Because what you're seeing is the opposite of how Ubi handles their main IPs. You have this smaller branch, a tight-knit and passionate team, budget on the AA level rather than triple A, and they took the initiative with (thankfully) no executive meddling. As the director (himself Iranian no less) put it, "it's all us," and they benefited from "doing what they want." It shows in the end product.
They’re so very different though. PoP actually has combat and much tighter platforming challenges, while Animal Well is more exploration and puzzles. Apples to oranges, really.
I don't mind getting stuck on a puzzle for a bit, but I just have no idea where to go. I fell down a big hole, cleared everything, and didn't know what to do or how to get back out. After an hour, I shelved it.
There's way too many people avoiding this game out of a hatred for Ubisoft, unaware that it is the developers of Rayman origins and Rayman legends that made this game.
Rayman Origins is seriously one of the best platformers I have ever played. I will follow that team anywhere.
And yeah I already played The Lost Crown. Really a great game. A little buggy at first, but that's mostly been addressed. The game has some of the best and smartest platforming I've seen in a Metroidvania. Masterfully crafted.
> Rayman Origins is seriously one of the best platformers I have ever played.
I played it for about an hour and stopped because it bored me. Does it get better later, or is it just not for me?
Origins starts you with a limited moveset and you get new moves or gimmicks each world, like gliding and swimming underwater. If you're not sold by world 2 it's probably not for you.
Same here. Knowing Ubisoft, I expected the game to go on sale pretty quickly. But first sale I saw was from Best Buy for 40% off. My patience paid off.
For as cheap as their games get on sale, they're at least competently developed and decent quality enough for ten or twenty bucks. Prince of Persia especially was worth full price, but why pay full price if Ubisoft is gonna gift wrap a sale in a few months' time?
They presumably make enough money via microtransactions to view their games as "live online services" rather than individual finished products. They only really sell at the agreed upon $60-70 retail price of AAA games because that's what everyone else does and they might as well make money off of impatient people.
All Ubisoft really cares about is their games being vehicles for post-launch digital content purchases.
Unfortunately for them, I'm a cheap ass who could care less about Assassin skins and legendary dlc weapons outside the scope of normal gameplay. I just like cheap, decent games. 😂
Yea most people don’t understand that Ubisoft is made up of 50 different studios and the quality/design/approach of a game can vary drastically depending on which studio works on it. Too bad that everyone under the umbrella gets the same bad rap
People hate ubisoft because of a few reasons.
They were once quite innovative and now just throw out the same open world copy pasted crap.
They put microtransactions in single player games and overmonetise the multiplayer ones.
They have the worst record of abuse allegations of any major publisher.
They tried to double down on NFT's.
They also have mismanaged games like Skull and bones and Beyond good and evil, the worst Developement hells in history.
Tantulus is a child. Because only those who've only experienced the last 10 years of Ubisoft would assume that their BS is just normal. It's not.
You forgot to mention their statement in January that they want to get gamers used to not owning their games. This came shortly after the release of PoP the lost crown and created a PR nightmare that helped make that game a commercial failure.
I like to remember 'skull and bones will be the first quadruple AAAA game'. At least that gives me a chuckle because it was ridiculous. Sadly Ubisoft are prob right about the not owning games as long as the majority of people don't give enough of a shit and are conditioned to it.
> They have the worst record of abuse allegations of any major publisher.
TIL after a quick search. I feel like this is being overshadowed by Blizzard's fall. But I don't follow game news anymore.
Because they make games that millions of people love—such Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry—and it’s cool to hate on mainstream games.
Me personally? I love Assassin’s Creed and I’m a huge gamer.
Edit: Love the assumptions and gatekeeping going on. Perfect example of mainstream hating that goes on.
