ReCore Rolling Review.

We do a special kind of review on gamelust called a ‘rolling review’ where we play the game and share our opinions on a daily basis as we progress through the game. This gives you an in depth look at whether or not we are enjoying the game, as well as a dynamic score through out the experience from beginning to [hopefully] end, updated daily. If you would like to watch us play the game throughout the duration of this review, check out our channel on twitch. We will be online playing between 7pm and 10pm US Central.

9/13/2016 – xsuicidesn0wmanx

So far all I have done is pick up my copy of the game from Best Buy($34.56 after GCU discount and tax), and install the game. Like most new games this one required an update during the initial install, this one will cost you an extra 5.4gigs of hard drive space. The install took a combined total of 14 minutes for both the update and install off the disc. Unfortunately this is all the time I have had so far. I will update this post later tonight after my initial session with the game. Follow us on Twitch if you would like to watch me play the game, I will be on for about 3 hours after 7PM US Central time.

Update: 7.45PM So far these load times are really damn long. Long enough I can actually edit this rolling review while I wait. I’m noticing a lot of shimmering on the screen in the cutscene as well, still looks pretty good so far. Time to play!

The controls are really solid so far, I don’t feel like I’m in much danger when I’m jumping from platform to platform, and the combat is well balanced so far as well. Holding down the left trigger enables an auto-target feature, and you can switch between targets using the right thumb stick. So far a lot of the reviews made it seem as if you only leveled up your robot companions, but I’ve already leveled up my weapon at least twice. Right now the game is solid, interesting, we’ll see how well it holds up in part two of my gaming session after dinner.

It’s 8:20PM in Chicago, I’ll be back playing before 9:00PM.

Aaaand 20 minutes later I don’t think anyone noticed I left!

Update: 8:45PM To give you an idea of how bad the load times are… I just died, started the Playstation 4.0 update during the load screen, and it finished about 5 seconds after the game finished loading.

Update: 10:45PM So far I’d say I played about 3 hours of the game, I’ve cleared the first dungeon, found all of the secrets in it, and I’m moving on to the next area. I’m very happy with how the game plays. Going in I wouldn’t be described as a Metroid Prime or Megaman fan in any sense. I’ve owned all of the games in those franchises, but I’ve never actually had enough time to really sit down and figure out why so many enjoy them. If anything playing this game might make me break out the GameCube and go back to try the old classics out.

I did find a few bugs, mostly graphical glitches that flashed for a second while I thought “how odd” but nothing too obnoxious. I believe I only died twice, and both of those were due to me screwing around rather than actually getting owned by the enemy AI. I really like how this game handles platforming as well. Everything seems to be placed just right so that I can move between platforms easily, almost second nature, yet it doesn’t feel like my hand is being held. Even the harder platforming elements I have found so far did not put me in jeopardy of dying if I failed, though it was definitely challenging. It was your typical open door on a timer, with a gap in between that would take just the perfect double jump + dash and gave you maybe 1 or 2 seconds of wiggle room to get there safely.

When it comes to the story you’d have to be a complete idiot to be unable to figure out what’s going on. You’re on a planet called Far Eden, a desert wasteland littered with machines trying to terraform the landscape so that human life could flourish on the planet. Unfortunately something has gone terribly wrong, you were supposed to be in stasis for 200 years, though it would appear you have been asleep for much longer than that. Your task is to figure out why the machines have stopped working and get them back online while taking care of a bunch of ‘core’ bots that have become corrupted. You get the story in little pieces from short 15-30 second cut scenes and various audio logs scattered throughout the world. The game doesn’t really need much more than this. The developers clearly focused on how the game plays and trying to keep up the ‘fun factor’ rather than drowning the gameplay out with a bunch of rhythm breaking cut scenes and boring dialogue. There’s just enough story here to keep it interesting, while allowing you to get fully engrossed in the game itself.

The combat can be challenging, especially when you’re in a boss fight and fail to capture their core. The boss will temporarily become invulnerable while they recharge about 33% of their health. At the same time several new lesser enemies will pop up to give you more dangers to worry about, though if you’re quick and use your companion properly you can usually get rid of them before the boss finishes recharging. The hardest part is pulling the core out of the boss once he’s weak enough. You have to push down the right thumb stick to initiate a game of tug-of-war with the enemy. Once attached you have to keep your line from going red for too long, while also keeping the marker in the middle as you try to pull the core out of the enemy. I failed this about 5 times on the second boss and I’m still not quite sure I’m doing it right.

