Figured I'd make this thread for all the guys that I played the demo countless hours with (Ameratsu, Xxain, Alic, Seraphic, etc.) to try and explain why the reviews ended up not being so hot when the demo was so damn awesome. I've thus far completed the first two chapters of the game, and below are some of the issues I've had so far that weren't really present in the demo. (Note: The ps3's coop demo was three levels as opposed to the 360's one, in case anybody gets confused.)
Small Issues
- Confusing Menus - When you first start off the game there are like six different options to choose from, all of which change what appears on screen when you hover over them, and all of which lead to rather large and equally flashy submenus when selected. It's hard to explain why it can be annoying, but when you see it, you'll understand. KISS.
- Constant Loading - Load times are generally short, ranging from 3-6 seconds, but the game loads constantly. Choose a new menu - load - continue save file - load - cutscene - load - finish level - load - score screen - load - cutscene - load - fail new level - load - start entire chapter over - etc. etc. etc.
Large Issues
- Failing Missions - Whenever a player dies, the life guage of the party decreases. When the life guage gets to zero, the mission ends in failure. What's absolutely retarded is that the mission ends immediately when the guage hits zero, no matter how many people are left alive. One idiot dies, and the mission ends even though the other three of us are still running around. They could've just discontinued respawns when the life guage hits zero (given that you use the guage when respawning), but they outright stop the game. And on top of that, failing a mission RESTARTS THE ENTIRE CHAPTER, and chapter's are 4-5 missions long, each mission being similar in length to the levels in the coop demo. My group spent over an hour trying to beat chapter 2 last night, and one of our players had already beaten the game once.
- Human vs Human (NPC) Combat - In the coop demo you ran through three levels fighting only Akrid. In the actual game, more often than not you're fighting Jungle Pirates instead of Akrid. Actually, the three levels from the demo make up about 3 of 4 levels across the first two chapters in which Akrid are your primary targets. The rest have you fighting exclusively Jungle Pirates, while one level was a bit of a mix between the two. The issue with this is that the camera perspective and controls seem designed primarily around encounters with larger foes like the Akrid. Fighting other humans on balconies with that set up isn't that fun, especially given their AI, and I found myself constantly wanting to get back to the bigger fights against crazy monsters. The demo conviently left out these parts, instead jumping from Akrid battle to Akrid battle.
The final game's issues with making you replay long sections of the campaign repeatedly only exacerbate the issues of constant loading and boring human vs human combat.
I'm going to keep playing the game for now to see where it goes, but as of now, I doubt I'll be keeping it.
