User blog:Shrev64/Early Access Demo - My Thoughts

Hey guys, this blog post is mainly for sharing how I thought of the Early Access Demo. I'll get to the meat: I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be. For all the work I had put in to get the demo, I felt like there wasn't enough to reward me. Here's why.

Camera
My main irk was in this category. Sure, Sly can still run on tightropes, use his cane like he has been, and still has his stealth, but I honestly hated the camera. I was able to invert the camera, but with the cost of also inverting the control of the arrows you shoot with the Archer Costume. Considering how important Arrows were to this level, I was not happy with how I had to think about the arrow's direction going the opposite way of how I was used to it, and by that time the arrow had already gone a different path.

Binocucom
I sure hope that the Binocucom won't be needed for rapid picture-taking, because I can't seem to get used to how Sanzaru messed with the controls. My muscle memory from the previous two games is still with me, so it always takes me a few seconds to re-orient myself with the new Bincucom controls. For those of you who don't know, you still ping up the Binocucom with the Left Analog Stick, but while in the Binocucom, the Left Analog Stick is used to zoom, and the Right Analog Stick is used to move the camera; NOT like it was in Sly 2 and Sly 3.

Thief Meter
I haven't experienced any fighting with the Thief Meter active, so this won't be as accurate, but I do find it annoying that it emits the rings while I'm sneaking. By instinct, I would think there's an enemy there, only to realize that the Thief Meter's emitting rings just because I'm sneaking around a ledge. This is rather minor, but still irking enough.

Graphics
To be honest, this game looked amazing...that is, until I started playing it. The HD graphics are something I have to give credit to, and it's nice how crisp Sly and the environment looks; but I'm still disappointed at Sanzaru's attempt at motion. Sly's movements seem choppy and forced, and are too fast to seem natural. Whenever I try nudging the analog stick to make a slow movement, I end up getting Sly to rapidly change his animation, only to end back in the same pose he was in a split-second ago.

This just doesn't feel like Sly Cooper to me. Even when jumping, swiping his cane, or pulling off a combo, all the animations seem forced and unnatural. Again, it just doesn't seem or feel like Sly to me.

Voices
Maybe this one's just me, but I think Sly talks too much. And not just talks, but grunts too much also. Maybe he's stiff from his aging? I don't know. All I know is that he grunts a lot whenever he does an action with his cane, and it gets really annoying; especially since he never did so in the previous games.

There's also his commentary. I didn't see it as much in the demo, but in the livestream, Sly seemed to give way too much commentary, whether it was right after the defeat of a guard, or the opening of the door, it just seemed like he could cover the same point in less words.

The Binocucom opening was also a bit cringing, as Sly seemed to say things that he might not have said in the past, so those parts came out cheesy instead of intelligent and funny.

Conclusion
So, in conclusion, I had high hopes for this demo, but this demo was under my expectations. My main irk was that it didn't feel like Sly. But maybe it's just me, maybe I'm the only one who didn't like these changes; or maybe it's because I'm overkilling the comparison between Sanzaru's and Sucker Punch's efforts. That's why I'd like to hear what you'd have to say. Comment below if you agree or disagree with anything I said.