Lost World: Discussion, Impressions and Fan Reviews

[SilentDoom]

I'm glad there's a positive vibes for the 3DS version. Dumps returning back on form. I don't plan on buying it for a good while, as I'm putting money aside for Super Mario 3D World.

I'm more than content with the WiiU version though.

[Blue Blood]

The 3DS version is tripe. I honestly have absolutely no idea what JezMM is talking about!

 

About the only thing I can about it in it's favour over the U version is that Sonic doesn't loose speed turning, and I suppose it doesn't have the Magenta Rhythm either. The level design is really, really bad. Windy Hill was pretty good, I'll admit, but beyond it the levels completely deteriorate into "defeat X enemies/press X switches to continue". I don't know how this is supposed to be enjoyable, especially when the controls are so immensely twitchy on ground and even in the air. Each level also seems to have an extended area where you have to use a colour power to continue. These gimmicky areas drag to the extreme.

 

I want to know why Dimps is still using the Rush engine. It made sense for Colours and Gens, but not for S4 and especially not for SLW. It's an utter mess.

[Milo]

Areas where you have to use the Wisps to continue? Sounds no different from those mandatory shitty co-op sections of Sonic 4 Episode II. And I'm surprised at myself for being surprised that they're still milking the Rush engine for all of it's outdated worth despite Dimps using the engine for games that quite frankly should had never used it at all even though the Rush series (technically) ended five years ago.

 

If Blue Blood's account as well as the other more critical reviews of the 3DS version I've encountered (especially the professional reviews that rate it worse than the Wii U version) were anything to go by, it just seems that my skepticism from the very beginning that Dimps were still incompetent at developing Sonic games has not been proven unfounded. Although Episode II was more or less the last straw for me, so I'm not really surprised by these accounts; I nonetheless can't believe I was starting to think the 3DS version was actually looking/sounding worth checking out.

Edited October 26, 2013 by Yeow the Baneful

[Indigo Rush]

I expect nothing less than an epic throwdown between JezMM and BlueBlood over this. *microwaves some popcorn*

[KHCast]

Wait. They are STILL using the Rush engine? WHY? That makes no sense for a game like LW. Gen 3DS and Colors sure, but this....no.

[Blue Blood]

I expect nothing less than an epic throwdown between JezMM and BlueBlood over this. *microwaves some popcorn*

 

Prepare to be disappointed then, Indy. I'm burnt out on fighting about Dimps. They suck, and we should know that by now. I'll just leave this picture from the 3DS gameplay footage, that in itself should have told us everything we needed to know...

[Indigo Rush]

I'm in that weird position where I want the 3DS version to be the best because I kind of got a 3DS for this, and also because I really really want to believe that Dimps can still put out some good quality games, despite everything post 2008, and yet I kind of want Dimps to be gone for good if they can't be competent at a simple port.

I dunno. I think I'll still pay for the 3DS version - every single bit of gameplay footage I've seen really appeals to me. Say what you want, I really don't mind slower pacing and some puzzle elements in my Sonic game. It makes it seem more like a sequel to Sonic Adventure than anything else.

[WhoWhatMan]

*sign* I'm just gonna say this: I do not find DIMPS bad, and personally for me, I think this game look fun.

 

The parkour seem more involved, I like that they didn't make stages that isn't sonic like, and some of the levels look fun.

 

I'm not saying that this game is way better then the Wii U version nor I think DIMPS are way better then Sonic Team, but I think this game is gonna be enjoyable at least, plus, this is like the only real 3D Sonic game DIMPS made so far (Not counting Unleashed Wii), so I'll cut them some slack.

[JezMM]

I just finished my second playthrough of the Wii U version.  Unfortunately it is still a game full of fresh ideas and good level design ruined by clunky unpolished parkour moves and piles upon piles of thoughtless design.

 

Yes I got a Game Over and had to play through Lava Mountain 3 twice this time as well, since the second to last checkpoint beat my down to my last life, an unavoidable Wing Capsule was plonked above me, and I was warped to the penultimate boss on my last life with no ability to try and secure another one through the alternate routes up the shaft.  I fucked up and was punished accordingly.

