too human impressions, or how i learned to love the bomb, or HOLY SHIT, A BLOG ENTRY!

Last week saw the release of a long-anticipated Xbox360 exclusive title, Too Human. There are a multitude of reviews available, so this won't be any kind of comprehensive review and rating, but I do have some things to say about the game.

I finished my first run through the single player campaign this weekend, which may seem surprising for an RPG that only released last week.  My playtime was right around the 10 hour mark, although I'd spent a few hours messing around with another character.  This seems short, but Too Human is intended to play something like Phantasy Star Online before it... there are four large dungeons that scale in difficulty with you as you level up, and you can replay them many times for better loot and to have fun playing co-op with a friend.  I finished the game at level 28, and the level cap is 50.  There are also 5 different character classes, most of which play quite differently, and the additional draw of completing ultra-rare level 50 armor sets.

Those who know me are probably thinking that all this doesn't really sound like my cup o' tea.  After all, I quit WoW pretty quickly after hitting 60, and never even made it to 70 in the expansion... the never-ending endgame loot search never really did it for me.   To be fair, I'm going off of around 15 hours of Too Human, versus several days worth of gametime in WoW.   I can't promise I'll ever make it to level 50 in Too Human, and certainly not with every class... but after finishing the single player campaign, I'm definitely hungry to go back for more.  I'd love to play some co-op as well, so here's hoping that these impressions inspire at least a few of you to pick up the game.

More detailed (but spoiler-free) impressions, kudos and criticisms continue after the break...

Gameplay

It seems like this game really works for some people, and really, really doesn't for others.  There's a free demo available on Xbox Live, and it's meaty enough to get a good taste of what you think.  Things definitely take some getting used to, and there are a few questionable design decisions.

Basic combat works very well, in my opinion.  I started off playing a Champion, the well-rounded character that specializes in air-juggling.  Things went well for starters, but I was getting my ass royally pounded in the second dungeon, to the point where my frustration won out and I started over with a new class.  This time I went Defender, and it was a much more positive experience.  I'm eager to go back and work on my Champion some more, now that I've gotten much better with the controls.

If I had a major beef, it would be with the firearm targeting.  A lot of reviews have bitched about this, and there's no question that it could be miles better.  I'm a little scared to try out the Commando class, who's main focus is on firearms.  It can be incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to hit that one guy you are looking for among the masses... and occasionally your guns will get stuck on a dead enemy.  This didn't happen too often for me, but I mainly played with rifles and cannons... I think the problem would be more apparent with handguns, which can target two enemies at once.

A lot of reviews have complained about the death penalty.  Any time you die, you sit back and watch a 30-second cutscene as a Valkyrie descends to pick you up and take you away to... well, respawn a few feet back from where you died.  Your equipment takes some damage, but this is never really an issue, as you get new equipment almost constantly.  It might be more of a problem as you get to higher levels and have more rare equipment that stays with you for longer... in which case you can pay for repairs upon returning to Asgard.   I never really had an issue with the death animation... it's a good chance to take a few deep breaths outside the heat of a particularly challenging room.   The only real complaint I have is wondering what exactly the Valkyrie is doing to you, and why you just poof back to life with little-to-no impact.  This is more of an issue with SK's tradition of the all-encompassing design aesthetic, which brings me to...

Story / Presentation

If there is one thing that SK excels in, it is world-building and the integration of story, presentation, interface, gameplay, etc... into one cohesive whole.  Well, did excel in.   This aspect was probably my single highest expectation for SK, and also its biggest failing.   Not that it is bad, just that it isn't as great as I'd hoped.

This is Norse mythology, but with all of the magic and mythos excised and replaced with high technology.  That's the goal, at least, but it isn't quite there.  My kingdom for a codex, or encyclopedia, or online library, or something. SK wants to immerse us in the details through cutscenes and gameplay experience, but they don't quite get there.  I know that Valkyries are there to take the honored dead to Valhalla, but what exactly does that mean, in the context of the Too Human universe?  This world is fascinating to me, and I just want more details than SK are willing to provide at this point.  Re-watching some of the cutscenes has revealed a few of the more subtle things, and I have some of my own ideas...  and I'm sure they will reveal more as the trilogy carries on... but I want to dive into the world and the universe like I could with the codex entries in Mass Effect, or the short stories in Lost Odyssey.  Optional content for those of us who are totally in love with the world.

The story works well enough, although with a strange Catch-22.  If you are familiar with the lore, then all of the "twists" are almost completely obvious, and even the big surprises and the endgame teasers aren't so much surprises as money shots.  They still work, but they don't seem to have the impact that SK was going for.  If you are completely unfamiliar with the lore, on the other hand.... it never really comes across very well just what is going on.  I don't want to spoil anything, but Baldur's confusion and discovery over the course of the story never comes across very well, so when he finally has these revelations, it doesn't resonate.  In either case, most of the cutscenes seem to work better on the second or third viewing.  SK is working with a very subtle hand at some points, sometimes too subtle.

Many of the reviews refer to the ending as "typical trilogy non-ending bullshit" or similar.  These people are idiots.  Yes, this is part of a trilogy, and the story is only partly told... but the story told here is a complete one, in and of itself.  Comparing it to Halo 2... seriously?  Read a goddamn book, people.

Dear SK...

This is what I want from Two Human 2... (or god-forbid 2wo Human, or some retarded shit), in order of wanty-ness.

A Library, A Codex, something.... Call it Poolside Chats with Mimir for all I care.  I know that Denis Dyack and Co. have every minute, obsessive detail of this world thought out, planned out and accounted for, and we want to know about it.  I understand that SK wants to promote flow and immersion and everything... but give us obsessive nerds our disturbingly detailed minutiae, please.  You can still play the true nature of some things close to the chest, but throw us a bone.

