Man after beating this game I know there's so much to love and appreciate, the writing is humorous and entertaining, the characters are all charming and witty, the music is grandiose and striking, but what does all of this mean when the controls for this game are horrendously bad. I want to love this game but playing through it was as an exhausting chore that I liked thinking about this game more than I liked actually playing it. I'm sorry but this NEEDS to be on another console other than the 3DS, it's the biggest thing holding it back from greatness. The idea and foundation of this game are solid but I cannot in good faith recommend this to someone who likes having hands. I think if you watched a playthrough or the cutscenes you'll have just as good of an experience, if you don't want to do that proceed with caution, this game is straining on the hands and everyone who made those arthritis jokes is right.
It pains me to give it anything less than 4 stars but it really is that bad to play, I thought at first maybe it's something you get used to but with how this game controls it made it downright annoying trying to do the higher difficulties and it sucks. If they port this to a console with an actual controller we'd be seeing a higher rating but because its stuck on a dead console it's hard for me to give it anything higher than this.
Updating this because I feel like it needs to be said, I'm left-handed, and I've experimented with all of the control styles in this game. If you want my recommendation for all my lefties out there, I did the circle pad for reticle movement and abxy for general movement, with the shoulder buttons acting as the skill selector. While this did help out tremendously for me I lost out on the ability to move in a precise manner, though problem is if you decide to do it the other way then you also lose out on the precise reticle movement. Which both are needed for the sky and ground sections so... pick your poison.
7 Comments
@Llamadev you're like, the first lefty i've seen who doesn't bitch about the controls and that gives me hope that this game won't be utterly unplayable
@Llamadev. I got rid of the stylus controls entirely for mine and I experimented with many different control styles offered in the menu, it doesn't fix anything, it's still straining on the hands and when you change to the left handed options you lose out on the precise movement that this game asks of you in higher difficulties. Not my fault when the game was built with Right handed in mind.
@stale_cheeto I'm a leftie too, and it's not unplayable, but the moment you do play it you'll notice it wasn't meant for us in mind. No matter if you switch to the leftie controls, you're gonna feel like this game is still not comfortable to play. But hey, i'm just saying what I feel, everyone's not gonna agree and that's fine, check these things out for yourself and come up with your own opinions.
@ThatRetroArtist For one, I would like to apologize for assuming you not looking into the settings and other styles. I can’t count how many times I’ve had this conversation and soon find out they never looked at the settings.
As for your other takes, I can only speak about my usage to the using the analog stick for aiming and buttons for movement. Hand stranding can so many outer factors like dehydration, which 3DS you were using, any 3rd party products to enhance or decrease the stranding like 3DS protections cases, posture, so on. I’m not even gonna attempt to discuss hand stranding as that’s a case by case rabbit hole and you really gonna find the solution yourself like I did.
As to your point of losing out precise movement and to higher difficulties a bit bonkers! When it comes to higher difficulty, what matters the most is your weaponry and what upgrades you bring into the missions. Like maybe it’s not so wise to bring the slow, big melee weapon to a chapter where you fight a lot of reapers or flying only chapters. However that slow, big melee weapon is great for swarm of enemy chapters. With that in mind, you can make presets to make your experience far more convenient. You gotta make builds and skill presets that best benefits your needs to the problem at hand. Above all, presets to minimize your very own weaknesses. Before the blaming of controls on higher difficulty, your very own weapon and skills should be reflected. The possibilities to builds is rather endless and why the game is a masterpiece.
As for your other takes, I can only speak about my usage to the using the analog stick for aiming and buttons for movement. Hand stranding can so many outer factors like dehydration, which 3DS you were using, any 3rd party products to enhance or decrease the stranding like 3DS protections cases, posture, so on. I’m not even gonna attempt to discuss hand stranding as that’s a case by case rabbit hole and you really gonna find the solution yourself like I did.
As to your point of losing out precise movement and to higher difficulties a bit bonkers! When it comes to higher difficulty, what matters the most is your weaponry and what upgrades you bring into the missions. Like maybe it’s not so wise to bring the slow, big melee weapon to a chapter where you fight a lot of reapers or flying only chapters. However that slow, big melee weapon is great for swarm of enemy chapters. With that in mind, you can make presets to make your experience far more convenient. You gotta make builds and skill presets that best benefits your needs to the problem at hand. Above all, presets to minimize your very own weaknesses. Before the blaming of controls on higher difficulty, your very own weapon and skills should be reflected. The possibilities to builds is rather endless and why the game is a masterpiece.
@stale_cheeto I advise you read my response to the author. The analog stick for aiming and buttons for movement is bit of a learning curve, but really if trying to play the game casually. Find and experiment around till you find a weapon you enjoy the most and the most comfortable. Late game weapons get crazy good and expensive. I’ll look forward to your review whenever you play it!
@Llamadev I appreciate the apology, if anything I should apologize for not mentioning that fact in the review itself. (I updated it now to show it) Before it made me look like another person who just simply blames the controls and then moves on. I know there are many 3rd party accessories to make it less straining but i'm simply speaking from my own experience rather than trying to echo an already existing one. It strained me personally playing through it but if it didn't for you then it shows everyone goes through it differently.
As for your comment on difficulty, you're honestly right, I think its pretty unreasonable to blame it only on just the controls when there are many factors at play. But I will mention that this game does have sections where they require you to move in a precise way, like the invisible platforms that can only be viewed through a mirror, when pathways have lava surrounding them, or even small platforms you have to ride and dodge like in Thanatos level. Relatively simple challenges yes, only made even more difficult with the movement controls of abxy, for those sections in particular I really had to change controls back to the circle pad because I was struggling otherwise. Those kind of moments all added up and it was a little frustrating, I understand what you're trying to say about the difficulty though, but to me I feel like you need a level of precise aiming to really get a lot of mileage in this game, the weapons you choose and the skills you equip matter just as much, but when its hard for me to just walk in a straight line to fight enemies or aim accurately because of my control scheme It puts a damper on my overall mood when playing. You're completely valid in thinking that this game is a masterpiece though because I can definitely see it, I just think the controls are what really hold it back from being that in my eyes personally.
As for your comment on difficulty, you're honestly right, I think its pretty unreasonable to blame it only on just the controls when there are many factors at play. But I will mention that this game does have sections where they require you to move in a precise way, like the invisible platforms that can only be viewed through a mirror, when pathways have lava surrounding them, or even small platforms you have to ride and dodge like in Thanatos level. Relatively simple challenges yes, only made even more difficult with the movement controls of abxy, for those sections in particular I really had to change controls back to the circle pad because I was struggling otherwise. Those kind of moments all added up and it was a little frustrating, I understand what you're trying to say about the difficulty though, but to me I feel like you need a level of precise aiming to really get a lot of mileage in this game, the weapons you choose and the skills you equip matter just as much, but when its hard for me to just walk in a straight line to fight enemies or aim accurately because of my control scheme It puts a damper on my overall mood when playing. You're completely valid in thinking that this game is a masterpiece though because I can definitely see it, I just think the controls are what really hold it back from being that in my eyes personally.
Llamadev
10 months ago