Friday 23 May 2008

penny arcade game

I poked a bit at the demo last night. Not much, because I was very very sleepy and the demo won't let you save, so any progress I made would be wasted anyway. It's cute, but the bits I like most are the 2d stuff, and the actual 3d gameplay is a lot less interesting. (Also, the way the 3d character breathes/sways while voiceover goes on annoys me.) I'm a little confused by the combat, as one of the first combat sessions said something about blocking attacks when a bar flashes, but I never see anything flash. And, of course, the pathfinding often leaves the character standing in confusion unable to navigate around obstacles.

Here is my character design - I do like the way it came out.



Will I be buying? Dunno. Probably not at the moment, I have other demands on my time.

There is some huffing in some corners about the copy-protection. Am I bothered? No. Why? Because it's a downloadable game. I get really pissy about buying a CD and being told I can't reinstall it or sell it. With a downloadable, I thoroughly understand the desire to keep an eye on an install code and disable it if suddenly there are 1000 users a week trying to use it. From what I understand, that is the intent, rather than 'you can install once and then never again!!'

Anyway, it would be hypocritical of me to complain now, as I've bought a variety of small downloadable games that operate under similar principles and where I may eventually need to contact support if I keep reinstalling them. I do get annoyed with companies who say that you get X installs and that's it, but not so much with the "just ask, we're just keeping an eye on it" variety.

1 comment:

Davzz said...

Not sure about enemies flashing or whatever, perhaps you're confusing it with some of the specials but you're supposed to hit spacebar just as the enemy is about the attack, like in Super Mario RPG.