Crash Bandicoot 4

[Batman90]

Originally Posted by joshsquash729

But....but.....you obviously love Batman! Does that mean you've never played Arkham City or Arkham Knight? Or LEGO Batman?

Switching characters helps add variety! You could be missing out on some great games by only playing ones where you don't switch characters!

I don’t remember having to switch between characters. Even if we did it was only for a few seconds.

[Talal86]

This does look all over the place

[dallywhitty]

I started playing it last night, but I'd been drinking whisky and so I can barely remember it! I think I enjoyed it?

[_Seth]

It is really good. It's extremely inventive, but damn is it hard. I think the game would have been better if it was overall less hard and they went back to the core system of lives.

Medium difficulty + limited lives > N. Sane difficulty with unlimited lives

That said, the challenge is completely fair most of the time.

[Gamma_Winstead]

Originally Posted by _Seth

It is really good. It's extremely inventive, but damn is it hard. I think the game would have been better if it was overall less hard and they went back to the core system of lives.

Medium difficulty + limited lives > N. Sane difficulty with unlimited lives

That said, the challenge is completely fair most of the time.

I actually find it much more “playable” than some of the n-sane trilogy games. There are some stages where I’ve died a LOT (mostly going for boxes in the phasing stages, lol) but if I’m just going through the level I can get by pretty easily, which makes me happy. Some of the original crash levels are kind of ridiculous.

Unlocking everything here will be a challenge, but I expect a lot more players will see the base ending at least

[Foggy]

Caved in and brought this today, just been dying for something with an easy gameplay loop. Strangely enough only just realised it’s rated 12 in Europe for Bad Language, if this game doesn’t have Goodfellas level profanity then consider myself disappointed.

[dallywhitty]

Really enjoying this thus far. I especially like Tawna's levels, though I don't get why the developers felt the need to make you replay Crash/Coco's adjoining bit at the end. The new masks are a great addition. I especially like the spinning one which is like something out of Kid Chameleon. I died over 50 times trying to navigate this one area using that ability, omfg.

[_Seth]

Just finished it - at least the main levels, anyway. Damn it was hard, and still maintain that reduced difficulty + the lives system would have been better. I missed collecting 100 wumpa for a life. But this is still better than Wrath of Cortex or those awful Titans games.

Twinsanity is still the best of all of them, though.

[dallywhitty]

Originally Posted by _Seth

I missed collecting 100 wumpa for a life.

Is that not the case in classic mode? I wouldn't know. I chickened out and opted for modern mode.

[Foggy]

Yeah I’m enjoying it, only really done the first main stage where you defeat N.Gin. It does feel like a logically new Crash game, granted some of the glossy camera movements and cutscenes kinda take away from the arcade charm of the original three. Only real complaint I have is with the inclusion of the masks and the modern difficulty mode, it kinda feels like a less refined experience. Like I don’t see myself putting hours into perfecting the level run to get all the boxes like I did with the first three, but it might be that I’ll get through the main game and then I’ll have the desire to go back a perfect all the levels once it’s sunk in.

[dallywhitty]

I was raging at that final section in Cortex's Castle. Holy ****ing shit.

EDIT: I completed the game.

[Foggy]

Finished it last night, and yeah, Cortex Castle can **** right off.

Tallied up over 100 deaths.

[dallywhitty]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Finished it last night...

[Leonidas King]

Originally Posted by dallywhitty

Thought I was your one and only!

[dallywhitty]

Originally Posted by Leonidas King

Thought I was your one and only!

[Show spoiler]

You knew I was a wh0re when you met me.

[NoFro]

Taking my time with this one; I've just finished the second Dingodile level. This is a brilliant Crash game so far. It's brilliantly designed. Most of the levels I've played so far are pretty easy unless you're trying to go for all the boxes, which I am. Some levels I've played I've thought "how am I supposed to do this in less than 3 lives?" but on a run where I'm not trying to get the boxes I can do them easily in 1 or 2 lives. It's a great way of having a constantly adjustable difficulty level for players. Finding a level difficult? Forget about getting those tricky boxes.

The masks have been smartly implemented, with their use being limited to specific areas of levels which have been designed around them. Previous games have had power ups introduced along the way which have often left you overpowered when revisiting earlier levels, making earlier levels kinda dull to replay so I think they've made the right choice with the masks.

