by BLA1NE Sun Jan 27, 2013 11:25 pmThere's a few threads for stand-alone games and a few for demos in the off-topic section, but I thought I'd create this thread so we can discuss demos in general. Mostly I created it because I just played the MGS: Rising and Dead Space 3 demos, and wanted to discuss them, but didn't want to create a thread for each. But in the future this thread can serve to discuss your impressions on any demo.
Spoiler tags may be an issue we should discuss too. I'm sure some people don't even play some demos because they want to avoid spoiling the final game, so it wouldn't be very considerate to spoil it for them here--also it wouldn't help the discussion if people were avoiding the thread for fear of spoilers!
So anyways, onto the discussions:
Metal Gear Solid: Rising
Before you start this demo, I recommend you give the options menu a look (I always do because I play inverted). I wouldn't normally say this as the first thing when giving my impressions of a demo, but there's one important gameplay mechanic that can be game-breaking if you don't like how it controls--and thankfully you're given the option to change it. I'm talking about the manual cutting mechanic. The default setting is that you control the aim of the cut with the left stick and its direction with the right stick. Not only did I find this weird, since controlling the camera is nearly-always done with the right stick, but especially since I play with inverted aim. I'm used to controlling the inverted camera with my right stick, but NOT with my left stick, let alone an inverted left stick! (And there was no option for inverted right-stick camera and regular left stick cut-aim.) So what you can do, is swap the sticks during the manual cutting mode. The right stick will control the aim of the cut (so you shouldn't have any trouble inverted or regular) and the left stick controls its direction.
Another thing you should know, in order to properly appreciate this demo, is how to parry (since I found the on-screen prompt nearly indecipherable! But maybe it's just me...). You have to aim the left stick in the direction you want to parry, and press and hold the square button simultaneously. Until I figured that out, I was having trouble getting to grips with the combat since I couldn't figure out how to dodge either (duh, dodging and parrying--Dark Souls vet here!), but if I replay it with a more parry-minded approach I'm sure I won't need to try and dodge as much. But by the way, the closest thing I found to dodging, is jumping while "ninja-running" (R1).
So my impressions: my interest in the game was starting to wane. Like Vanquish (of the same developer), for which my interest started very high, but eventually dropped to the point where I didn't buy it, I was on the verge of not buying this game. Good thing this demo came about! The gameplay is just a tiny little bit clunky (think MGS-gameplay clunky, but 1/100th of that) but on the whole it's mostly fast and fluid. Most of all, though, it's fun. This is a hack-and-slash game, but its MGS heritage makes it a very interesting hybrid. There's a little bit of sneaking, the level design is slightly more open than your average hack 'n slash, and the "cut-anything" approach is a novel touch. There's a lot of things you can cut that you wouldn't have expected, so do experiment with that. The only thing I didn't much care for was the characters comprising of Raiden's support crew. But Raiden easily makes up for them. Anyways, do try this demo for yourselves! I was especially impressed with the boss fight (and the cutscene prior), so if anything try it for that. Then let me know what you thought!
Dead Space 3
This demo immediately immersed me. I have to say I played DS1, and was very surprised just how good it turned out to be. I didn't play the second, but after having played the demo for the third, I feel like I missed out. Not only did this demo get my interest up in DS3, it got me wanting to play the second as well! The jump-scares are pretty funny because you'll see them coming from a mile away, but if you're anything like me you'll enjoy them anyway for the camp value. Ambushes are also too predictable, but they're very sudden, so they still have a way of making you feel good about yourself for having been prepared for them, and handling them like a champ! The highlights of the demo, I think, were the two "boss battles". Without spoiling too much, the first one was a rather generic fight against a large monster, and honestly wasn't all that interesting; the second, however, I found very original, and very exciting. I really don't want to spoil this one, so I'll just say enemies are coming at you from all sides in a very cramped environment. They're slow, but it's the other thing you gotta worry about, and it's not slow at all! Very interesting fight. The demo also includes a co-op mode (I didn't try it yet) and the weapon-modification bench (didn't try it much, has moderate potential I think). So try this one too--hell it's a free demo, you have nothing to lose! Let me know what you think of this one too.
So as far as I'm concerned, both these demos were successful, since they got me interested in the full games. Also, discuss any other demo you've played recently if you think it was noteworthy--bad, ok, or good (but please be mindful of spoilers).
