Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (PS4 / Xbox One)

[Winston]

2 minutes ago, Jango said:

 For anyone who already finished the game, just tell me, is the sprint power-up in this game? Because they're really gonna be as hard as getting the platinum relics in Nitro-Fueled, if not more... I'm curious for that 106% ending tho'.

Spoilers just incase.

Spoiler

No, there isn't a sprint power-up after you beat the game. At least from what I can tell, maybe if you beat every level in N. Verted mode it's there, but I doubt it. 

 

[Jango]

Just now, Winston said:

Spoilers just incase.

  Reveal hidden contents

No, there isn't a sprint power-up after you beat the game. 

 

Oh shit. Yeah, good bye fingers, it was nice knowing you.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

TfB dropped the ball hard on basically everything that isn't the main levels themselves. Gameplay wise, I like a lot of these levels, but the completion and difficulty spike in general is atrociously horrid. So many of the design ideas clash against each other in silly ways. It's like they realised that since there's no lives counter, they could go nuts with the difficulty, because you wouldn't be risking game overs, but then they immediately thought "we need all of this other junk from the other games" to count or something, and so they copy/pasted it without thought.

Time trials have never been fun in this series, especially platinum trials. But Naughty Dog, and to their credit - even Vicarious Visions both realised this, and didn't ask for absolute perfection. You only needed sapphire relics in Crash 3 for full completion, and you only need gold for platinum trophies in N. Sane. The latter was still difficult as hell, but it was doable at least.

But Crash 4 is just a total joke. You have levels with literal hundreds of crates in them, most of the time requiring you to go out of your way and risking death to get one or two stray crates. You need to do platinum time runs through these ungodly long levels, where any mistake, any fuck up will send you back to Square 1. You need to get all of the crates in every level, yet a lot of them are hidden in ridiculously cryptic places. 

Even the bonus stages, the things that were meant to be a quick break from the main level to bolster your fruit and life count has now been turned into a trial in tedium and frustration, missing the point so damn hard that it's not even funny. 

And then there's the N Sanely Perfect Relics, where they expect you to not only finish the level without dying, but they expect you to get 80% of the boxes, they expect you to do it collecting enough wumpa for the three gems, and they expect you to do basically every requirement bar getting the secret gem. 

It's just too fucking much, and none of it is remotely fun. It's infuriating, it's frustrating, it's tedious, it's disheartening, and it's all around just completely unfun. Crash 1 has it's fair share of bullshit, but Crash 4's requirements feel like Stormy Ascent in every single level. 

That's not to mention that these requirements might've been fine for an original Crash level where the level is done within like 3 minutes tops, but that's not the case - these levels stretch on for ten minutes, and even that's being generous. They require absolute perfection for 10+ minute intervals. It's too much.

It's so annoying because there's a great game here, but it's just lodged under so much unneeded garbage only thrown in for the hell of it without thought or reason.

10 minutes ago, Jango said:

 

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Oh shit. Yeah, good bye fingers, it was nice knowing you.

 

You get some kind of spin move for beating either the game, or the N Verted levels. Be warned, it's nowhere as effective as the Crash Dash.

[NegaMix]

Having beaten the fourth boss today, I feel pretty adamant in saying that this game is pretty fun... when I'm not bothering with the gems at all. When I am, however, it becomes one of the absolute most INFURIATING games i've ever played!

Good lord, what the hell were they thinking with some of these crate placements?! I've struggled to get a single 'All Crates Broken' gem since the second world because they put just one or two crates in the most asinine hidden spots they could think up! It's insane!

The 'Beat in Less Than 3 Lives' gem isn't much better, especially with the longer levels. And sure, I could just do one run focusing on the crates, then another trying not to die... but apparently there are now relics that require A DAMN-NEAR PERFECT RUN IN ONE LIFE to obtain?! Just... NO!

...

*sighs* Thing is, I still like this game in terms of story, presentation, music and general stage design. But when the game gets bullshit hard, it REALLY gets bullshit hard!

While I'm not really much of a completionist, I do like to try and complete as much of a game as possible before putting it down. But to be frank, I just don't see myself ever even attempting to 100% Crash 4 at this rate. I think I'd rather 100% Wrath of Cortex...

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

This game unfortunately kind of has a bit of MARIO Sunshine-itis  in the terms of its rewards too.

