[chocolade]

First of all :

Is the game a classic adventure ? i mean is it point and click adventure or there will be also some fighting or platform elements in the game ?
Im asking that cuz ubi soft made prince of persia so i wonder.


The game is out in 5 days. at the 25 of april this month.
So where should i make the pre order from ? i mean what online store site is the fastest ill get it ?
The original site of the game or Ebgames ?

Thnx a lot.

[Legolas813]

It's classic point and click. No fighting or platforming, as far as I know.

As for preorder, ebgames or gamestop would probably be your best bet.

[wicked]

It's a classic adventure, Syberia style (actually, it's made by Benit Sokal, the creator or Syberia 1,2). Just point 'n click, no fighting. (that's what i heard/saw).

[jjacob]

Originally Posted by Legolas813

It's classic point and click. No fighting or platforming, as far as I know.

As for preorder, ebgames or gamestop would probably be your best bet.

Small correction: Sokal stated that the bits where you control the leopard are realtime 3D direct control, so there might be a bit of 'platforming' involved (although obviously nothing like actual platform games).

[fov]

Lookie! There's a fabulous hands-on preview right here that tells you everything you could possibly need to know about Paradise!

[such great heights]

Is it really coming out this month? I've been excited for it but had no idea...

[Ninth]

I was going to buy it a few hours ago, until I realised that i had forgotten my credit card.

me

I think I'll go buy it tomorrow, or this week-end, and I doubt that I could not try it as soon as I have it, so I'll keep you updated.

[Tomh]

Anyone know where Paradise can be preordered from in the UK? It's meant to be coming out tomorrow but I can't find anywhere that is selling it.

[nl4m]

Does anyone know if they will port the game to a console ? Like Xbox ? or Xbox 360 ?

[Legolas813]

I wish. But I would say probably no.

[Kurufinwe]

I've been playing it for a few hours. For the moment, the least you could say is that I'm not really enthralled. Still, Syberia took some time to pick up (at least, for me it did), so I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.

Speaking of Syberia, that one took three successive patches to be really playable. But I'm afraid Paradise will do just the same. For the moment, it's buggy. Walking-through-characters kind of buggy. Oh, and like in Syberia, they hired a great composer, but couldn't squeeze more than four pieces of music out of him in the two and something years it took to develop the game; so that's one for each world, constantly looping. Sure, it's great. Even better than in Syberia, actually. But I'm getting so fed up with it I'm starting to play without sound.

Oh, and the interface sucks. Hard. Real hard. I didn't think you could screw up so badly with a simple point and click thing. It's painful. Really. Ouch. Basically, they've got that ugly round pointer, which changes to tweezers for 'take', a magnifying glass for 'look', etc. But it's animated. So it takes two seconds to do that. By which time you're already at the other end of the screen. So, exploring a screen means doing some sort of constant pixel-hunting. In slo-mo. I can't begin to describe how paintful it is. Everytime I've been kind of stuck (for the moment) was because I had missed a hotspot because of that awful interface. Yeah, ouch again.

Still, the game's incredibly beautiful, what there is of the story for the moment looks interesting (and I'm sure I'm going to love it once things start moving; and it seems like there'll be lots of fun animals), and the puzzles could have been sorta fun if the interface had worked better. So it's not all negative. But the looping music and the infuriating interface certainly don't help.

OK, back to work. I'm supposed to review this game, not discuss it in forums, you know.

P.S.: If you're in France, get the collector edition. The sketch-book that comes with it looks great.

[Ninth]

Originally Posted by Kurufinwe

<not so great pre-review of Paradise>

Ouch! Er, maybe I'll wait a bit before I'll get it, after all...

[Kurufinwe]

Nah, get it anyway.

The beginning (the first half of the first world) is horrible. That's where you notice all the problems, and the story doesn't move forward, and there's a fair bit of pixel-hunting (made worse by the interface) and bad puzzles that only start making sense once you've solved them.

