Anarchic Fox on 8/3/2020 at 07:19
I bought this on Renzatic's recommendation. While grabbing this game, I discovered that there is a 3D platformer on the Switch starring a goddamn fox, called New Super Lucky's Tale. Self-control was required.
Yeah, DKCTF is damn good. I think you could call it a "spectacle platformer," in analogy with spectacle fighters like Bayonetta. The levels flow rapidly from setting to setting, often with a flashy setpiece in-between, and the sheer number of settings in a single level would be enough to populate entire worlds in other platformers. From the very first level the collectables and hidden areas were a challenge, in marked contrast to Nintendo's 2D platformers, which take quite some time before they offer you challenge of any kind. However, the sheer variety of collectables means I had to consciously suppress my desire to fully clear levels before moving on. Even going over a level thoroughly, on my first try I'll still typically only two thirds of the puzzle pieces.
The controls feel better than the original DKC trilogy, though some things still feel unintuitive. I don't have a sense for the range of the grab or ground slam, and I'm still not used to the fact that hitting enemies with the roll speeds you up. I found that the game has "Wile E. Coyote physics," which I always appreciate, meaning that for a moment after you fall off a ledge you can still jump. At first I looked askance at the variety of consumable items to help with beating levels, but by the end of the game I may be less dismissive of the idea.
I'm starting a separate post so I can feel less awkward burbling about the game. Sometimes it takes me a very long time to finish a game, and this way I can come in and make silly one-sentence observations without feeling bad about cluttering up another thread.
Renzatic on 8/3/2020 at 10:22
Glad you like it! :D
Quick protip: if you want to see all the levels in the game, the only collectibles you need to worry about are the KONG letters. The puzzle pieces are just for the 100%'ers who want to get all the action figures and fill the art gallery.
henke on 8/3/2020 at 11:09
Quote Posted by Anarchic Fox
While grabbing this game, I discovered that there is a 3D platformer on the Switch starring a goddamn fox, called New Super Lucky's Tale. Self-control was required.
Lucky’s Tale was a free Oculus Rift launch title. A bland platformer whose only remarkable feature was that it was in VR. New Super Luckys Tale is a non-VR spinoff of it, which exists... for some reason. I don’t think you’re missing much if you don’t get it.
Thirith on 8/3/2020 at 12:31
Mark Brown of Game Maker's Toolkit talked about it in a recent video. I don't always agree with him on games that are less systems-focused, but this game lives and dies by its systems and they are as generic and mediocre as they come, apparently. It's the kind of game that well-meaning parents might get their kids because there's a cute cartoon animal in it. I only played the VR version, but I didn't finish it. Even the VR angle didn't make it worthwhile. It's not just mediocre but aggressively mediocre.
Anarchic Fox on 8/3/2020 at 16:13
But... fox. :tsktsk: Okay, I'll resist. It's not like there's a shortage of fox games on Steam.
Thanks for the tip, Renzatic. :)
Renzatic on 8/3/2020 at 17:38
There's a demo for New Super Lucky's Tale on the eShop. I wasn't too blown away when I played it, but your mileage might vary on it.
Starker on 8/3/2020 at 19:17
Quote Posted by Anarchic Fox
The controls feel better than the original DKC trilogy, though some things still feel unintuitive. [...] I'm still not used to the fact that hitting enemies with the roll speeds you up. I found that the game has "Wile E. Coyote physics," which I always appreciate, meaning that for a moment after you fall off a ledge you can still jump.
Um... was that no so in the original games also? I only played the first two and it was a long time ago, though.
Renzatic on 8/3/2020 at 19:28
Once you're finished with DKC, there's also Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Layer, which is just about as good. The one nicest thing about it is how the overworld map isn't a series of nodes that you jump between, but an actual explorable world in its own right, complete with puzzles and light platforming challenges.
[video=youtube_share;qXRiFN8qH9Y]https://youtu.be/qXRiFN8qH9Y[/video]
Though I DON'T recommend picking up the original Yooka-Laylee, which I found to be incredibly boring.
Anarchic Fox on 9/3/2020 at 02:39
Quote Posted by Starker
Um... was that no so in the original games also? I only played the first two and it was a long time ago, though.
I don't remember. Maybe if I returned to the original trilogy now I'd like the controls, although nothing would make me accept the tiny field of view.
Thanks for the extra recommendations, Renzatic. :) Though I wasn't kidding about my Steam library -- I just went to count, and found I had 11 fox games there.