Vanquish - A Shinji Mikami joint.

I hadn't heard a thing about this, but it looks interesting. Thanks for the heads-up!

Super cool. Also super hard. The boss's second form keeps killing me.
This looks and feels very much like a Capcom title, though.

Alright, finished it. Very cool. Part of the charm is learning how to move through the battlefield like a mind-controlled bullet, never stopping.

The zooming around is excellent, the shooting is good. The mechanics in general feel quite deep and varied for this type of game. Effects are some of the best I've ever seen. It's great how they manage to make the all whites and greys look fresh and interesting. Characters I'm not too keen on, especially the protagonist, but I never played Gears or Resident Evil for the characterization, either.

I'm definitely interested after playing the demo. Curious about the possibilities of multi-player.

Atomicvideohead wrote:

I'm definitely interested after playing the demo. Curious about the possibilities of multi-player.

I remember reading a while back that Mikami said there will be no multiplayer.

BNice wrote:
Atomicvideohead wrote:

I'm definitely interested after playing the demo. Curious about the possibilities of multi-player.

I remember reading a while back that Mikami said there will be no multiplayer.

Ah, if that's true it turns this from a possible $60 to at most a $40.

I finally got around to playing it. I have a feeling I didn't make the best use of my abilities, though I felt like I ought to be flying through the air as well. Still, for some reason the boosting and speed controls is enough to make this game feel different.

I also like how the boss had a bunch of weak points, but you aren't forced to destroy them all in order to kill him.

I might give the demo another whirl, but on the whole I'm actually really intrigued by this game now. Push it to the top of my "games I'm interested in this Fall" list.

After the demo, I'm sold. I was playing Gears earlier in the day and suddenly boost skating from cover point to cover point felt great. The enemies take enough shots to keep your guns blazing and then explode into miniature electrical storms which feels very satisfying after needing two clips of ammo to take out a Locust grub with a Lancer. I love blasting the AT-ST drivers with the sniper rifle and then hopping on board to fight that mid-boss robot. The frantic pace is exactly what makes this the Japanese Gears. And yes, I too think that popping open your helmet for a smoke is awesome and it's hysterical that tobacco use will have to appear on the ESRB label.

Yep, sold! I'm a Mikami fan, but that doesn't even factor in much, as the gameplay just felt like a high-end fast 3rd person actioner/shooter. The japanese mecha/powered armor was what sealed the deal. It feels a bit like a good marraige of Zone of the Enders and Gears of War with design cues from Ghost in the shell.

Winner for me, granted, it'll all be about execution of the final product. As long as the reviews aren't horrible, I'm in for it.

jlaakso wrote:

This looks and feels very much like a Capcom title, though.

After playing through RE5 this past week, and also experiencing Lost Planet earlier this year, I have to agree. I bet it's going to have a very arcadey feel where you can replay levels to beat your score and gain XP to unlock costumes, figures, etc.

Really surprised by the demo. It's jumped the game from completely off my radar to one I'll definitely be playing when it comes out. Great controls and it's just super fun zipping around and shooting dudes. Feels great!

Joystiq reporting on a 1up report:

Joystiq wrote:

1UP reports that a second Vanquish demo will soon be dashing its way to consoles. The announcement was made by director Shinji Mikami and producer Atsushi Inaba during a stage show at TGS. The demo is set to offer a challenge mode, designed to provide a more challenging experience for skilled players. The new demo will arrive in Japan on September 22. We've contacted Sega to see if it will also see release outside of Japan.

I heard about this shortly after finishing Bayonetta, which I thought was amazing, plus I'd enjoyed some of Mikami and Kamiya's previous work, so I was interested in what Platinum would put out next.

