|
 Concept Art by: Alessandro Taini ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is an action-adventure game developed by Ninja Theory and published by good ol' Namco Bandai. It was released on the 360 and PS3 in October of 2010 (then had a "premium" version released for PS3 again and Steam in 2013, which had all the DLC included). This is the 360 version but the only DLC we're missing out on are costumes. The game's story was written by Alex Garland and was very loosely inspired by the famous novel "Journey to the West", sharing character names, general themes, and cardinal directions. However it's set 150 years in future America, not in China, after some kind of global war that is left mostly vague and unexplained. This lets the game have some pretty nice looking environments that are overrun with foliage when the textures aren't trying desperately to load in. Gameplay is simple but satisfying, only breaks occasionally, and the voice acting is fantastic. Also Andy Serkis is in it twice. Joining me on this adventure is my cool friend Lynxwinters. This LP will have cut and uncut videos available. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Official Site Concept Art posted on Video Games Artwork -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Episode 1: Slave Ship Nine Zero Nine Uncut | Cut Episode 2: Orbs Uncut | Cut Episode 3: Dragonflies Uncut | Cut Episode 4: Hallucinations Uncut | Cut Episode 5: Who's a Good Boy? Uncut | Cut Episode 6: Cloud Uncut | Cut Episode 7: Bridges Uncut | Cut Episode 8: Ghost Touch Uncut | Cut Episode 9: Windmill Uncut | Cut Episode 10: Pigsyland Uncut | Cut Episode 11: Pig Uncut | Cut Episode 12: An Ice Cream Uncut | Cut Episode 13: We all Stole a Yellow Submarine Uncut | Cut Episode 14: Let's Steal a Robot Uncut | Cut Episode 14: Pyramid Uncut Cut Fenns fucked around with this message at 21:31 on Nov 23, 2017 |
#
?
May 22, 2017 23:55
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 20, 2024 03:21 |
|
|
Hi, I'm the other guy talking over this game, and I'd like to thank everyone for joining us on this look into Very Advanced Pacman.
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2017 05:58
|
|
|
Huh, why did I never hear about this? I appreciate the imagery of the prison cell that the monkey king starts in at the beginning, considering that in the journey to the west, the monkey king is born from a stone egg!
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2017 06:21
|
|
|
Nice first episode, looking forward to this, never had a chance to play it besides the demo and I remember keeping it selected on the PS3 XMB because the music was pretty nice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwBRZmxsHMY Also Andy Serkis is great in everything.
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2017 07:04
|
|
|
Huh, this is pretty legit. They actually did a real nice job re-contextualizing the purpose of the journey in a way that makes sense for these characters.
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2017 19:10
|
|
|
I actually haven't read Journey to the West yet, so if anyone wants to post comparisons between the original story and this retelling please feel free. Of course if you think it might spoil something use the appropriate tags and whatnot.
|
|
#
?
May 26, 2017 04:11
|
|
|
Funny enough, this short action-packed intro kind of combines Sun Wukong's two distinct introductions to the story in Journey to the West: when he is born, and when he meets the hero! These events happen at very different points in the original story. But here's how my copy begins, right from page one: quote:There was a rock that since the creation of the world had been worked upon by the pure essences of Heaven and the fine savours of Earth, the vigour of sunshine and the grace of moonlight, till at last it became magically pregnant and one day split open, giving birth to a stone egg, about as big as a playing ball. Fructified by the wind it developed into a stone monkey, complete with every organ and limb. At once this monkey learned to climb and run; but it's first act was to make a bow towards each of the four quarters. It can't have been a mistake that the prison cell was egg shaped. And it can't have been a mistake that he begins the story in a prison cell! In Journey to the West, Sun Wukong and Tripitaka (the person actually making the journey west) don't meet until almost halfway through the story. Tripitaka finds him trapped in a magically enchanted prison where he has been jailed for 500 years (why he's there I will not reveal the details of in case the monkey king of this game also has a complicated past, but it should be said that this is all very googleable and part of general summaries), and he promises to aid the priest on his journey if he will free him. The priest lifts the spell that kept him trapped, and just like in the game he pretty much immediately regains his staff first thing. But it's not long after they started traveling together before Sun Wukong starts being a jerk, disobeying his savior, and leaves! Tripitaka is fine with not having him around, but an old woman (secretly a bodhisattva in disguise) basically says that won't do it all, and he will need him to complete his journey, and to that end gives him a spell to recite, and some items. "Make him wear this cap and coat. If he disobeys you, say the spell, and he'll give you no more trouble and never dare to leave you." Here comes the fun part about the slave headband. So they run into each other again, and eventually he tricks Sun Wukong into trying on the cap and coat by claiming "Anyone who wears this cap can recite scriptures without having to learn them. Anyone who wears this coat can perform ceremonies without having practiced them." And as soon as he does... quote:Monkey put on the coat and cap, and Tripitaka, pretending to be eating the dried provisions, silently mumbled the spell. 'My head is hurting!' screamed Monkey. Tripitaka went on reciting, and monkey rolled over on the ground, frantically trying to break the metal fillet of the cap. Fearing that he would succeed, Tripitaka stopped for a moment. Instantly the pain stopped. Monkey felt his head. The cap seemed to have taken root upon it. [...] Tripitaka began to recite again. Monkey was soon writhing and turning somersaults. He grew purple in the face and his eyes bulged out of his head. Tripitaka, unable to bear the sight of such agony, stopped reciting, and at once Monkey's head stopped hurting. And much like in the original story, this guy seems like kind of an rear end. Perfect! FAT BATMAN fucked around with this message at 05:58 on May 26, 2017 |
|
#
?