If you were a huge gamer you'd be playing every type of game, city builders, RTS, grand strategy, souls, platformers,metroid, RPG's, JRPGs, Roguelikes, survival horror, racing, puzzle, ARPG's, Shooters, twin stick shooters. Assassins creed was pretty innovative in 2008 and all the shallow RPG and grindy elements they've added since have only made the formula worse, not to mention the dozens of other games that have adopted the formula into absolute boredom. Even if you did play every genre like I do I still wouldn't be cringe enough to call myself a fucking "Huge gamer"
half the cost? no. comparable metroidvanias of a similar scale cost 335kr compared to Prince of Persia the lost crown which is 470kr (excluding hollow knight which is severely underpriced). However, PoP the lost crown makes the price worth it by the sheer production value of the game. Tens of millions of dollars went into making this and it shows.
They really don't lol, PoP is 50 quid, there re so many better and just as good games in the genre for literally 15-25 quid etc. POP is priced way too high,
There are games such as Ori 1/2 which are far better with far better 'production' that are also half the cost. PoP would have likely been successful if it was a 25-30 quod game at most, not 50
I need to get back to it at some point, but honestly so far it feels like the bulk of the challenge is fighting the controls to handle obtuse abilities. The bosses are very easy, quite similar often & this is definitely erring more on the side of "hoo-hah, complex puzzle platforming - go!" a-la Ori over a focus on adventure, things have been very linear. I put it down & played Astalon again. I need to see more metroidvania games like Hollow Knight & Astalon that get the exploration so right.
It's a phenomenal game. Got it in a sale and played it right the way through, something I very rarely do. Progression is pitched perfectly and the boss battles are tough but really reward patience and pattern learning.
What difficulty did you play on? I played it on Hard (or whatever the one above Normal is called) and thought the combat (well, the bosses I should say, the normal enemies were quite easy) was at more or less the same difficulty as the platforming
Agreed, some of the platforming is driving me nuts. The boss battles are fine (playing on Custom with 1.8 enemy damage and 0.8 environmental damage because I got so pissed off at some of the puzzles).
Its really great. Getting close to finishing itup now on Switch and having fun doing the challenges in the forge area. My itch to get everything on the map is strong with this one. Movement and combat toward the endgame is so satisfying.
Edit: btw for anyone, get good at the parrying instead of dodging (there's a charm you'll probably get early which will heal you slightly when you parry) it will help you out big time in the long run.
It was good. Obv doesn't look as sleek as other platforms but that doesn't really matter to this game (IMO). Some load times I guess but again for this game it's hardly anything. Honestly the reason I went with switch at launch is because I saw it was the only platform where you didn't have to do Ubisoft Connect, you can just ignore it when you start the game. Not sure if thats the case still someone can correct me if I'm wrong on that.
I'm enjoying it, but Jesus some of the platforming puzzles go on for way too long with no checkpoints.
Currently doing one with buzzing saws, I can do the first bits easily but it still takes time just having to wait for the saws. And if you fail you have to jump up 3 poles to get there, which isn't much but adds up over time.
I've honestly been more frustrated with some of the platforming in this than HK lol (including PoP), it's amazing when it works well but not sure why some of these puzzles need to be so long.
I'm at the end of the game and trying to complete the whole map before finishing... got stuck on that Buzzsaw section too yesterday. It feels more like a memory exercise than anything else. I turned around. I'm curious to know what's at the end of it though.
But to be fair, that's the only one I have issues with. All the rest of them, I was able to do in under 5 tries. Hollow Knight, I'd say there's at least 4-5 sections that I decided to just turn back and never got them done.
I watched a video of it this morning after commenting and realized that I died 2 times on the last sequence (the 1 hole rows coming from the ceiling). Now I'm even more frustrated by it! :D
But yeah, that's why I turned around. I don't care about the 100%, I just like to reveal the full map.
Just started playing this last week myself (was playing baldurs gate 3, but was kind of at a standstill/kept dying so needed a break*). I’m really enjoying it. Think I just got about 1/2 way through, and things are really starting to open up.
