toblix

Heavy Rain

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unless you want to show off the prowess of the PS3 to your non-gamer friends who will be more than amazed to the completely different scope of the "game" compared to everything else they expect from a conventional game.

I expected it to be like that, something one could show people who think games are stupid, and they'd be all amazed at how it's like a film only you're in control. I found the game to be too weirdly focused on irrelevant actions, though. If someone who hadn't played a game before played Heavy Rain, wouldn't they just end up sitting on every chair in the game because the game told them to? Also, moving the characters around felt like driving the bus in GTA IV, which didn't help with the cinematic feel. You don't see Daniel Day-Lewis back up twice because he keeps missing the door to the bathroom.

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Finished it, clocked about 8h of playtime... Regarding the voice acting, I played it in French, no subtitles, it sounded just fine to me. I noticed that lip syncing was done to match the English voices, which was a letdown in a way but a very minor one. Story-wise, there are big gaping holes, but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the game. Finally, like I said in my post when I was midway through, it's certainly a rental... unless you want to show off the prowess of the PS3 to your non-gamer friends who will be more than amazed to the completely different scope of the "game" compared to everything else they expect from a conventional game.

Don't worry, the lip synching barely worked with the English voices.

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I'd decided that I would skip HR, so I began listening to spoiler casts on it. Now, I wish I had've waited. The twists outweigh what sounds like a tedious control scheme.

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I'd decided that I would skip HR, so I began listening to spoiler casts on it. Now, I wish I had've waited. The twists outweigh what sounds like a tedious control scheme.

I've heard a lot of people complain about the control scheme of Heavy Rain, but to be honest, I felt (after a short period of getting used to it) that it came naturally to me. If there was a scene where a character would have to kick a door down, I'd automatically slam down the controller, even if the prompt hadn't appeared yet.

And for all the faults that the story might have when looked upon in retrospect, I think you'd be hard pushed to find someone who wasn't pulled into the story when playing through it initially. Even if you believe that the twist doesn't make sense in the context of the game's overall story, when it happens, it's certainly "Oh shi-!"

Yay first post.

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The multiple button presses would bother me, I think. I hear at times you need to hit four buttons or so simultaneously. I didn't have too awful of a time with Indigo on PC, though. I might still give it a rent despite knowing the end.

I've been following a Twitter account for Jaaaason. Someone is continuing his story. It's actually pretty funny.

http://twitter.com/jaaaaaaaasson

So far, the best tweet was this:

"Forgot to mention that @ethanmars had the sex talk with me today. How the heck am I supposed to hit X, O, [], AND R2. Not having kids ever!"

Also, every song he blips is a cover of 99 Red Balloons.

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The multiple button presses would bother me, I think. I hear at times you need to hit four buttons or so simultaneously. I didn't have too awful of a time with Indigo on PC, though. I might still give it a rent despite knowing the end.

I've been following a Twitter account for Jaaaason. Someone is continuing his story. It's actually pretty funny.

http://twitter.com/jaaaaaaaasson

So far, the best tweet was this:

"Forgot to mention that @ethanmars had the sex talk with me today. How the heck am I supposed to hit X, O, [], AND R2. Not having kids ever!"

Also, every song he blips is a cover of 99 Red Balloons.

They're generally pretty easy to hit though, max of three on one hand (something like Circle, X and Square) so just cover it with your thumb, and then your opposite index finger for L2 etc.

And really, I think with Heavy Rain although you might know the twist, I wouldn't say you know the 'end', as your end hasn't been played yet. That's one thing I thought that was great about Heavy Rain - your end experience was unique to you.

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They're generally pretty easy to hit though, max of three on one hand (something like Circle, X and Square) so just cover it with your thumb, and then your opposite index finger for L2 etc.

And really, I think with Heavy Rain although you might know the twist, I wouldn't say you know the 'end', as your end hasn't been played yet. That's one thing I thought that was great about Heavy Rain - your end experience was unique to you.

Good point about the end. I've heard some of the epilogues described and they all sound pretty varied. I think I'll hit the video store and rent it this afternoon.

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Good point about the end. I've heard some of the epilogues described and they all sound pretty varied. I think I'll hit the video store and rent it this afternoon.

I highly recommend it man. It's a shame you already know the twists and stuff, but I'm still pretty sure you'll find some of the scenes pretty nerveracking!

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I don't get people complaining about the control scheme either, completely makes sense to have a way to just walk perfectly straight down a hallway, think how stupid it would look if you had to walk with the left analog, and because of it your character was constantly moving in slightly off center directions, it would ruin the immersion.

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But the controls broke immersion all the time. I can't count how many times I had to turn my guy around, in that weird, slow, arms-slightly-raised way they do it, just to miss a doorway, again and again. Also, when walking around, it would very often happen that an action button flashed briefly, as I passed just inside its trigger area. Turning around to get back to it was such a chore. I think the only way to keep immersion while letting the player control the character in this kind of game is to abstract the movement even more, so that you just indicate a general direction or area, and let the game handle the fine mechanics of it.

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But the controls broke immersion all the time. I can't count how many times I had to turn my guy around, in that weird, slow, arms-slightly-raised way they do it, just to miss a doorway, again and again. Also, when walking around, it would very often happen that an action button flashed briefly, as I passed just inside its trigger area. Turning around to get back to it was such a chore. I think the only way to keep immersion while letting the player control the character in this kind of game is to abstract the movement even more, so that you just indicate a general direction or area, and let the game handle the fine mechanics of it.

Yeah, and they seem to have a pretty large turning circle for a human being :P

I do get what you mean, but when it worked, it worked well. The only place I didn't really like not being able to control your speed was in the intro. When Jason went missing and you had to find him, I wanted to run so badly, but the character would do a sort of hop, skip and a jump which isn't really what I wanted to do.

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But the controls broke immersion all the time. I can't count how many times I had to turn my guy around, in that weird, slow, arms-slightly-raised way they do it, just to miss a doorway, again and again. Also, when walking around, it would very often happen that an action button flashed briefly, as I passed just inside its trigger area. Turning around to get back to it was such a chore. I think the only way to keep immersion while letting the player control the character in this kind of game is to abstract the movement even more, so that you just indicate a general direction or area, and let the game handle the fine mechanics of it.

I'm so tempted to give in and get this game but these kinds of descriptions of the controls really get me down. I know some of you guys are doing alright with them but I really think I'd have a similar experience to Toblix and just have the thing ruined.

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Eh, the controls are all right. I still think having movement bound to the left stick would be more comfortable and I've certainly encountered mild irritation a select few times, but it's not exactly a hindrance to enjoying the game. I'd compare it to Grim Fandango and even Tales of Monkey Island in this way: it's not perfect but the gameplay experience is worth the slight inconvenience.

Everything other than general movement is absolutely fine. They pretty much nailed the whole contextual gesture/button thing, even if it is something some people aren't very keen on.

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I couldn't save Jason no matter how many times I hit X. ;(

you're doing it wrong

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Try mashing the buttons faster.

What, I pressed X for ~230 times but still didn't save him.

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What, I pressed X for ~230 times but still didn't save him.

Crap, I was thinking by getting the 100 Jason achievement and getting the platinum medal, that I would have saved Jason, but this does not seem to be the case. Is Jason unsaveable?

You guys should watch this to learn how to save Jason:

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/heavy-rain-hawp/62938

Maybe I should stop trying to buy the suit then?

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... though he's pulled a Jake and not exactly finished it or anything:

That's so mean...

Also, I think I am sick of hearing the adverb "emotionally" now, especially in reference to video games.

Edited by syntheticgerbil

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