May 26, 2017 05:47
|
|
|
Actually, the monk is named Xuanzang with his Japanese name being Genjo Sanzō. Tripitaka is the traditional term for the Buddhist scriptures themselves and is only used in some English translations of Journey to the West.
|
|
#
?
May 26, 2017 08:00
|
|
|
Huh, wasn't expecting this game to be the next LP. I remember it being good. Not stand-out amazing like Arkham Asylum or MGR or absolutely terrible either. Never really knew what to think of when people say the platforming is simple, since I can't really think of any complicated platforming in games, but then again I never played any of the Prince of Persia games so that might have something to do with it. Anyway, you don't have any thread links in the video's discription.
|
|
#
?
May 26, 2017 16:49
|
|
|
This game is hauntingly beautiful and I love it dearly, although it kind of falls apart around the midpoint after you leave New York, but it pulls it back together for the finale. The soundtrack is fantastic too. I'm glad to see this game is getting more LP exposure.
|
|
#
?
May 26, 2017 21:41
|
|
|
FAT BATMAN posted:A whole lot of really neat stuff that would make this post way too big if I quoted all of it! So Alex Garland seemed to do a fairly excellent job of reimagining the classic story for this game. I'm considering doing a bonus video at the end that goes over a lot of these parallels; sounds like a super fun project actually! (Plus there's an "Everything Wrong With" video about this game that's just suuuper bad and I kind of want to tear it to pieces). RareAcumen posted:Never really knew what to think of when people say the platforming is simple, since I can't really think of any complicated platforming in games, but then again I never played any of the Prince of Persia games so that might have something to do with it. Yeah this game doesn't really stray away from "press A to move to spot" style of platforming. Aside from the game being a bit picky about where you need to press A, all the jumping and climbing works well despite some occasional choppiness. And yeah, I've been meaning to fix that! nine-gear crow posted:This game is hauntingly beautiful and I love it dearly, although it kind of falls apart around the midpoint after you leave New York, but it pulls it back together for the finale. The mid-levels of the game have definitely grown on me as character development spots after a couple of playthroughs. But the Pigsy Land section still feels the weakest to me. The music for this game really never stood out to me while playing aside from the music that plays at the beginning of Chapter 5 and only at the beginning of Chapter 5. It's super different from the rest of the OST and kind of makes me think of music from the original NieR.
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2017 03:40
|
|
|
Fun fact, this isn't Andy Serkis's first time playing Monkey. While the game came out in 2010 and his first stint as Caesar in the Planet of the Apes movies wasn't until a year later, he played Kong in Peter Jackson's 2005 movie.
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2017 03:44
|
|
|
Here's an update for you to enjoy on this Memorial Day weekend! Episode 2: Orbs Uncut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCjhvj9ht-g Cut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkaf55K7rU8
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2017 02:07
|
|
|
"I can quit these orbs whenever I want! I just... don't feel like it, right now." - Monkey, probably.
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2017 02:32
|
|
|
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2017 03:07
|
|
|
I like how the game designed around escorting Trip since escort missions are notoriously easy to gently caress up like Resident Evil 4.
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2017 18:50
|
|
|
Chimera-gui posted:I like how the game designed around escorting Trip since escort missions are notoriously easy to gently caress up like Resident Evil 4. Yeah it's super nice that you basically never have to worry about her during combat sections. There is a chapter later on where we totally have Trip hide in a dumpster RE4-style for a while.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2017 00:57
|
|
|
But does she get a DLC suit of armor?