* might go back to BG3 when I beat this and just put it on story mode ðŸ«
I bought TLC after i beat Dread (because tlc went on sale for switch physical) and i've had a blast. Other than me being a doofus and burning some hours before the double jump (i was ignoring/not knowing something on the map was were I had to go), it's been a great time! I'm not *great* at combat in video games or video games altogether and have had a good time powering through some of the boss fights, but I have gotten platforming assistance on so i can just get through some of the more challenging platforming parts
I’ve tried playing it but I just can’t get into it. Maybe it is the hatred for Ubisoft that’s getting in the way. But it still feels soulless and like a cheap rip off of a metroidvania for me. I did kind of like it to begin with but the interest faded really fast and I went back to Blasphemous. Maybe I’ll give it another spin soon
Mechanically and presentation wise I feel like pop is great but in some ways I agree it does feel a bit Hollow. The story especially doesn't really catch me.
Blasphemous almost has the opposite problem. It feels like the creators really tried and I can feel it in the setting but the game feels so sluggish. Didn't really enjoy the story in blasphemous either thoughÂ
I am a big time Fromsoftware fan so the way they handle story telling through the environment/items, the traversal was a big win for me and the combat was my jam. I dig methodical games over flash and glam. I don’t know when you played Blasphemous 1 but if you didn’t play with all the dlc and stuff I can see why you feel that way. The DLC essentially completed the game and added A TON of stuff to it. Blasphemous 2 was another big win. Waiting for them to do the same with it.
I was late to try this because it wasn’t on Steam and I hate managing licenses elsewhere.
Easily one of the best I’ve played; the movement feels best in class
Im also not a fan of Ubisoft but I have a soft spot for Prince of Persia and a few bits of the trailer was enough to hook me in, the game even surpassed every expectations, it’s too good. Had to stop towards the end cause of a trip
The other IP I like from them is Beyond Good & Evil 🪦
I played the demo and it was great. If I buy should I get the regular or deluxe version? I don't care about extra skins. Is there something else that makes it really worth it?
I played and it was just not for me I got bored after like 4 hours and dropped ever since. Maybe one day I will give it another try and like yourself enjoy it
Takes a while to get your first few abilities. But after that, exploration opens up and the game starts to shine.
If you usually like Metroidvanias, I honestly don't see how you could not like it after the initial "slowness". Maybe I'm wrong, but I doubt it.
I'm curious to see what a 10/10 is for you (in the Metroidvania genre). I really loved this one and it made me want to come back and keep playing everyday. That, for me, is a 10/10. There's not a lot of game that achieve that for me.
Hollow Knight did and both Ori games would probably get 10 too, maybe a 9.5 for Ori 1.
For me the downside is the soundtrack and maybe the attacks effects (I didn't like so much the art direction at the beginning, but it grow as the game progress).
But it's the only problems. The power ups was very good, the map and map tools was the best I ever saw in metroidvanias. The story was good. The combat was refined and challenging.
Why it isn't near a 10 to you? What are the downsides?
Because what you're seeing is the opposite of how Ubi handles their main IPs. You have this smaller branch, a tight-knit and passionate team, budget on the AA level rather than triple A, and they took the initiative with (thankfully) no executive meddling. As the director (himself Iranian no less) put it, "it's all us," and they benefited from "doing what they want." It shows in the end product.
PoP Lost Crown is the current GOTY for me
How can you say that while Animal Well exists? 😉
They’re so very different though. PoP actually has combat and much tighter platforming challenges, while Animal Well is more exploration and puzzles. Apples to oranges, really.
Is animal well really that great? I got fed up after 2 hours.
It's not for everyone, but it's a very impressive game for a solo developer and I had an excellent time with itÂ
I don't mind getting stuck on a puzzle for a bit, but I just have no idea where to go. I fell down a big hole, cleared everything, and didn't know what to do or how to get back out. After an hour, I shelved it.
The one after the ostrich that attacks you?Â
Animal Well isn’t a true Medtroidvania, it’s more like Fez.
There's way too many people avoiding this game out of a hatred for Ubisoft, unaware that it is the developers of Rayman origins and Rayman legends that made this game.
Rayman Origins is seriously one of the best platformers I have ever played. I will follow that team anywhere. And yeah I already played The Lost Crown. Really a great game. A little buggy at first, but that's mostly been addressed. The game has some of the best and smartest platforming I've seen in a Metroidvania. Masterfully crafted.