While some could argue that the arguably canon 100% ending is possibly worth it for how fun it is,

Spoiler

and for it confirming that Nina, N. Trance,  and company are still around in this new timeline, even suggesting that everyone who appears in CTR NF is canon,

the 106% ending which is definitely canon is NOT worth it.

Spoiler

It's literally just a few seconds of video just showing Cortex relaxing alone, when suddenly Uka Uka appears. There's not even voice acting.

The endgame goal that you get for all your suffering might as well just be a post card saying "See You Next Game, No Duh".

19 hours ago, Ryannumber1Scarer said:

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Obviously not foreshadowing, but the Evil Twins do have a cameo.

 

Oh? How so?

Must've missed that.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

11 minutes ago, Nina Cortex Jovahexeon said:

This game unfortunately kind of has a bit of MARIO Sunshine-itis  in the terms of its rewards too.

While some could argue that the arguably canon 100% ending is possibly worth it for how fun it is,

  Reveal hidden contents

and for it confirming that Nina, N. Trance,  and company are still around in this new timeline, even suggesting that everyone who appears in CTR NF is canon,

the 106% ending which is definitely canon is NOT worth it.

  Reveal hidden contents

It's literally just a few seconds of video just showing Cortex relaxing alone, when suddenly Uka Uka appears. There's not even voice acting.

The endgame goal that you get for all your suffering might as well just be a post card saying "See You Next Game, No Duh".

Oh? How so?

Must've missed that.

Spoiler

In one of the last levels, you can find a monitor with a new image of them, according to Reddit

 

[8ther]

Do i have to collect all the gems in order to get the 100% ending?

[Jango]

Spoiler because it's a cool cameo (World 4):

 

is that freaking MR. CRUMB in Tawna's level in Tranquility Falls ? Holy shit!!!!

[Conando]

So...about the final stage in the game.

 

https://www.gamesradar.com/an-ode-to-the-crash-bandicoot-4-level-where-i-died-258-times/?utm_content=buffer6a963&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=buffer_grfb&fbclid=IwAR1mDDqTg8XZHktD6zSoGCyaDrS0elNseXFRP8xFQ1GklInRCACL9wWjJUQ

[Jango]

I know that some will say I'm just bragging or downplaying the others' fair complaints and issues, yadda yadda yadda, I heard that shit in the past already. But I'm not finding this game too hard. Everything I've encountered so far is fair compared to other platformers I've played. Seriously, I can't stress enough how this feels like Rayman Origins. Levels aren't super hard, but perfecting them can be unforgiving, just like that game. In fact, so far (I just beat world 4 boss), this is easier than Rayman. 

I mean, the Perfect N.Sanity relics (all gems and no deaths) is hard as shit in some longer levels. I'll agree it shouldn't be necessary to get the secret and apparently real ending of the game, because this most definitely won't be for everyone, eventhough it's doable if you don't care for you fingers, controllers or time lol.

So yeah, I'll wait for the replies saying I'm ignoring a bad design choice and other people's struggles with game because Activision must've been paying me money, eventhough that's not what I'm saying ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Conando]

Having played both Origins and Legends, this game is harder than that. Though it’s a more inconsistent difficulty. Like all the Donkey Kong Country games are hard as hell, and I’ve had an easier time with those.

[Blacklightning]

1 hour ago, Jango said:

So yeah, I'll wait for the replies saying I'm ignoring a bad design choice and other people's struggles with game because Activision must've been paying me money, eventhough that's not what I'm saying ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Listen mate, you were doing just fine right up until this section. Can you not make every post you make about trying to start a shit flinging contest with people? You can make a point without taking the absolute piss out of people who might or might not disagree with you.

[Soniman]

This crate system sucks like I am trying SO hard to look for hidden crates, Im on the sixth world I have only gotten one box gem...ONE. And I spend up to like 30 minutes on each level making sure I got everything and on five seperate occasions I ended up missing the box total by one. It's insane and I finally elected to ignore crate completion for the remaining levels because clearly I'm wasting my time without a guide or some sort.