The one thing I haven’t really talked about much is the games graphics. To be fair, they’re nothing to write home to mom about. ReCore looks like it could have been built for last gen, yet I don’t necessarily feel like the graphics hold the game back at all. In all honesty, this game makes me feel like it doesn’t even belong on an Xbox. And I mean that as a positive. On a console that has been defined by ‘bro shooters’ since its’ inception in 2001, this feels more like a GameCube game than anything I’ve played on an Xbox the past 15 years. It’s not the prettiest game, it doesn’t have a deep story, it’s just fucking fun!

Although the critics have been rather harsh towards this game, I cannot see how this could be a 60 or less right now. While there are a few annoyances here and there, nothing has been game breaking or killed the fun factor. The word out there is that the game starts off strong yet falls apart in the final 30% of the game. I can agree on the initial strength of the game and I’m hoping to have a different experience towards the end than some of the other reviewers. I’m feeling like the game is a 75-80 right now, though I say that while fully aware that could change really quickly by the end of tomorrows session.

I’ll be on again between 7pm and 10pm central time(that’s 5-8 for you elheber). Until then, pleasant dreams.

9/14/2016 – xsuicidesn0wmanx

I’ll be starting up again in just a minute, setting up the stream at 7:30PMCST(5:30PM PST)

When I ended my session last night I needed one more prismatic core to open up the door to the next area. Naturally I decided to head to the nearest dungeon to obtain this core. Although the trek did not take very long to get to this dungeon, it may be a sign of what is to come later on in the game. I have heard on multiple occasions that people are getting to the final dungeon only to find out they’re a couple prismatic cores away from entering, forcing them to grind through the side-quests just to finish the main story.

These secondary dungeons are a bit more challenging than the ones you enter along the main story. Upon entering the dungeon I was met with a 3 minute timer and a mixture of stationary and moving platforms. Some of these platforms had barriers that also moved, forcing you to move quickly from one platform to another with very little room for error. On top of all of this there were at least 8 or 9 floating cores you have to shoot with the proper color in order to unlock a door at the end of the dungeon. Once you reach your destination there appear to be 3 doors and one more treasure in the center of the room. I’m assuming that in order to unlock all 4 items you have to complete all of the tasks in the dungeon on the first try. Start to finish in under 3 minutes, while hitting all of the door lock cores, all while not dying. On my first attempt I think I got about half-way through before the timer ran out, and I had already died 3 or 4 times from missed jumps. Looking back I feel like I could probably run through the whole dungeon in 2.5 minutes now, and it would probably only take 3 or 4 tries, no more than 15 minutes spent trying to master this challenge.

Up until this point I have only had the one bot, Mack, a dog like robot who can sniff out hidden loot and enemies, while also providing a lethal dash attack that stuns an enemy and damages all near by enemies. I could tell this was about to change while completing the Challenge Dungeon as I noticed a small track that I knew was going to be used by the next robot companion. This would be the first of two new robot companions I would gain during the session. Starting with Seth, a spider like robot that can run across tracks that are scattered throughout the world, many of which are floating in the air. These have been some of the most challenging and frustrating sections of the game so far. I have encountered a least one issue several times now where a track will be located above me, and while I may have held X at the correct time to attach Seth to the track, the camera auto adjusted itself away from the track disabling the function that allows this connection, leading me to fall to my death at no fault of my own. The second robot companion I discovered is Duncan, a powerful machine that can clear a path or move an object using brute force. So far he is the most obvious of the 3 robot companions, though his value is the least out of the trio. The developers kind of force you to bring him with you, requiring you to move an object only he can move in order to reveal a track for Seth. Although I love using Mack and Seth more, I feel like I have to leave Mack behind even though he’s my strongest robot companion so far.

Although Mack might be my strongest companion, Seth is still the most important since the game relies pretty heavily on these tracks only Seth can use, plus he’s not far behind in strength right now. I tend to enjoy exploring new areas and searching for hidden items in a game, so I have found a fair amount of the various parts and blueprints needed to upgrade these robots. Although I foolishly put all of my energy into Mack, I had enough left over to turn Seth into one hell of a spider beast too, almost resembles a scarab from Halo, only red instead of purple. The good news is I have noticed there is usually a fast travel point near the boss fights, so I should be able to swap Duncan for Mack before those.

