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

[ClexYoshi]

SO! this is a game that I am excited about and I hope I can get some of you excited about as well!

If it weren't for Shovel Knight, I think Freedom Planet would have been the big 2014 indie game that folks would have been heralding as the properly done retro game. outside of maybe sonic purist goofballs who maybe don't like a couple of the physics quirks or those who can't appreciate the sort of homage the story is going for, This game is pretty great, with extremely solid level design and outstanding spritework that's very expressive. I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention Woofle's soundtrack, which is probably the greatest stuff she's done since her contributions to the CD version of Sonic 1 Megamix.

If you're one of those crotchety old folks who only liked their sonic on the genisis and constantly herald Treasure and Konami's efforts on the platform, you owe it to yourself to play Freedom Planet and give it a home on your Wii U when it comes. By then, maybe the free DLC will be out for PC and included in the Wii U build?

[Dasmos]

I think there's a reason not too many games ape the old Sonic games, they're not very good. From what I've seen of Freedom Planet, it doesn't seem to mess with the formula enough to get me interested. Plus I've always hated the super-cute character designs from Sonic games, and FP seems to take the cute and turn it up to 11.

[ClexYoshi]

I think there's a reason not too many games ape the old Sonic games, they're not very good. From what I've seen of Freedom Planet, it doesn't seem to mess with the formula enough to get me interested. Plus I've always hated the super-cute character designs from Sonic games, and FP seems to take the cute and turn it up to 11.

well, I probably cannot sell you on a copy of Freedom planet. : P I actually does a few things better than sonic like enemies not dealing contact damage, things being life bar based instead of the whole ring thing, the physics allowing for mid-air control that feels a little closer to SMB3 than Sonic (particularly for Carol the Wildcat, who's gameplay is a little slower but she can Mega Man X her way up walls, Or Milla the hound who has a Yoshi style flutter jump.), and the levels have a lot of exploration to them that makes blazing through them ASAP not the only goal one might have while playing the game.

[ClexYoshi]

This guy needs a bump, because this game should be hitting in North america for real this time!

Really, guys. Play this game. it is crazy good. I've seen so many people who have never heard of it, stumble upon it, and then just marvel at how awesome it is. To quote that which is probably already quoted to death... Freedom Planet is so much more than a love letter to the genre or platform it is trying to invoke - It is the sort of game that people love to write love letters about. Really, give it a try~!

[Evan_B]

HUGE fan of S3&K, Rush, etc. here, Clex, and I'm definitely going to be picking it up tomorrow if the price isn't too high. From what I've heard, the story isn't so good and the voice acting is Saturday Morning Delicious, but if the core gameplay is satisfying enough, I'll end up loving it. Also heard some of that soundtrack, it's as incredible as you said.

Do think the enemies not dealing damage on contact is cool but I worry that makes the game a breeze, hope the level design forces you to engage enemies in an non-killroom setting. Anyway, I will definitely post impressions here once I pick it up!

[sudoshuff]

I'll revisit the demo and think about getting it.  In many ways, it was my favorite E3 nindie demo. I thought it would be exactly like Sonic, which confused me when I first played.  I remember having a tough time memorizing the controls and moves...but mostly because I was expecting them to be very simplistic. 

[ejamer]

I'm not a big Sonic fan - it always seemed to have a disconnect between the main selling point (speed) and level design (exploration, sudden death traps if moving too fast). 


But (judging from the Wii U demo) I think that Freedom Planet seems really cool and avoided some of those problems while keeping the most interesting parts of Sonic gameplay. Not sure I'll be buying right away, but it's definitely on my wanted list for the future.

[ClexYoshi]

Evan_B: $15 is the asking price if you're not including your Nindies @ home discount.

and this game defenatley finds ways to engage you with enemies. later stages often throws enemies at you that shoots spreads of bullets that explode all over the place and the screen ends up filled with explosions that make the game in screenshots resemble Gunstar Heroes more than anything. The game really only locks rooms down for mini-boss type encounters more than anything.