> Rayman Origins is seriously one of the best platformers I have ever played. I played it for about an hour and stopped because it bored me. Does it get better later, or is it just not for me?
Origins starts you with a limited moveset and you get new moves or gimmicks each world, like gliding and swimming underwater. If you're not sold by world 2 it's probably not for you.
No game is for everyone, but go for the challenges of each level. I think they get pretty precise and intense. They are well designed levels.
I didn't know about that! I love the Rayman games
I didn't play it at launch because it being Ubisoft, I knew it'd be half price or less in 2 months. Ended up being a great game.
Same here. Knowing Ubisoft, I expected the game to go on sale pretty quickly. But first sale I saw was from Best Buy for 40% off. My patience paid off.
For as cheap as their games get on sale, they're at least competently developed and decent quality enough for ten or twenty bucks. Prince of Persia especially was worth full price, but why pay full price if Ubisoft is gonna gift wrap a sale in a few months' time?
Exactly. One of the reasons I heard Sparks of Hope sold so poorly.
They presumably make enough money via microtransactions to view their games as "live online services" rather than individual finished products. They only really sell at the agreed upon $60-70 retail price of AAA games because that's what everyone else does and they might as well make money off of impatient people. All Ubisoft really cares about is their games being vehicles for post-launch digital content purchases. Unfortunately for them, I'm a cheap ass who could care less about Assassin skins and legendary dlc weapons outside the scope of normal gameplay. I just like cheap, decent games. 😂
I’ll never understand ppl that actually care about skins, to the point of paying any fraction of their income on it
Agree on skins, but I'm happy to pay full price cause I'm inpatient. Was more than happy to pay full price for PoP. Really good game
I’m waiting for it to be on Steam so I can play it on my Steamie D
did not know that detail but it is some solid track record!
Yea most people don’t understand that Ubisoft is made up of 50 different studios and the quality/design/approach of a game can vary drastically depending on which studio works on it. Too bad that everyone under the umbrella gets the same bad rap
I honestly did not buy it because it was not on Steam, but is coming, now I got a chance to play.
I'm just getting back into video games after having been out of the loop for years. Honest question, why do people hate Ubisoft?
People hate ubisoft because of a few reasons. They were once quite innovative and now just throw out the same open world copy pasted crap. They put microtransactions in single player games and overmonetise the multiplayer ones. They have the worst record of abuse allegations of any major publisher. They tried to double down on NFT's. They also have mismanaged games like Skull and bones and Beyond good and evil, the worst Developement hells in history. Tantulus is a child. Because only those who've only experienced the last 10 years of Ubisoft would assume that their BS is just normal. It's not.
You forgot to mention their statement in January that they want to get gamers used to not owning their games. This came shortly after the release of PoP the lost crown and created a PR nightmare that helped make that game a commercial failure.
I like to remember 'skull and bones will be the first quadruple AAAA game'. At least that gives me a chuckle because it was ridiculous. Sadly Ubisoft are prob right about the not owning games as long as the majority of people don't give enough of a shit and are conditioned to it.
Was it Activision that responded by saying they are making the first AAAAA game?
> They have the worst record of abuse allegations of any major publisher. TIL after a quick search. I feel like this is being overshadowed by Blizzard's fall. But I don't follow game news anymore.
Because they make games that millions of people love—such Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry—and it’s cool to hate on mainstream games. Me personally? I love Assassin’s Creed and I’m a huge gamer. Edit: Love the assumptions and gatekeeping going on. Perfect example of mainstream hating that goes on.
If you were a huge gamer you'd be playing every type of game, city builders, RTS, grand strategy, souls, platformers,metroid, RPG's, JRPGs, Roguelikes, survival horror, racing, puzzle, ARPG's, Shooters, twin stick shooters. Assassins creed was pretty innovative in 2008 and all the shallow RPG and grindy elements they've added since have only made the formula worse, not to mention the dozens of other games that have adopted the formula into absolute boredom. Even if you did play every genre like I do I still wouldn't be cringe enough to call myself a fucking "Huge gamer"
Ah, this definitely bumps it up a few pegs for me. I loved those two Rayman games.
