Kid Icarus Uprising

[Neerb]

[spoiler]I finished the main game! Note: The final battle was a cheating bastard. How was I supposed to know I NEEDED to aim when I wasn't indicated? It costed me my hearts... (I'm feeling a Skyward Sword deja vu for some reason).[/spoiler]

Filling those achievements and play the levels at higher difficulties will be the death of me... I can live with that.

I finished the game too; totally awesome. As for the spoiler:
[spoiler]I didn't think it was terribly difficult; if anyone was a cheater, it was Hades' freaking Heart from Chapter 23.[/spoiler]

I'll go for the achievements eventually, but right now I'm going all out on Light vs Dark on Wi-Fi; you can get some really, really nasty weapons if you do well, and it's really fun and intense (though I wish there was voice chat).

[DededeCloneChris]

It's just hilarious turning other people into Eggplants in online matches. Eggplant Effect Lv. 3 FTW.

[Kayo]

My only real complaint with this game is that you're forced to drop a difficulty level if you die. It makes it nearly impossible to do things on high difficulty if you lose that credibility upon death. Like, if I want to challenge myself with an intensity level of 8 or 9, I'd like to actually DO THAT, no matter how many deaths it takes. I kind of wish I could maybe just take a penalty each time I die, but be able to play the level on the intensity I choose. Otherwise, an unlucky mistake or two and it just gets too easy.

Nothing enrages me more than dying on a high intensity, and not being able to try that again.

[Neerb]

Welcome to "Nintendo Hard," where if you don't play the whole stage on level 9, then you don't get the rewards of playing the whole stage on level 9.

It's annoying, yeah, but I can see where they're going with it; anyone could just struggle through checkpoint-to-checkpoint and "beat" a stage at high difficulty, but you aren't really proving anything, or even challenging yourself, by doing so. This way, you have to actually earn it.

I just see it as the classic "You lose, you start over," but with the option to press on by jumping down a notch. It's Nintendo Hard: Noob Friendly edition.

[zephilicious]

as someone who has not played the game i think this is an excellent concept

[Hero_of_Darkness]

as someone who has not played the game i think this is an excellent concept

Yes. Miyamoto and Aounuma need to pay attention.

Actually, every game dev in the world needs to pay attention.

[Zero]

Agreed. Checkpoints have spoiled gamers.

[Kayo]

Agreed. Checkpoints have spoiled gamers.

The missions can be 25 minutes long. Having that WITHOUT a checkpoint will just make no one want to play it, especially since the one I'm thinking of isn't even the final mission or anything.

[Neerb]

Well, I've finished the story and played a couple hours of online, so it's gushing suck-up review time:

This game's story is absolutely phenomenal, with the twists, the memorable cast, the sheer scale, the sudden dark points, the dialog, the voice acting; most people are talking as if it's just a bunch of nonsense and one-liners, which there are a lot of (and they're some of the funniest lines in my gaming memory), but the simple fact is that Nintendo has never had a story this epic with characters this memorable. Then there's the presentation, the menu, the ludicrous amount of content, the replay value, the multiplayer, the near-perfect control scheme (for those who haven't played the game or take Destructoid seriously, you would NEVER get the precision and speed necessary for this game from dual sticks), the hardcore difficulty options, the soundtrack, the weapon choices, the customization... Everything. Then there's just the fact that this idea almost shouldn't have worked; not only is this reviving a 20-year-old series in a different genre than the first two, but the new genre is Action Shooter, something that Nintendo has dabbled in ala Metroid (technically an Action-Adventure like Zelda) and their on-rails series like Star Fox and Sin & Punishment, yet never actually committed to with a full series like Mario and Kirby are for Platforming or Pokemon and Golden Sun are for RPGs. The end result, however, was not only good, but the most unique shooter in years, adding that unique Nintendo/Sakurai charm to genres like Smash Bros did for Fighters and Kirby Air Ride did for racers. Lots of games in the past, including the overdose from last fall, are great in a couple categories; the story is nice, the gameplay is great, I could keep playing for years without seeing everything, etc. But it has been YEARS since a game has over-all, in every way, from sound to story to singleplayer to multiplayer to graphics to content, completely and utterly floored me with both quality and quantity. I almost cannot express how much 3DS owners should get this game; a 10/10 for me, hands down.

