It's cool at the moment as remote play IS ENABLED! So playing it on the Vita is also fun
Tho there is a constant, noticable lag. Even with it running through my home network, with the wireless router within like a metre of me... when the game gets busy there is lag. It's like lag you get in online games, where there's a bit of lag then everything fastforwards as it catches up, it will get a bit choppy, and occasionaly the video will distort (lines across the screen) and the audio will get fizzly/distorted when this happens. They still have some fine tuning to do... as it realy does seem like an innificent way to play "remotely" purely by streaming audio & video from the PS3 over a net connection. Here is a video i made of a Storyline mission to demonstrate the quality of remote play. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sivwLx0Q ... e=youtu.be It's currently uploading but should be done within 30mins.
To start with, the game is very confuzing. I believe this is becuase stuff got lost in translation, as the game was made in Japan and then translated to English. While this does not subtract whatsoever from the storyline, it makes the learning curve harder in the aspect of making sense of everything that is going on, and the start of the game frustrating.
When you start the game, Story mode is locked off, the only thing you can do is Survival mode as a Pommeranian. So you jump into survival and it lay's down the basics in the form that humans have vanished, you are no longer a spoilt housepet and you need to fend for yourself, and it shows you the basics of movement and hunting, then you are done. This instantly unlocks the first chapter of story mode, which just so happens to be the EXACT same tutorial you just played! Hoorah!?
After this tutorial you are thrown into the deep end, the only thing you can play is survival mode, as it seems Story mode gets unlocked as you progress further through survival mode and complete challenges.
As i mentioned earlier the learning curve can be quite steep, as only the basics for gameplay are explained, and a large part of being successfull is paying attention to the tickers, challenges and constantly keeping tabs on the world map . The world map shows the food ammount in different areas, its quite common for a few areas to be completely void of food, other areas become toxic, and you build up toxicity purely from being in the area, or eating/drinking food in the area. There are also boss spawns that occur randomly, which is handy to know lest you pick a fight with a Beagle that just happens to be Chuck Norris's reincarnation
After you get the hang of things the game can be quite fun, as for the most part it's open world, you allways start off in a specific place but where you head from there is entirely up to you. Learning the map can be very handy, as there are shortcuts between different areas of town that can make moving from 1 place to another alot easier, it can be the difference between life and death if there's a few places with no food between you and some bountifull hunting grounds. That being said, the map looks fairly linear to start off with, but you will quickly notice areas that are sort of "hidden in plane sight". Like a broken store front you can actualy sneak into, go upstairs and onto the rooftops, or down into the sewers. I will note now that a few of these areas are innaccessable by larger animals, they just dont fit, which adds some balance when you are playing as a housecat and accidently bump into an angry Tiger, since they can generaly outrun you, and if they so much as scratch you it's game over, knowing these areas can be the difference between life and death.
You cant realy save games, as the game is meant to be played similar to say Alex the Kidd or Sonic the Hedgehog, it definately seems they want you to go from start to finish in one sitting. They do however offer "Save" points at nesting spots, tho the second you hit save it boots you back to the title screen, to get back in again you have to go survial then continue, so its moreso a method of pausing to take a break than a real save point as the such.
Unlocking different animals is a lengthy process, as you have to complete challenges and defeat bosses in survial mode. This can be hard due to the enviroment changing, say the objective is in an area that's devoid of food and toxic, going there would be certain death. You can unlock some animals via purchasing them, but 99c does seem a tad expensive, especaiy when you buy 5 animals (dang you kangaroo,panda bear & sabre tooth tiger for being so cute!)
The story behind the humans dissapearing is very interesting, tho it is aparent some pieces here and there are badly translated, you still get the gist of things quite clearly, it all makes sense and it all fits together. Story mode can be quite fun as well, as it throws you around into different animal's shoes in different situations, some can be quite fun, such as "Scar" the lion, with a pack of hyena minions, facing off against a Beagle King and his doggy armies
One thing that does get annoying very quickly is the Audio track, it comes across as being a firly short and repetative tune, im not aware of any way to select your own music to go ontop of it, and playing the game without it i think would be more annoying, catch 22!
After you have mastered the game to a certain extent, should you make it to the 100 year mark, this is when the game changes in difficult to something "Super Meatboy" style difficulty. Because ... Erectus appears! They appear suddenly, wipe out all the animals, hit like a truck, and generaly run faster than you. I am unsure if this is intended by the developers to be a signal that the game is over, or if it's pushing you to try harder. I guess we'll know if we start seeing 100+ year survial video's on youtube in the future.
Multiplayer! Is decieving. You'd expect it to be online vs other players (or perhaps online co-op?) but no! This is purely for 2 players. It does not split the screen, whomever player 1 is controlls the camera focus, and player 2 cannot leave the screen. this can make for awkward gameplay if the 2nd player isnt able to keep up with you, or know much about how the game works.
So all in all, quite a fun game! Well put together and releatively cheap to buy, i think the make or break aspect of it tho is up to you, in the aspect of if you dont mind the whole start from the beginning every time and work your way up (in contrast to a constant game with a storyline and set progression i guess!)
Thanks!
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