The levels have all looked gorgeous, are full of nice details and are also all a very decent length. I'm glad rails/vehicle/chase sections have been put in as sections in levels rather than levels unto themselves as, though the gimmicky levels have been good fun in the past, I rarely revisit them after a first playthrough. Embedding those gimmicky gameplay elements into levels that are mostly platforming is a smart move, in my opinion. I loved all the gimmicky shit in Crash Warped as a kid but when I play it now I just wish there was more platforming. It's About Time has found a great solution to this.

I'm also really liking the more linear approach to the level selection. I've always liked the feeling of Crash 1 where you're journeying across the islands back to Cortex's castle and It's About Time has that same feeling for me. These level select menus are also full of really nice details and animations which Toys For Bob really didn't need to do. This game feels AAA not only because the gameplay is great but also because the game is full of unnecessary but much appreciated detail. It's a really polished package.

Haven't tried any of the inverted stuff but I am glad to have another reason to revisit levels. Also liking the lab trials and am glad that these levels, which are essentially N Brio levels a la Crash 1, are kept outside of the main levels as again this gives players of different abilities more choice regarding difficulty. These lab trial levels do seem to be easier than the N Brio levels though as double jump gives players far more control over Crash.

The other playable characters are really good fun but the gameplay doesn't feel quite as refined as the Crash/Coco stuff. The Crash/Coco stuff is handled perfectly and the levels are perfectly built around their move set and the masks. I've found levels with other characters incredibly easy, so far, so whilst I think this is a great start for these newly playable characters I think they could better balance the levels against their strengths.

The are a few small negatives. Load times, when first going into levels, are quite long but resets after deaths are quick at least. There are also some oddly placed checkpoints that have made a few areas more frustrating. I don't mind replaying difficult bits to get them right but spending 30 seconds going through an easy bit to get back to them again every time I die can be a bit of a pain. Also the camera, on occasion, has made it hard for me to judge a jump or where I am in relation to something (I do realise that sometimes the level has specifically been designed this way). The tone also doesn't feel quite like Naughty Dog Crash but I'm not minding the new tone at all.

Overall though, so far this is the perfect evolution of the Crash series for me and I can't commend Toys For Bob enough for what they've achieved. This is looking like the best Crash game to date for me.

[NoFro]

Ooh this game gets to be a tough bastard.

[Show spoiler]The later levels that demand more from the new playable characters I think emphasise how their gameplay needs to be fine tuned. Aiming Cortex's gun or Tawna's grappling hook can be hard work and sometimes the game requires you to take precise shots very quickly which can be very hard to do. After a run of levels with these characters it was frankly a relief to get back to Crash. The levels continued to be difficult but Crash was so much better to control that I didn't mind nearly as much.

Regarding the difficulty increase, I honestly feel that the level layouts don't really get too much harder but that the camera is just worse at certain points. There have been several moments on later levels where I couldn't see what I was supposed to do in a scenario until I had missed my opportunity. My other half even said a couple of times things like "How were you supposed to know that was there!?" Depth perception based on camera placement is also a big problem in some instances. I think the yellow circle was put in because of it but it doesn't cover all instances, certainly not those where the camera cuts the yellow circle out of view. Anyone else feel the same about the camera?

[dallywhitty]

Originally Posted by NoFro

Anyone else feel the same about the camera?

Yup. If I have any qualms about the game (aside from the difficulty in the penultimate level being ramped up into nightmarish territory), it's that the camera could be a bit off at times, and often the checkpoint placement could be unforgiving. I got sick of replaying the easy parts over and over just to then reach the bit I was actually having problems with... and then die again.

[NoFro]

The pain of failure is definitely having to redo the easy parts. Also getting more and more Aku Akus when you keep failing by falling.

I've just done Cortex Castle which was not as bad as I thought it would be. Lost about 40 lives on the last bit and 18 lives before that but I enjoyed the challenge as I felt the mistakes were mine rather than caused by a dodgy camera. Also the tricky bit at the end had a checkpoint right before it and didn't really involve waiting for platforms so I didn't find it as frustrating.

[MD-Blu]

They should’ve made a PS5 version as well since it was released so close to the PS5 launch.