How's the full game?

[sev]

played the demo and got a resounding "meh"—I like the concept, but the level generation seems a bit wonky at times, there is a lack of visual clarity in what direction the level is actually going, and I don't give a single damn about any of the characters or dialogue. Is the full game any better?

[Retheldin]

If you didn't like the demo the game is probably not for you. But I don't understand how you struggled find your way, because the answer to "what direction is the level going" is either straight forward or very slightly to the left or right. The game has no scenery that is not part of the level so if you see something in the distance that's always where the level is.

[sev]

I disagree. Pretty much every level I would end up veering off toward the edge at some point, in dry areas without sparks spawning. correcting to get sparks again puts you closer to the kill zone.

Originally posted by Retheldin:

The game has no scenery that is not part of the level so if you see something in the distance that's always where the level is.

that's exactly the issue. everything looks the same so it can be hard to know where the center line of the stage is, with wide stages and hills everywhere blocking your line of sight.

[Retheldin]

It's a racing game where you are never meant to turn around. The time you spend trying to get 10 sparks will give you a lower speed rating at the end, and higher speed ratings awards more sparks than you would collect in the level.

[sev]

I'm aware. by the time I finished a second run of the demo I realized going for sparks was basically pointless with the hundreds you're guaranteed to get at the end. which is another gameplay concern in and of itself. if the sparks that spawn in levels were supposed to be racing line indicators, they do a pretty poor job of that imo.

[Retheldin]

They aren't really supposed to be that, or at least they aren't mainly meant to be that I think. I think of them more as coins in mario games, unless I get items that encourages picking them up. There are items that reward speed, hp, energy for your equipment etc. whenever you pick them up. And that combined with items that increases pickup range suddenly makes them a pretty reliable tool for keeping your hp up or increasing your speed. I feel this is more where they find their real purpose in the levels.

[Hamberdler]

If you're having trouble seeing, you're not going to like the later levels. Difficulty in this game scales with more obstacles/traps, and less time to complete the course. Personally, I think it does better than a lot of racing games when it comes to seeing where to go.

With sparks, you can kind of start to understand the layout of the maps and adjust your route to get them, but they always seem to be inconvenient and kill precious time.

[Zawa]

Originally posted by Retheldin:

If you didn't like the demo the game is probably not for you. But I don't understand how you struggled find your way, because the answer to "what direction is the level going" is either straight forward or very slightly to the left or right. The game has no scenery that is not part of the level so if you see something in the distance that's always where the level is.

Don't know how to find the way because there's purple rocks everywhere and no true idea where the next direction actually is. Always end up going through rocks and off the map at some point. There's no clear indication of those 'void' looking maps of where to go. The ones at the start with trees and clear skies suffered no such confusion.

[sev]

Originally posted by Zawa:

Don't know how to find the way because there's purple rocks everywhere and no true idea where the next direction actually is. Always end up going through rocks and off the map at some point. There's no clear indication of those 'void' looking maps of where to go. The ones at the start with trees and clear skies suffered no such confusion.

yeah the donut-shaped "boss" level or whatever it is was a surprising departure from the previous levels, with no real indication of what was coming. I mean did understand what it was doing when I found the whole stage to be curving, but the visual clarity and direction being an issue makes itself most apparent here, at least in the demo.

[Knowsome]

The demo gives you a very good idea what you'll be doing for the rest of the game, and that is doing shards (world levels) while running foward. Demo had 1 shard, the whole game has 10 shards + endless shard for end game frothing speed demons.

The shards get increasingly harder and longer, there are only 4 bosses in this game, 3 which repeat themselves across 9 shards, but with a twist and increasingly harder for every re-match.

the only thing different are your active power ups, as i think on the demo you only had your hoverboard. On the full game you can unlock 3 more: The Cowl,Grappling hook, and a bullet time impulse.

if you didn't like the demo, you are not gonna like the full game OP.

[kozz]

i had a handful of issues with veering off-course in the demo because of lack of vision, namely in the "challenge" levels. i've gone through the whole game and that hasn't happened to me once. wouldn't be surprised if they tuned that in a patch but i can't say for sure.

the items in the demo suck. the newer ones you unlock in the full game actually feel impactful and fun to use, with a couple synergies here and there. probably the biggest improvement from the demo i think. i was skeptical of the roguelike direction the demo had but the full game proved me wrong for the most part

there is still a substantial amount of character dialogue, with character interactions consistently happening between loading zones, at safe zones, the shop, etc. the finale of the game also involves a moment that you will absolutely not get anything out of if you skip the rest of the game's dialogue

the option to pick your entire path at the start of the shard and the different abilities to choose from are a substantial step up from the demo gameplay-wise, but if you don't like the demo's "run down slope for speed and avoid thing while go forward" you probably wont like the full game any better

[Jean]

If you don't like the feel of the game from the demo that isn't going to change from the full game. The characters don't necessarily get more interesting but I do think their designs are good at least.