Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet - available August 3 for 1200 points!

wampa8jedi

wampa8jedi

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The long-time pet project of Michel Gagne (famous for his work on The Clone Wars TV series, various Disney and Pixar films and an array of non-Disney cartoons, including The Iron Giant, An American Tail and The Land Before Time (original)) is finally almost here. On June 6, 2011 Microsoft revealed that the game will be featured as part of the Xbox Summer of Arcade for 2011.

In the developer's own words, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is a "side-scrolling adventure that is a fusion of art, classical animation, and captivating gameplay." Details about the game are posted frequently at Michel Gagne's official blog (http://michelgagne.blogspot.com/) and on the official homepage for Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (http://www.gagneint.com/itsp/itsp_main.htm).



Recent previews of the game:

http://www.crushfragdestroy.com/2011/06/02/insanely-twisted-shadow-planet-hands-on-preview/

http://au.xboxlive.ign.com/articles/115/1155252p1.html


Recent interviews about the game:

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/pax-east-insanely-twisted/711840

http://www.giantbomb.com/pax-east-2011-insanely-twisted-shadow-planet-interview/17-3914/


Trailers for the game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddv9pvOdV14

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=975Zw8BJ3Vg


Official link on the Xbox Live Marketplace:
http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/P...w-Planet/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258410b1c
 
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[quote name='Jek Porkins']Very excited for this game! I hope it's half as fun as it is beautiful![/QUOTE]

Yeah me too!

I'm surprised more people aren't excited about this game--2D metroid-vania style games are quite rare on consoles these days and I'd have expected more people to be pumped for one.

Still, doesn't change the fact that this is a day-one purchase for me. I hardly ever buy XBLA games at full price, but this is one that I'll be all too happy to buy and support the developers.
 
I am interested to see how this one turns out. I will def check out the demo day 1. Art style looks unique and very cool.

SoA games usually go on sale around Christmas, so I might be able to wait. We'll see.
 
[quote name='sp8001']I am interested to see how this one turns out. I will def check out the demo day 1. Art style looks unique and very cool.

SoA games usually go on sale around Christmas, so I might be able to wait. We'll see.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I frequently do the same thing in regard to waiting for the inevitable sales. That being said, I normally like to support at least one or two XBLA developers each year... unless ITSP totally gets torn apart by reviews, it's going to be one of my full-price games this year.

Almost here!
 
[quote name='jaredstorm']Is this a glitch in the system?[/QUOTE]

Well, certainly an error of some kind... if you're interested, I'd buy now :)

Edit: People are reporting this as dead now... I'll be sure to post impressions over the weekend :)
 
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Had a chance to start playing it... if anyone has any questions, let me know.

My initial reaction: I think you'd be out of your mind to pass on ITSP if you are at all a fan of either 1) Metroid-vania style games or 2) 2D games with amazing art styles. Seriously, it plays like the Metroid game that was never made, where Samus hops into her ship and has an entire adventure flying around a freaky, fiendish world.
 
Ok, this game looks pretty awesome. I wish this was one of the games available in July so I could get it to round out my buy 2 @ 800 get 200 back deal. Oh well.
 
[quote name='wampa8jedi']Had a chance to start playing it... if anyone has any questions, let me know.

My initial reaction: I think you'd be out of your mind to pass on ITSP if you are at all a fan of either 1) Metroid-vania style games or 2) 2D games with amazing art styles. Seriously, it plays like the Metroid game that was never made, where Samus hops into her ship and has an entire adventure flying around a freaky, fiendish world.[/QUOTE]

I love Metroid-vania!

My last experience like that was Outland, that a great 2D Platformer! Glad to hear you like it. I knew I should have got it last night. This will probably be the first game I get out of the SOA games.
 
[quote name='jaredstorm']I love Metroid-vania!

My last experience like that was Outland, that a great 2D Platformer! Glad to hear you like it. I knew I should have got it last night. This will probably be the first game I get out of the SOA games.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I still haven't gotten Outland yet, but I understand that it has a real Metroid-vania flavor. Based on reading other peoples' descriptions of Outland, I think ITSP fits in the genre even more firmly--once you get a look at the map and start wandering around finding blocked off areas and power-ups, you realize it really is like Metroid in a spaceship (a great thing, IMO). I admit that I've been looking forward to ITSP for quite a long time, but having actually spent some time with it now, I really couldn't be happier with my purchase--it's a beautiful, novel and very well executed take on one of my favorite genres.

Since game length is inevitably going to be discussed, I just want to toss in my two cents. Based on my playing time thus far, 6 to 8 hours to power through and beat the game seems like the actual range (and this accords with what people on other forums are finding); I should be able to confirm over the weekend. To gather up all the remaining ship upgrades/unlockables, I think you'd be looking at 8 to 12 hours. There's also the multiplayer mode and "download content" is prominently featured on the main screen of the game, so it's at least possible we'll see mini-campaigns/worlds in the future. The length/price ratio seems equal or superior to the other main games in the genre (Shadow Complex, the three DS Castlevania games, the 3 GBA Castlevania games, the 2 GBA Metroid Games, SOTN, Super Metroid etc).