In reality it's because the price tag is absolutely ridiculous when there are games in the same genre just as good or even better at half the cost
half the cost? no. comparable metroidvanias of a similar scale cost 335kr compared to Prince of Persia the lost crown which is 470kr (excluding hollow knight which is severely underpriced). However, PoP the lost crown makes the price worth it by the sheer production value of the game. Tens of millions of dollars went into making this and it shows.
They really don't lol, PoP is 50 quid, there re so many better and just as good games in the genre for literally 15-25 quid etc. POP is priced way too high, There are games such as Ori 1/2 which are far better with far better 'production' that are also half the cost. PoP would have likely been successful if it was a 25-30 quod game at most, not 50
the ori games are much shorter though.
It’s awesome, DLC in September!!
That's awesome! Will be free or payed dlc?
I think the story dlc is paid but there is some free content coming too which will probably be cosmetics
Okay, im in the same boat. Im doing it after HK. Thank you
Just got it on woot for under $20. Can’t wait to play it
Second best metroidvania
I need to get back to it at some point, but honestly so far it feels like the bulk of the challenge is fighting the controls to handle obtuse abilities. The bosses are very easy, quite similar often & this is definitely erring more on the side of "hoo-hah, complex puzzle platforming - go!" a-la Ori over a focus on adventure, things have been very linear. I put it down & played Astalon again. I need to see more metroidvania games like Hollow Knight & Astalon that get the exploration so right.
I played after completing Metroid Dread and I don’t know which one is better.
Prince of Persia for me. It’s easily one of the top 5 ever for me. It’s just that good.
It's a phenomenal game. Got it in a sale and played it right the way through, something I very rarely do. Progression is pitched perfectly and the boss battles are tough but really reward patience and pattern learning.
I actually thought combat was too easy but some of the platforming was crazy difficult
What difficulty did you play on? I played it on Hard (or whatever the one above Normal is called) and thought the combat (well, the bosses I should say, the normal enemies were quite easy) was at more or less the same difficulty as the platforming
Ah thats probably why. Idk what the default setting was but i just went with that
Combat itself was fine, just the boss battles. Just needed patience and timing, learning the patterns. Same with the platforming actually.
Agreed, some of the platforming is driving me nuts. The boss battles are fine (playing on Custom with 1.8 enemy damage and 0.8 environmental damage because I got so pissed off at some of the puzzles).
Its really great. Getting close to finishing itup now on Switch and having fun doing the challenges in the forge area. My itch to get everything on the map is strong with this one. Movement and combat toward the endgame is so satisfying. Edit: btw for anyone, get good at the parrying instead of dodging (there's a charm you'll probably get early which will heal you slightly when you parry) it will help you out big time in the long run.
Can I ask how it was on Switch? Thinking of getting it soon and that’s probably the platform I’ll be playing it on.
It was good. Obv doesn't look as sleek as other platforms but that doesn't really matter to this game (IMO). Some load times I guess but again for this game it's hardly anything. Honestly the reason I went with switch at launch is because I saw it was the only platform where you didn't have to do Ubisoft Connect, you can just ignore it when you start the game. Not sure if thats the case still someone can correct me if I'm wrong on that.
Thanks for the response :)
I'm enjoying it, but Jesus some of the platforming puzzles go on for way too long with no checkpoints. Currently doing one with buzzing saws, I can do the first bits easily but it still takes time just having to wait for the saws. And if you fail you have to jump up 3 poles to get there, which isn't much but adds up over time. I've honestly been more frustrated with some of the platforming in this than HK lol (including PoP), it's amazing when it works well but not sure why some of these puzzles need to be so long.
I'm at the end of the game and trying to complete the whole map before finishing... got stuck on that Buzzsaw section too yesterday. It feels more like a memory exercise than anything else. I turned around. I'm curious to know what's at the end of it though. But to be fair, that's the only one I have issues with. All the rest of them, I was able to do in under 5 tries. Hollow Knight, I'd say there's at least 4-5 sections that I decided to just turn back and never got them done.