The only concern I had was with the controls. Of the Japanese Third Person Shooters I've played, most of them have had kind of janky controls or poorly implemented mechanics. For example, Lost Planet 1 and 2 (neither of which I liked) had horrid controls, the shooting just felt off, and you move super slow, even when "running". Resident Evil 4 and 5, the shooting itself was fine, but you were inexplicably planted to the ground. I didn't like 4 much. I really liked 5, but I think that was largely for to the co-op and the upgrade system which stuck across playthroughs (auto-fire shotgun with infinite ammo is pretty sweet). I also just played the Quantum Theory demo, and again, the shooting and movement felt just a bit off. That's not to say that all Western developers get it right; there are just a lot more Western Shooters (that I can't think of any Japanese shooters before ones mentions is testament to that), so it's easier to ignore the bad ones.

Back to Vanquish, I played the demo earlier, and I thought it was awesome. They controls are really tight, including the shooting. Your guy moves kind of slow, but then you can boost on your knees with your rocket boots!

I definitely want to play it, but I'm still not sure if this is an immediate purchase. If it has an upgrade system like the one in Bayonetta (we already know it has a scoring system), and is a decent length (10 - 15 hours; longer is better, but the upgrade system justifies a shorter game for me), then I'll probably pick it up right away, but if not, I may wait for a price drop, or just rent it.

I wish it would come to PC.

jlaakso wrote:

This looks and feels very much like a Capcom title, though.

I had the same impression after the demo. Specifically, it reminded of the Bionic Commando reboot. I'm not really sure why. Maybe just the aesthetic, or maybe something about the way it feels when you're jet-sliding and shooting at the same time.

Anyways, regardless, I had a lot of fun with the demo. The game is very much on my radar now.

4dSwissCheese wrote:
jlaakso wrote:

This looks and feels very much like a Capcom title, though.

I had the same impression after the demo. Specifically, it reminded of the Bionic Commando reboot. I'm not really sure why. Maybe just the aesthetic, or maybe something about the way it feels when you're jet-sliding and shooting at the same time.

Anyways, regardless, I had a lot of fun with the demo. The game is very much on my radar now.

This likely has to do with Platinum being made up of ex-patriots of Capcom, particularly the founding team of Clover Studios with a couple of extra guys (I believe the creator of Devil May Cry being one of them).

4dSwissCheese wrote:
jlaakso wrote:

This looks and feels very much like a Capcom title, though.

I had the same impression after the demo. Specifically, it reminded of the Bionic Commando reboot. I'm not really sure why. Maybe just the aesthetic, or maybe something about the way it feels when you're jet-sliding and shooting at the same time.

Anyways, regardless, I had a lot of fun with the demo. The game is very much on my radar now.

I didn't get that at all. Gave me more of a P.N. 03 vibe.

IMAGE(http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z144/Blind_Evil/PN03NTSCcover.jpg)

Except good!

Blind_Evil wrote:
4dSwissCheese wrote:
jlaakso wrote:

This looks and feels very much like a Capcom title, though.

I had the same impression after the demo. Specifically, it reminded of the Bionic Commando reboot. I'm not really sure why. Maybe just the aesthetic, or maybe something about the way it feels when you're jet-sliding and shooting at the same time.

Anyways, regardless, I had a lot of fun with the demo. The game is very much on my radar now.

I didn't get that at all. Gave me more of a P.N. 03 vibe.

IMAGE(http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z144/Blind_Evil/PN03NTSCcover.jpg)

Except good!

Not surprising. P.N.03 was also a Shinji Mikami game

Waitig for the new demo (if it sees release outside of Japan) and the retail release, I think I'll turn to Bangai-O Spirits of all things to get the same sort of rush.

Looks like this is coming next week, and K-Mart wants you to buy it from them. From our friends over at CAG, or the kmart gamer blog:

10-19 Vanquish $20 gaming coupon
AND
Save $30 on select games with purchase of Vanquish:
Uncharted 2 GOTY
Borderlands GOTY
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Halo Reach (All Editions)
Dead Rising 2
Mafia 2
Read Dead Redemption
F1: 2010
Front Mission Evolved
Quantum Theory
Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions
R.U.S.E.
H.A.W.X 2
God of War 3
Heavy Rain

Looks like most of those are 360/PS3 both.