Great game otherwise but finding crates should absolutely not be this hard 

[KHCast]

 

Not even Johnny wants to 100% this. His review should definitely be interesting 

[Ratcicle King]

Beat the game

Yeah gonna be real, this is my favorite game in the series, without a shadow of a doubt. The gameplay took everything from 1-3 and modernized it wonderfully, while remaining faithful to what the originals brought to the table. Crash is an absolute joy to control in this game, and so are both Tawna and Dingodile. I didn't enjoy most of Cortex's gameplay style, but that's because of me not being a big fun of puzzle platformers. The masks and new moves really do a fantastic job in modernizing the gameplay without straying too far from it, and the story was a blast from beginning to end, my only real complaint there being that I wanted MORE of it. They managed to make references and callbacks without feeling like cheap fanservice, but actual worldbuilding and recontextualizing a lot of things from the games before.

As for the difficulty, I honestly enjoyed it overall, I died a lot, yes, I missed crates in several levels, yeah, but honestly, this game wants you to master the stages, you can't go in expecting to perfect every level on the first try because you wouldn't be able to do that even in the originals if you went in blind. We just saw that with N.Sane a few years ago, a lot of first time players pulling their hairs out because the levels either tricked them or required hindsight to be perfected. The game assumes you've mastered 1-3, the difficulty I felt was in no way unfair, there's no backtracking against the camera, there's no pill hitboxes making you slip off platforms, and there's no poorly implemented vehicle levels, you just gotta be prepared to start from the bottom and work your way into mastering the levels like your first time with the old games.

[KHCast]

12 minutes ago, Ratcicle King said:

The game assumes you've mastered 1-3, the difficulty I felt was in no way unfair

Considering I’m seeing players in this very thread that have mastered those, that are saying the game gets pretty bullshit and way too demanding of the player...

[Sonicka]

I sort of agree with both of you above there.

The game gets hard and fast... but it isn’t hard in the sense that I run into too much trouble (Jango’s Rayman comparison is pretty spot on I feel). 

It does however assume you are a veteran of the series for better or worse because some of the levels in world 3 or even 4 felt like warp room 5 type stuff - but this is only like level 6 onwards in the progressional sense.

And I sort of understand why they went for the linear progression this time around though. Because as great as Warp Rooms are (and I do prefer it) it does actually nix the difficultly across 5 levels for one area - they took a much tougher approach here.

Despite that I don’t mind the additional difficulty curve or challenge, TFB obviously designed the game with this in mind which is why Modern Mode exists as a thing and retro is optional.

Honestly speaking I can imagine myself getting very irked with Retro mode, this game just isn’t designed with a life counter in mind due to the length of some of these levels, and let’s face it, a lot of platformers have progressed past this outdated system anyway. 

I also do so LOVE that some of these worlds go on and on, especially because they are really varied in design without feeling like a harder variation of a preexisting level. It makes it worth the effort they went into for the presentation alone.

Add to that that we have tighter platform challenges and courses (again - that helpful little shadow also exists now which is great... but also optional). Everything helps make it all feel a little less BS for the player when the game demands a lot. It also demonstrates some player accessibility in terms of difficultly which is also sweet.

But Overall, it’s a very good and solid Crash game from what I’ve played so far. Probably the best yet... but I won’t judge absolute until completion. 

I think going for the Relics and additional challenges potentially might get tiresome for true completionists as mentioned by others, but then really this is what will keep the player coming back for repeat runs and trials (as per usual).

...Perfect Run Relics though... blumin’ hell! At least I can say I got one of them. I’m probably not going to let the 106% bother me much though, if it happens it happens - as long as I’ve had fun with the main game then that is all that matters to me. The rest was always only for shits and giggles of my own accord.

[Jango]

I sincerely hope that Toys for Bob stick around for Crash 5. There's so much references in this game without feeling shoved down your throat. Everything I've seen so far is done in a brilliant way, both new twists and old stuff. This screams Sonic Mania. It's also the best Crash ever felt to control, both on foot and the vehicles I've encountered so far. Eventhough I can see why people say they went a bit too far with challenges, I like this because I know it will take me more time to beat it 100%+, but there's really too much stuff to do, I admit it feels absolutely overwhelming. It's without a doubt the biggest Crash game to date, and so far my favorite. I'm finding it more time consuming than actually hard. Gotta say I love the trickier Bonus Rounds. Also, I'm playing on Retro and I already have 99 lives, I don't think I'll ever see the game over screen

I gotta say for sure that I didn't liked some of the N.Verted filters, especially the one in World 1, it's too hard on the eye. I've noticed you can get the Perfect N.Sanity relic in those, but apparently they don't count. 