I think there's a charm to the plot and they build a world that seems far bigger than the happenings of the game world it takes place in, but it is REALLY kinda disjointed. you can end up getting cutscenes of up to 10-15 minutes between stages if you don't throw on that 'classic' mode to filter out the long stuff and keep it to basic S3&K style character interactions.

I actually think some of the voices can be good. I was especially won over by Brevon in the PC version.

Sudoshuff - Wait until you get your hands on some of the other characters~! Milla in particular has a surprisingly robust moveset between her ability to heft stuff up SMB2 style, her multi-directional shield, and the ability to combine the two. often times in the heat of combat against certain bosses (the battle glacier act 2 boss comes to mind), Milla will be using her flutter jump, forming a block in her hands, then using the shield-burst at an upwards diagonal behind her head.

Milla is defenatley a sort of hard mode because of how wildly different she is gameplay wise than even Carol.


EJamer- there are 3 stages I can think of where bottomless pit is ever employed; The Edges of the ships in Sky Batallion, the portions of Final Dreadnaught that makes sense where Brevon very loudly announces over the PA that he's setting that specific thing up as a trap, and I think the boss of Final Dreadnaught 2 has gaps on the sides of the arena. there also tends to not be things in the way of them just putting a wall of spikes or an enemy that can hit you int eh path of a place that the game gives you a stretch of road to run on.

What the game DOES have is a very purposeful system of combo-itis. Lilac and the gang get ZERO post-hit invincibility, and there are enemies and bosses that WILL take advantage of this and kinda just stun-lock you into a combo... it never feels cheap though. it's combos by design, and they'll give you a bit of invincibility against say... a spikey headed enemy or something that's not meant to just juggle you with gunfire, but usually it's just enough with the slight knockback they give to try and get away and not be caught by them again.

[Evan_B]

I see what the combo-by-design mechanics you speak of are, and I'm not really a fan of it.

The levels are really really big, and while it shames me to get a 20 min completion time on some of them, I find some of their gimmicks a bit too overcomplex for their own good (like unlocking the doors in the ruins stage, something that's done way better in a later stage, or destroying the four ships in Sky Battalion). I know there's secrets to subverting some of these with certain characters (keep in mind, I've only played as Lilac as of right now), but I'm not really seeing a lot of branching paths, which I'm hoping are as cleverly hidden as those in S3&K.

The freedom of the levels and how quickly they pass by is directly countered by the slow, methodical and often precise nature of the bosses, which is a little weird. They also seem to directly counter the movesets of Lilac on a lot of occasions. Also, the physics are laughable in this game, with not really all that much momentum going on and very sticky characters. The level themes are a bit wonky (as in, their aesthetics), I'm not that much of a fan of some of the overcomplex mixtures of concepts like Asian/Casino Night, but most of them aren't too weird. I will say that the grunt unit found later in the game that takes a number of hits to kill and fires numerous shots is an annoying enemy that soaks up a lot of life points- which is one last thing I'm not sure I'm completely sold on.

If there's anything I can say, it's that Freedom Planet takes some pretty direct queues from Sonic, but it definitely feels like it's own game, and I really appreciate that.

[ClexYoshi]

a couple of the levels are sadly devoid of path branches, particularly some of the more interoir based zones later on.

a lot of fighting bosses with lilac is figuring out when it's best to Dragon boost, given that she has I-frames during the wind-up and use of that attack in particular. she actually has the most DPS on her jumping regular attack in most situations given that it's very hard to hit a foe with all the hits of a dragon boost or such. she also probably puts out the most pain of the current bunch (although it looks like Torque and Spade will probably change that when they come out, as Torque in particular reduces the bosses to jokes).

the Brevon soldiers take a stupid ammount of punishment and are an enemy that's meant to be feared. I think the spot they introduce them is very clearly meant to show you how stupidly durable and damaging they are, and that they are a fight best avoided entirely, because you really do not want to be caught with 3 of those guys gunning for you at once.

