Topic: Epic Mickey - Wii Exclusive

[broodwars]

Well, I've put in a fairly substantial amount of time into the game (I just got to Ventureland), and so far I really like the game.  The visuals aren't anywhere approaching those of the concept art, but they have a unique style that works well and lends a certain sinister air to the game.  The music works pretty well, and I think the game has an excellent sense of exploration and choice, which is already making me feel like a second playthrough would be worthwhile.  However, my biggest problem with the game  by far is that in this game with a heavy emphasis on backtracking you cannot backtrack.  With the exception of Mean Street and Os-twon, once you go through a projector you can't go back.  Sadly, I think that means I missed a Clock Keepers film reel, which I can't go back for.  The camera is tempermental, but unlike the Galaxy games I find manual control works most of the time.

[Kytim89]

I find this game to be a little repetitive and so I have to play it in small doses. I wonder if they make a sequel will it have have the same carry-over system that Mass Effect has where decisions made in the first game will translate over to the sequel's story?

[broodwars]

I find this game to be a little repetitive and so I have to play it in small doses. I wonder if they make a sequel will it have have the same carry-over system that Mass Effect has where decisions made in the first game will translate over to the sequel's story?

No, if there was a sequel to Epic Mickey there's no way that would happen, especially since any sequel would be on the Wii's successor.  Besides, the choices in this game are very black and white and the consequences obvious.  There's no ripple effect to watch, especially since the game already won't let you backtrack to see how your decisions are affecting the Lands.

Incidentally, something I forgot to mention in my initial impressions is that the developers should have just removed combat from the game when it comes to the minor enemies.  It just doesn't work.  It's not interesting, it's not challenging, and there are issues with the camera and targeting systems when in combat.  Maybe with a bigger focus on the much more substantial platforming side of the game, they could have designed a camera that I don't have to babysit every 5 seconds.

[broodwars]

I completed my first playthrough of the game, and eh...I enjoyed it, but man is there a lot of tedious padding in this game (did we really need that rehash of all the areas at the end of the game?), and the sheer amount of missable quests and items in a game like this is inexcusable.  That said, the last segment of the game was suitably...well..."epic", and the (Good) ending was satisfying.  I wasn't sure how this game was going to handle Oswald, but by the end I'm pretty happy with it.  He is hostile to Mickey for all the right reasons without ever really being a villain.  I'm still curious why the decided to rename the Phantom Blot "Shadow Blot", though.  And what in the world happened to the Mad Doctor after Phantom Manor (the game severely hints that there's more to that story)?  I started my 2nd playthrough to try out the "evil" choices, and so far I'm pretty underwhelmed by them.  I've only run into one new pin so far, though I've gotten 2 new film reels I missed before from prematurely going through a projector.

Overall, this game has its problems and it's definitely not for everyone.  Personally, I don't think the game went far enough with the idea of bringing back old rides and characters people have forgotten.  There are really only a handful of retired rides that reappear in this game, and most are underwhelming for an old fan of such things like myself.  That said, I'm a big fan of there always being two ways to dispose of the bigger bosses, though I have no earthly idea why my way of dealing with the Mad Doctor was the "good" way.  The camera is terrible in every conceivable way, but it is manageable most of the time with the D-pad.  This game has a pretty decent story (though I'm really getting tired of Disney-related video games that use a character's "heart" as a literal plot device, considering it's already been use in all the Kingdom Hearts games), but it really hurts from the bewildering lack of voice acting (considering the huge amount of voice acting in the Kingdom Hearts games) .  In the end, I'm satisfied with the game despite its many flaws.

[KnowsNothing]

I got this game as a christmas gift and I'm just now exploring Mickeyjunk Mountain.  So far I like it because it reminds me of the old N64 platformers like DK64 or Rocket: Robot on Wheels (which was the ****, by the way) or even the more recent Psychonauts (which I actually thought was a tad overrated).  Overall it's pretty much what everyone describes: a solid platformer with clunky controls and a terrible camera.  Yet still I find myself addicted because of the atmosphere and nostalgia....and it's not that it is isn't fun to play, it's just that we've been spoiled by great games like Mario Galaxy and DKCR.

