Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, You Look Really Pretty

21 responses to “Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, You Look Really Pretty”

1. 

   trikeabout

   May 25, 2016 at 4:18 pm

   I care. Really excited for this.

   Reply
   1. 

      zambayoshi

      May 25, 2016 at 5:01 pm

      Yep. Collector edition locked and loaded.

      Reply
      1. 

         trikeabout

         May 25, 2016 at 5:24 pm

         Intrigued, so I looked… $300? I’m not THAT excited. 🙂 Standard edition for me.

         Reply
         1. 

            zambayoshi

            May 26, 2016 at 8:29 am

            For me it’s a case of me trying to get my hands on a figurine for games that I really liked. I’ve got one for FFVII, P4G, Project Diva f, Fire Emblem Awakening and Borderlands 2. I also missed out on the first Mirror’s Edge collector satchel, so yeah – it’s expensive, but it’s a special thing for me. I’m sure I’ll love the game, based on the beta.

            Reply
            1. 

               trikeabout

               May 26, 2016 at 9:47 am

               Yarp. I do the same. $200 I’d probably have been all over it, $300 I wouldn’t.

               But I’ll almost certainly get Rise of the Tomb Raider special edition on PS4, to have a new Lara to go with my Tomb Raider (2013) Lara.

2. 

   awkwardlizard

   May 25, 2016 at 4:19 pm

   I havent yet bought any 2016 games. Maybe this will be it.

   Reply
3. 

   shithead

   May 25, 2016 at 4:22 pm

   Sexist.

   Reply
   1. 

      zambayoshi

      May 25, 2016 at 5:02 pm

      I feel like I missed something here…

      Reply
4. 

   geometrics

   May 25, 2016 at 4:23 pm

   I was so pumped when this was announced, but the beta literally did everything wrong for me. Way too much focus on story (which has never been a strong point of the franchise), too much focus on this cyber-punk fashion style that makes all the characters look laughable. The transition to open world, like in all racing games, is a terrible idea. It doesn’t fit the game at all, it dilutes the character of the world, the opportunity to show you something new with each level, and results in watered down movement puzzles and content in general.

   Filling the world with collectibles is always a warning sign for me, the only time it’s ever been engaging is Crackdown 1, and that was because each collectible was fun to grab, they were literally everywhere, and they all had tangible gameplay benefits.

   I loved the first game, especially the first half of the first game, for its restraint and minimalist design ideas. This new one, with its “bigger is better” approach and focus on dull melee combat just makes me sad.

   EDIT: Also, what was up with the controls! Running and jumping around the world just felt… wrong. I don’t know what it was that changed from the first game but I definitely noticed a massive difference and I hated it.

   Reply
   1. 

      dingus

      May 25, 2016 at 4:54 pm

      I disagree. Beta was loads of fun I thought. Also I feel like you may be thinking too fondly of the original M.E, as while the gameplay itself was fairly fun, it didn’t feel great.

      The gunplay was more or less awful and the parkour was merely fine, it just seemed awesome as one of the first fast-paced parkour games. Honestly the first game was wayyy more story focused that this reboot, like in this reboot there are many more opportunities to run around doing what you want, whereas I feel like the original was more linear. You could either play a campaign mission or do time trials etc. Also I’ll think you find that more effort and time was probably put into the story for this reboot.

      Controls in Catalyst feel fine to me, not sure why you dislike it. That being said I played the original on PC and the Beta for Catalyst on Xbox One, so maybe the 360 control scheme for the original is better than that of the Xbox One for Catalyst…..

      Also if there are plenty of missions like the one in the Elysium building I’ll be satisfied, I’d say that place is deep in terms of the sheer size and scale of the place. Not sure on ‘watered down content.’

      tl;dr Are you sure nostalgia isn’t getting the better of you? The original Mirror’s Edge wasn’t that amazing, this seems equally good from what I’ve played so far.

      Reply
      1. 

         zambayoshi

         May 25, 2016 at 5:05 pm

         Completely agree. Controls feel fine. Additional combat is a little… different. Collectibles and open world = exploration heaven. Faith = hot. Open world hasn’t really affected the ‘corridors’ that you will race down, it’s just added more of them.

         Reply
      2. 

         geometrics

         May 25, 2016 at 5:19 pm

         Maybe nostalgia is getting the better of me, but i actually think the guns were perfect in the first one, they weren’t meant to be a useful and viable play style, they were a quick and messy way to get yourself out of a tight spot. I think the gun usage in the first game was one of its most successful experiments.