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2017 05:27
|
|
|
White Coke posted:But does she get a DLC suit of armor? From what fenns told me, kind of the opposite.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2017 05:43
|
|
|
Woah it's monday that means it's time for an update! Episode 3: Dragonflies Uncut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmrQyRnShhg Cut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VIHL4udMB4&t=18s
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2017 00:23
|
|
|
The dragonfly reminds me a little of Xuanzang's horse from the original story. He's actually a dragon prince but he never gets to talk, ever.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2017 00:58
|
|
|
I've played this game on the PC and whilst the controls were a bit janky it was a lot of fun and I did spot a lot of parallels between the story and the JotW that I knew from childhood (for obvious reasons). I never did start the Pigsy dlc though. Are you planning on doing that afterwards? Also it's been a while since I played, so I don't remember if there's a Sandy/Sha Wujing equivalent.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2017 01:05
|
|
|
This game is legitimately one of the prettiest games I have ever played. I'm still blown away by the facial animations, especially Trip's. The way tiny microexpressions flit across her face during certain scenes is just so well done.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2017 02:14
|
|
|
Ibblebibble posted:I've played this game on the PC and whilst the controls were a bit janky it was a lot of fun and I did spot a lot of parallels between the story and the JotW that I knew from childhood (for obvious reasons). I never did start the Pigsy dlc though. Are you planning on doing that afterwards? I am planning on doing the DLC, though I'm not a huge fan of it. It plays completely differently from the main game, which is pretty neat. Polaron posted:This game is legitimately one of the prettiest games I have ever played. I'm still blown away by the facial animations, especially Trip's. The way tiny microexpressions flit across her face during certain scenes is just so well done. Yeah this game is honestly gorgeous and does a fantastic job of using color. The motion capture is fantastic thanks to Serkis assisting the team. I wish that the game didn't get super choppy a lot of the time, but I don't know if the steam version fixed this issue.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2017 04:52
|
|
|
I like how immediately after Monkey snaps the neck of a turret to gain control over it, Lynx starts explaining the concept of gasoline going bad while bipedal robots are being shot to death thanks to said turret that contains infinite ammo.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2017 14:33
|
|
|
RareAcumen posted:I like how immediately after Monkey snaps the neck of a turret to gain control over it, Lynx starts explaining the concept of gasoline going bad while bipedal robots are being shot to death thanks to said turret that contains infinite ammo. Look, ok, we all have Neil Tyson moments. They are not proud moments. Thank you for putting up with me while I try to learn and grow from this.
|
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2017 04:29
|
|
|
Here's an update just in time for E3 (the 'E' stands for 'Enslaved' and the '3' stands for 'chapter 3 of enslaved'). Uncut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5crJrD9SLA Cut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhq3X8cYPWU
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2017 19:16
|
|
|
I just realized that Monkey isn't snapping the necks of those turrets. He's breaking their spirit. Fenns, did you say that reinforcements don't drop orbs earlier?
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2017 00:22
|
|
|
RareAcumen posted:I just realized that Monkey isn't snapping the necks of those turrets. Can confirm that reinforcements drop orbs.
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2017 03:53
|
|
|
RareAcumen posted:Fenns, did you say that reinforcements don't drop orbs earlier? I don't remember if it was specifically mentioned, but I think reinforcements do drop orbs when you smash them.
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2017 03:56
|
|
|
bxfenns posted:I don't remember if it was specifically mentioned, but I think reinforcements do drop orbs when you smash them. SirSamVimes posted:Can confirm that reinforcements drop orbs. I had to ask because we're certainly not making any efforts to spare any robots so I thought it'd be more helpful to allow reinforcements to show up so you can then harvest those sweet, sweet orbs.
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2017 04:54
|
|
|
That guy in the flashbacks looks a lot like Andy Serkis....
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2017 11:09
|
|
|
RareAcumen posted:I had to ask because we're certainly not making any efforts to spare any robots so I thought it'd be more helpful to allow reinforcements to show up so you can then harvest those sweet, sweet orbs. Yeah that's a good way to get orbs. You can also replay chapters with lots of enemies in them to farm orbs if you need too. I've avoiding reinforcement calls since we're getting plenty of orbs with one playthrough.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2017 01:47
|
|
|
bxfenns posted:Yeah that's a good way to get orbs. You can also replay chapters with lots of enemies in them to farm orbs if you need too. Oh snap, I didn't know this game had a chapter replay system. That's neat!
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2017 01:49
|
|
|
Oops I'm a couple days late with the next episodes! Got distracted by a bunch of real life stuff and also Tekken 7. Anyway here's a fashionably late update: Episode 5: Who's a Good Boy? Uncut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag-C8Y3VzEg Cut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUTU_N7ZO_I
|
|
#
?
Jun 23, 2017 00:52
|
|
|
It's Monday, time for an update! Episode 6: Cloud Uncut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFjnJY0X_Qo Cut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlBcPpxxwFE And since we gabbed over all the nice music in this level here's a link to the track that plays during the cloud section. Fenns fucked around with this message at 03:00 on Jun 27, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2017 01:28
|
|
|
Nice ride. Her eyes practically popped out of her head at it, hahaha.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2017 01:18
|
|
|
I can't think of any good bridge puns so I'll just post the update. Uncut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYdGxudwedw Cut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB8Qxlsykdk
|
|
#
?
Jul 3, 2017 22:27
|
|
|
You know, it would be nice to find the fabled home village that didn't end up ravaged and everyone killed in. You get there, there's no fetchquests, the only thing they want you to do is wash your hands for dinner, maybe offer a hand in moving something heavy.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2017 05:00
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 20, 2024 03:21 |
|
|
Just a heads up that the update for next week might be a bit late as I'm making my own journey to the west, but I'll see if I can get it up by like tuesday, wednesday at the latest?
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2017 14:31
|
|