Darrell
08-27-2008, 03:09 PM
I don't know how many of you folks read the User Review forums, but I want to make sure everyone has a chance to see me admit I was wrong. I also want the folks at Silicon Knights, especially Denis, to know that I was wrong. Well, maybe not so much "wrong" as I was having the wrong experience with Too Human because I wasn't playing the way I should have been. I did have a terrible experience with my first playthrough, but that was my fault rather than the fault of the game. I was blaming the game for things that I did, or didn't do, and for that I was wrong.
After Denis posted his long list of suggestions, I went back and did a second complete playthrough of the game with my Berserker. My experience was much, much, much better the second time through. The only times I died were on the bosses of Ice Forest and World Serpent (I died once and twice on those, respectively), as opposed to my previous playthrough where I died more than a dozen times on the Ice Forest, at least half a dozen times on World Serpent and I died within the first 20 seconds of Helheim. I'm still having issues with doing a slide when trying to do a fierce attack, but so far I haven't had that problem with the Defender; the Berserker's longer slide range may be partially responsible.
I was also much more impressed with the story and level design, since I was actually able to pay attention and care about the game rather than cursing it with every other breath. The story has a lot of subtleties that I missed my first time through; now I smirk at lines such as "The old world is dead, Baldur, and part of you died with it" because I can see the intended irony. I was able to marvel at the sweeping depths of the Ice Forest, the huge internal machinations of the World Serpent and the nightmarish land of damnation that is Helheim; the cinematic view offered from Hel's throne room, just off to the right, was especially impressive.
The game is now as fun as I had originally hoped it would be. The story is even better than I had thought (And I never thought it was bad), I enjoy switching strategies and enemies I used to dread are now given little more than a second glance. Dark Elf Archers, in particular, are no longer the stuff of nightmares for me. Now a quick 2-in-1 ruiner totally obliterates them and everything else within about 100 yards. I even managed to complete the two arenas in the Ice Forest that I failed the first time through. Actually, my first time through saw me dying on the first level while my second playthrough saw me dominating the arena and finishing at full health.
Too Human is a great game, and I was wrong in thinking otherwise. I originally said that I understood why reviewers gave the game a low score. If I was right in saying that their experiences must have mirrored my own, then I can honestly say that they weren't playing the game the way they should have been. While originally I would have given the game something like a 30 out of pure frustration, my second playthrough (I skipped no cinematics, I hunted out and had as many conversations as I could, paid attention to background dialogue with Wolf Troopers, checked out the level designs and backgrounds...basically did everything I would have done during my first playthrough except I was too pissed off to care about anything) would have seen a rating closer to 85%. The game is still not perfect, but it's a lot of fun and does require you to actually pay attention to what you're doing. It rewards thought and strategy, but it also will knock you on your *** if you're not ready for what Too Human throws at you.
Thanks for your advice, Denis. You guys did an awesome job with the game and I'm sorry that I couldn't experience all the fun sooner. :) Also thanks to Henry and Adam, whose scattered comments also added up to helping me tackle obstacles that were tripping me up constantly during my first playthrough. I'm extremely glad that I gave Too Human another chance and approached it with the mindset of "Maybe I'm doing something wrong". I've never been more happy to be so wrong.
After Denis posted his long list of suggestions, I went back and did a second complete playthrough of the game with my Berserker. My experience was much, much, much better the second time through. The only times I died were on the bosses of Ice Forest and World Serpent (I died once and twice on those, respectively), as opposed to my previous playthrough where I died more than a dozen times on the Ice Forest, at least half a dozen times on World Serpent and I died within the first 20 seconds of Helheim. I'm still having issues with doing a slide when trying to do a fierce attack, but so far I haven't had that problem with the Defender; the Berserker's longer slide range may be partially responsible.
I was also much more impressed with the story and level design, since I was actually able to pay attention and care about the game rather than cursing it with every other breath. The story has a lot of subtleties that I missed my first time through; now I smirk at lines such as "The old world is dead, Baldur, and part of you died with it" because I can see the intended irony. I was able to marvel at the sweeping depths of the Ice Forest, the huge internal machinations of the World Serpent and the nightmarish land of damnation that is Helheim; the cinematic view offered from Hel's throne room, just off to the right, was especially impressive.
The game is now as fun as I had originally hoped it would be. The story is even better than I had thought (And I never thought it was bad), I enjoy switching strategies and enemies I used to dread are now given little more than a second glance. Dark Elf Archers, in particular, are no longer the stuff of nightmares for me. Now a quick 2-in-1 ruiner totally obliterates them and everything else within about 100 yards. I even managed to complete the two arenas in the Ice Forest that I failed the first time through. Actually, my first time through saw me dying on the first level while my second playthrough saw me dominating the arena and finishing at full health.
Too Human is a great game, and I was wrong in thinking otherwise. I originally said that I understood why reviewers gave the game a low score. If I was right in saying that their experiences must have mirrored my own, then I can honestly say that they weren't playing the game the way they should have been. While originally I would have given the game something like a 30 out of pure frustration, my second playthrough (I skipped no cinematics, I hunted out and had as many conversations as I could, paid attention to background dialogue with Wolf Troopers, checked out the level designs and backgrounds...basically did everything I would have done during my first playthrough except I was too pissed off to care about anything) would have seen a rating closer to 85%. The game is still not perfect, but it's a lot of fun and does require you to actually pay attention to what you're doing. It rewards thought and strategy, but it also will knock you on your *** if you're not ready for what Too Human throws at you.
Thanks for your advice, Denis. You guys did an awesome job with the game and I'm sorry that I couldn't experience all the fun sooner. :) Also thanks to Henry and Adam, whose scattered comments also added up to helping me tackle obstacles that were tripping me up constantly during my first playthrough. I'm extremely glad that I gave Too Human another chance and approached it with the mindset of "Maybe I'm doing something wrong". I've never been more happy to be so wrong.