 

And christ I forgot what a fucking pain Lava Mountain 2 is.  I hope everyone who cited Eggmanland's plethora of free lives as "proof that they knew it was too hard" choke and suffer with every delicious Game Over they get.

 

 

Prepare to be disappointed then, Indy. I'm burnt out on fighting about Dimps. They suck, and we should know that by now. I'll just leave this picture from the 3DS gameplay footage, that in itself should have told us everything we needed to know...

 

 

I've put nearly 24 hours into the 3DS version and this never happened once.  And I'm not quite sure what the problem is considering none of us expected Mega Drive physics stuff in this game to begin with.

 

How does Sonic occasionally getting stuck on a corner prove anything about anything anyways?  There's plenty of better stuff that's gonna be controversial once more people get their hands on the 3DS version to talk about that is completely unrelated to any of Dimps' previous failings.

 

 

 

 

It's weird because I still want to recommend Wii U as the definitive version because it has more content and isn't missing any cut-scenes.  But 3DS just plays better to me.  It's just a shame the level variety is so great that only 50% or so of the levels truly give you the ability to break the game with the amazing freedom the 3DS' parkour system gives you.  When I played the Wii U one I was just like "what" the first time I ran and tried to climb up a wall as I would on 3DS and Sonic barely wheezed his way a quarter of the distance you can do on 3DS.

 

 

 

I still think this could be the way forward for Sonic.  But this is just as clumsy and bumbling an entrance into a new playstyle as Unleashed was.  I finally understand how the majority must have felt arguing against that game now.  Kind of funny that I'm still the minority opinion here but what can you do.

 

I think I might actually start another Unleashed playthrough to wash the bad taste of this game down.  Fantastic effort, but fantastic disappointment.

Edited October 26, 2013 by JezMM

[Blue Blood]

I've put nearly 24 hours into the 3DS version and this never happened once.  And I'm not quite sure what the problem is considering none of us expected Mega Drive physics stuff in this game to begin with.

 

How does Sonic occasionally getting stuck on a corner prove anything about anything anyways?  There's plenty of better stuff that's gonna be controversial once more people get their hands on the 3DS version to talk about that is completely unrelated to any of Dimps' previous failings.

 

I don't think I ever said anything about MegaDrive physics, did I? They're just bad physics and bad controls that don't do what you would expect of them. Sonic's slope behaviour messed up. That image merely shows one way in which the engine isn't fit for purpose. There's plenty of other areas in which the game is a failure from both a design and technical perspective.

[JezMM]

I just dunno then.  For me Sonic controlled exactly as I wanted him to.  I couldn't believe that speed I was able to do precision 3D platforming on my first attempt.  I had barely any problems with 2D gameplay, certainly less than I had on Wii U, where Sonic was constantly grabbing onto little ledges and bits and pieces I didn't want him to.

[Blue Wisp]

Uh, I haven't played the 3DS version, and I don't think I ever will because lolno3DS.

 

But I'm not really liking those puzzles, y'know those puzzles that are like "OK BREAK FIVE ANIMALS AND RELEASE THE FLICKIES TO CONTINUE" I've seen in Desert Ruins and Frozen Factory. And I'm not a big fan of Sky Road in the 3DS. I mean, only one level was proper Sky Road, the rest were all casino. It doesn't really fit I guess...

[Blue Blood]

Uh, I haven't played the 3DS version, and I don't think I ever will because lolno3DS.

 

But I'm not really liking those puzzles, y'know those puzzles that are like "OK BREAK FIVE ANIMALS AND RELEASE THE FLICKIES TO CONTINUE" I've seen in Desert Ruins and Frozen Factory. And I'm not a big fan of Sky Road in the 3DS. I mean, only one level was proper Sky Road, the rest were all casino. It doesn't really fit I guess...

 

It's '06/ShTH levels of bad when it comes to defeat all the enemies crap.Doesn't help that the lock on system doesn't work half the time, or that you can lock on to stuff that isn't anywhere near within the camera's view. You'll constantly find yourself going off towards objects you didn't even know were there, often leading to damage or death.

