Topic: RetroActive #9: Geist (Special Edition)

[gojira]

I too just got to the end, though I haven't and probably won't beat the game. The first "final" boss is excellent, requiring all the skills (including strategic possession) that you've learned up to that point.

Hmm... I guess we defeated that boss differently.  I never possessed anything for that fight.  What were you able to possess?  It probably would've made the fight quicker.  Though the way I did it wasn't that difficult.

As far as the true final boss, I had the same exact issues.  But the rage that built up inside of me as I repeatedly died eventually fueled my determination to beat that ****er. 

[Jonnyboy117]

I never possessed anything for that fight.  What were you able to possess?

You can possess the rockets he fires by activating speed boost, moving to a safe distance, then dispossessing and "catching" the rocket before it hits the ground. Then you get to fly the rocket around the room and slam it into his flying wheelchair. It's freaking awesome and knocks off 1/4 of his life. I figured out this tactic on my own, but it's highly recommended on GameFAQs (which I checked after dying on the true final boss enough times).

[darkframes]

Hey guys my copy just showed up. When are you gonna... Oh

[darkframes]

Firstly it has some truly original parts and really impresses. The part in which you become a spectre for the first time still holds up and is pretty nice visually. FPS parts are pretty much standard for the time and hardware. The story flows pretty well and I have had a couple of pretty good boss fights. One of them had me fight a guy who was armed and had a riot shield. Once in a while he'd throw a grenade which I could then posses and roll behind him. It's pretty effective and unique. In fact I'd say there's a few idea's here that dev's would do well to steal.

Possessing animals is great and each one is has unique abilities for you to think about using.

So the FPS parts are pretty bland. Point and shoot but the parts requiring you to think hold up.

[llaffer]

I'm a few weeks late in my podcast listening.  When I heard them talk with the producer of the game a few weeks ago, I decided to give it a try, put it on the top of my GameFly queue, and I got it a week later.

I've only gotten to sit down twice with it, and I've already boxed it up and sent it back.

I'm not a FPS fan at all, I've been trying off and on since Wolfenstein 3D was first released.  I just was hoping it was more of a puzzler than a shooter (like Portal was).

First I got stuck in the room with three terminals and I had to find the code to unlock the door.  First, it wasn't very apparent that there was a keypad on the door, and second, I walked by those terminals five times, and never once noticed the one on the far left.  Both of these things can be clumped into the same game flaw: It's not obvious enough which items can be manipulated.  I hate running to gamefaqs to find the solution to a puzzle, and even more so when it's during the tutorial stages of a game.  But last night I got the code and entered the next area.

I then got stuck next on the area where I have to press the button to call the tram, you get in, pull the lever to get to the other side, while fighting armed guards.  I've never been able to get my host to survive this, and I've not found any other hosts around so I could manipulate the door to advance.

At this point, I've ejected the disk and put it back in the mailer.

[ejamer]

Ha!  Finally finished the game this weekend.  It wasn't really a long game, but I never felt the urge to sit down and play without really forcing myself to.

So the big question is: would I recommend that others play the game?  Short answer is NO.  (And to whoever picked the game from NWR, thanks a ton for the pain and suffering you've caused!)


Problems?  Geist's got 'em.  Controls never felt good when moving and shooting, which is odd when FPS combat ends up being the main focus of the game.  Puzzles were few and far between (and totally linear when you did get to them).  Key objects to use or possess were sometimes hidden or obscured, making it tough to know what you need to do next in a couple of cases.  Several cases of getting "stuck" on level geometry and being forced to restart levels because there was no way to move or escape.  Taking entire levels without needing to use your poltergeist abilities - which should be the entire focus and selling point for the game.  The final boss was just so disappointing because the only real challenge was fighting your own controls.  A storyline that desperately needed a second cut.  And was anyone else sick of loading time between levels and reloads by the end of this game?  Maybe it's just me, but everytime I died it seemed better to just shut the system down than wait a full minute (usually fuming) before getting to play again - a stark reminder why I preferred N64 over PS1.

Again, I probably wouldn't care as much if the game didn't have some real merit too.  Geist has a great premise and it's obvious that the development team had some interesting goals... but for whatever, they just didn't deliver on the promise at the end of the day.

What did I like about the game?  The penultimate boss battle against Volks and his demonic wheelchair was well done.  The animal possession and "scare" puzzles were both interesting.  The ability to play affect time by possessing/dispossessing hosts was also great, as were the unique abilities and attributes new host would offer.

Geist had so much possibility as an action/adventure/puzzle title... it's really a shame that they fell into the FPS trap instead, because that is probably the worst part of the game.