Spoiler tags may be an issue we should discuss too. I'm sure some people don't even play some demos because they want to avoid spoiling the final game, so it wouldn't be very considerate to spoil it for them here--also it wouldn't help the discussion if people were avoiding the thread for fear of spoilers!
So anyways, onto the discussions:
Metal Gear Solid: Rising
Before you start this demo, I recommend you give the options menu a look (I always do because I play inverted). I wouldn't normally say this as the first thing when giving my impressions of a demo, but there's one important gameplay mechanic that can be game-breaking if you don't like how it controls--and thankfully you're given the option to change it. I'm talking about the manual cutting mechanic. The default setting is that you control the aim of the cut with the left stick and its direction with the right stick. Not only did I find this weird, since controlling the camera is nearly-always done with the right stick, but especially since I play with inverted aim. I'm used to controlling the inverted camera with my right stick, but NOT with my left stick, let alone an inverted left stick! (And there was no option for inverted right-stick camera and regular left stick cut-aim.) So what you can do, is swap the sticks during the manual cutting mode. The right stick will control the aim of the cut (so you shouldn't have any trouble inverted or regular) and the left stick controls its direction.
Another thing you should know, in order to properly appreciate this demo, is how to parry (since I found the on-screen prompt nearly indecipherable! But maybe it's just me...). You have to aim the left stick in the direction you want to parry, and press and hold the square button simultaneously. Until I figured that out, I was having trouble getting to grips with the combat since I couldn't figure out how to dodge either (duh, dodging and parrying--Dark Souls vet here!), but if I replay it with a more parry-minded approach I'm sure I won't need to try and dodge as much. But by the way, the closest thing I found to dodging, is jumping while "ninja-running" (R1).
So my impressions: my interest in the game was starting to wane. Like Vanquish (of the same developer), for which my interest started very high, but eventually dropped to the point where I didn't buy it, I was on the verge of not buying this game. Good thing this demo came about! The gameplay is just a tiny little bit clunky (think MGS-gameplay clunky, but 1/100th of that) but on the whole it's mostly fast and fluid. Most of all, though, it's fun. This is a hack-and-slash game, but its MGS heritage makes it a very interesting hybrid. There's a little bit of sneaking, the level design is slightly more open than your average hack 'n slash, and the "cut-anything" approach is a novel touch. There's a lot of things you can cut that you wouldn't have expected, so do experiment with that. The only thing I didn't much care for was the characters comprising of Raiden's support crew. But Raiden easily makes up for them. Anyways, do try this demo for yourselves! I was especially impressed with the boss fight (and the cutscene prior), so if anything try it for that. Then let me know what you thought!
Dead Space 3
This demo immediately immersed me. I have to say I played DS1, and was very surprised just how good it turned out to be. I didn't play the second, but after having played the demo for the third, I feel like I missed out. Not only did this demo get my interest up in DS3, it got me wanting to play the second as well! The jump-scares are pretty funny because you'll see them coming from a mile away, but if you're anything like me you'll enjoy them anyway for the camp value. Ambushes are also too predictable, but they're very sudden, so they still have a way of making you feel good about yourself for having been prepared for them, and handling them like a champ! The highlights of the demo, I think, were the two "boss battles". Without spoiling too much, the first one was a rather generic fight against a large monster, and honestly wasn't all that interesting; the second, however, I found very original, and very exciting. I really don't want to spoil this one, so I'll just say enemies are coming at you from all sides in a very cramped environment. They're slow, but it's the other thing you gotta worry about, and it's not slow at all! Very interesting fight. The demo also includes a co-op mode (I didn't try it yet) and the weapon-modification bench (didn't try it much, has moderate potential I think). So try this one too--hell it's a free demo, you have nothing to lose! Let me know what you think of this one too.
So as far as I'm concerned, both these demos were successful, since they got me interested in the full games. Also, discuss any other demo you've played recently if you think it was noteworthy--bad, ok, or good (but please be mindful of spoilers).
Last edited by BLA1NE on Mon Feb 04, 2013 11:26 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : edited title)
(Having said that, from what I remember, the shooting mechanics in MGS4 were very sound.) Also, I played MGS1 through 4, but it's been a while since I played the first ones so I'm shady on the details. Completely forgot you even controlled Raiden with a sword!
Speaking of demos, played the DMC3 and Guardians of Middle Earth demos recently, both pretty nice. I was also one of the lucky few selected to test the multiplayer beta of Assassin's Creed Revelations, still proud of that 
