Topic: Too Human Trilogy: Exclusive for 360

[Ceric]

Should I add Silicon Knights to those lists of developers that need Nintendo as their publisher to make good games?

Yes and it's too bad.  You read interviews with SK and they seem like really ambitious guys with some good ideas.  But they're TOO ambitious.  They're not grounded in reality and need someone like Nintendo to keep them grounded.  I think if Nintendo was involved Too Human would have turned out better.  Same with Rare's output.

MS isn't a videogame powerhouse.  Sure they make a console and publish Halo but they don't have any real track record as a videogame company.  The quality of Microsoft published games is similar to Sony's: inconsistent.  So you take two companies that were capable of great things when under the wing of one of the greatest game developers in the world, move them to a mediocre publisher and they release mediocre games.  That's not a coincedence.

I wish SK and Rare were still with Nintendo, though the sad truth is Nintendo has changed enough that they probably wouldn't fit anymore.  I guess I wish the old Nintendo was making games with SK and Rare.  The present day casual focused Nintendo has little in common with either developer.

The whole thing feels like a great band broke up and everyone is doing a really crappy solo career.

I just want to say that that before XBox MS did make ore then a few good games.

[KDR_11k]

Reviews are in. Chance of it becoming an actual trilogy.... fading.

1+ million pre-orders, or so I've read somewhere... even though this game has not been getting phenomenal reviews, its sales will save SK, and we will get a continuation of Too Human.

I will be picking up my copy tomorrow.

As a publisher I'd tread carefully, if the first game sold mostly on hype in spite of its lack of quality it might not be a good idea to make a sequel as a bad first game would already make sure you won't get many repeat customers, destroying the value of the sequel (namely that people who bought the first would buy the second). Not sure I'd cancel the game but I'd definitely give them less money to work with since the expected sales are lower.

A big criticism is that it's very repetitive, a demo will rarely convey something like that.

[redgiemental]

I was rather underwhelmed by the demo to be honest. The combat got pretty repetitive pretty fast in my opinion. It has taken the game off my maybe list and straight into the no pile.

[Nick DiMola]

I'll buy my copy when the used market is flooded and the price for it drops.

[Caliban]

A big criticism is that it's very repetitive, a demo will rarely convey something like that.

Yes I know. I have no problem with that.
All games are repetitive.
Life is repetitive.
Then again, you can't always please everyone.

[KDR_11k]

Sure, all games are repetitive but usually the player doesn't feel like they are.

[Caliban]

I think that this repetition is acknowledged by the player, but it's enticing enough that he is having fun playing the game to the point of ignoring such repetition.

[DAaaMan64]

Reviews are in. Chance of it becoming an actual trilogy.... fading.

1+ million pre-orders, or so I've read somewhere... even though this game has not been getting phenomenal reviews, its sales will save SK, and we will get a continuation of Too Human.

I will be picking up my copy tomorrow.

As a publisher I'd tread carefully, if the first game sold mostly on hype in spite of its lack of quality it might not be a good idea to make a sequel as a bad first game would already make sure you won't get many repeat customers, destroying the value of the sequel (namely that people who bought the first would buy the second). Not sure I'd cancel the game but I'd definitely give them less money to work with since the expected sales are lower.

Well the probably need way less money for the sequel as it's all done for them already.

[Ceric]

I'm sort of curious what limitations they ran into to stop them from doing everything they planned.  I know it wasn't time they don't seem to care about that.  I'm halfway expecting it was disc space...

[GoldenPhoenix]

Repetition seems to be minor at best, I've read reviews from 1up, Gamespot, and IGN and none really focused on that part of it. It was mainly that they didn't like the difficulty adjusting to the player, items are useless (because of the leveling), story was disappointing, and sometimes the controls aren't responsive.

[KDR_11k]

Gamespy complained that all combat is the same because enemies are too stupid to really create more complex situations and most non-beating special skills are useless because in the end you're expected to just beat more monsters to death, whether you're a healer or a sniper (yes, they still beat because many monsters are immune to ranged attacks...).

[BranDonk Kong]

Kevin Perirrrieiaieria from G4 has a video defending the game. I still think it sucks, but he has some good points, and he's kind of funny in it.

[DAaaMan64]

I really doubt it is this bad. Sure it wasn't worth the hype and it didn't get straight 10s, but it got 7-8s. Respectable.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

After the dev time and costs?  Not respectable.

[Caliban]

After the dev time and costs?

Which we don't know.

[DAaaMan64]

Not respectable

Hmph, I'm not denying that.

We must smell our own farts or something.

[BranDonk Kong]

We know the time-frame, it started as a fucking PSX game, then moved to Gamecube, then to Xbox 360. Unless Microsoft is investing ****-tons of money into Silicon Knights, then surely this game will bankrupt them.

[matt oz]

Kevin Perirrrieiaieria from G4 has a video defending the game. I still think it sucks, but he has some good points, and he's kind of funny in it.

G4 has a very odd reverential/sycophantic relationship with Denis Dyack, so it's no surprise that Pereira and Sessler are defending this game.  The myriad previews of the game on X-Play over the last few months got me interested in the game, but the demo killed all that last month.

If the pre-order numbers are true, I have a feeling I can pick this up used for under $20 in January.

[Peachylala]

G4 has a very odd reverential/sycophantic relationship with Denis Dyack, so it's no surprise that Pereira and Sessler are defending this game.  The myriad previews of the game on X-Play over the last few months got me interested in the game, but the demo killed all that last month.

G4 is like that with other assortment of games as well. They were basically whoring out Twilight Princess when it was released.

I wish SK and Rare were still with Nintendo, though the sad truth is Nintendo has changed enough that they probably wouldn't fit anymore.  I guess I wish the old Nintendo was making games with SK and Rare.  The present day casual focused Nintendo has little in common with either developer.

Nintendo hasn't changed. Second party compenies are let go when the owners think they are not worth it anymore. In the last seven years, we've lost: Left Field, Silcon Knights and Rare. What did we gain?: EAD Tokyo, Skip and Monolith Soft. Yes, E3 2008 was disheartening, but everyone is treating it like it all doom and gloom. Nobody seems to remember E3 2003.

[Caliban]

Ty sent me a voice message to my 360: "Dennis Dyack will make you his bitch", and it did sound kind of robotic might I add.

I've played almost 7 hours into the game and so far I would say it deserves the reviews its been getting, between a 7 and an 8. It definitely has its faults, and I hope Silicon Knights realizes what they are and will have the initiative to fix them for the next chapter of Too Human.

[UltimatePartyBear]

Where are you people getting "between 7 and 8" from?  The gamerankings page I see says between 5 and 8, with the vast majority of reviews ranging from 6 to 7.

[KDR_11k]

For every hyped game you'll find at least some reviews rating it highly even if most rate it "whatsit".

[Caliban]

Where are you people getting "between 7 and 8" from?

Sorry, my bad: http://kotaku.com/5038654/frankenreview-too-human. I usually don't go to gamerankings.
To me it just seems like a 7.5/10 kind of game.

[Adrock]

Silicon Knights hasn't made a AAA game yet. I'm ok with that. Eternal Darkness was far from perfect, but I was happy with the purchase. I don't expect Too Human to be amazing. I expect a competent game... but I won't spend $60 on it.

[Nick DiMola]

This is definitely a competent game, but definitely not worth $60. When it is about $20-$30 I will feel comfortable purchasing.

I am getting some enjoyment out of the rental copy I currently possess, but ultimately the lack of local coop really kills it. This is a game I would've really enjoyed playing with my wife.