Egh, poop. I hate going into Kmart but have been wanting to buy HAWX 2. Thanks for the heads-up.

...son of a Female Doggo, I just now started getting applications for crappy part time employment. I have no clue when I'll be employed.

Urgh.

URGH!

NOT FAIR! I could get Vanquish and Dead Rising 2 in one fell swoop!

EDIT: Ah, read that wrong. I thought it read as a $20 off on immediate purchase. I usually don't go for such coupons, but still, Fable 3 is the following week or so...BAH!

Well you get two games for $80-90 (some of those releases are $50 instead of 60). And you get a $20 coupon to use later.

Amazon is always doing the 10-20 coupon thing, but tossing another game in for half price (or 40%) is pretty awesome.

After the demo, this is also on my radar now. Will be looking to pick it up cheap further down the line.

Stele wrote:

Well you get two games for $80-90 (some of those releases are $50 instead of 60). And you get a $20 coupon to use later.

Amazon is always doing the 10-20 coupon thing, but tossing another game in for half price (or 40%) is pretty awesome.

Yeah, but Vanquish is one of the few big releases Amazon isn't doing that on. Maybe this will inspire them to do so.

I thought the demo was great.

I have it pre-ordered from Amazon, but yeah, no coupon or anything else from it. However, I have a $10 credit from Dead Rising 2 because the pre-order bonus (Avatar items, I think) haven't shown up yet, plus Fable III has a $20 credit. Unless Vanquish gets a pre-order deal in the next couple of weeks, I'll probably cancel the pre-order and use the the $30 credit towards it the following week. I still get to play it at launch, but at half the price.

I've preordered it. Twice. My brother's birthday just passed but I won't see him until after release, so I decided I'd get it for him. Then I went home and played the demo again. The next day I went back to the store and made a second preorder, for me.

I need to refine my use of boosting and bullet time. I have the nasty habit of laying on it until overheat, instead of giving it a quick jolt now and again.

Garden Ninja wrote:

I thought the demo was great.

I have it pre-ordered from Amazon, but yeah, no coupon or anything else from it. However, I have a $10 credit from Dead Rising 2 because the pre-order bonus (Avatar items, I think) haven't shown up yet, plus Fable III has a $20 credit. Unless Vanquish gets a pre-order deal in the next couple of weeks, I'll probably cancel the pre-order and use the the $30 credit towards it the following week. I still get to play it at launch, but at half the price.

Careful - I've been caught out with this before - you can only apply one promotional credit to a purchase with Amazon. So you'll use your $20 credit against one game, and the $10 credit against another.

Also, they have no way that you can see what promotional credits you have on your account (unless something's changed recently).

*Unrelated* I hit up Hideki Kamiya on twitter (Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, Viewtiful Joe. He's the other big designer at Platinum Games) and asked him what he's been playing lately. This was his reply:

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/sZMzs.jpg)

Does anyone know what game this is?

Jonman wrote:
Garden Ninja wrote:

I thought the demo was great.

I have it pre-ordered from Amazon, but yeah, no coupon or anything else from it. However, I have a $10 credit from Dead Rising 2 because the pre-order bonus (Avatar items, I think) haven't shown up yet, plus Fable III has a $20 credit. Unless Vanquish gets a pre-order deal in the next couple of weeks, I'll probably cancel the pre-order and use the the $30 credit towards it the following week. I still get to play it at launch, but at half the price.

Careful - I've been caught out with this before - you can only apply one promotional credit to a purchase with Amazon. So you'll use your $20 credit against one game, and the $10 credit against another.

Also, they have no way that you can see what promotional credits you have on your account (unless something's changed recently).

I used both a 10 and 20 dollar credit on Fable 2.