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I kinda feel like Below could be the next 'Demon's Souls' and you guys should really try it.
- Thread starter thomasmahler
- Start date
I might get used to it being a roguelite. I might get used to it having survival elements.
But I know I will never ever get used to how tiny and dark everything is. Unreadable text and UI elements are probably my #1 worst annoyance in videogames. I can't handle this shit.
But I know I will never ever get used to how tiny and dark everything is. Unreadable text and UI elements are probably my #1 worst annoyance in videogames. I can't handle this shit.
Haven't played much of it, but the little I played, I really liked. But as OP states, it's not a game for everyone.
a fair enough point, but even bringing up souls in general takes away from the point the OP makes
I completely forgot it came out to be honest. I just checked Meta and the early reviews aren't too promising. That's got to sting for a game as long in development as it was. For a while there it felt like the Deep Down of indie games, and not just because of its title.
After finishing Ashen, I immediately jumped on Below.
It's a game that I really want to love but there are too many things that keep me from picking up the controller - unlike Ashen.
The ambience, graphics, and feel of the game is on point but some of the design and direction choices are baffling.
From the awkwardly long and pointless opening 'cinematic', the extremely zoomed out perspective (and I'm a huge fan of top down / isometric / oblique perspectives in games), to the excessively punishing gameplay design and loop inflicted upon the player, I don't understand why game designers these days think it's okay to waste my time and to punish me for trying to enjoy their game? The game places an emphasis on caution and exploration, yet there's a systemic urgency on keeping the player alive and forcing them to rush around for resources. I guess it's not really my idea of fun.
In Demon Soul's / Bloodborne - short of boss battles -, you would get punished because of your own inattentiveness or recklessness, but in Below, death feels so random and out of your control. I'm sorry OP, but I strongly disagree with you - this game is no Demon's Souls. However with that said, it is an interesting game and I'll most likely give it another shot once a few balance patches come out.
It's a game that I really want to love but there are too many things that keep me from picking up the controller - unlike Ashen.
The ambience, graphics, and feel of the game is on point but some of the design and direction choices are baffling.
From the awkwardly long and pointless opening 'cinematic', the extremely zoomed out perspective (and I'm a huge fan of top down / isometric / oblique perspectives in games), to the excessively punishing gameplay design and loop inflicted upon the player, I don't understand why game designers these days think it's okay to waste my time and to punish me for trying to enjoy their game? The game places an emphasis on caution and exploration, yet there's a systemic urgency on keeping the player alive and forcing them to rush around for resources. I guess it's not really my idea of fun.
In Demon Soul's / Bloodborne - short of boss battles -, you would get punished because of your own inattentiveness or recklessness, but in Below, death feels so random and out of your control. I'm sorry OP, but I strongly disagree with you - this game is no Demon's Souls. However with that said, it is an interesting game and I'll most likely give it another shot once a few balance patches come out.
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Some gameplay on YT caught my interest (especially the opressive soundscapes/music/ambient, just WOW!!!), but hunger systems? It seldom works in games I feel and turns me off :(
I can't really comment on the gameplay itself without playing it, but it's peculiar how they released this in general which might be part of the reason it hasn't gained much recognition to date.
Once it was clear that its release was imminent and in 2018 itself, announcement of its release didnt happen during two perfectly primed occasions where it would've had more visibility and impact. First was during X0 18 when it was heavily implied to be releasing soon by Chris Charla but not openly stated. It could've definitely been announced for December there, yet it was unspoken. He did tease that it, along with other games, would be unveiled at The Game Awards for the first unveiling of Winter of Arcade. Instead, its release date was revealed merely a day before the event and most importantly OUTSIDE the show when millions would be watching. It was the exact candidate for a shadow drop that night but was merely swept along with a lot of the other headlines and leaks that were going around in the days leading up to the Game Awards.
Its release seemed quite anticlimactic and I really think that it would've been a far greater release, in both senses of the word, for it to be shouted out in a more public forum which it easily could've.
