Heavenly Sword Comments by Robert Purchese

How do we know it's going to be a 'future classic'? Might be pants.

Heavenly Sword Gamer's Day HD Trailer

Heavenly Sword Gamer's Day Onstage Demonstration HD

Off topic: why aren't the readers review archives changing?

Good question! I'll look into it.

I dont have a PS3 I dont want a ps3, but if i did i would love to have this game... looks imense

Dammit I was halfway through... Grrr

I'm currently on a strict one game a month diet! Though from the looks things the september releases are going to last me through to the end of the year!!

This is currently looking like the game i'll get in Sept, with Halo 3 slipping further towards next year if i bother getting it at all.

"...If you really want a small list of influences and inspirations, how about this: the poetic beauty of ICO, the dynamic action of Panzer Dragoon Orta, the extreme style of Devil May Cry, the depth of combat of Virtua Fighter, the visual emotion of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, the "wire-fu" style of Yuen Woo Ping, the over-the-top action of Kung Fu Hustle, the madness of Versus and the scale of Lord of the Rings"

Oh man, you had me at 'hello'.

I really hope the ps3 drops in price when this is released... :S

frod: can't take any valid criticism toward a Sony machine/article/game or anything else as usual, eh?

How can something be described as a 'future classic'? Explain the concept to me.

So morriss your saying that Halo 3 can't be discribe as a future classic either then?

I really like the fact so much of the acting is mocapped... It looks outstanding, although I realise I am judging it solely on that first vid disc posted.

@Moz: No. A potential classic, maybe.

frodlol. As soon as the conversation rises above fanboy-calling, he skulks off. Child.

How can something be described as a 'future classic'? Explain the concept to me.

It's an oxymoron, typically used by smug gits who think they're sitting on a goldmine product that will catapult sales into orbit.

mega-mEH

@disc
thanks for the links, looks interesting

That image with the army in it is insane if its gameplay and not cutscene :)

Love the visual style of this from what I've seen. Bit scared it'll end up being ace and I'll be tempted to pick up uber-crazy-pricey console and be a pauper for ages :(

@morris: Your bundy impersonation is spot on
10/10

The game looks very interesting, and I'm looking forward to having something worth playing on my PS3.

However one thing that puts me off is the "QTE" button-mashing stuff I've seen in trailers of Heavenly Sword. I hated that sort of thing in (the otherwise wonderful) God of War II as well. That sort of thing just feels like a failing of the game design. It's as if there's a design document listing all these action-movie hallmarks that MUST be crowbarred into the game, but rather than actually finding a credible way to implement them in play, designers just throw their hands up in the air and settle for simple-minded simon-says button mashing as a way of making it interactive. Job's a good 'un! Thing is though, games like Ninja Gaiden Black and Devil May Cry 3 let you do awesome things all through normal play - there's no need to undermine all that effort (creating a satisfying, exhilarating, entertaining combat system) by settling for a decidedly UNsatisfying QTE sequence.

The whole thing is rather baffling. Investing all that time and effort to make a brilliant fighting game... only to then disregard that effort for the dramatic action sequences, supplanting your wonderful action figure controls for moronic button mashing? I hope the QTE stuff goes out of fashion soon.

Of course something can be a future classic, so long as you accept its a prediction rather than a statement of fact.

I suppose the proper way to describe it would be "I predict that in the future, people will look back at this as one of the classics", though that amount of detail is only really required by the anally retentive.

Whether this turns out to be said classic is another matter. Thius kind of game ALL hinges on the gameplay mechanics, which could be bloody awful. Lets wait and see.

I was pleased to read the comments regarding the variety of situations and gameplay types that Heavenly Sword will include. It's also good to know a demo's in the works. Should help raise some eyebrows, and peak some interests.

@Kiigan

"designers just throw their hands up in the air and settle for simple-minded simon-says button mashing as a way of making it interactive."

I think thats a little severe. I personally don't much like that sort of mechanic, but mainly because it is often used in combination with instant death failure conditions. But some people genuinely enjoy that sort of mechanic and you can't blame a designer for catering to their audience.

I also think that used sparingly and in the right way, that sort of mechanic can actually be quite fun. So lets wait and see how it turns out.