I also love the sticky physics. they're not quite to the Sonic 4 extreme of stickiness, but they honestly lend the game a bit more of a tightness, I found. also, it's hilarious dragon boosting at a uside-down sloped ceiling and somehow clinging to it. Honestly, the physics start making a lot more sense when you play as Carol in particular, who's moveset partially wouldn't work without that bit of unrealistic wonk in there.

I... got nothing for your gripes about objectives in stages or preference on athstetics. I actually really love Fortune Night because of the stupid ammount of attention to detail (going in and out of bathrooms, sitting on benches, the characters having a dance idle animation if you stop next to a disco ball, the stupid giant pianos straight out of the Tom Hanks classic "Big"...)

[Evan_B]

Not trying to be too down on the game. I beat it with lilac last night and I can honesty say a few of the bosses in particular are absolute bullshit, especially the first an last forms of Brevon. That gecko bug robot is insane (Brevon himself, even moreso) and I dread trying to beat any boss with Carol, who I played the first stage with last night. What I don't understand is why you would have such an awesome gimmick like her Motorcycle roped off- she's ridiculously clunky and not really that effective without it- and that double jump she has is just sad. If course, I know the answer- reward players who are skilled- but it doesn't feel fun to play her at any other time.

Hoping Milla is the right balance between the two. I'm also not too pleased with the energy meter, as it can really screw you in boss fights as well as when you don't utilize it correctly during stages. For a game as free and hectic as Freedom Planet aims to be, I'd appreciate if the skills necessary to not die weren't roped behind an energy meter.

[ClexYoshi]

Not trying to be too down on the game. I beat it with lilac last night and I can honesty say a few of the bosses in particular are absolute bullshit, especially the first an last forms of Brevon. That gecko bug robot is insane (Brevon himself, even moreso) and I dread trying to beat any boss with Carol, who I played the first stage with last night. What I don't understand is why you would have such an awesome gimmick like her Motorcycle roped off- she's ridiculously clunky and not really that effective without it- and that double jump she has is just sad. If course, I know the answer- reward players who are skilled- but it doesn't feel fun to play her at any other time.

Hoping Milla is the right balance between the two. I'm also not too pleased with the energy meter, as it can really screw you in boss fights as well as when you don't utilize it correctly during stages. For a game as free and hectic as Freedom Planet aims to be, I'd appreciate if the skills necessary to not die weren't roped behind an energy meter.

Gee, You'll be happy to know milla doens't have the energy meter, but she's easily the worst of the trio at combat.

I think a lot of Cariol's fun is that she has a proper sonic curl, and 'dat Mega Man X wall jump. she's also completley invincible while doing her chun li kick.

Though yeah, Brevon's final form gives me a lot of Mega Man X Sigma vibes, and he is REALLY meant to kinda stuff lilac and carol's offensive options in particular.



Gotta be honest, though. there are some bosses that REALLY frustrate me, and the Brevon mech thing that you fight in battle glacier and as part of the final battle is kinda nuts...

Unanimously though, i can safely say I'm in love with the game. Heck, I've been advocating for it here for some time now. I double dipped for it because I got it for pretty much free the first time and wanted to give the devs some support.

Don't think though that I'm discounting your opinion out of blatant fanboying though, Evan. I'm glad you've made your opinions of the game clear here.

[Evan_B]

Hilarious.

But I beat the game and I don't mess with Easy of Casual modes. I'll play through with the other two characters but I really think the energy system is a bit too strict. I was unaware of Carol's i-frames but I'm sure I would have learned as time went on. I just don't feel that i-frames are a good mechanic to base boss fights on.

[ClexYoshi]

yeah, I hear you. usually the bosses don't require them, it's just tough as nails to kinda memorize patterns and cycles without having that get out of jail free card.

at least it's not leike arlier builds where Lilac's meter would fill based on her current running speed and Carols filling per enemy kill.

[Evan_B]

That's rough, but I distinctly remember several encounters late game requiring i-frames.

