Huge fan of Platinum Games but never got round to playing Wonderful 101 on the Wii U. However, I grabbed the PS4 remaster on sale and knocked it out in about a week.
I'm unsure how I feel about the game. It simultaneously feels like a great game, but a weak Platinum game.
What I mean by that:
Great Game
Weak Platinum Game
Overall I thought it was a very good game, but I was surprised that the biggest issue I had with a Platinum Games title was the combat of all things. There was also some really weird/creepy vibes coming from a few characters. Wonder-Pink and Wonder-Green were had me skipping cutscenes on a few occasions.
Era, what did you think? Was I way off on the combat or was it a pretty consistent issue?
I'm unsure how I feel about the game. It simultaneously feels like a great game, but a weak Platinum game.
What I mean by that:
Great Game
- The concept is excellent. I loved the idea of the dozens and dozens of heroes all fighting together. I enjoyed "collecting" citizens and giving them masks to fight in the pack. I also enjoyed the unite concept, using those same people to create giant swords, bridges, guns etc.
- Despite some rough edges, the game is great to look at. There's plenty of colour, some great designs and the levels are packed with variety.
- The music is very good. Check this out.
- There are some surprisingly good puzzles in the game.
- The game is packed with variety. Punch Out minigames, shooters, battle arenas, hidden arenas, boss battles etc. There is just heaps to find and it never gets old.
- There are a ridiculous number of boss battles and they are mostly unique. Boss battles are essentially a giant puzzle, and working them out is very satisfying.
- QTEs. I realise a lot of people hate these. But I felt they worked well in W101. They were mostly used to cap off big action set piece and were fun.
- Combat is satisfying and packed with variety. The giant sword feels great. While using a whip to grapple and tear armour off of enemies is a great way to mix things up.
Weak Platinum Game
- The combat is also not very fun. At least, not when any sort of challenge is introduced to it.
- Enemies don't flinch, or at least, flinch so rarely that it barely matters. This means that you need to pay attention to what the enemies are doing at all times.
- However, the camera is terrible. It is frequently zoomed in too close, with enemies off screen charging dash moves or projectiles.
- There is also so much going on that it is way too easy to just get lost in a mess of heroes, giant weapons and explosions. More often than not I wasn't even sure what damaged me, which made it difficult to learn enemy move sets and how to avoid damage.
- Avoiding damage is also a pain. You have a few different options. A dodge, a block/parry and some of the unite moves can reflect/block specific things. However, the game is particularly poor at communicating what you should be using. The block/parry is great, but I'd estimate it can only help you out half the time. The sword can reflect some lasers, but not all of them. I was always taking damage and was never sure what more I could be doing to avoid it, outside of spamming dodge and using up my unite gauge.
- In the event that you do take damage, you not only lose HP. But you will most likely lose most (if not all) of your Wonderful 101 heroes.
- When they are incapacitated, you are unable to use your unite gauge moves. And in particularly nasty scenarios, unable to even use dodge or basic attacks. You can run around and collect them back, but essentially getting hit costs you HP, time and damage output.
- Some enemies will actually crush or stun you. But it's difficult to see what exactly is happening to your leader. You will only be aware that you can't move and collect your companions.
- Even if you dodge an attack, there's a good chance that your companions will be hit. This incapacitates them and again, impacts your damage output and ability to use the unite gauge.
- In a few scenarios, the game drastically reduces the number of companions you have. This amplifies the above issues even more and led to some genuinely frustrating moments where I was damaged repeatedly, with very little damage output and in some cases, an inability to dodge in time for the next attack.
- In a bizarre design decision, the unite moves need to be drawn in a specific shape and size for the maximum impact. However, in many cases your unite moves will be interrupted by enemies, spikes or terrain. This can prevent the unite move working as intended and in some cases, just incapacitate your heroes.
Overall I thought it was a very good game, but I was surprised that the biggest issue I had with a Platinum Games title was the combat of all things. There was also some really weird/creepy vibes coming from a few characters. Wonder-Pink and Wonder-Green were had me skipping cutscenes on a few occasions.
Era, what did you think? Was I way off on the combat or was it a pretty consistent issue?