perks and all of that sound pretty good too, that sounds better for customizing and options than any of the previous sections.
Is there not going to be anything resembling an inventory this time? What about items to find, stuff to grab? I did like with the first game that there was usually SOMETHING to pick up in most areas that you went to, which may not have been what you were looking for but could be useful anyway (like a surprise stash of bear traps, something like that). Are platforms/crates going away as well? With the new generation and all, that sounds likely.
And finally, what about the structure of the platforming areas? I thought this really worked out very well in the first one; the dungeon map and the way the nodes worked seemed pretty much perfect, for both outdoor and indoor areas. Sticking with this system, or is there something new? The only thing I thought was a little off was the presence of a few too many warp portals, kinda lowered the danger level a bit too much.
So there, some feedback and questions and such, for what little it'll accomplish, hah. The whole thing sounds bloody amazing so far. It really does sound like it's going to be better than the first game. Particularly the worldmap stuff, that sounds just amazing. Hopefully though, there wont be anything like what happened with the first game; where it comes out, and then a month later half of it's been re-designed. Not that that worked out at all badly, mind you! Ended up coming out even better as a result.
I'll be looking forward to the beta in November, then.
Are you going to be setting up a wiki for this one as well? I can offer to help with that some if you'd like, to save time, if you're going to have one again. Gives me something to do and I have nothing but free time to start with.
* LaughingThesaurus channels the Yogscast
It's like a whooooooooole neeeeeeeeew game!
When you put it in the sequel sense... It's entirely a very jarring and kinda... I dunno, it's a weird sequel to me. Just, the way it's announced and handed out, it's a little bit weird. But, I do appreciate the way that it's presented, and the way that it moves closer to a true metroidvania, rather than moving even closer to a game of literally every genre ever made in the world. All AVWW needed really was a football mission and it would have had a little something for everybody.
We will see, we will see. Not about the football mission, but about AVWW2's level of fun. I mean it's free either way. Never really got into Actraiser though...
Neither did I, but if you think about it, Actraiser has some problems. The citybuilding stuff, for instance.... when you really look at it, it's actually pretty simplistic in terms of how it works.... too simplistic, if you ask me. Not even close to enough choices and strategies for the player to work with. And there's WAITING involved, rarely a good thing in a game like that. The platforming bits were kinda short, and it was a long time between each one, and combat was slow and simple.
It's sounding like this game is designed to NOT have those issues, so I'm thinking those problems wont really be there.