         Maybe its games like The Last Of Us and Uncharted 4 that have ruined it for me, but Mirror’s Edge 2’s characters and story (from what i’ve seen) seems painfully outdated and cringeworthy. If you’re gonna try and make me feel something in this medium, you’re now competing with storytelling juggernauts like Naughty Dog. It may not be fair, but it’s the reality of the industry now. You say they’ve spent more time on the story, but I think that they should have spent less time on it, keep the story in the back seat and just focus on making amazing levels that engage players.

         I think the first game came with this sense of wonder and mystery that stemmed from the fact that it wasn’t open world. A bit like the first Fable, you could see past the path you were trapped on out into a greater world and that really ignited my imagination. Withholding gratification from the player really is an effective tactic like that.

         Also, because an open world needs to connect together and flow, it can lead to some less than inspired platforming compared to individual areas. It’s like writing music through jamming, it rarely results in the best possible version of an idea. It’s why all racing games are worse because of the open world they are set in, when the tracks are separate they don’t need to adhere to the precedent set by the surrounding areas. Like, Burnout Paradise for example compared to its predecessors (I know that’s probably not a popular opinion).

         Reply
         1. 

            dingus

            May 25, 2016 at 5:52 pm

            I understand your point re. Gunplay. I just think it’d didn’t fit in with the rest of the feel of the game. When playing as Faith it feels like she/the player shouldn’t be killing anyone. It felt as if it should be hand to hand combat, and even then only when necessary, and so when you picked up a gun in M.E, and shot someone, it seemed to go against what the game was trying achieve in terms of characterisation and Faith herself.

            You’re right with TLOU though, I think very few games can make us truly reflect upon the characters, and your own actions as a player, to such an extent, and I highly doubt that Catalyst will provide a deep narrative that will stick with me as a player. That being said, I’d much rather the developers created a story that at least provides enough framework to explain why you’re doing what you are doing. Whilst the story may not be important to me, it will at least be important within the context of the game, and that is something that many games still fail to achieve.

            Overall though, I agree that gameplay must come before all else with Catalyst. When I played the Beta, I reset my progress, just so I could replay the Elysium mission (replaying missions wasn’t available in beta). So I guess I’m hoping that there are plenty of missions like the Elysium one that make me feel the rush of adrenaline, much like I felt in the first M.E.

            Let’s just finish by saying I will keep Faith in the game up until launch day. 😉

            Reply
5. 

   transientmind

   May 25, 2016 at 4:24 pm

   There have been SO MANY GAMES THIS YEAR. My budget/schedule can’t take it!

   As for lower hype… I loved Mirror’s Edge. Really did. But even though it’s tough, given how they wrapped that up, I prefer sequels to prequels. I find it really hard to get excited about stories that HAVE to end in the position the original started in.

   I mean, it’s not impossible by any means. I actually prefer Deus Ex: HR to the original, in hind-sight. And I’m super-excited for the next one coming up.

   Reply
   1. 

      dingus

      May 25, 2016 at 4:43 pm

      AFAIK it’s more of a reboot. At least that’s the impression I got during the beta, which was super fun btw.

      Reply
6. 

   camm

   May 25, 2016 at 4:29 pm

   This is normally a quiet point for games, but we are being glutted at the moment with releases. Probably reason why its quiet atm.

   Reply
   1. 

      zambayoshi

      May 25, 2016 at 5:05 pm

      Also, a little summin’ summin’ called Overwatch is stealing the limelight.

      Reply
7. 

   braaains

   May 25, 2016 at 4:44 pm

   Why aren’t Kotaku publishing more articles about it, then?

   Over the past week, what’s the ratio of Mirror’s Edge Catalyst articles to, say, Jon “Jonno” Jonson articles? How much demand is there for one vs the other?

   Are media outlets not chasing EA for enough info to be able to write about it? Is EA not pushing enough info out to the media to get them writing about it? If nobody’s publishing anything about it, it’s not going to generate much discussion.

   Reply
   1. 

      zambayoshi

      May 25, 2016 at 5:08 pm

      EA is not banking on Catalyst being a BIG seller. I think the number around 2 million is being bandied about. The original sold about 2.5 million over a longish period. Catalyst has already a lot of good publicity so EA is probably saving the marketing bucks.

      Also, the release date slipping didn’t help because it stretched the (already thin) marketing budget.

      Reply
8. 

   benjamasm

   May 25, 2016 at 6:42 pm

   While I want to play the new Mirrors Edge, after the Beta I wasn’t that psyched about it. I have so many games to play at the moment, I will pick it up on sale at some point, but its now to the point that I won’t buy games new unless I really really want to play them at launch, otherwise I will wait to say, the pile of shame is too damn high now days…

   Reply
9. 

   thecracks

   May 26, 2016 at 1:51 am

   Sleep tight, in a new light, through another warning call.

   Reply