[Stratos]

Now I want to try Rocket: Robot on Wheels. N64 platformers are something I tend to want to go back to the most. And there are a number of smaller ones I missed since I only bought the big name ones.

I tried the Epic Mickey demo in stores and it did feel rather simple. Great atmosphere but it didn't sell me on the game. Though I get the feeling I'd like the game as a whole. I'll grab it some time next year hopefully.

[Mop it up]

I bought this game with my Christmas money because it was on sale, even though it probably isn't something I'd like, but I was too curious about it. I haven't touched it yet, though.

I completed my first playthrough of the game,

Wow, is the game really short, or did you play it all day?

Rocket: Robot on Wheels (which was the ****, by the way)

It's good to finally see someone else who played this great game. Rocket stands shoulder to shoulder with Nintendo's platformers and it's a shame that it was overshadowed by Mario and Banjo.

[broodwars]

I completed my first playthrough of the game,

Wow, is the game really short, or did you play it all day?

No, have no fear: the game's pretty long (probably roughly around 10-12 hours or so), mostly from the sheer padding of the quests and traversal.  I just found the game to be pretty addicting and completed it in 2 6+ hour sessions (Something I'm trying to do while I still can.  As I'm getting older, my ability to do these marathon sessions is quickly diminishing).  I highly suggest that no one else do that, though.  After so many hours with the game, constantly correcting the camera was giving me a migraine.

[KnowsNothing]

Now I want to try Rocket: Robot on Wheels. N64 platformers are something I tend to want to go back to the most. And there are a number of smaller ones I missed since I only bought the big name ones.

I'd imagine it would be pretty difficult to find a (legal) copy of the game, but if you get the chance you should really check it out.  As Mop said it was a really great game that simply got overlooked due to the big names of the competition (kind of like what happened to Beyond Good and Evil).  My only concern would be that time has not been kind to most N64 games (or N64 controllers, for that matter) so it might be a little too dated to enjoy.  Back in the day, though, it was a nice sleeper hit.

Since you say you're a fan of N64 platformers I can imagine you're familiar with Rayman 2, but on the off chance that you haven't played it....GO GO GO.

[Killer_Man_Jaro]

Important query:

I have been going back and forth on whether to pick this up down the line. Now, I doubt that all the Disney-related memorabilia will resonate with me, simply due to my low level of exposure to all the obscure stuff. Bearing this in mind, am I likely to enjoy Epic Mickey based on the merits it has that aren't connected to the Disney theme?

[KnowsNothing]

Here is an example of the most irritating aspect of this game (left purposely vague): My quest was to get from point A to point B and in order to do so I needed to collect three items from three different people.  One person had me collect three more items, another had me deliver something to another person which required travelling all around the map, and the last person had me fetch yet ANOTHER item through thankfully this one wasn't so far away.  So far about 95% of the missions have been either collect-a-thons or fetch quests or some kind of unholy combination of the two.  I'm not sure it's even that the developers were lazy, I think this level of commitment to the most hated aspects of the genre takes dedication.

So if you can deal with that you'll be able to play the game.  The atmosphere doesn't rely on nostalgia and can be enjoyed even with a minimal amount of Disney exposure for the reason you just mentioned; it's all the obscure stuff.  It helps if you're at least familiar with the characters or the classic Mickey cartoons but it's definitely not necessary.

[SixthAngel]

I started this game and I'm really liking it so far.  It seems to me everyone was far harder on the game than they should have been.  Even positive reviews I read before I played really focused on the negativity.  I don't know if it was a victim of overhype or just a lot of reviewers seemingly general antiWii stance.  I can't see myself having an overall negative impression unless it changes drastically.

The paint/thinner mechanic works wonderfully and the effect looks great.  The game is really dark and pushes the limits of what I think they can do with Mickey.  The Phantom blot eating you and the giant redy eyed chainsaw machine in the beginning is enough to freak out a lot of Mickey's audience.

I'm not a big fan of the mouse so I miss a lot of the nostalgia.  I have no idea where the gremlins come from and it was really wierd to have these guys showing me around at first.