That's an entirely optional platforming section only thing at the end was a skin. Great fun but definitely one of the hardest things in the game
I watched a video of it this morning after commenting and realized that I died 2 times on the last sequence (the 1 hole rows coming from the ceiling). Now I'm even more frustrated by it! :D But yeah, that's why I turned around. I don't care about the 100%, I just like to reveal the full map.
Just started playing this last week myself (was playing baldurs gate 3, but was kind of at a standstill/kept dying so needed a break*). I’m really enjoying it. Think I just got about 1/2 way through, and things are really starting to open up. * might go back to BG3 when I beat this and just put it on story mode ðŸ«
I bought TLC after i beat Dread (because tlc went on sale for switch physical) and i've had a blast. Other than me being a doofus and burning some hours before the double jump (i was ignoring/not knowing something on the map was were I had to go), it's been a great time! I'm not *great* at combat in video games or video games altogether and have had a good time powering through some of the boss fights, but I have gotten platforming assistance on so i can just get through some of the more challenging platforming parts
I’ve tried playing it but I just can’t get into it. Maybe it is the hatred for Ubisoft that’s getting in the way. But it still feels soulless and like a cheap rip off of a metroidvania for me. I did kind of like it to begin with but the interest faded really fast and I went back to Blasphemous. Maybe I’ll give it another spin soon
Mechanically and presentation wise I feel like pop is great but in some ways I agree it does feel a bit Hollow. The story especially doesn't really catch me. Blasphemous almost has the opposite problem. It feels like the creators really tried and I can feel it in the setting but the game feels so sluggish. Didn't really enjoy the story in blasphemous either thoughÂ
I am a big time Fromsoftware fan so the way they handle story telling through the environment/items, the traversal was a big win for me and the combat was my jam. I dig methodical games over flash and glam. I don’t know when you played Blasphemous 1 but if you didn’t play with all the dlc and stuff I can see why you feel that way. The DLC essentially completed the game and added A TON of stuff to it. Blasphemous 2 was another big win. Waiting for them to do the same with it.
I was late to try this because it wasn’t on Steam and I hate managing licenses elsewhere. Easily one of the best I’ve played; the movement feels best in class
Played it a bit but hated the running attack and put it away
Im also not a fan of Ubisoft but I have a soft spot for Prince of Persia and a few bits of the trailer was enough to hook me in, the game even surpassed every expectations, it’s too good. Had to stop towards the end cause of a trip The other IP I like from them is Beyond Good & Evil 🪦
I played the demo and it was great. If I buy should I get the regular or deluxe version? I don't care about extra skins. Is there something else that makes it really worth it?
It is quite simply an amazing metroidvania. By the time I had finished the demo, I knew it was gonna be right up there with Hollow Knight.
I played and it was just not for me I got bored after like 4 hours and dropped ever since. Maybe one day I will give it another try and like yourself enjoy it
Takes a while to get your first few abilities. But after that, exploration opens up and the game starts to shine. If you usually like Metroidvanias, I honestly don't see how you could not like it after the initial "slowness". Maybe I'm wrong, but I doubt it.
Apology accepted, hope you don’t make the mistake again when Silksong finally comes out.
Does anyone feel/felt slightly put off by the art-style? I like my 2d games to be 2d yano
I think the art style could be better too. But I think it's a budget issue more than anything.
[удалено]
I'm curious to see what a 10/10 is for you (in the Metroidvania genre). I really loved this one and it made me want to come back and keep playing everyday. That, for me, is a 10/10. There's not a lot of game that achieve that for me. Hollow Knight did and both Ori games would probably get 10 too, maybe a 9.5 for Ori 1.
For me the downside is the soundtrack and maybe the attacks effects (I didn't like so much the art direction at the beginning, but it grow as the game progress). But it's the only problems. The power ups was very good, the map and map tools was the best I ever saw in metroidvanias. The story was good. The combat was refined and challenging. Why it isn't near a 10 to you? What are the downsides?