2007-07-26 01:46:53 Personal Impressions of Heavenly Sword

I haven't written one of these for a while and it's about time I got back into the habit of it. Quite apt really as I couldn't think of a better game I've played recently to move me into doing so.

My full impressions are temporarily housed on Blogger and I've cut and pasted some bits here. In future, I intend to use the blog feature on Gamersyde :-) For now though, I wanted to get into the habit of writing again and of course refine my overly verbose writing style (polite suggestions welcome!) I'll probably be re-editing some of this but wanted to give you all something to read whilst you wait for tomorrow's demo :)

The eagle eyed amongst you will notice I don't reveal anything new or say anything overtly critical. That's really because it's not my place to be revealing things and It's not a review per se. I'm often not looking even at review code, so things can and will change. When I genuinely think something is really great though, I'd hope the devs/publishers don't mind me telling a few of you about it.

As such my impressions are usually very personal and more qualitative in nature which might take some getting used to and/or cause you to disagree. For example, I thought Boom Boom Rocket was great as I hadn't played many rhythm games, most of you hate it! That's just the way the cookie crumbles :-)

I'll try and answer the odd question but don't expect much. That's for Sony and Ninja Theory to do! Anyway;-

http://angelofdeft.blogspot.com/2007/07/personal-i...

2007-07-26 02:04:47

Awesome post deft.. thanks.

2007-07-26 02:24:49 In reply to deftangel (2007-07-26 01:46:53)

How about Ninja Gaiden?

2007-07-26 02:39:45

And YOU owe me money deft for all the therapy I've needed since you've played every one of most anticipated titles before me.

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Phaethon, the forum Spectre.

2007-07-26 02:45:43 In reply to Jin187 (2007-07-26 02:24:49)

Ninja Gaiden is a great game. But it's not as accessible (i.e. it's hard, I found it difficult to get into) and as great as it looks, it doesn't come close to this level of fidelity, not even Sigma does. By that I'm talking about quality of animation, particularly facial animation in cutscenes. Scale of environments, number of enemies etc. It is less cinematic in it's presentation though that is far more subjective and down to design of course.

Of course it's not a fair comparison as we're comparing across generations. Ninja Gaiden 2 would be fairer obviously :-)

If I had seen Ninja Gaiden 2 first I might equally have gone mad over that. I guess if you're Shane Kim and you know you've got NG2 you're less inclined to go after Heavenly Sword....personally I'd have both but still, we'll see.

2007-07-26 03:13:28

So does the PS3 have its first true system seller, with Heavenly Sword do you think? Will it have broad based appeal?

2007-07-26 03:59:06

Deft, so you wouldn't call it a hack n' slash? Be honest!

And by that I'm talking about the core gameplay. I know it has some context-sensitive parts, but still, aside from that..........And yes I read your post.

It's also surprising to hear cut-scenes are that great. I mean, after seeing so many great MGS cut-scenes, it's a little hard to believe really. How are Heavenly Sword's cutscenes better than MGS's?

2007-07-26 04:57:01

What is this blog feature on gamersyde?

2007-07-26 05:58:42 In reply to anm8rjp (2007-07-26 04:57:01)

I think it's only for mods.

2007-07-26 09:37:43 In reply to deftangel (2007-07-26 01:46:53)

Sweet post, so deft would you say theres enough variety there to keep you from getting board? as i'm not a strictly hack n slash fan.

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Halle Berry: Delgado i am feeling really reall dirty tonight, shall i call Jessica Simpson for a threesome?

Delgado: HALLE what have i told you about bothering me when i'm playing Mass Effect!!! now get out and dont come back for 2 months!! (Slams door

2007-07-26 11:33:09

Good Read Deft, thanks a bunch!

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Assassin's Creed-Blue Dragon-Lost Odyssey-Eternal Sonata-Final Fantasy XIII-Cry On-Ninja Gaiden 2-Heavenly Sword-Devil May Cry 4-Resident Evil 5-Naruto 360-Mass Effect-Alan Wake-Too Human-Infinite Undiscovery-Metal Gear Solid 4-The Last Remnant

2007-07-26 16:34:09 In reply to LEBATO (2007-07-26 03:59:06)

Depends on your perspective. You play a character with a sword who engages a large number of enemies simultaneously. There will be a fair amount of slashing going on! So from that point of view, it is. Is it as repetitive or "simple" as something like "Ninety-Nine Nights" or "Dynasty Warriors"? To my mind no. The AI is quite reactive and I experienced no "swipe the sword, kill 10 people at once" type moments. They will block, counters and get up after being knocked down. Indeed, you are encouraged to block and counter more as you earn more style points for the specials that way.

So of course it's a "hack 'n slash" esque game in many respects but I tie no negative connotations to that. I could play this all day whereas N3 bored me after 5 minutes.Again depends on what you mean by better. Facial animation is clearly a focus in Heavenly Sword and I've never seen a game render faces and emotions with the fidelity that this does. The scene I talked about is the first time you really come across Serkis' character and after one line the camera zooms in to his face as he pulls an expression which had me in stiches. If that expression was anything more than .5 % off it wouldn't have worked.