Once it was clear that its release was imminent and in 2018 itself, announcement of its release didnt happen during two perfectly primed occasions where it would've had more visibility and impact. First was during X0 18 when it was heavily implied to be releasing soon by Chris Charla but not openly stated. It could've definitely been announced for December there, yet it was unspoken. He did tease that it, along with other games, would be unveiled at The Game Awards for the first unveiling of Winter of Arcade. Instead, its release date was revealed merely a day before the event and most importantly OUTSIDE the show when millions would be watching. It was the exact candidate for a shadow drop that night but was merely swept along with a lot of the other headlines and leaks that were going around in the days leading up to the Game Awards.
Its release seemed quite anticlimactic and I really think that it would've been a far greater release, in both senses of the word, for it to be shouted out in a more public forum which it easily could've.
Demon's Souls did pretty well review wise though, didn't it? It has like a high-80 or low 90 on MC I think.
The clicking probably makes sense if you are part of the ant target market
It's a super interesting game. I just finished up with it yesterday and it manages to both be one of the most interesting engaging games I've experienced this year, and a very flawed game that at times emphasises systems that actively block those interesting and engaging things that set it apart. Grand yet flawed, and definitely worth trying out. I imagine (or hope) folks will pick this one apart for years to come.
Oh and I'll add, it lead to one of the more interesting OTs I've participated in. The discussion back and forth was a big part of thrill, seeing folks push again the game and try to figure things out together.
Oh and I'll add, it lead to one of the more interesting OTs I've participated in. The discussion back and forth was a big part of thrill, seeing folks push again the game and try to figure things out together.
I was really hyped for the game, but the survival mechanics are really hurting my enjoyment of it :(
It's interesting to read differing opinions, but I feel like I've heard fair consistent negative things about this game since release.
I went from very excited to, I'll play it when I have time to throw away.
The "survival" elements and crafting seem like a really bad idea.
I went from very excited to, I'll play it when I have time to throw away.
The "survival" elements and crafting seem like a really bad idea.
Honestly the best thing this thread did was let me know this was on gamepass
I've had Below and Inside conflated in my head for like five years so I still don't know what this game really is even though Inside came out twenty years ago
I've had Below and Inside conflated in my head for like five years so I still don't know what this game really is even though Inside came out twenty years ago
OP
OP
Honestly, I kinda feel like if this game had 2 game modes: Survival and Explorer, where Survival would be the current game as is and Explorer would relax the Survival elements and spawn you with your lamp when you died, a LOT more people here would get convinced to keep playing. There's incredibly interesting stuff hidden behind a layer of obscurity.
Also hope that Capy will add an option to zoom in a bit more so that people who play on their couch instead of on a monitor right in front of them could also see more of what's going on.
Below really evokes the same feelings I had when I played Zelda 1 for the first time as a kid and I didn't think that'd be possible anymore in todays day and age where people just look stuff up on the internet once they get stuck somewhere for 5 minutes.
Also hope that Capy will add an option to zoom in a bit more so that people who play on their couch instead of on a monitor right in front of them could also see more of what's going on.
Below really evokes the same feelings I had when I played Zelda 1 for the first time as a kid and I didn't think that'd be possible anymore in todays day and age where people just look stuff up on the internet once they get stuck somewhere for 5 minutes.
OP
OP
I'm not that far yet. Have a deadline come up and very little time to put into other games right now, but been itching to play more and more :)
I played a decent chunk of it, and while it started off pretty strong, what killed it for me is the one-note combat. There doesn't seem to be any nuance to it as opposed to the game/series you're comparing it to. The hunger, survival, and crafting elements only seem to be there to annoy and slow down the player as well. I don't like the roguelike element either for the same reason why I can't play Dead Cells for any length of time before frustration/fatigue sets in, but that game has terrific combat and style. I'm finding few reasons to come back to this one, sadly, but maybe I will.
When it comes out on a system I can actually play it on, I absolutely plan to. Capy is good people. But roguelike type games are really testing my patience lately - I think I'm just getting too old to keep starting over and over again.
Lmao this ant posts are killing me.
Main character is so damn small.
You did this game a great disservice by comparing it to a cult classic like Demons Souls... not Dark Souls, but Demons specifically. DS is one of the greatest games of all time, man. No, I haven't played it, but I doubt it's a classic like that.
But, you have sold me on the game as I need to see it to believe it. We'll see..
