Thirith on 14/8/2020 at 10:06
While I'm enjoying CONTROL, at times it's in spite of how the game does things. The worst offender for me is the way it interrupts the game itself to deliver middling to bad conversations and exposition. Those hotline videos, for instance: the video itself is pointless and repetitive, it's the audio that I'm interested in, so it would be perfect to listen to while exploring - but no, you have to pause and watch the video of a talking dude in silhouette. Similarly, the conversations are long, lacking in style or personality and delivered in ways that highlight this. Deliver the same material while I'm free to do other things and I no longer mind, or make it interesting in some way, but if the only option is to sit down and listen to flatly delivered dialogue and you bore me. This kind of thing works okay in written text IMO, because you read at your own pace, but the exposition that's delivered in dialogue, audio clips or videos desperately needs to be written and delivered in more engaging ways, or at least in ways that don't stop you in your tracks.
Thirith on 19/8/2020 at 06:29
Quick question about the environment: does it become more varied later on? The Oldest House is wonderfully moody and coherent, from what I've seen so far, but it is also the kind of environment that quickly becomes samey. Same with the gameplay: do they vary it in fun, interesting ways later on?
Sulphur on 19/8/2020 at 06:35
I don't know where you're at, but yeah, there's at least two or three environment changes if what you mean is you're tired of angular brutalist office spaces. It never stops being moody, though, and you'll be going back and forth through all that concrete multiple times because of the metroidvania construction.
As for the gameplay, I also do not know where you're at. If you've ever played Psi Ops you'll have an inkling of how the gameplay/combat opens up. As with most metroidvanias, the core mechanics remain the same while you get access to more of the environment, so if you're not a fan of that it's going to be something you'll have to tolerate.
I have zero issues with both because I never tire of the spectacle of particles and physics erupting across an environment when flinging things at enemies, and I have a high tolerance for office spaces given F.E.A.R (and life in general), so it's not something that got in the way of my enjoyment, though I can imagine others would be less predisposed to liking them.
My core issue with the game is that for all its moodiness there's very little story to enjoy. The asides and collectibles are great in their SCP-flavoured detail overall, as with time they accrete into a universe of fear evoked by things most mundane, but Jesse's quest isn't particularly interesting in isolation; this leaves one to fall back on the style instead of the substance, which Remedy are very good at - but it's a shallow meal. The game's real core is its mechanics and combat, not the story trappings which are nice, but also ultimately one-note.
Thirith on 19/8/2020 at 06:47
Based on the walkthrough index I've looked at, I think I'm probably about one third into the game. I'm currently doing the "Old Boy's Club" mission.
I like the metroidvania approach, though so far I've not yet got the impression that the environment is designed as elegantly as in the best examples of the genre. Does The Oldest House loop in on itself so that you sometimes come out a door or go up a flight of stairs and find that unexpectedly you're where you started off? Anyway, I expect that once I'll be able to get off the ground a) things will open up more and b) the environment will feel quite a bit different if I'm no longer earthbound.
Sulphur on 19/8/2020 at 06:52
RE: does it loop on itself - yes, in a few nice ways, but very rarely in the sort of dopamine-release 'a-ha!' moment of a Dark Souls. That would require a sort of coherent internal architecture/mental map you build in a game while traversing it, and as you would've noticed Control's gimmick with The Old House is semi-antithetical to that.
And yeah, I'd say you're going to find it opening out a bit from where you're at both in terms of gameplay and environment.
Thirith on 19/8/2020 at 06:56
Oh, I think it could've done a more loopy version of that :p, though I'm not sure it would be as effective, at least after the first time it does so.
Have you played the first DLC? Is it good, more of the same or good because it's more of the same?
Sulphur on 19/8/2020 at 14:27
I've played some of the DLC and am enjoying it because it's been a return after a break. There's a new power or two that it focuses around but in practice they seem to be additive mechanics, not things that redefine the gameplay or reframe it in scintillating new ways. I haven't finished it, but henke posted his thoughts earlier and if I'm reading them right his conclusion was, 'more Control, 's all right'.
Thirith on 4/9/2020 at 15:23
I just finished Control, and while I liked it well enough, it didn't grab me enough for me to be all that interested in the DLC. I think my main issue is that the way the game delivers its world and plot don't particularly work for me. I didn't particularly like most of the characters, I never warmed to Jesse, and the dialogues often felt clunky. The gameplay is fine but it's also tremendously repetitive. It's one of those games where I wonder what a P&C adventure set in this world could feel like. Having bounced off both this and Alan Wake to some extent, I'm wondering whether I'd still like Max Payne 2 if I were to return to that one.
henke on 6/9/2020 at 17:40
Oh yeah I played through the AWE DLC. It's got some cool bossfights. I wish there were more Control still to come. I hope there'll be a sequel.
In the meantime, let's have some Finnish tango.
[video=youtube;gqi3ZcDF-U4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqi3ZcDF-U4[/video]
EvaUnit02 on 9/9/2020 at 21:38
Quote Posted by henke
I hope there'll be a sequel.
Don't hold your breath. The game was a sales flop (unless the recent Steam release changes things).