[that Baby guy]

The Gremlins are a Roald Dahl creation that Disney originally planned to turn into a cartoon.  They're more a Looney Toons property at this point, because there was a Looney Toons cartoon featuring the same design of Gremlins, created by Roald Dahl.

The reason why I think it's a bad game?  I can pick up Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, or Banjo-Tooie and have a far more enjoyable experience.  In those games, there's more you can do, there's more enemies, and there's more diverse worlds.

In contrast, Epic Mickey has stale platforming due to a lack of Mickey's ability to do anything other than double jump.  There's a minor handful of enemies.  The combat gets repetitive after a few hours.  There's never-ending quests and repeat treks through the same areas.  The game holds no candle to many things from fourteen years ago, to put it simple, except in story.  If I wanted unclear objectives and dull stage design, if I wanted a boring platformer or a week puzzler, or if I wanted a game void of fun, I'd choose Epic Mickey.  The thing about Epic Mickey is that aside from the few bosses, one of which is a rip-off copy from Super Mario Galaxy, is that after the first two hours, you've seen everything there is that's worth seeing, you've done everything there is that's worth doing, and nothing new or interesting happens until the very end.

It's not because it's "Anti-Wii" hate that reviewers dislike the game.  Besides, not all reviewers do dislike it.  It's that they were expecting compelling stage design, platforming elements that are slightly more complex than just jumping and double-jumping. It's that they were expecting enemy fights that didn't feel like the same thing time and time again.  They were expecting a world that didn't feel extremely generic where townspeople say one of a slim number of lines and just ignore you.  They were expecting not to have to run through the same worlds a dozen times just to get from point A to point B for a meaningless, filler quest.

So yeah, why do some reviewers dislike it? It's boring, it's repetitive, unoriginal, and it's one-upped by games that came out over a decade before it.

[Mop it up]

For what it's worth, my first impression was also "This game isn't as bad as everyone says, they were just being harsh." The story has a nice start and the game mechanics seem interesting and have potential.

Then I reached Mean Street for the first time. That's where the game really falls apart. Few of the characters you meet are interesting, most of them are too straight-forward, just telling you what you need to do or what they want with no personality. For some reason I thought what would make good on the setting and concept is the little details, like interesting things to see along the way, or the side characters. Boy was I wrong. I guess it's possible I'm missing stuff since I'm no Disney fan, but I'd like to think Disney is far less bland than this. It also gets repetitive real fast. The gameplay elements are rarely mixed up, I can't count how many times the gears are used. The side-scrolling segments hold no charm other than bearing some resemblance to an old cartoon on a film reel, which unfortunately does no favours to the actual stage design. The quests have no real variety either, since they're all either "get this" or "go here," and many fetch quests are pretty much the same as going somewhere.

I also don't like how it auto saves after every little thing you do. I accidentally gave away Small Pete's ship log because I was just pressing A to advance text, and I couldn't undo it. I guess they want you to play the game twice instead of experimenting and reloading saves. Unfortunately, this is one of the few actions in the game that actually has some kind of affect on later events, so it really sucked. The graphics look dull in most places. I know, they were going for a "dark" atmosphere... but I think they could have achieved that without the dullness.

[ShyGuy]

BUMP!

Got the game, It's a good game with serious flaws. Namely, the camera is bad and It's way to easy to fall into the acid.

MickeyJunk mountain was really cool looking, the first amazing Disney level, IMO.

[Louieturkey]

BUMP!

Got the game, It's a good game with serious flaws. Namely, the camera is bad and It's way to easy to fall into the acid.

MickeyJunk mountain was really cool looking, the first amazing Disney level, IMO.

Pretty big bump there.  I still have yet to play it.  It's sitting on my shelf... of course.  My Wii is also sitting in its box, so maybe I'll play it after the Wii U comes out.

[ShyGuy]

You know what this game needs to fix? The jumping. The jumping feels too much like Little Big Planet, that floaty, leg flailing, slippery feel that makes he loath the jumping Little Big Planet.

This game would have been better if it was more like Kingdom Hearts and less like Super Mario Sunshine.

The sequel on the Wii U may actually be better just because you'll have the second analog stick to control the dumb camera.