Oh and... 

 

One thing that really caught my attention are the colored gems hints you can spot in the level they're in. It's really clever, althought, upon realizing that I'll have to beat "Off Balance" without breaking any crate already made my fingers hurt... Can't wait!

[Ryannumber1gamer]

The above points about Rayman and assuming you’re a veteran of the series is missing the points being made about the game’s difficulty, And I’m saying that as someone who has literally forced myself through getting all relics in the original trilogy, plus doing all of Nitro’s times in CTR, and I’ve played literally every single main Crash game. Hell, Crash 3 was one of my first ever video games, I am well within the frame to call myself a veteran of this series.

My issue isn’t the main level difficulty, and I explained why - the game is designed with the knowledge that you have unlimited lives in Modern mode (which is the mode they recommend you to play). The game is designed with the idea that they can bump the level difficulty up because you aren’t risking getting game overs and being forced to start from Square 1, and that’s where the game’s strength is - when you are just finishing the levels without any concern for completion, and you’re allowed to just take each hazard in stride, because dying isn’t a huge deal

But the problem that I and others are bringing up isn’t the regular levels, our problems is the ton load of additional collectibles that have been shoved into the game without rhyme, reason, or even consideration for the level design. The relics still require precision, a lot of crates smashed, and trial and error - something that might not be bad in a quick run of a Crash 3 level, but something that’s nightmarish on Crash 4’s long levels, mixed the lack of a Crash Dash. 

But there’s also the fact that these levels that were designed around increased difficulty due to unlimited lives are now asking you to do it not only while rushing through it, but also without dying a single time, that’s the point it goes from simple frustration to out and out bad design.

It is possible to do these relics. It’s even possible to do the N Sanely Perfect relics, but they aren’t fun. They’re infuriating, and they’re discouraging. They don’t encourage replays and getting better, they just make you feel immediately dejected for losing a run, and make you dread the thought of starting a long level from scratch all over again. 

This is Crash 1’s exact failing as well, shoving time trials and total perfection into a game that is designed around a specific way of playing, and just like Crash 4, the original Crash was the most infuriating game to get relics in due to the heavy RNG, and frustration design in play.

But then at least Crash 1 had enough sense to only require gold relics, and didn’t tie any actual important completion requirements behind it, Crash 4 is even worse in that regard since it locks story endings behind its barricade of completion bullshit and requires platinum relics on top of it.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

20 hours ago, Ryannumber1Scarer said:

I have platinumed every single Crash game, and I have platinumed every single Spyro game. I even worked my ass off to learn CTR's mechanics so I could beat all of Oxide's times in that game.

Hell, I went so far as to unlock EVERYTHING in all those games to the pointing of besting the flipping Dev times in CTR NF, and I can tell you that completing Crash 4 is some bullshit.

The problem really extends to the sense of difficulty collapsing upon itself. I mean, relying on the lack of lives to make bigger difficulty is questionable itself, but at least with the main game, it never truly feels unfair so far.

That all goes out the window with completionism of the game. You have to pixel hunt hard for boxes, the relics are Crash 1 bad without the saving graces that the N. Sane trilogy had, not to mention, a baffling lack of the Crash Dash. The insane challenges are baffling too at times, and the box dickery extends to even the bonus levels.

A game should be fun, even while being difficult. That's something the original trilogy and Twinsanity managed even with completionist runs. Crash 4 unfortunately,  falls flat on its face with everything that's not the main levels. 

And again, I repeat, the rewards just don't feel worth it after all that suffering.

Of course the multiplayer still feels half-baked and lazy with the characters made and used, along with the lack of modes.

Shame too, because outside of that, the game is pretty fantastic. 

[Jango]

The flashback tape levels are worth just for the dialogue alone. We get answers for questions that didn't actually needed one, but it's still funny and well thought.  I especially like Cortex's comments about the Wombat experiments and the origin of Crash's shorts xD

[Sonicka]

49 minutes ago, Ryannumber1Scarer said:

The above points about Rayman and assuming you’re a veteran of the series is missing the points being made about the game’s difficulty, And I’m saying that as someone who has literally forced myself through getting all relics in the original trilogy, plus doing all of Nitro’s times in CTR, and I’ve played literally every single main Crash game. Hell, Crash 3 was one of my first ever video games, I am well within the frame to call myself a veteran of this series.