Played a bit more with Carol today, starting to get used to her, but that double jump... Also, those jump pads are a bit lazy. I feel as though they developed these levels with Lilac in mind first.

[Phil]

I am really enjoying Freedom Planet. Came across a freezing issue in a cutscene in one with Lord Brevan after Fortune Night. Didn't hard lock the system, though, like the pre-release glitch in the review copy, thankfully.


I'm liking all aspects of Freedom Planet except how long the levels are. If they were split up like acts in Sonic, that would be much better, imo.

[Evan_B]

I hear that. However, one of my favorite parts of the Rush games for DS was blazing through the levels to nab an S Rank. Since there's an unlock for speed running the levels I'm going to at least give it a good shot.

[Phil]

I like that unlike the Rush games, which I did enjoy, there aren't many instances of bottomless pits to worry about. Freedom Planet keeps its level design challenging without the need for bottomless pits. Not saying no game can do bottomless pits right, but with something with as much speed as Freedom Planet, it's nice to not have to worry about it.

[ClexYoshi]

I like that unlike the Rush games, which I did enjoy, there aren't many instances of bottomless pits to worry about. Freedom Planet keeps its level design challenging without the need for bottomless pits. Not saying no game can do bottomless pits right, but with something with as much speed as Freedom Planet, it's nice to not have to worry about it.

Sonic Rush is REALLY level memorization centric, as it's important to know when you're gonna need to boost and where you're best off pulling combo tricks and when you have to end the combo and such. it's a VERY flow based game, and then DiMPS often kills that flow with kill rooms, pits/spikes, or that really inexplicable raft ride in BOTH acts of Mirage Road for no reason.

while there are some freedom planet levels that are really based on keeping things flowing, I feel like they do a good job of having ones that dont' that are more about a platforming challenge or mini-bosses. in that way, I feel it compares better to sonic 1, which broke it's 6 zones up into alternating between flow-based stages like Green Hill, Spring Yard, and Starlight, and the platforming challenge stages like Marble, Labyrinth, and Scrap Brain. if it wasn't for the hill-y stuff in Marble Zone, you could almost excuse me for thinking that the zones in Sonic 1 came from two seperate platformers and got shuffled together.

Freedom planet makes this work MUCH better. yeah, Relic maze is about a lot of button pushing and a bit of backtracking, but the stage still flows pretty good. Even the keycard-centric thermal base isn't too jarring in my mind from the leap to say... Labyrinth zone to Starlight zone.

[Evan_B]

I thought Thermal Base was fabulous. Good stuff in that level. But not so much in Relic Maze. I appreciated the design of the airship level although it was, in my opinion, one ship too many. I just got there now with Coral and I feel as though that's when the difficulty starts to amp up, so more on that in a bit.

[ClexYoshi]

I really wish I knew how to do youtube embeds on these forums... oh well. here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QmED9MJTN0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFoUKJQkTBk

These are from the PC version and are very early, since they were incomplete and bundled into a patch the game got, but here's the basic framework of how Spade and Torque will play.

[TOPHATANT123]

[youtube] http.blah, but get rid of the s in https [/youtuube] but spelt correctly.

[Evan_B]

Soooooo when are we gonna get Torque and Spade? Because they look incredible.

[ClexYoshi]

http://puu.sh/kCxqm/a294f6bbff.png  and https://www.reddit.com/r/freedomplanet/comments/2stf42/galaxytrail_spade_and_torque_are_complete_and/  This are about all my research turned up. apparantly spade and torque were playable at some of the places Galaxytrail has been going to like PAX and RTX, but there's nobody who bothered to actually get any capture of this. :I I imagine that Spade in particular is going to probably have exclusive stages due to him not traveling with the protagonists for most of the game.

[Evan_B]

I ended up reviewing this and Shovel Knight together for my blog. I ended up being quite favorable about it. Despite not liking the i-frame traps and tricks in boss fights, I'll admit I have never seen anything like it in a Sonic title and it really does make the game feel like it's own unique thing, which I really do appreciate.