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Thursday 7 February, 2008
Gamelog Entry #2
GAMEPLAY
After playing for another hour, I became more accustomed to the Exceed system, which is part of the main character's fighting style. His sword, the Red Queen, allows him to rev the blade to increase speed and damage with timed presses of a button. One thing I noticed was that the game has a lot of backtracking. I found myself traversing the same areas multiple times. The developers made it such that the backtracking wasn't too confusing. Often, there were messages stating that a new path was available in the area which prevented me from getting too lost. After going through most of the game as Nero, the story switched to the perspective of Dante, the protagonist of the previous games. Having since gotten used to Nero's combat abilities, I found myself disoriented and confused with the different set of abilities. After a little while, the new controls set in and were simple to remember and simple to pull of combo attacks.
A few things I found annoying were some of the enemies. Some of the varieties of monsters are just a pain to deal with such as an electric demon that is impervious to melee attacks until many rounds from my firearms. Even after that, it turns red and tries to suicide bomb me.
DESIGN
The developers did an outstanding job in level pacing and variation. The settings of the levels were gorgeous and breathtaking, in particular the snowy castle and the lush jungle areas. One thing that the developers could have improved was the shadow effects. The problem is most noticeable in the jungle areas from the shadows cast by the trees. The shadows just look very sub-par and take away from the rest of the superb visuals.
One of the new additions to the combat system, the Exceed System, greatly deepens the already intricate combat system in this game. For new players, the exceed system can be ignored but with more experienced players, it adds a new layer of skill. The perfect timing needed to pull of combos with the Exceed System add to the skills necessary to master this game.
Another thing the developers further improved from previous games was the equipment management system, which makes the fighting more fluid by allowing the player to change melee weapons, guns, and fighting styles on the fly. For example, a player using Dante can start off with a few slashes from a sword, continue with some fire from the dual pistols, Ebony & Ivory, and then instantly follow up with a rocket launcher and hand to hand combat. This system allows for some truly amazing combos that would not have been possible in the previous games.
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