Edited October 26, 2013 by Blue Blood

[Sami]

I'm fine with Rush physics depending on the context. If it's some "this is classic" bullshit, then no. But I still find Rush to be a very enjoyable game in its own right.

[JezMM]

Uh, I haven't played the 3DS version, and I don't think I ever will because lolno3DS.

 

But I'm not really liking those puzzles, y'know those puzzles that are like "OK BREAK FIVE ANIMALS AND RELEASE THE FLICKIES TO CONTINUE" I've seen in Desert Ruins and Frozen Factory. And I'm not a big fan of Sky Road in the 3DS. I mean, only one level was proper Sky Road, the rest were all casino. It doesn't really fit I guess...

 

To be fair "proper" Sky Road was just Windy Hill and Desert Ruins with a sky backdrop so I'm kinda glad Sky Road gets its own identity on 3DS.

 

 

A lot of those moments can be skipped with parkour, though not all by a long shot I'll concede.

 

Regarding the homing attacking, it does have the same problem as Sonic Colours Wii where you can only attack what the camera can see.  For the rest it's fairly simple.  Yellow targets show what will be auto-attacked in a chain via Lost World's new HA style, red targets mean you can actually initiate an attack now.  I get the feeling a lot of people get confused and don't understand why their HA won't work when only a yellow target is there (sadly I didn't learn the difference until the final boss, which depends on it to win).

 

I've only had a few issues with HA, namely tackling HA chains in a weird direction can sometimes cause you to build up 3 yellow targets in the wrong order, locking onto a further away enemy first and going backwards along the chain.  Luckily the developers did not overlook accidental damage possibilities - if a foe such as an orbinaut is attacked as an automatic second or third HA, you bypass their defences.

Edited October 26, 2013 by JezMM

[MegasonicZX]

Prepare to be disappointed then, Indy. I'm burnt out on fighting about Dimps. They suck, and we should know that by now. I'll just leave this picture from the 3DS gameplay footage, that in itself should have told us everything we needed to know...

Maybe its because im not a big enough fan of the series but ive never gotten what everyone's problem with this is, honestly its something that most people wouldn't even notice going through this game and it doesn't affect the game at all, also I may be the odd one out but ive never cared about the whole momentum/physics concept in this series, sure they played some part in the classics but they aren't something to really lose your head over unless its like sonic 06 where a crate could send you into space but even then that could be forgiven to some extent.

[Faseeh]

I'm honestly not bothered by physics because firstly, we're not using momentum to pick up speed or anything. It only really matters to me if it's a Classic game deal or Adventure. 

 

I mean I'm definetely gonna welcome amazing physics but honestly, who's gonna stop running down a slope?

[Blue Blood]

As this game isn't a a boost-filled sprint where the objective is to go as fast as you can all the time with the use of a 'go button', but is instead about varying speed, the physics really do matter. Sonic being able to stop dead on slopes and walk up and down hills at low speeds isn't the issue here, it's generally the twitchiness of Rush physics in general. The engine really isn't suitable for anything other than what it was designed for, especially not 3D gameplay.

The reason for that image is that it shows that Dimps really don't give a shit. Amongst all the other problems with level design, they still can't be bothered to make a new engine or fix up their existing one so that it's fit for purpose. It's not like it's a one-off either; the same issues with laziness and conflicting elements have existed in way too many Dimps games now.

I wanted to enjoy SLW3DS. The initial impressions it left on me from the gameplay videos were mostly positive. I pointed out some problems then but decided to overlook them because it still looked like it was going to be good regardless. And then impressions here were good too. The final product can only be summarised as an utter mess though.

Edited October 26, 2013 by Blue Blood

[Faseeh]

As this game isn't a a boost-filled sprint where the objective is to go as fast as you can all the time with the use of a 'go button', but is instead about varying speed, the physics really do matter. Sonic being able to stop dead on slopes and walk up and down hills at low speeds isn't the issue here, it's generally the twitchiness of Rush physics in general. The engine really isn't suitable for anything other than what it was designed for, especially not 3D gameplay.

 

While I agree to an extent, when you have a defined speed system, I don't see why it matters but I digress.

