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Mirror's Edge - Still Alive - 12 Years Tribute

I really like the first game. The second one was over bloated typical open world time wasting. Oh, and somehow the first game looks better than the sequel. Wtf Dice?
 

01011001

Banned
I love this series so much. Both games have their flaws but they are some of my favorite games regardless.

Catalyst didn't deserve the hate that it got. The skill tree and the open world were not nearly as bad as people made them out to be. Yeah, it was dumb to have to unlock basic skills via the skill tree but you had everything that you needed in less than an hour. The open world didn't add much to the game from a design standpoint but if you just played through the story, I honestly think that it was stronger than the original game overall. Fewer highs but way more consistent in quality. And despite the open world not really benefiting the campaign, it was an absolute blast creating your own time trials and competing on the leaderboards after you finished the story. Just running through that world was a zen-like experience, similar to the feeling you get when swinging around in Spider-Man. Obviously the art direction and the music in both games were incredible. Maybe we'll get another reboot sometime this decade but I won't hold my breath.

i fully agree with basically everything you said.

the only real issue was the skill tree for me. a progression based unlock system would have been better.

the issue was not that you didn't have everything from the start, the issue is that a skill tree system based on XP means that every story mission HAS TO work with the basic moves that the game gives you regardless of your own unlocks.

so all the unlockable skilltree moves were impossible to integrate into the Leveldesign in interesting ways.

that's why you don't see any obstacles that necessitate something like a 180° quick turn or a skill roll.

the reason the developers gave for having a skill tree was that they didn't want to overwhelm players by giving them all the abilities instantly...
well a story progression based system would solve the same problem AND it would allow the Leveldesign to incorporate all the abilities that the developers KNOW you have by at that specific point and time of the game.

it is kinda weird that gamedesigners often make mistakes like this, and IMO it is a mistake and not just a subjective design choice that isn't worse or better than the other.
a progression based system is objectively better for a game like Mirror's Edge for the single reason I already mentioned alone.


but in the end, Catalyst has issues, ME1 has issues and I love both almost the same.
I honestly like Catalyst a tiny bit more because after you unlocked everything the movement is just amazing (which is why it sucks that the Leveldesign in story missions doesn't take advantage of them) and it feels way more fluid and dynamic than ME1.

ME1 on the other hand has the pro of being more focused with less filler, but there are also a bunch of really boring AF levels, while Catalyst's story missions are more consistently good IMO
 

SnapShot

Member
I just can't hate Catalyst, love it nearly as much as the first game (this is an easter egg in the game btw)

7_s2_n0.png
 
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R6Rider

Gold Member
Mirror's Edge will always be one of my favorites. There's something about it that no other game will ever be able to match. I played Catalyst 2 years after release and it was great as well. The open world was fine and it still had linear set mission locations. It deserved better really.
 
Great game. It truely shines once you understand how to chain your moves. Absolutely, gorgeous aesthetics which even trumps many modern games art direction to this day. The soundtrack is also excellent and very atmospheric/engrossing.

I miss the old DICE. They're probably a shell of their former selves today.

Patrick Söderlund gets a middle finger for rejecting the original Mirror's edge 2 prototype.

Not enough for a triple A, it would seem.

Oh. So enterprises should make game expecting not to make profit. And if they make games of the quality of DE and ME and they don’t sold enough, who’s to blame but the costumers?

Its a shame those game series (Dead space, Mirror's edge) got such an underwhelming market response. I generally think a great a deal of decent games from that period got an unusually poor reception from the market back then. In return it just sent a signal to big publishers like EA that the market wasn't interested in innovative ideas, or maybe the demographic wasn't big enough to sustain that direction. As such they dropped them in favor of more profitable venues.

I faintly recall while Riccitiello was EA's CEO that they had the mission of becoming a new creative outlet for developers until things went sour. Oh, what could've been...

I still appreciate that EA took a chance on this.
 