My issue isn’t the main level difficulty, and I explained why - the game is designed with the knowledge that you have unlimited lives in Modern mode (which is the mode they recommend you to play). The game is designed with the idea that they can bump the level difficulty up because you aren’t risking getting game overs and being forced to start from Square 1, and that’s where the game’s strength is - when you are just finishing the levels without any concern for completion, and you’re allowed to just take each hazard in stride, because dying isn’t a huge deal

But the problem that I and others are bringing up isn’t the regular levels, our problems is the ton load of additional collectibles that have been shoved into the game without rhyme, reason, or even consideration for the level design. The relics still require precision, a lot of crates smashed, and trial and error - something that might not be bad in a quick run of a Crash 3 level, but something that’s nightmarish on Crash 4’s long levels, mixed the lack of a Crash Dash. 

But there’s also the fact that these levels that were designed around increased difficulty due to unlimited lives are now asking you to do it not only while rushing through it, but also without dying a single time, that’s the point it goes from simple frustration to out and out bad design.

It is possible to do these relics. It’s even possible to do the N Sanely Perfect relics, but they aren’t fun. They’re infuriating, and they’re discouraging. They don’t encourage replays and getting better, they just make you feel immediately dejected for losing a run, and make you dread the thought of starting a long level from scratch all over again. 

This is Crash 1’s exact failing as well, shoving time trials and total perfection into a game that is designed around a specific way of playing, and just like Crash 4, the original Crash was the most infuriating game to get relics in due to the heavy RNG, and frustration design in play.

But then at least Crash 1 had enough sense to only require gold relics, and didn’t tie any actual important completion requirements behind it, Crash 4 is even worse in that regard since it locks story endings behind its barricade of completion bullshit and requires platinum relics on top of it.

Sorry,  I actually completely understood what you meant from the start, maybe I wasn’t clear in my post as I did meander over different things in the wrong order looking back over what I wrote? Apologies.  

I just meant to express my opinion on the difficultly of the main game (not the post collectibles side of the game first) so that’s all I meant when alluding to Rayman Origins/Legends. As we’ve both said - it’s designed with this set difficultly in mind and infinite lives with Modern Mode (and Retro is additional for the purists). 

The post game content is where I’m on board which what you are getting at (and this is speaking as someone who has also gone the whole hog for the Crash Trilogy and CTR back on the PS1 back in the day).

Whilst the amount of challenges and content is... well... I suppose it’s their way of attempting to justify the high £49.99 asking price. I do agree that a lot of the asks for certain levels are insane. I do specifically mean the speed runs (and perfect runs) considering the length of some of these... my god! That’s why (as I also spoke about earlier) there could have been alternate ways for them to incorporate or change this in terms of how it reflects your overall completion - like just for a personal completion or trophies instead rather than the in game percentage which might tie to other things.

If I’m honest, (much like my attitude for CTR: NF) after the main game I’m just going to go for what I want to obtain or finish and nothing more. If it becomes unfun then I’ll just stop, it’s pretty much how I roll with a lot of titles these days as I don’t have the time or patience to 100% everything I own (as much as I’d love too). 

But whilst the issues of how they have incorporated the post game/extra challenges doesn’t bother me personally... I completely appreciate that this is a more overcast scenario for completionists or those that want to take up the challenge. 

I will say though... the other things I actually don’t mind (like hidden crates, gem hunting, wumpa fruit count etc)... I’m a sucker for this sort of thing

[mayday2592]

Yeah so far i havent struggled too much with the hidden crates  and survival challenges on subsequent runs for most levels, maybe it's because I'm used to other games that require you to search for lots of hidden stuff in  linear levels and after decades of Crash, but time trials just suck. Really hope they patch in checkpoints. And the less said about nsanely perfect relics the better.

@KHCast I'd say the main levels are perfectly fine tbh, it's the bonus and flashback tapes that get aggravating.

[Conando]

Speaking of wanting you to do things from the old Crash games, which had much more condensed stages, how about Draggin’ On having a no crate blue gem? The hell were they on when putting things like that in?

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

2 hours ago, Son-icka said:

 I completely appreciate that this is a more overcast scenario for completionists or those that want to take up the challenge. 

Or basically, anyone who wants to get the secret endings.