Whether the content of what you're watching is enjoyable is entirely subjective but the cutscenes are incredibly well done for me.Difficult to say. Wii Sports asides, we haven't really had a system seller as of yet, not even Gears of War really pushed the hardware more than you would expect for that time of year. The PS3 is expensive and this isn't a game that you will be all playing with your friends online, like say Halo 3.

With that said, it definitely pushed me over the edge into getting one and it certainly demands attention. I wouldn't buy a PS3 for Motorstorm, Resistance, Lair, Uncharted or even all four, but I would for this.That's about as anecdotal as you'll get however!

It has broad appeal as the presentation is very cinematic in nature and the controls are simple yet intuitive, and it's not a bald space marine shooting aliens either.Absolutely. The core gameplay is broken up nicely and even without that, it doesn't feel repetitive like many a hack n' slash game I've played.At some point Blim et al will allow users to have blogs like some other gaming sites do. Presumably like Pippomantis and Snoopers post theirs.I'm always honest! I've no vested interest in you liking this game unless there was a chance you might buy me a PS3 in which case I would consider exaggerating. I had quite a strong reaction to it but others may not naturally. If you've played God of War, Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry to death you're bound to have a different perspective than me. My point is that I've never been really interested in those games but I am very much in this one which I'm attempting to explain succinctly, probably without much success!

2007-07-26 16:57:27

Posted by dcdelgado
Sweet post, so deft would you say theres enough variety there to keep you from getting board? as i'm not a strictly hack n slash fan.

** Absolutely. The core gameplay is broken up nicely and even without that, it doesn't feel repetitive like many a hack n' slash game I've played.

---- Thanks thats all i wanted to know ---

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Halle Berry: Delgado i am feeling really reall dirty tonight, shall i call Jessica Simpson for a threesome?

Delgado: HALLE what have i told you about bothering me when i'm playing Mass Effect!!! now get out and dont come back for 2 months!! (Slams door

2007-07-26 20:37:16

Very nice write up, you should make your own gamer blog, you sound almost professional!

2007-07-26 21:10:00

Is Gamersyde planning a video of the demo?

2007-07-26 21:12:10

DJ may make one.

2007-07-26 22:24:28

Just played the demo twice, thought it had a very good combat system. Graphics were also quite nice. Camera worked very well also I have to say.

Con: WAY TOO SHORT!

2007-07-26 22:26:52 In reply to JediMasterMalik (2007-07-26 22:24:28)

What bit of the game do you get to play in the demo? I've seen it's the running down the rope part jumping onto the pillar, kick some ass, take some names and then down into the town. Is there anything beyond that?

I'd have picked another part of the game for the demo if it was me though that bit does include the rope sequence which is quite spectacular the first time you see it.

Was there any cutscenes?

2007-07-26 23:18:23

I beat that demo in less than 5mins...and it took me 3hrs to download...and its almost 1gig...BLU-RAY am needed!!

Looks awesome. Plays pretty well. Can't really give a decent impression because I wasn't aware I had to do anything beyond press triangle to counter. I'll have to play it again with this stance knowledge.

Even with that, it seems like you can't kill most enemies unless they attack you first. It's very counter/timing based. Not straight action. People (like me) looking for the next God of War will probably be disappointed. I'll give it another play through, but from my first, I'm not in a hurry to see the conclusion and I'll probably wait to add this one to my PS3 buy list next year rather than missing out on other games this year.

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Phaethon, the forum Spectre.

2007-07-26 23:33:07 In reply to Phaethon360 (2007-07-26 23:18:23)

At the same time though, the counter/timing aspect of it does keep it from being too hack n slashy. The demo is pretty short though, was hoping for a bit more. But overall, it was pretty good.

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COD 4's pre-alpha stage looks better than most game's gone gold stage.

E3 2K7- best. e3. ever.

Saying you cant find animaton in Japan is like saying you cant find food in Italy. Its simply not true.

2007-07-26 23:45:13 In reply to Phaethon360 (2007-07-26 23:18:23)

Yikes. I was hoping it was a lot longer than that.. bummer. Still can't wait to try it, but I think I have to.

2007-07-27 01:57:28

Not worth me getting my PS3 just to play a 5 minute demo then! Kinda weird segment of the game to rip then...I'd have picked the end of the first chapter.

To answer Phaethon's point though; It's not that you can't kill enemies without countering, you just need to use an attack that will break their block first to open them up. As I understand it, enemies can have different blocks so this doesn't get too simplistic. In the combo menu, block breaking combos are denoted as such.

For example, a simple use of the heavy attack stance will break weaker enemies blocks straight away but for more difficult opponents you'll need to use a combo. Once you open them up you can weigh in to them, knock them in the air etc.

Of course countering is just as important too.

2007-07-27 02:30:34

Eh, I'm glad I played the demo before this game came out, cause now I don't have to waste $60. I was really hoping for something different from GOW but it just feels like I have played this game before.

2007-07-27 02:52:03 In reply to bloodforge (2007-07-27 02:30:34)

Play it some more, I like it the more I play it. Once you learn some combos in different stances it really makes alot of sense and feels very satsfying.

2007-07-27 03:07:40 In reply to JediMasterMalik (2007-07-27 02:52:03)

I've played through it a few times already, I still find it gets dull about half way through the first batch of enemies(who mostly just stand at one end while one guy tries to beat on me) and I have to push myself to go further even knowing the combos.