November Retro Community Playthrough - Oddworld Abe's Oddysee

[techwizard]

checkpoints and achievements added to the first post!

[techwizard]

so do we have any first impressions yet from those who already have a copy?

[shoes23]

I've only had about 20 minutes so far to sit down and play.  I have attempted this game several times since it was released and never gotten very far into it (I'm not even sure if I ever escaped Rupture Farms).  I'm not going to be going for the special ending I can tell you that, too much trial and error to make sure none of the Mudokons get killed.  The windows version lets me save at any time (I don't remember how saving is handled in the PSX version), so the extremely technical sections are made a little easier by not having to replay earlier sections. 

First impressions:

- The pre-rendered backgrounds actually look just as good or better than the FMV sequences, which frankly was amazing when it came out and still looks great today.

- I've always had a fondness for the 'cinematic platformer' (i.e. Prince of Persia, Flashback, Lester the Unlikely), and this game falls within the same style, but with a great sense of imagination and humor.

We had discussed earlier about Oddworld Inhabitants changing some of the graphics for the Japanese audience here are a few more articles explaining why:

From the Oddworld wiki:

A version of the game was also released in Japan. While the story line remained unaltered, the packaging of the game and the designs of the characters differed from the original version. One of the main changes of the character designs was the removal of a finger from four to three fingers; certain Japanese pressure groups were offended by the Mudokons having four fingers, due to a historic Japanese subclass of meat packers who were looked down upon in society. Four fingers, or showing four fingers to another person, came to insinuate the other was a member of the subclass, because it had become symbolic of the meat packers who frequently had work-related accidents.

And why they changed the image of the impaled Mudokon head:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_child_murders

[RetroRage]

I still haven't picked up a copy yet.  I have to wait until payday this Tuesday.   Everyone enjoying it?

[singlebanana]

I've started the game as well. Still trying to get the controls down. I'd like to get the good ending if I can. So far, the storyline is intriguing.

[techwizard]

@shoes, that's the same article i had read on it and somewhere in there it mentioned that all other regions' later revisions got the same version as the japanese original release. like it says there's not much changed beyond a bit of visuals, but it's interesting anyway. as for the pre-rendered backgrounds, i really enjoyed those too. an upcoming area (more or less the third level) has some really amazing looking backgrounds.

@singlebanana the controls are probably the only real negative point i had against the game. they're not terrible but they do tend to be sluggish, which got me killed in a good chunk of spots i felt were only difficult because of the controls. it's not so much the "mechanics" of them, the choice of moves and the execution is pretty good, i think it's just a bit of a delay between releasing or pressing a button and the animation for that action finishing which slows down reactions at times. though i did watch a couple videos of people doing sections much faster than i felt able to, i think once you get the timing down it gets much better.

let me know if anyone wants any tips, there are some nuances to the controls that feel like you should know early but the game doesn't explicitly teach you until a few levels in.

[shoes23]

I've started the game as well. Still trying to get the controls down.

@singlebanana the controls are probably the only real negative point i had against the game. they're not terrible but they do tend to be sluggish, which got me killed in a good chunk of spots i felt were only difficult because of the controls. it's not so much the "mechanics" of them, the choice of moves and the execution is pretty good, i think it's just a bit of a delay between releasing or pressing a button and the animation for that action finishing which slows down reactions at times. though i did watch a couple videos of people doing sections much faster than i felt able to, i think once you get the timing down it gets much better.

Yeah the controls are initially frustrating here too.  I found that when running I have to release the left/right arrow key and then push 'jump' otherwise Abe just continues running.  It is counter-intuitive, but after a little practice I'm getting used to it.

[techwizard]

you're playing on the PC version right? i wonder if the controls react differently, that sounds different than the PSX version. how does running work on PC? on PSX, you have to hold R1 while pressing the D-Pad direction, and you just let go of both to stop running. by the way for the PSX players, one thing i noticed is that the running jumps into the bird portals don't always work unless you let go of R1 immediately after jumping. it felt like a glitch so it's not spoiling any learning curve by telling that one once you realize that it makes getting into the portals much easier.

[shoes23]

Shift runs, arrow keys move, and space bar jumps.  It does have gamepad support though, so I may end trying to configure it that way with my Wireless 360 controller.  What I was saying before though was for running jumps I can't be holding right or left and then press spacebar to jump...Abe just keeps running.  It may be  a problem with registering multiple keystrokes simultaneously. 

[techwizard]

oh, that's definitely not right, you should be able to run and jump without letting go of anything. i only suggested letting go of R1 because sometimes you won't actually enter the portal while holding run, only if you let go of it first. but you should be able to run and jump simultaneously. does it have keybindings in the menu? maybe redo them (or reset to defaults) and see if that does anything to help. otherwise try the 360 controller, but if that doesn't work you might want to try finding a PSX copy...there are some parts that would be nearly impossible without a proper running jump.

[singlebanana]

My only beef with this game so far is the control introduction at the beginning of the game. Though the scrolling instructions do help with some basic gameplay controls, there is no mention of the mind-control, communicating with other Mudokons, or instructions re: how to use the portals. I was a bit disappointed that I had to go to the instruction book to figure out these controls and if I had not watched an intro video on YouTube, I would not even have known that rescuing them was an option. I understand that reading the instructions before playing the game is essential, but if a game has a teaching tool in it, then it needs to see the gameplay instructions through completely. Hopefully, anyone who has the game has the instructions for the controls, but if you don't let me know and I will post them on here for the PSX.

[engel762]

You all just made me realize I don't have this game.  I rented it a few times back in the day, but never bought a copy.   Time to fix that! lol

[techwizard]

My only beef with this game so far is the control introduction at the beginning of the game. Though the scrolling instructions do help with some basic gameplay controls, there is no mention of the mind-control, communicating with other Mudokons, or instructions re: how to use the portals. I was a bit disappointed that I had to go to the instruction book to figure out these controls and if I had not watched an intro video on YouTube, I would not even have known that rescuing them was an option. I understand that reading the instructions before playing the game is essential, but if a game has a teaching tool in it, then it needs to see the gameplay instructions through completely. Hopefully, anyone who has the game has the instructions for the controls, but if you don't let me know and I will post them on here for the PSX.

ya the in-game tutorials are a bit lacking, like i said some things that feel essential aren't taught until later (it does teach you about chanting and talking to mudokons, but not until way beyond when you could have started using it). it also has all the communication controls right above the begin button on the main menu, Gamespeak.

[techwizard]

any luck with the controls shoes23?

@banana, what you described is more or less why i restarted my file after an hour when i first played it. i felt like that was my tutorial and i wanted a fresh start after knowing how to play properly.

to everyone currently playing, how's the progress looking on week 1's checkpoint? week 2 will be revealed this friday morning

[Crabmaster2000]

Abe popped up in the store so I might give this a go before selling it. Sounds interesting and I've never played any games in the series.