Topic: Sin & Punishment 2

[Peachylala]

Good eye, after having played alot of Space Harrier on VC arcade, Sin and Punishment feels like a Space Harrier game made on steroids.

...God damn it, now I want Treasure to make a Space Harrier remake.

[Morari]

I'd definitely purchase a new Space Harrier game if Sega could do it even half as well as Sin & Punishment 2.

[Spak-Spang]

I would want Space Harrier to be done like the Konami rebirth series.

Don't add story, or try to play with perspective, just figure out ways to take that core gameplay mechanic and exploit it to its fullest, and make it just a mind blowing crazy quick reaction shooter. 

[SixthAngel]

Space Harrier was always the first thing I thought of when I saw this game.  It seems obviously heavily influenced by it.

A question about this game.  I've played treasure games before and I usually like them but quickly hit a wall I can never seem to pass.  Does this game get impossible?

[Mop it up]

I've heard there's some pretty difficult bosses in the game, so it might get impossible. It at least will take patience, because it seems to be the type of game where you're going to fail the first few times you attempt the bosses. There's an easy mode available if you think the other difficulty settings are too tough.

[noname2200]

A question about this game.  I've played treasure games before and I usually like them but quickly hit a wall I can never seem to pass.  Does this game get impossible?

Not at all, although some segments definitely demand that you improve in order to move on.  The good news is that there are infinite continues, and that the checkpoints are well spread throughout the game, so you're in little risk of having to repeat large chunks.  Be warned though that while the difficulty is overstated, it's also still quite a handful, even on Easy mode.

[Peachylala]

If you are going for a high score though, losing after a checkpoint makes your score go back to zero.

[broodwars]

Amazon had a pretty awesome sale on games (many of them Wii games) over the weekend, so I finally got around to picking this one up for $23.  I'm not the biggest fan of the original Sin & Punishment, mainly due to issues with the controls and the utterly incomprehensible story.  Still, I loved the action of the first game, and this is one of the few games I can think of that really benefits from being on Wii.  So far, I've played through the first 3 stages, and I'm a little taken aback by how much fun I'm having with it.  It's just the right game for me at the right time and at the right price.  The music really suits the action, the action is very fast and awesome (and so much easier to control now that control over your character is much better divorced from controlling your reticule), the boss fights are very well-done, and by Sin & Punishment standards the story is remarkably understandable so far.  I think I'm going to get a lot of mileage out of this one, though I'm glad I waited because I don't think this is worth the standard $50.  I highly suggest if you haven't picked the game up by now to get it from that Amazon sale while that's still going on.

[Mop it up]

Newegg has had the game at $16 for over a month now (which seems to be a permanent price and not a sale), so I also recently bought this game even though I don't think I'll like it. But I don't think the price is going to go any lower so it was time to add it to my collection when I can.

[broodwars]

Played through 3 more stages, and it seems Stage 3 is where Treasure decided to reveal that they can be cheap S.O.B.s because the difficulty definitely spikes severely toward the end of that stage.  I loved Stage 4 visually and it has a great sense of movement, but the bosses in that stage are incredibly cheap (particularly the final one, which has an attack that is nearly impossible to dodge and she does it continuously until you die or you manage to take her out with a lucky shot).  Frequently, the game will just toss boss after boss at you, sometimes without the benefit of a health pickup.  Strangely, Stage 5 was incredibly easy and quite fun as you race through a stage on a motorcycle in a sequence that reminded me a bit of F-Zero or the racing sequence in Chrono Trigger.  As I get further into the game, I really appreciate how Treasure continuously changes up the gameplay to keep things interesting.  One moment, you may be running or flying through an area on the Z-axis, another you might be moving left-to-right like an old 2D shoot-'em-up, and another you might be moving upward trying to carve a path while simultaneously killing other enemies and avoiding a boss.  Often, the game will string these together in one sequence, which is pretty exhilarating.  I just wish the game didn't require such sadistically exact timing from the player in some of these boss fights.  You really have to time your dodges well.

I'm also surprised how somewhat easy-to-follow the story has been, especially considering how much its convolution has been brought up on various podcasts.  Aside from the horrendous dialogue sequence about "what is a human?", the writing and voice acting hasn't been too horrible, either.

[Tobbebobbe]

Considering the horrible sales of this wonderful title, I wonder if the old school shooter has a future? Maybe as DD, but I sadly cannot see it selling via retail. General people's minds are that classic shooters like this is too short and too simple and lacks any real multiplayer/online component.


From a gameplay perspective that's really sad because gameplay wise I would say this is up at the same level as Super Mario Galaxy 2. It's just that today's stressed and rushed people don't want to replay games just for the sake of challenge. They want to unlock material if they have to replay a game... for me, a good challenge and fun gameplay is enough to replay the same level 50 times. The satisfaction of feeling you're getting a bit better every time is what keeps me going!

