Huge review: Combat system improvmentand movement

[Kuja]

Combat system

As for me, it lacks some complexity and variability.

1. Auto-aim

Possibly, adding some action auto-aim, to make it easyer to fight in close combat, because shooting from pistol on the run or while jumping to side is quite useless. Maybe adding some skills to which imporve this paramenter i.e. shooting while dodging.

2. Directional attacks

It would be nice to see directional attacks like left + melee = strike to the left, right + melee = strike to the right, etc.

3. Stance

Also adding some difference between melee in stand and crouch mode, possibly adding some crouch+melee attack, like swipe, to knockdown the enemy.

4. Grabs\throws\executions

Also, it would be nice to have grab attacks or executions, so you could toss your enemy into other enemies, or use as shields.

5. 2 types of melee

Maybe, close combat should have 2 buttons like (sword and kick, for example), to add some combos, which could be leveled, and sold in the shop.

Movement

I really like the movement system, at least because it has a lot of dynamics, and no cover\roll mechanics.

Realy like that you can run, than slide, and do a huge forward jump after. Its like uber.

Or, you can run, jump, pre-slide in air, when land - slide a bit, and then do the forward jump from slide.

Im not sure if this is a bug or feature, but it is super - giving a lot of variability to movement allows everyone to choose their own playstyle.

Well, its obvious that most will play uber-naruto-ninja styl (KIYAHH!!) jumping around, but thats not a bad thing, if you are some creepy super soldier (guyvers, guyvers everywhere!).

However:

It would be nice to have some charge jump (like holding space, while crouched, to charge), because sometimes you want to overcrawl some baricades, and just cant reach them with basic jump, to hitch up the ledge.

Overall dynamics of movement is to dodgy - i.e. you move slow, and then you like OMG CHARGE JUMP KIYAAH, and sometimes it feels like camera is too slow to folow character, or it feels like character is out of frame. Perhaps, some zoom out while not aiming would be good.

Inventory, shop, equipment

I didnt go into details so far, so talking only about obvious things i found so far.

Opening parts of skill tree for money only - bad.

Leveing up your gear - good, and should be developed that way, to truly customise your very own sword or pistol.

Free 2 play, as far as i see it is "play it, gring it, like it, pay it" - i.e. you should pay for something, that doesnt make you better than others, it just should give you some deeper feel of game - some characters, unique items, more custumisation, so player could FEEL the game better, feel it the way player like it. So far, i would like to drop in some cash, but to be honest game is still in development, and i dont realy know, which way it will develop in donate ways.

Other

1. Sword placement

It could be on belt, like samurais have it, so much relation to japanese culture (sitting stance in main menu, the ethnic music, etc), but such a weird placement of sword - doesnt seem right for me. (anyway, doesn affect anything, its just wierd to me)

Edited January 9, 2013 by Kuja

[Ced23Ric]

Combat:

1. This isn't a console game. Nothankyou. Either you can aim and anticipate or not. :D

2. Yes. x10

3. Sprint, Crouch into Slide, Melee their kneecaps. Try it.

4. Yupp, like that one, too.

5. More flavour to the melee, yes, but having those options SOLD blows. Variants in style, maybe. ;)

[Penrose]

What he said. ^

[VelenoHargreaves]

I really like your suggestions, read them all and thought a little...

1. The auto-aim= Not a good ideia... In my thoughts the game was made to test you, abillities, improvement or even improvising. Yeah I know the slide and shoot is hard to hit, and the jump shoot is even more, but well let's train and start hitting things as Crazy &#! Ninjas xD (Just my thought, but I really don't think the auto-aim would help much '-')

2. Directional attacks = REALLY AWESOME! I loved that one, even why the sword attacks are a little locked between three swipes, slide attack and jump attack, adding some moviments on melee would really increase it's value on the game.

3. The stances would be good IF the sword were put as a selectable weapon, like Pistol, Rifle or Shotgun, then you could keep the sword on hands and play full melee style. If that don't happen, well I don't see the need for a sword stance. And the knockdown is a good idea indeed.

4.Grab and Throw would be really nice, giving the players another edge to improvisation or even improve their own abillties on the game, execution... Only if costs energy or something like that, just to keep fair and players don't over use it (my thoughts again)

5. Two types of melee? I don't really understand that... If you mean more animations then I agree, other wise make it clear about kick. And yeah, again, more combos would be a really good thing in the game.

Now, about the movement, I don't think the charge jump would work, if you play with excalibur he already has the super-jump abillity... And another example is Loki who has the Switch Teleport, or even Ash with the teleport abillity... The movement in the game is just fine, I don't think it need to change one bit...