For me, Metroid-vania games on consoles are so freaking rare that I'm happy to support developers who actually dare to release such games. This is especially true when the game has such phenomenal aesthetics (IMO) and offers a new spin on the genre (using a spaceship rather than an individual character).


Edit: Write up on the multiplayer mode (which I haven't had a chance to try yet)

http://www.xblafans.com/insanely-twisted-shadow-planet-multiplayer-hands-on-preview-21010.html
 
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The final boss battle is impossible. Has anyone who got this early been able to beat it? I've spend well over and hour and can't do it. Really sucked a lot of the fun out of the game for me. :(
 
[quote name='CheapyD']The final boss battle is impossible. Has anyone who got this early been able to beat it? I've spend well over and hour and can't do it. Really sucked a lot of the fun out of the game for me. :([/QUOTE]

I will let you know whether I sympathize or whether you just suck this weekend :)
 
Funny how I thought From Dust was going to be awesome and looked forward to it so much, and turns out it bites. Meanwhile I wasn't too interested in ITSP despite people calling it a Metroidvania style game, and now I'm watching this PAX gameplay video and getting really pumped for it!
 
[quote name='bsmiff']Funny how I thought From Dust was going to be awesome and looked forward to it so much, and turns out it bites. Meanwhile I wasn't too interested in ITSP despite people calling it a Metroidvania style game, and now I'm watching this PAX gameplay video and getting really pumped for it![/QUOTE]

Just wondering for From Dust: did you hate the demo, or did you like the demo and then find out the game wasn't like the demo?

I'm loving the demo, and I certainly enjoy games like From Dust, but I see a couple of negative reviews from users here, and I'm a bit skeptical.

As for ITSP, I guess I'll have to download the demo if y'all are saying it's a Vania/Metroid type game.
 
[quote name='Raccoon2117']Just wondering for From Dust: did you hate the demo, or did you like the demo and then find out the game wasn't like the demo?

I'm loving the demo, and I certainly enjoy games like From Dust, but I see a couple of negative reviews from users here, and I'm a bit skeptical.

As for ITSP, I guess I'll have to download the demo if y'all are saying it's a Vania/Metroid type game.[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't say I hated the From Dust demo, but it certainly didn't convince me to buy.

Most of the review sites I really follow gave it a bad review due to a few things: Awkward controls that would benefit from a mouse, constantly challenging gameplay with little downtime or "free-play" feeling, and most interesting to me, the lack of an immersive story or real compelling reason to help these villagers. Refer to Destructoid and Joystiq's reviews for some well-written explanation.

All that said, I'll probably pick From Dust up whenever it's 50% off. It looks cool and is a great concept, but not worth $15 to me.

ITSP however, is starting to look like a day one buy for me. I'll wait for the demo of course ;)
 
[quote name='CheapyD']The final boss battle is impossible. Has anyone who got this early been able to beat it? I've spend well over and hour and can't do it. Really sucked a lot of the fun out of the game for me. :([/QUOTE]

I'll second that, though I'm not the type of gamer who ever likes super-crazy-hard games anyways.

I might be the in the minority here, but I also found the second to last boss to be way difficult as well. I eventually did it, but it took almost an hour (split up with breaks to cool off in between), and didn't feel very satisfying once i did beat it. Which leaves me less interested in putting the same effort into beating the final boss.
 
I finished the game over the weekend and am thoroughly pleased with the purchase--great game overall, IMO.

Having read Cheapy's comment regarding difficulty, I was braced for a brutal challenge on the final boss. That left me somewhat disappointed when I beat the boss on my third try (and that was without the best armor and main gun). The key is definitely to just have the right weapons assigned to your hotkeys (
I used the missles (for shooting the four tenticles as it kills them in one hit), the laser (for clearing the waves of projectiles that come at you when killing said tenticles), the shield (tap it on to destroy incoming homing missles when navigating through the laser field) and the main gun (for actually damaging the boss--I don't know if that is the "best" combination but it certainly worked for me
).

I predict that the game will average in the 8s with reviewers. Some will score it high by focusing on the awesome graphics, Metroid-vania gameplay and nifty puzzles/battles. Others will probably bash it for the length and perhaps other quirky reasons (seems like it'd be hard to sequence break, the multiplayer doesn't seem that substantial, etc).

I stand by my original assessment that it's worth the price for Metroid fans and fans of beautiful games :)
 
The game has good graphics, but kinda bored of the gameplay already. Don't see much to it and the Summer Of Arcade lineup this year has been the worst imo to date. Bastion has been the only purchase worthwhile.
 
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