After two nights with this game my opinion hasn’t really changed all that much. This game reminds me of some of the classic platformers you might find from the N64 and Gamecube eras, although the game has it’s fair share of shooting, lets not be fooled here, this is a platformer first and a shooter second. While I have found a small annoyance in the platforming I am still very much pleased with how the game controls. The shooting sections are becoming more and more challenging, even going as far as getting demolished by a boss early in the session. But so far I really like this game a lot. It’s not perfect, but I still feel like the gaming experience has been hovering around the low 80’s range so far. My expectations are tempered for the future though.

9/15/2016 – xsuicidesn0wmanx

I will be back on around 8pm CST(6PM PST) tonight. I am expecting to have about 3 to 5 more hours left in this game. Part of me is excited to finish the game off, while another part is dreading tonights session. With so many others saying the final third of the game causing their low score, I will finally be able to see for myself what exactly has so many others crying foul on what so far has been a very solid and positive experience.

This update is going to be very short. Truth is I really did not accomplish much in the game at all tonight. Sadly I ran into the same wall that every other reviewer seems to have hit. I got to the door to the E-Tower in the Shifting Sands, and when I tried to open it I was informed I did not have enough prismatic cores and my level was too low. Honestly I thought I would be fine since I was searching for hidden items and grabbing every item I could, damn near maxed out Mack in the workshop, and here I found myself in an area where every enemy was 5 to 8 levels higher than me.

Up until this point the game was a very solid 80 to 85, tonight I’m not so sure. I’m going to start working on some of these secondary dungeons and get a little bit ahead, then see if I can find myself enjoying the game again up to the end. If the game finishes strong, I can forgive some flaws but I’m not sure it’ll ever get back up to the 80’s, 75 is maybe the max, but I’m down in the 60s right now.

9/16/2016 – xsuicidesn0wmanx

I wasn’t really having a good day yesterday, so it’s no surprise it got even worse when I tried to play this game. Yesterday I got so frustrated with the Crucible Arena dungeon that I was literally dying 30 seconds into the match, today I breezed through it on my first attempt and nearly hit 100% completion even though I was a bit under-powered. I ended up taking care of another dungeon and unlocking 3 others, all while collecting roughly 13 more prismatic cores that were hidden through out the overworld. I now have 26 or 27 cores and I’m at least a level 17 or 18. Although I could probably start what is supposedly the final mission(who would really know when the reviews are based on partial completion of the game *shakes fist @ gamespot*), I think I will spend tomorrow working my way up to level 25 and finding the last two bots that I’m sure are hiding somewhere in the Shifting Sands.

I got my character progression back on track tonight, and I’m feeling good about this game again. It’ll take a hell of an ending for me to talk about 80’s again, but 75 is looking more like a fair score for this game. At the very least I am excited to see the ending to the game again, rather than eager for it to just end already.

9/18/2016 – xsuicidesn0wmanx

I’ve found the 4th bot, and it completely changed the game and how I feel about it so far(as well as elevated my level of contempt for other reviewers). The 4th bot is actually located in a dungeon, and requires you to build it after finding all 4 pieces. This new bot also does not come with a core, you have to swap the core from another bot into the frame of this new bot. Although I probably should have known this already, apparently you can take the core out of one bot and swap it into the frame of another bot. I was treating Mack exclusively as “the dog robot” when he could have been any of the bots at any time.

So I spent a lot of last night exploring looking for the other two bots. Turns out the 5th bot has not yet been added to the game, it’s a future DLC item. The 4th bot however is found locked behind that door I was complaining about 3 nights ago. Which also further proves my theory that the majority of reviewers never made it past that door. The 4th bot, once you swap a friendly core into it, is a f1-er bot, or flier, though in reality it is more of a glider than a flier. You may have noticed a few spouts scattered throughout the level with hot air/gas coming out of it, well these are used by the this new bot to access areas you normally can’t reach with just a double jump and a dash.

Another thing I found out yesterday is that you can use Mack to unearth Prismatic Cores from the sand, and that these are easy to spot. If you’re walking around and see a dark spot in the middle of the sand, there’s most likely a hidden item there. I’m going to go around and find a few of those hidden cores, I believe there are 7 or 8 of these in the world. I should have almost 40 cores by the time I am finished. My current goal is to go through most of the dungeons completing everything except the timed challenge, and getting to level 25 or higher for the final fight with Victor(he’s the main bad guy/asshole). I’m hopeful to have the game completed by 9/20/2016 and the review up shortly after that.

At the least we’ll finally have a review online from someone who actually completed the game.