Now the Shop and Pay for PRO mode with weapon/warframe: I think they use this to put money on the game somehow, because it still on beta e they need a way to gather founds on it besides the donations of the founders. But they could put some in game price for it like really expensive (Because let's be fair, I play the game for one week and I already have almost half million credits '-') and if they put a trade system will be awesome!

Those are my thoughts, any think against or on my side, let me know ;D

[Mezecs]

5. Two types of melee? I don't really understand that... If you mean more animations then I agree, other wise make it clear about kick. And yeah, again, more combos would be a really good thing in the game.

Basically light/heavy attacks, like in Ninja Gaiden. Different sequences would initiate different special attacks.

[Kuja]

Basically light/heavy attacks, like in Ninja Gaiden. Different sequences would initiate different special attacks.

This.

[11.11.11]

1. The auto-aim= Not a good ideia... In my thoughts the game was made to test you, abillities, improvement or even improvising. Yeah I know the slide and shoot is hard to hit, and the jump shoot is even more, but well let's train and start hitting things as Crazy &#! Ninjas xD (Just my thought, but I really don't think the auto-aim would help much '-') [

Yeah no auto-aim please. Or if the dev's feel they have to have it for some odd reason - lets please see a checkbox in the gameplay options menu to disable it.

[Sikab]

I just say, No... You already have the precision aiming ability called Mouse.

Edited January 10, 2013 by Sikab

[jestersheepy]

Definately no autoaim.

More types and ways to attack would be nice.

Behind enemy + Jump + Attack = Assassinate

Behind enemy + Crouch + Attack = Stealth kill

Enemy low health + A different attack button = Final Blow animation (Extra satisfaction)

Would also be cool to throw your melee weapon to pick it up later (massive damage but take melee away from you until you pick it back up).

[Raejin99]

While I don't agree on the auto-aim front, I do agree melee needs to be greatly expanded upon. I love melee as it is now, but it could be so much better.

My primary issue with the current melee system is that, despite playing a super agile space ninja, melee mostly comes down to hacking around like a madman or running up to use a charge attack. It is fun, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't feel skillful, especially in later levels when enemies get more resilient and thus melee becomes less effective.

Now, I don't mind the challenge the current system brings, but I think if you're going to have a game about super agile space ninjas, your space ninjas should actually be super agile. A grappling system would be great, where you can grab enemies and use them as cover or kill them or even throw them at other enemies, as it would make you actually feel like a skilled melee combatant. Adding in a simple dash maneuver (quickly double-tapping w?) that all characters can use would also be great, as it would let you close the gap on a fleeing enemy and thus get that kill in. Also, adding more incentive to jump in combat, such as being able to vault over enemies and obstacles a bit easier, would add to the feeling of being an extremely skilled, athletic space ninja.

However, one of the biggest things that I feel could be added are a combo system, as a couple of you have already mentioned. I think this could be implemented with great success, even if it would change the dynamic quite a bit. My idea for a combo system would start with giving all weapons 3 base attack levels: light (standard attack as of now), medium (hold the attack button but release before fully charged), and heavy (charge attack as of now. Combos would be mostly unique to each weapon (ie, there may be the same combination of attacks but the effects might be different), and you can unlock new ones in the skill tree, kind of like unlocking abilities for a warframe. Combos would add strategy to the melee system, giving you more options than just "normal or charge attacks", and could also serve to further individualize each weapon.

[[DE]Steve]

Definitely in the works! Thanks for the post!

[ACRONYNJA]

Combos would be interesting to do on a mouse... I'm running out of buttons as it is! Maybe when the sword is out, the aim button changes to another attack?

[SnowTV]

Definately no autoaim.

More types and ways to attack would be nice.

Behind enemy + Jump + Attack = Assassinate

Behind enemy + Crouch + Attack = Stealth kill

Enemy low health + A different attack button = Final Blow animation (Extra satisfaction)

Would also be cool to throw your melee weapon to pick it up later (massive damage but take melee away from you until you pick it back up).

Oh yea, stealth kill, making those spy missions more fun!

[ACRONYNJA]

Movement

I really like the movement system, at least because it has a lot of dynamics, and no cover\roll mechanics.

Realy like that you can run, than slide, and do a huge forward jump after. Its like uber.

Or, you can run, jump, pre-slide in air, when land - slide a bit, and then do the forward jump from slide.

Im not sure if this is a bug or feature, but it is super - giving a lot of variability to movement allows everyone to choose their own playstyle.

Well, its obvious that most will play uber-naruto-ninja styl (KIYAHH!!) jumping around, but thats not a bad thing, if you are some creepy super soldier (guyvers, guyvers everywhere!).

Movement has been updated, you can now indeed jump and slide in mid-air. What I would like to see added is the ability to run > slide > jump flip > then slide again. And the tech roll (side dodge) really needs to be implemented asap. Can't be a ninja without that, much less a space ninja :)