[broodwars]

It's just that today's stressed and rushed people don't want to replay games just for the sake of challenge. They want to unlock material if they have to replay a game... for me, a good challenge and fun gameplay is enough to replay the same level 50 times. The satisfaction of feeling you're getting a bit better every time is what keeps me going!

To be frank, I have a backlogged stack of games I'm probably never going to get through, not to mention a similar stack of anime episodes and movies.  I work a lot as well, which eats up a considerable amount of time every weekday.  If developers want me to not only set aside the time to play through their game once but also play through it a second time or more, then yes I want to unlock something as a result...be it a PS3 trophy, an extra mode, bonus material, etc.  This isn't the 80s where most gamers played one or two games religiously for half a year because we only got 1 or 2 games a year.  These days, there are so many things competing for my time that games need a good reason to replay them.

[Tobbebobbe]

It's just that today's stressed and rushed people don't want to replay games just for the sake of challenge. They want to unlock material if they have to replay a game... for me, a good challenge and fun gameplay is enough to replay the same level 50 times. The satisfaction of feeling you're getting a bit better every time is what keeps me going!

To be frank, I have a backlogged stack of games I'm probably never going to get through, not to mention a similar stack of anime episodes and movies.  I work a lot as well, which eats up a considerable amount of time every weekday.  If developers want me to not only set aside the time to play through their game once but also play through it a second time or more, then yes I want to unlock something as a result...be it a PS3 trophy, an extra mode, bonus material, etc.  This isn't the 80s where most gamers played one or two games religiously for half a year because we only got 1 or 2 games a year.  These days, there are so many things competing for my time that games need a good reason to replay them.

That's true, there's a lot more competition today, and lots and lots more games are releasing every month. However, why do people need trophies and unlockable stuff instead of the feeling of satisfaction? I mean, some people just play to get trophies and achievements... they don't play the game because it's challenging and fun, but rather to get stuff. Each to their own of course, but I wish more youths today would be able to exoperience the true sense of achievement... and that's not coming from playing something just to reach a goal.

[noname2200]

I loved Stage 4 visually and it has a great sense of movement, but the bosses in that stage are incredibly cheap (particularly the final one, which has an attack that is nearly impossible to dodge and she does it continuously until you die or you manage to take her out with a lucky shot). 

?  Which attack is this?

[broodwars]

I loved Stage 4 visually and it has a great sense of movement, but the bosses in that stage are incredibly cheap (particularly the final one, which has an attack that is nearly impossible to dodge and she does it continuously until you die or you manage to take her out with a lucky shot). 

?  Which attack is this?

The one where the boss throws a giant boulder (more of a Moon, really) at you from the background.  I found that attack nearly impossible to dodge and only beat the boss because I somehow got a charge shot in at just the right moment.

[noname2200]

I loved Stage 4 visually and it has a great sense of movement, but the bosses in that stage are incredibly cheap (particularly the final one, which has an attack that is nearly impossible to dodge and she does it continuously until you die or you manage to take her out with a lucky shot). 

?  Which attack is this?

The one where the boss throws a giant boulder (more of a Moon, really) at you from the background.  I found that attack nearly impossible to dodge and only beat the boss because I somehow got a charge shot in at just the right moment.

Ah, THAT one.  You're not supposed to dodge it, actually: instead, use your melee attack on it.  After the second or third time, it reflects back on her, which usually ends the fight.

[broodwars]

Ah, THAT one.  You're not supposed to dodge it, actually: instead, use your melee attack on it.  After the second or third time, it reflects back on her, which usually ends the fight.

Oh, of course.  How silly of me.  Why wouldn't you think to avoid a direct hit from a moon being thrown at you by hitting it back at the sender via beamsaber (or in the case of the girl, via your boot)?   : :  Thank, that'll come in handy on my second playthrough where I have to play as the girl (whose playing style I really don't care for).

[noname2200]

Ah, THAT one.  You're not supposed to dodge it, actually: instead, use your melee attack on it.  After the second or third time, it reflects back on her, which usually ends the fight.

Oh, of course.  How silly of me.  Why wouldn't you think to avoid a direct hit from a moon being thrown at you by hitting it back at the sender via beamsaber (or in the case of the girl, via your boot)?   : : :  Thank, that'll come in handy on my second playthrough where I have to play as the girl (whose playing style I really don't care for).

Yes, your melee attacks really are pretty magical in this game.  The game makes a point to tell you to deflect missles with it, but it wasn't until the Level 6 boss that I finally realized just how much you can do with the thing; on your next playthrough, try using it on anything that isn't a laser beam, and it will dispurse/reflect it.  It REALLY cuts down on the difficulty and length of most boss fights, and lets you rack up a higher score on other sections to boot.  I'm not sure the game can be beaten on Hard without it...