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Ryu Kaiba

Member
EA in 2008 released this and Dead Space, and both sold like shit. We gamers deserve what we have. Later someone though it was a good idea to trash DE and make this game a godamn open world. Because gaming in the PS4+ era is about open worlds.
I think at the time everyone would've agreed it sounded good on paper, but unfortunately that ended up being a mistake. I think it it could still work but it requires a greater vision. one of the problems was the city was unnavigable just a giant maze of similar looking buildings.
 

Radical_3d

Member
Its a shame those game series (Dead space, Mirror's edge) got such an underwhelming market response. I generally think a great a deal of decent games from that period got an unusually poor reception from the market back then. In return it just sent a signal to big publishers like EA that the market wasn't interested in innovative ideas, or maybe the demographic wasn't big enough to sustain that direction. As such they dropped them in favor of more profitable venues.

I faintly recall while Riccitiello was EA's CEO that they had the mission of becoming a new creative outlet for developers until things went sour. Oh, what could've been...

I still appreciate that EA took a chance on this.
Riccitello EA was best EA. That year they released Bad Company as well. What a fantastic output.

The poor reception of good games was because everyone was releasing all time classics. It was the best generation of all times and the price was that many good games didn’t have the focus of the costumers as much as they deserved. In this day and age one would kill for a good olde “HD generation” game. In fact we’ve had quite a few remakes from that time.
 

eot

Banned
I was frustrated with the game, but it's certainly one of the most iconic reveal trailers ever. It would stand out just as much today.
 
Riccitello EA was best EA. That year they released Bad Company as well. What a fantastic output.

The poor reception of good games was because everyone was releasing all time classics. It was the best generation of all times and the price was that many good games didn’t have the focus of the costumers as much as they deserved. In this day and age one would kill for a good olde “HD generation” game. In fact we’ve had quite a few remakes from that time.

I honestly think the HD gen is going to age like fine wine. It seems to be looking better and better by each passing year. I mean, fuck, I wouldn't mind if all the big publishers returned to that standard or if that gen had remained a bit long. At least till production costs had stabilized enough to reasonable levels to afford new ideas. I imagine the tech expenses have dropped significantly by today's standards which could've eased budget expenses. I think that gen pretty much peaked with visual presentations and graphics. Modern graphics really don't impress me to be frank.

The only way I can see someone being somewhat disappointed in the HD gen is if they were almost exclusively into Japanese games. Although they managed to turn that around eventually. There were definitely some other downsides to it (for example introduction of the microtransaction plague), but that doesn't detract from its entirety. I roll my eyes every time someone remarks "brown and bloom" being its defining feature. I guess, some first impressions do last.

Speaking of remakes and remasters, I know. I honestly think there's been way too many. Its a waste of ressources that could've gone into new ideas and projects. Instead of giving an older games a new coat of paint and repacking them as a brand new product. Its ultimatly just library fluff.
 
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Graphics and immersion blew away back then. Artistically it's still one of the most impressive works I've seen.

Catalyst on the other hand... well, it couldn't live up to the legacy. Still a very decent game though.

It's because they made it open world which completely went against their original design philosophy.
 

Kerlurk

Banned
 
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Damn, I literally got a little chocked up hearing that song, it's been 12 years? I started doing parkour the first time I saw the trailer cause it seemed to interesting, ended up running around for a good year doing a ton of stupid shit and feeling hype all the time, until I almost broke my jaw lol But to this day I still think back to those days as feeling such a sense of freedom while running, bonus was listening to that song (now that I read all this it sounds kinda cringe but oh well).
Also

I played through Mirror's Edge a bunch of times and I don't recall ever seeing an animation of her training (the one from towards the end of the video), is that actually in the game?

And

Catalyst is fine, I had my fun with it, might reinstall later.

And last but not least this one was my favorite remix from the official album:

 

SnapShot

Member
Catalyst could have used races vs other runners, Multiplayer would have been fantastic aswell, Social Play features didn't really cut it for me

And a better story and a better faith, first game's faith was sassy and more confident, but catalyst she's just selfish and whiney
 
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