But, you have sold me on the game as I need to see it to believe it. We'll see..
I feel like every thread that was made on it, I'd like or love what I saw of the art direction, but myself and many others would also comment or complain about how overtly miniscule and oppressive so much of it looked, sometimes distractingly or annoyingly so, but it seems they stuck with their guns on the art and scale of much of the assets, text etc either way.
I will play it soon thanks to it being on Game Pass, but many impressions I've read, including from people I've been historically been inclined to agree with, have been negative, and the complaints seem pretty well merited.
Thing with the Soulsborne games is that whilst they're quite difficult, they're not really ever unfair or too frustrating with how they handle risk versus reward, and the fact that you can learn levels, arenas, bosses etc till you perfect things, means there's more of a steady gradation to progress, limiting frustration. You also generally have the options to get back your lost stuff even if you die.
Below sounds like it's a lot more frustrating and unfair due to the fact that with death you not only lose items, but key items that you needed to unlock latter parts of the game, the frustration of which is further exasperated by the fact that much of the game is procedurally generated on the fly and different each time, thus that same learning curve and risk vs reward isn't quite there.
Side note, there also seems to be this misnomer with some that Demon Souls was negatively critically received, it wasn't. Demon Souls sits at 89 on metacritic, so the difficulty didn't dissuade or prevent critics from appreciating or really enjoying the game. That obviously hasn't been the same case for Below, hence the mixed or negative critical reception.
I will play it soon thanks to it being on Game Pass, but many impressions I've read, including from people I've been historically been inclined to agree with, have been negative, and the complaints seem pretty well merited.
Thing with the Soulsborne games is that whilst they're quite difficult, they're not really ever unfair or too frustrating with how they handle risk versus reward, and the fact that you can learn levels, arenas, bosses etc till you perfect things, means there's more of a steady gradation to progress, limiting frustration. You also generally have the options to get back your lost stuff even if you die.
Below sounds like it's a lot more frustrating and unfair due to the fact that with death you not only lose items, but key items that you needed to unlock latter parts of the game, the frustration of which is further exasperated by the fact that much of the game is procedurally generated on the fly and different each time, thus that same learning curve and risk vs reward isn't quite there.
Side note, there also seems to be this misnomer with some that Demon Souls was negatively critically received, it wasn't. Demon Souls sits at 89 on metacritic, so the difficulty didn't dissuade or prevent critics from appreciating or really enjoying the game. That obviously hasn't been the same case for Below, hence the mixed or negative critical reception.
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I'm gonna try it since it's on game pass but this thread is turning me off from it. I truly despise hunger mechanics, especially in an exploration based game, and even more so in a game with roguelike mechanics.
I don't have patience for games that try really hard to make me hate them.
I don't have patience for games that try really hard to make me hate them.
My 55" 4K screen is on a fancy pullout wall-mount. I have to pull it forward all the way out from the wall, as well as move off the couch and sit on an ottoman closer to the screen to see what's going on :D
Given how long the game has been in development, it surprises me that any aspect feels slapped on.
I'd try the game despite the fact that it's roguelike with procedural dungeons, if it weren't for the fact that it has hunger and the character is so damn small that he/she/it might be 10 pixels wide. I don't even know what the character is suppose to be. Why did this take like 6 years to make btw?
I have no problem with the zoom although my tv isn't super big so maybe that's the case.
The hunger though is a thing. It seems like it depletes too fast and food sources become harder the deeper you get in.
At first blush this game does seem a bit special with the visuals and the no hand holding. The controls are tight and the atmosphere is off the chain but it all comes down to how much fun I'll have after the 20th time I try and retrieve my body and how long that could take.
The hunger though is a thing. It seems like it depletes too fast and food sources become harder the deeper you get in.
At first blush this game does seem a bit special with the visuals and the no hand holding. The controls are tight and the atmosphere is off the chain but it all comes down to how much fun I'll have after the 20th time I try and retrieve my body and how long that could take.
Journalists didn't get Demon's Souls and it only took off due to GAF word of mouth?
... It has a 89 aggregate score and was heavily praised everywhere.
... It has a 89 aggregate score and was heavily praised everywhere.
I think some extra modes might be a good solution.
And I agree about the zelda thing.