 

Knowing that Dimps is capable, I'm just bothered why they can't at least make a new physics paramater setup or file.

[Sonicka]

As this game isn't a a boost-filled sprint where the objective is to go as fast as you can all the time with the use of a 'go button', but is instead about varying speed, the physics really do matter. Sonic being able to stop dead on slopes and walk up and down hills at low speeds isn't the issue here, it's generally the twitchiness of Rush physics in general. The engine really isn't suitable for anything other than what it was designed for, especially not 3D gameplay.

The reason for that image is that it shows that Dimps really don't give a shit. Amongst all the other problems with level design, they still can't be bothered to make a new engine or fix up their existing one so that it's fit for purpose. It's not like it's a one-off either; the same issues with laziness and conflicting elements have existed in way too many Dimps games now.

I wanted to enjoy SLW3DS. The initial impressions it left on me from the gameplay videos were mostly positive. I pointed out some problems then but decided to overlook them because it still looked like it was going to be good regardless. And then impressions here were good too. The final product can only be summarised as an utter mess though.

Shame you feel that way really, because on my playthrough that feels quite far from the truth/your opinion.

 

I won't go into too many details as Jez pretty much summarises a lot of what I would have said, but whilst there have been Dimps failures in the past, this definitely isn't one of them - and there isn't anything anywhere near as bad to the degree of ShTH or Sonic '06 due to them actually giving the player control of the game, especially to get past the puzzley sections - just so people know.

 

A lot more could be done with this new play-style, but (on 3DS at least) it's an impressive enough start to build on for sequels.  

 

Edit: Just out of interest, why/how is it the "rush engine"? Apart from the missed boost mechanic this game feels entirely different to any of those games. The 2D sections still have a lot to be desired, but I can sorta understand why they went the way they did with the physics, especially considering the gravity/planatoid levels the game throws up most of the time. It's no Mario Galaxy, but it handles pretty competently. =)

Edited October 26, 2013 by Son-icka

[JezMM]

To me 3DS LW really REALLY feels like a modified version of the Sonic Colours Wii engine.  Sonic's jumping is almost identical and it just... generally feels more like I'm playing as Modern Sonic with his boost taken away and replaced with parkour.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnhVB7_RGrI

 

Here's a perfect example of the kind of crazy stuff you can do with parkour on the 3DS version.  I tried to do this on Wii U and whenever I jumped off a wall, Sonic just lost everything (the best part is this sometimes happens even during wall jumping segments in 2D).

 

Another time I did actually pull off something a little lower scale than this, and was greeted with an invisible wall at the top.

 

Wii U just is full of areas where you can try to parkour but the game is like "no no, you're meant to have total freedom in these designated areas".

 

As you can see there is nothing up there at all on the area I showed off on the 3DS, but it sure felt good that they at least acknowledged that you can get up there by putting somewhere to run around on.

[Cortez]

This is game is so jarring.

Everything about it is making me cringe. The Deadly Six are embarrassing to watch, the dialogue is even more childish than Colours, the 2D gameplay is making me wish for Sonic 4 episode 1's controls and the boss fights are some of the worst I've seen in this series.

I'm halfway through Desert Ruins, when does the fun begin??

[Blue Blood]

This is game is so jarring.

Everything about it is making me cringe. The Deadly Six are embarrassing to watch, the dialogue is even more childish than Colours, the 2D gameplay is making me wish for Sonic 4 episode 1's controls and the boss fights are some of the worst I've seen in this series.

I'm halfway through Desert Ruins, when does the fun begin??

 

Which version are you playing? Cause for Wii U, you're fast approaching Tropical Coast, the best world overall in the game (though I think Desert Ruins 1 is particularly good too). If it's 3DS, well... you're completely finished with the good parts.

[Faseeh]

If it's 3DS, well... you're completely finished with the good parts.

 

Unless you like puzzles and parkour in your level design or you like Heroes.

[TheDanimator]

Does the Wii U version have the option to switch camera angles?
This is something that has bothered me about allot of the newer sonic games, I enjoy the freedom of being able to look around.