- For some reason, 'Let It Die' hasn't been released in Denmark yet, and it is unclear if it ever will be. I'm not one to give up so easily, so I went and created a U.S. account with no payment option connected (entering credit card information can be cancelled when creating the account). After finding the game in the U.S. store and downloading it, I could play it with my normal danish account.
- I've played a couple of hours of Let It Die, and I must say that it's pretty fun. The game feels smooth due to a nice 60 FPS frame rate and snappy controls, and your character moves very fast in general. The combat is a of the basic Ocarina of Time/Dark Souls - type, not perfect, but it works well enough that you feel in control. The game has a million meta-systems around the simple combat, none of which seems designed to be confusing, but perhaps expressing a certain lack of self-restraint among the developers. A lack of restraint that is even more prevalent in the character designs and cut-scenes. Everything is insane and charming in that unique Grasshopper Manufacture way. It's very charming.
- Yesterday, I streamed 2.5 hours of this game to YouTube. Today, that seems to have been blocked. The YouTube icon says 'Not Allowed by Application' when I select the broadcasting service.
- I guess I'll stream to Twitch instead.
- I just played 6 hours of this. I guess I like it, even though it has its annoyances. I enjoy the tense moments when you have ascended a few levels and haven't found the way to the elevator. It reminds me of some great moments in the Souls games. There are aspects of the combat that annoy me particularly the block, which seems ineffective. Also, the limited inventory and storage space are extremely annoying.
- Random tips from the internets:
- Upgrade base in TDM to get higher coin limits, etc.
- D-pad up switches targets
- Cook items by standing next to a fire
- Cook animals immediately with the Firework Launcher
- Jacqueline, my great level 25 character died to the 10F boss, Max. I spent all my Death Metals (resurrection coins that look like rainbow skulls) trying to keep her alive.
- Morgan the level 15 Collector (hoarder class with extra inventory space) died to a level 26 Hater.
- Got the At The End Of The Tunnel trophy. - I created a new character, Lillian the Striker, who defeated Max Sharp the 10F boss with her trusty bat, carefully avoiding the electrified edges of the arena by not dodging. The character classes are important, as is upgrading your weapons as much as possible.
- I unlocked creating Grade 2 characters, which have a higher level cap. My new main character is now Darius the Striker.
- Darius the Striker is now level 34.
- It was a surprise that levels 11 and forward take place above ground in a post-apocalyptic city. 14F is very tricky, and I had to give up on it for now. Darius is level 49.
- The soundtrack is very inspired, according to the LET IT DIE website, the score consists of tracks from 100 different bands, collected by Akira Yamaoka. Interestingly, the soundtrack sounds a lot like his work.
- Weirdly, YouTube streaming is enabled again. This last game stream was my 400th video on the OCDgamer YouTube channel.
- Let It Die is a *good* free-to-play game, one that carefully walks the tightrope between satisfaction and frustration. The basic combat is fun, if a bit simple, and the progression of each character is satisfying enough that you become attached to them, should they survive more than an hour or so. A few hours into the game, you will start setting goals for each run up the Tower of Barbs, such as exploring unknown areas of the tower map and enabling new elevator destinations, collecting resources for upgrades, completing quests to earn resources, or defeating bosses. The levels can be replayed indefinitely, but they provide a pretty consistent challenge, due to your characters having a fixed level cap, one that only can be raised for newly created characters after reaching certain levels in the Tower. When you run out of Death Metals, character death is permanent, making for some intense combat situations and daring escapes. Mushrooms and other items provide a wealth of combat options that become paramount when your character is in a difficult situation. I do have a few issues that detract from my enjoyment of Let It Die: The main issue is the free-to-play-related decision of having a vast amount of upgrade materials combined with a very limited inventory space, which of course can be upgraded by spending real money. This results in having to spend an inordinate amount of time juggling items, which is not the least bit satisfying. The levels of the Tower of Barbs are geometrically very simple, to the point of breaking immersion, and to add salt to the wound, load times are painfully long. The simple levels are accompanied by a very basic enemy AI that makes for some pretty uninteresting one-on-one encounters. Most of the depth in the combat comes from having to deal with combinations of enemies. However, there is something about the arcady aesthetics, the interesting and cool soundtrack, and the basic loop of climbing up the tower, murdering mutants, and scavenging for scraps, that makes me want to spend more time with Let It Die.
2016-12-16
DEATH DRIVE 1282016-12-17
2016-12-18
2016-12-19
