02-27-2017, 07:15 PM
So I've been practicing doing Twitch livestreams as of late, and the first victim of my incompetence has been Paper Mario: Color Splash.
And I gotta say ... so far? The game is actually surprisingly good. The writing in particular is excellent. It's witty, it's funny, and it's really on the ball; every time I want to make a joke about something someone said, I find that the game is already making that joke for me.
The visuals are also freakin' gorgeous. This game is really making me want for an HD upgrade of Thousand Year Door with Color Splash's art team working on updating the visuals because hot damn does everything get the craft-y look down to the finest details. And not just the art either, there are lots of really fun, playful things done with the visuals of the game. Like for example in one of the early levels you encounter a windy area, and if you get into a fight in this area you'll find yourself and your enemies flapping about in the breeze. Silly stuff like that.
Now, I never played Sticker Star, but I feel like a lot of its common criticisms have been smartly dealt with here. One of the major criticisms I heard about PM:SS was that due to there being no EXP system in place, fighting enemies did nothing but waste your sticker resources and it was usually best to just avoid battles. Color Splash does kind of have an EXP system in the form of Hammer Points, which fall out of defeated enemies much like coins do, but they only upgrade the size of your paint reserve, which is very useful but whether or not it's important is still a thing to be determined. But more importantly, most overworld enemies are placed smartly in locations where you actually either have to fight them, or you'll want to fight them. For example, enemies might be placed on top of drained paint spots, and you'll want to defeat them so you can color that spot in, or maybe an enemy is walking around underneath a
block, and you'll want to defeat them so you can hit it. Stuff like that.
This game just feels very smart.
The only criticism that I have so far is that the battle system itself feels kind of basic and doesn't seem to have much depth to it. HOWEVER it should be noted that I am not far into the game as of yet; I have not even fought a boss yet. So maybe it gets more depth to it later on.
So yeah, based on what I've seen of the game so far, I think I would recommend it, actually. I think most people kind of ignored the game when it came out due to the unpopular opinion of Sticker Star.
Anyways if you're curious about the game at all (or just want to watch me humiliate myself), feel free to pop into my twitch channel. https://www.twitch.tv/jermungandr I've been streaming from 9pm-11pm Eastern(US). If my voice doesn't completely horrify you maybe I can at least convince you that the game isn't that bad.
And I gotta say ... so far? The game is actually surprisingly good. The writing in particular is excellent. It's witty, it's funny, and it's really on the ball; every time I want to make a joke about something someone said, I find that the game is already making that joke for me.
The visuals are also freakin' gorgeous. This game is really making me want for an HD upgrade of Thousand Year Door with Color Splash's art team working on updating the visuals because hot damn does everything get the craft-y look down to the finest details. And not just the art either, there are lots of really fun, playful things done with the visuals of the game. Like for example in one of the early levels you encounter a windy area, and if you get into a fight in this area you'll find yourself and your enemies flapping about in the breeze. Silly stuff like that.
Now, I never played Sticker Star, but I feel like a lot of its common criticisms have been smartly dealt with here. One of the major criticisms I heard about PM:SS was that due to there being no EXP system in place, fighting enemies did nothing but waste your sticker resources and it was usually best to just avoid battles. Color Splash does kind of have an EXP system in the form of Hammer Points, which fall out of defeated enemies much like coins do, but they only upgrade the size of your paint reserve, which is very useful but whether or not it's important is still a thing to be determined. But more importantly, most overworld enemies are placed smartly in locations where you actually either have to fight them, or you'll want to fight them. For example, enemies might be placed on top of drained paint spots, and you'll want to defeat them so you can color that spot in, or maybe an enemy is walking around underneath a
block, and you'll want to defeat them so you can hit it. Stuff like that.This game just feels very smart.
The only criticism that I have so far is that the battle system itself feels kind of basic and doesn't seem to have much depth to it. HOWEVER it should be noted that I am not far into the game as of yet; I have not even fought a boss yet. So maybe it gets more depth to it later on.
So yeah, based on what I've seen of the game so far, I think I would recommend it, actually. I think most people kind of ignored the game when it came out due to the unpopular opinion of Sticker Star.
Anyways if you're curious about the game at all (or just want to watch me humiliate myself), feel free to pop into my twitch channel. https://www.twitch.tv/jermungandr I've been streaming from 9pm-11pm Eastern(US). If my voice doesn't completely horrify you maybe I can at least convince you that the game isn't that bad.