There's definitely quite a lot going on in this game. Already a fan of the previous one - whose name escapes me as I type this (Four last things?) - but the game is definitely full of the wacky nonsense of the earlier one. Perhaps there's more this time?
I think it's a shame to just think of this game as "the game that uses old paintings" - because, there's more to it than that (it also uses old music!). What I mean is that there's a fair amount of engaging with the symbolism and meaning in lots of the art being used. So, the character you play as in this one isn't just a "random" person from a painting - and if you dig around little bit you realize there's more going on that the mere "lets tell some jokes and get a laugh from fart noises" (though there is that).
I was surprised by how short the game is - or can be - you can just straight up kill a bunch of characters and get to the end. You don't get the "good" ending, but it did crack me up (and it makes sense for the character as well). But, also, in a funny way it pokes fun at how arbitrary many adventure games are in their puzzles when you can see there is a solution (in this game, plain old violence) and the game doesn't let you proceed (here it does, you just get a short, not so fun, and unfulfilling play experience, but it's your own fault!).
I even killed myself (by mistake) - which made it harder to solve a later puzzle because I was worried I'd kill myself again. (you can die by falling off a cliff, and later you have to jump out a window...)
Weirdly I'm surprised by how little attention this game seems to get for poking fun at religion in so many ways... has it flown under the radar? Or is it simply "well, Monty Python already did this, what's new here?"
Also, I love so much of the art - especially when I know it's wild and crazy in the original!
We got a group of four together and it was great fun! We even finished the game. As in, got to the end boss of the first campaign - you can continue, or bail. It was late, so we bailed. And we don't really know how we beat the last boss. It's just incredibly unfair! It seems to attack all the locations at the same time, making it impossible to dodge - and we only were able to carry on because you're able to revive each other. If not, game over.
There's a lot going on in this game with all the different characters and some high-level loot you can pick up - but, it is really quite grindy. Too much for me, tbh.
Anthropomorphic animals with guns. Oh, also semi-rogue-like looter shooter. With 4 player co-op.
It's interesting, and fun - but man is there a grind here! Especially if you want to unlock all the characters. It really is designed for co-op play, but weirdly you end up sharing the loot?
I'm reminded a lot of Immortal Redneck - the levels you play in are small sort of arenas (Immortal Rednecks are more varied, but less linear - so there's some backtracking to do) - you find new weapons (which can have all kinds of perks and stuff) as well as scrolls and you also get to unlock improvements to your special abilities. 2 abilities per character. I think. I only just barely, after ~9 hrs of play, unlocked the second character.
Lets lots of variety in the weapons, but you can only carry two - with a 3rd vanilla weapon for which you can never run out of ammo. There's some thinking you have to do since there are three ammo types, and it's probably a bad idea to carry two weapons that use the same ammo. Character movement is kind of slow, and it's hard to dodge around since you only have one dash - with a ~3 second cool down. So, it's mostly for last second dodges rather than dodging and weaving.
I struggled to get past the 1st boss - in the dungeon environment. Then I played with a student who - I think - mostly carried me all the way to the 3rd section - this time a japanese environment. A few minutes ago I was able to get myself all the way to almost the 2nd boss (in the 2nd section - egyptian-themed).
By now I've unlocked some persistent upgrades that make things a bit easier, and I have a better understanding of the weapons, the types of damage and effects, and so on. So, it does slowly start to make more sense.
Does it get a bit old? Somewhat - I mean, the arenas aren't all that different or interesting...so, you do get a bit tired.
Also, each level within a section has a challenge area (for extra upgrades/scrolls and things) - so you also have to find that and complete it if, I think, you want to stand any kind of change at the very end.
I think I'll try a game with a random team on the internet just to see how it goes?
This game was an indie darling a few years ago (when it came out) and it's been sort of unavoidable when people make lists of cyberpunk themed games and such.
And, my impressions - having finished it (it's short, yay!) is that - huh - I don't understand how it's gotten that much praise and attention given how wonky and uncomfortable so many parts of the game are! I was REALLY surprised about it.
(a) While the game has a tutorial - it's really ineffective (I was still super confused by a bunch of things) because it teaches you things you can't do, because they're unlocked through play (e.g. switch lenses - but you don't start with all of them). Furthermore, the tutorial is a separate menu item that you can (and do) just miss - you hop into the game and then don't understand anything.
(b) The game requires getting to certain locations (to snap pics), and you have a double jump to help - but the game's layout (and physics) are just incredibly wonky. I'm not sure if that's a "blame the engine" or "blame the level designers and poorly implemented collision boxes" - but there's a lot of missing jumps, not being able to make jumps, and getting slingshot into the air at "random" moments because some collisions got messed up.
(c) My entire first few hours (ok, maybe about one hour) were incredibly frustrating and confusing - mostly because I did not understand the objectives, and thus felt like they were either super fiddly to accomplish or technically failing to register (a feeling strengthened due to the crappy physics/collisions). So, if the objective was 3 Boom boxes - I'd take a pic, nothing would happen, take another one of a different boom box, I'd have a different objective register, and so on. I didn't know what was going on - was it framed incorrectly? Not focused right? No, it turns out the objective was to take a picture with 3 boom boxes in it. Sigh.
So, with the first hour of frustration out of the way, and having now figured out what to do and how...I was ready to actually play (and soon finish) the game.
Was it interesting? Yes?
Was it good? Yes?
How was the music? Amazing. I think I would have bailed completely on it if it weren't for the music.
Does the deadline make sense? No. It actively makes the experience worse - there's so much environmental storytelling in the game that I missed a lot of it simply because I was trying to get everything done in time. The timer doesn't REALLY matter - but you don't know that when you're playing, and so the game shoots itself in the foot in a sense.
The game's about the end of the world, but you don't really understand that - unless you stop to look around a bit, read the graffiti, see what the level designers have placed here and there, and so on.
and the ten minute deadline kills that.
The deadline also kills your desire to experiment with all the different photo and camera filters... which is also part of the experience. The world is ending, and here you are taking artsy pictures.