tl;dr
I was super hyped for this game, and by the time I finished the story, I was more impressed than I was before I played it, which is a heck of a lot more than I can say for Skyward Sword, Brawl, and several other hype-happy games in the past several years (not that I don't think those are awesome games).

[Kayo]

I could quote Pit's lines all day. Just sayin'

Also, I absolutely love how certain missions are different each time you play, like a few early examples:

The Hewdraw head you kill first is the one you'll fight at the very end of the chapter, but all three have totally different personalities.
Dark Pit's movement pattern is different each time you chase him around.
Thanatos uses a  different random combination of transformations each time you battle him.
And the mission I just did (#10) offered an option to take one of two paths that would ultimately lead to the same destination, but featured two totally different ways of getting there.

I cannot stress enough how fun it is to replay these; I've probably been replying old missions way more than working on unlocking new ones. I can't help it.

[Neerb]

I could quote Pit's lines all day. Just sayin'

Also, I absolutely love how certain missions are different each time you play, like a few early examples:

The Hewdraw head you kill first is the one you'll fight at the very end of the chapter, but all three have totally different personalities.
Dark Pit's movement pattern is different each time you chase him around.
Thanatos uses a  different random combination of transformations each time you battle him.
And the mission I just did (#10) offered an option to take one of two paths that would ultimately lead to the same destination, but featured two totally different ways of getting there.

I cannot stress enough how fun it is to replay these; I've probably been replying old missions way more than working on unlocking new ones. I can't help it.

[spoiler]What really, really floored me is the fact that chapter 10 [and onward] even existed. Go back and watch the trailer; heck, go back and watch EVERY trailer. Every mission, every line, every bit of content, even every part of the plot, in every one of those trailers, IS ONLY IN THE FIRST NINE CHAPTERS. You think they're scattering clips and granting you a hint of the classic Nintendo plot, "Hero of the first game fights the villain of the first game"? SURPRISE, that wasn't even the FIRST HALF of the game![/spoiler]

[zephilicious]

The missions can be 25 minutes long. Having that WITHOUT a checkpoint will just make no one want to play it, especially since the one I'm thinking of isn't even the final mission or anything.

and thats why this is such a brilliant solution.

you get the advantages of checkpoints without losing actual accomplishments

[Kayo]

[spoiler]What really, really floored me is the fact that chapter 10 [and onward] even existed. Go back and watch the trailer; heck, go back and watch EVERY trailer. Every mission, every line, every bit of content, even every part of the plot, in every one of those trailers, IS ONLY IN THE FIRST NINE CHAPTERS. You think they're scattering clips and granting you a hint of the classic Nintendo plot, "Hero of the first game fights the villain of the first game"? SURPRISE, that wasn't even the FIRST HALF of the game![/spoiler]

Spoiler just because you did
[spoiler]Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I was kind of having mixed feelings going into Chapter 9 and wondering if it was the last one or not. On one hand, since it had been only really 2 days since I started, the story mode felt far too short. But on the other hand, the first 8 missions were so fun I could have kept entertaining myself with those. But now since there's what, around 20 chapters? I'LL BE PLAYING THIS FOREVER[/spoiler]

[DededeCloneChris]

It helps that the game came out at the same time everywhere in the world. It's the ultimate spoiler method.

Now if they could do the same with the next Smash Bros., I'd appreciate it.

[Zero]

The missions can be 25 minutes long. Having that WITHOUT a checkpoint will just make no one want to play it, especially since the one I'm thinking of isn't even the final mission or anything.

Which is precisely why the system should make everyone happy. It's a pretty great feature.