Author Topic: Freedom Planet thread (Hopefully not stumbling out of the gate a second time!)  (Read 46320 times)

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Offline Mop it up

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You'll note I didn't say the presentation was perfect, it certainly has issues. Just less issues than everything else...!

Offline Evan_B

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I can appreciate depth in a control scheme and mechanics. I still am not entirely sold on the level design of Freedom Planet, however, especially when there's such a variety in inputs in regards to combat. After understanding what the hell you're actually supposed to do with Milla, it throws the question of what this game is really supposed to be into even greater disarray. Some combat moves serve no purpose to enhance momentum. Some momentum-based moves are gimmicky and more of a pain to execute properly than they're worth seeing the result of.

The more I read and hear of the game, the more I understand just how niche its player base has to be in order to fully appreciate it, because the more I learn about the game, the less satisfying I find the prospect of replaying it. A lot of the mentality used in developing the mechanics seems to have been focused around making sure they fit into Sonic-esque level design but are also viable and deep enough to function similarly to inputs performed in a character action game. Except not really, because speed runners would rather have a reliable cycle of enemy attacks so that they can predict exactly how the boss fights are going to go in order to optimize speedruns. I mean, Platinum Games rarely executes combining movement options with combat viability in their games, and they're professionals!

In order to appreciate Freedom Planet, I have to be a Genesis-era cheese factor fan in terms of aesthetics and sound design, a speedrunning fan, a sort of Sonic fan, and also a fan of character action inputs? Lordy, the whole reason I can keep talking about this game is because it has so many angles, and there's very few I actually like...! I'm gonna call it a day on the franchise, especially after having seen gameplay of the sequel. I still respect Freedom Planet for what it is, even if I don't think it executes on it all that well, but from a basic play through, I didn't particularly enjoy myself, and with all that I know now, I can't see myself enjoying it any more. While I'm not really a fan of the meta-commentary on "level design teaching game mechanics organically" folks have lauded in games like Shovel Knight, I think Freedom Planet is a series that desperately needs that sort of thought put into it, especially if it wants to appeal to a broader audience.
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Offline Mop it up

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Evan_B is pretty much saying what I would say, which is allowing me to sit back and be lazy. Thanks, Evan_B!

Offline pokepal148

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At the same time, unlike the Genesis Sonic games I actually finished iy.

Offline ClexYoshi

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you got me there, Evan. I can personally see where the level design and the mechanics and the character design all mutated from, and I can appreciate this game quite a bit. I'm going to chart it, not nessesarily defend it.


Naturally, starting as a sonic fangame, level design was something Strife wanted to nail first; having that multi-tiered level design that both had the hits of exploration the likes of Sonic CD, S3&K, and Sonic advance 3 had going on was something he wanted, but he wanted to take out things that constantly break the flow of that. that's why there's almost NO instant death pits or enemies or asshole spike locations that actively grind the game to a halt.

Somewhere along the line, the idea of Dr. Eggman Bossfights came up, and usually those tend to be... piss easy to outright bad and non-engaging. This is where some of the Treasure inspired ideas for mini-boosses, mid-stage bosses, and end bosses come in. some of these are pretty overt such as the 7 Force inspiration with the boss fight with syntax at the end of Final Fortress 1 or the Serpentine mech from Fortune Street 2 being a direct riff on a Mischief Makers boss.

Sonic Romhacks and fan games were finding ways to impliment all sorts of moves into the sonic games in the same way that Sonic Advance trilogy and Sonic rush did, trying to give Sonic a spin dash, the super peel-out, Insta-shield, a double jump, and a homing attack  all on the same 3 button genesis controller control schemes. usually, players of these titles would have an easy enough time exploring the controls and figuring out what's what among the community that frequent things like Sonicretro.org or the Sonic Ameteur Game Expo competitions, which Freedom Planet was entered into the 2012 SAGE competition. In this bubble, Lilac's Sparkster style boost and (at the time) normal spin-dash along with her kick attacks were well recieved.

However, the devs then decided they wanted to take it away from where they'd actually be infringing on Sega or be tagged as a fangame, and so further things were tweaked and in their core group of QA testers, things seemed to be going swimmingly. the levels stuck to the core ideas of being clearable by all the characters, who felt distinct yet comparable besides the stages later in development made specifically to highlight abilities exclusive to a character. More of the Treasure style batshit insanity was put into stages like Battle Glacier and the final dreadnaught stages, but designed in JUST such a way that because the enemies don't do contact damage and have windup before they spray bullets everywhere that you can mostly speed by the most threatening enemies, and things kept shaping up for their small but dedicated QA team, which probably consisted of people who were part of the target demographic for this game anyhow.

I mean, not that getting the Sonic Adventure style furry drama there wasn't a priority either, because it totally was... not to mention getting sprite artists who could properly realize things. if you look at that old SAGE2012 demo of Dragon Valley, it's looking a heck of a lot more... flat than it does in the final product when they hired more sprite folks.

I don't think Strife expected Freedom Planet to do as well as it's done... not to mention it was pretty much Galaxytrail's first game as a company. I'm surprised they immediatley were like "YEAH FREEDOM PLANET 2!" instead of goingg to a different project, but... yeah.

Offline ShyGuy

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The bosses in Freedom Planet get a little ridiculous...

Offline Evan_B

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Again, I understand that evolution, but enemies like the Brevon soldiers, while not an issue for the speed running community, clash with the level design philosophy and flow of the game entirely. The problem with altering a vision halfway through development is that it loses its identity. Freedom Planet's only identity comes from its pseudo-oriental, Sonic-esque art. The level design, though justified, is muddled, the combat is muddled, and its exploitable enough to be embraced by speed runners.

I can pretty clearly see why they're moving forward with Freedom Planet 2. They created a mixed game that they want to polish. They want to create a proverbial Mega Man 2 to solidify the formula. It's just not a formula I necessarily think is a step in the right direction. Once again, I can appreciate the little bits of design that comprise the final product, but the final product still just feels like a mish-mash of little bits. Not cohesive.
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Offline Lemonade

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The bosses in Freedom Planet get a little ridiculous...

Yes, I had a lot of trouble with the second last boss. I could never beat the final one