I think a lot depends on checkpointing with QTE stuff. IIRC Resident Evil 4 did it quite well, making sure you started very close to the begining of the QTE if it was going to be a live or die one.

The actual example I remember is the bit near the begining where you have to outrun the boulder.

Well, this one certainly looks promising!

Ninja Theory games suck big time, this will be no different, It's only hyped up because there is nothing else on PS3 to get excited about.

You can keep these crappy Kung fu chaos wannabe crappy games

"We have stuffed the Blu-ray disc with data. It's full up, and we actually struggled to get it all in! "
So the Blu-ray drive isn't big enough either. So much for all those complaints about DVD.

"If you really want a small list of influences and inspirations, how about this: the poetic beauty of ICO, the dynamic action of Panzer Dragoon Orta, the extreme style of Devil May Cry, the depth of combat of Virtua Fighter, the visual emotion of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, the "wire-fu" style of Yuen Woo Ping, the over-the-top action of Kung Fu Hustle, the madness of Versus and the scale of Lord of the Rings."

Great references list! I'm sold.

Another Sony defender in the shape of Tonka. You lot should wear capes and badges!

:)

Fookin' ace, milord.

/gurgles with appreciation

'Another Sony defender in the shape of Tonka. You lot should wear capes and badges!'

And you, baby, should be in real life.

/Beeblebrox

This looks and sounds very good indeed - my only concern is that the combat will be a bit too complex. I've never really gotten on very well with beat 'em ups that have countless moves and button combos to remember. God of War got things about right imho, so I hope this remains playable to those of us who aren't uber-hardcore for the likes of Soul Calibur.

"We've always maintained that the big difference between the last generation and this one is that we can create more believable characters and stories..."

Why on earth does he think that? You can create believable characters and stories with nothing more than a pencil and paper.

FrostyPhoenixxx: This is their second game. Kung Fu Chaos was quite a fun little fighter even though it was harmless.

The only thing that worries me is that he seems to equate more believable with more polygons. Which is obviously BS. That said Heavenly Sword looks awsome in pretty much every concievable way. Hope they dont overdo the QTE's but other than that this is very much the reason i'll probably pick up my ps3.

"If you really want a small list of influences and inspirations, how about this: the poetic beauty of ICO, the dynamic action of Panzer Dragoon Orta, the extreme style of Devil May Cry, the depth of combat of Virtua Fighter, the visual emotion of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, the "wire-fu" style of Yuen Woo Ping, the over-the-top action of Kung Fu Hustle, the madness of Versus and the scale of Lord of the Rings."

They mentioned ICO. :O

Hawt.

'They mentioned ICO.'

Yes, but in a very flowery, Times Literary Supplement sort of way.

This was the game that impressed me most at E3 last year; I fell in love with the trailer back then and iss one of the reasons I bought a PS3.

The new stuff looks great too. Let's hope it lives up to its promise.

met Tameem once, came across as a complete muppet. Wasn't suprised to hear from some fellow sony staffers that they got moved off a new racing project to try to fix this game up after it was deemed to be heading downhill and overbudget :P Hope Ninja Theory don't take all the credit.

Is it just me or does this not look as 'nice' as the early stuff shown! Before you all start i have PS3 so not trying to make any kinda point on that front!

Still lets judge the final product right?

@onka
"Your bundy impersonation is spot on"

Ted Bundy or Al Bundy?

dog2_99: It looks better. Check out the cinematic pics : 1 2 3

And the gameplay graphics and animations are also quite improved from the first time the game was shown.

Yo disc, you're like the Voice of God or something these days. Perish the Unbeliever who doubteth the Powaaaah of Cell ;)

Do you have a problem with me? Send me a private message and we can work it out.

"I'd rather not try and hype it up anymore than it is now"

Too late.

Oooh, sounding a bit 'pistols at dawn' there.

I'm not having a go at you, just think you're getting a bit heavy-handed on occasion :)

Point taken.

On the other hand I could just be a frivolous twat :)

Stand (well sit) corrected...perhaps the pics in the article are not the best though!

Umm... love the face, but is the hair actually hair or ribbons? I'm confuzzled!

What happened to her in disc's third picture? did she fall and break her teeth?

I now see the sub-heading has been changed. So I had a point after all? I thought I was just some rabid anti-Sony troll....