But then you get used to it, and you get your first sequence with the leopard, and the story really starts, and you get to meet more characters, visit new places, the puzzles start making sense, etc. So now I'm enjoying it. We'll see if it stays like that or not.

And I'll shut up now, or nobody will be interested in reading my review.

EDIT: Oh, and before anyone asks:

Spoiler:

The French version (published by MicroApp, like many European versions) uses Starforce.

[Jackal]

No kidding. I was just about to slap a gag order on you.

But yeah, first impressions can be a dangerous thing. I also found it got off to a pretty uninspired start, only to pick up as I went along.

I'm bummed to hear the bugs weren't all worked out, though.

[Ninth]

Originally Posted by Kurufinwe

EDIT: Oh, and before anyone asks:

Spoiler:

The French version (published by MicroApp, like many European versions) uses Starforce.

AAAAAARRRRRRGGGG!!!!!

[Wouter]

I bought Paradise yesterday (in Belgium). It is Syberia in Africa... that is sure. It's too early to talk about how i feel about the game but there is one thing i've got to get off my chest: why on earth did they decide to keep playing the music, looping into infinity? Syberia didn't do that. Syberia had sound effects and the music was only there when something important happened.

Here the music loops... after half an hour, i was so fed up with it that i turned down the music volume, which also means that i will miss the music when and if it ever changes.

Honestly, how such a thing isn't noticed by the testing team... i don't get this...

However, that doesn't mean i don't/won't like the game. I just find it so frustrating that adventure game creators still get trapped in such obvious mistakes.

On another note, the graphics, from what i have seen so far, are simply superb. At least, the background graphics are. The characters are, again, underdevelopped though.

[Kurufinwe]

Originally Posted by Wouter

why on earth did they decide to keep playing the music, looping into infinity? Syberia didn't do that. Syberia had sound effects and the music was only there when something important happened.

Actually, Syberia did exactly the same. But the music wasn't as powerful, so it was less noticeable. Well, the good news is that the annoying looping music is only in the first world; in the following ones, it still keeps looping, but the music is more 'ambient', so it's no more noticeable/annoying than in Syberia.

Honestly, how such a thing isn't noticed by the testing team... i don't get this...

From what I've seen so far (I'm halfway through world 3 --- I think), the only QA team this game ever saw is the poor sods like us who bought it early. Beware of the shaman in the baobab village, he 'swallows' your items and you have no chance of seeing them again. But, once again, it was the same with Syberia, before the patches were released, so I'm not worried about the long run --- but severely annoyed for my first playthrough.

[Wouter]

Originally Posted by Kurufinwe

Actually, Syberia did exactly the same. But the music wasn't as powerful, so it was less noticeable. Well, the good news is that the annoying looping music is only in the first world; in the following ones, it still keeps looping, but the music is more 'ambient', so it's no more noticeable/annoying than in Syberia.

Hmm... i could have sworn that Syberia didn't have music on all the time. I must check it out. In any case, i didn't bother me a second there. Here it really is annoying.

I don't understand why gametesters don't see this kind of bugs yuo mention (for example, i was talking to the girl in the harem when she just walked out of the screen). I mean, they spent so much time creating gorgeous backdrops. It only confirms the thought i always had about Paradise. It strikes me as very odd that there weren't any screenshots with characters until the very end. I think the game was rushed in the end and that gameplay and characters stuff was only implemented at the very end.

However, that said: when i entered the garden of the palace i already found it my money worth spend. The atmosphere in there was so fantastic and this is, after all, for me what is all about. The fantasty, the beauty, the atmosphere and the thing of actually wanting to be there.

[kuze]

Originally Posted by Wouter

Hmm... i could have sworn that Syberia didn't have music on all the time.

In Syberia 2 there was only background music after a finished puzzle.

Originally Posted by Wouter

However, that said: when i entered the garden of the palace i already found it my money worth spend. The atmosphere in there was so fantastic and this is, after all, for me what is all about. The fantasty, the beauty, the atmosphere and the thing of actually wanting to be there.

You just convinced me to go out and buy the game. Thank you very much.