Balance.... I know that you wanted a co-op game, and that's cool.  So did we, a 4-PLAYER one.  I understand that you wanted to scale it back after user testing, and that's fine.... but it still feels like a lot of the skill trees and such were idealized for four players and then hastily adjusted.  There has to be a better way to heal and deal with DoTs...  I know you want us to play as Bio-Engineers... but give us a regen outside of combat or something, please.  If I survive a huge battle by the skin of my teeth, my "reward" should not be to die 2 seconds into the next batch of mobs I find, just because no health orbs happened to drop.  Not to mention dieing of poison while running down an empty hallway.  No fuuuunnnnn.  For extra happy points, you can do this in a patch!

Make Cyberspace More Interesting....  Seriously, dudes... I know this isn't a puzzle game, and I don't want it to be, but come on.  I love the idea, and I love the presentation, but there's only so much running around giant landscapes to designated locations where I press designated buttons that I can handle.  The gate thing in Level 3 was the most interesting "puzzle" in the entire game, and that makes me a sad panda.

A map would be nice.... these dungeons are fucking gigantic....  It is not so much to keep from getting lost, as to keep from missing some little turn off of the main path.  Maybe you made it that way on purpose... so then maybe you're kind of a dick.

Nit-Picks

Heimdall's Secretary is officially the ugliest woman in gaming.  Poor girl.

That sound effect for jumping... just awful.  Especially in cyberspace. AWFUL.  WTF.

I should not have to look on wikipedia or gamefaqs to find out what my stats do, or what half your goddamn notation means.  You know there's a manual in the box, right?  Some of us do still check them out.

Thor... I mean, I know he's Thor and all, but he really is the most boring of the pantheon.  Give the other guys something to do.  Did Bragi even have a line?  

Comments

[Dunny]

I'll rent it... But, even after the demo, I still don't trust it.

[MalevolentDragon]

Wow, man--you just nailed my review to the wall. I agree with every single thing you just said, to a scary point.

The story is the most frustrating part of this whole game, and mostly because it's so damn close to compelling but ends up being confusing. I know virtually nothing of the mythology embodied here and I was straining to grasp the plot. After a second run through the vids I did pick up some things, but it's still clear as mud and ended up creating even more questions: Why the hell are there Valkyries buffeting Freyja at the World Tree interface when the assault of Hellheim begins? I see the clue of Loki's descent into the net at the end of his torture scene, but his ghost outline is that of Skuld, the Norn--what does this mean?.

All of this screams two things at me: First, Dyack is not a great director. You can get away with that shit when it's Cthulu-ville, but when your audience doesn't assume weirdness from the start, it's not fair to give them piecemeal story scraps. Especially when your story is half-way written for you and the world you have created is a brilliant facet of a known quantity, breathing new life into the pages of an old book. I came away from this story with a severe case of blue-balls.

Second, this game was half-done. Why does Asgard have several doorways off the main hub that do nothing? Cyberspace, while an extremely neat concept, is absolutely pointless in terms of gameplay (except to break the pace, which is, admittedly, nice) and don't even get me started with wandering aimlessly around the Worldtree to try and find goodies, with no map, and no leading. And they either have awful playtesters, or they are asking them the wrong questions. This game has had a 10-year gestation period--isn't that long enough to figure some of this out?

All that, and I love the game.

Top 10 Pros:
10) Outstanding voice-acting CAN carry a movie with sub-par facial animation.
9) The combat system is extremely deep for a game of this type, though you wouldn't realize it until you played the game for 20+ hours.
8) Skuld. Hot. 'Nuff said.
7) Hel. Twistedly hot. 'Nuff said.
6) This game is gorgeous. We have pretty much arrived at cinematics as gameplay. I remember wondering when the cinematics in FF VIII would be the gameplay graphical standard. This game comes close to FF X.
5) Awsome job with the camera. The people griping about it don't understand how it works. As soon as you do, it causes no problems.
4) Your wolf-pack adds excellent flavor without distracting. I feel really, really bad every time I die, because I know they will follow me down (up?)....
3) An insane custom color spectrum that allows to you make your entire armor collection appear as one set, regardless of it's pieces.
2) Dungeons with distinct enemies and attack styles. I have to mentally adjust for the kind of foe I will encounter.
1) Frejya. She is hot, loose, demure, innocent, defferential, and a giant net-geek. And she has always wanted me. What more can I ask for?

Top 10 Cons:
10) Variable cinematic frame-rates. Shame on you, Silicone Knights.
9) Worldtree. No map. WhereTF am I?
8) Pointless, unpreventable DOT deaths. C'mon, guys.
7) Menu loading.
6) I can't swap equipment in cyberspace? What f'ing difference does that make???
5) More holes in the story than a colander.
4) The story is also short and sweet.
3) Only two players co-op at a time? Lame.
2) Strangely, there is no pistol/rifle/cannon swap button. But I can pan around my character's bust at a moment's notice..?
1) Swapping charms 8 times in 8 minutes. Just plain poorly thought out menu UI. What are the two menu selections you use more than anything else? "Skills" and "Equipment". Why are the three spaces apart? Why is there a save option when the game automatically saves every time you either close your menu or quit--is there some purpose for this option?

[Aaron Welsher]

"I see the clue of Loki's descent into the net at the end of his torture scene, but his ghost outline is that of Skuld, the Norn--what does this mean?."

Well, when Freya first introduces you to the NORNs, she mentions how they are always together, speaking as one. And yet, you have a very intimate one-on-one with Skuld, which happens a little bit after Loki escapes....

YOU GOT HOD'D.