Entwined

[Andy]

Anyone try this? Reviews seem to be all over the map, with some praising it, and others saying it's mostly visual/artistic flash without much substance. I'm intrigued by the comparisons to Flower and how the game presents itself -- beautiful visuals, nice music, a nice mix of artistry and gameplay, attempts to be emotionally evocative, no spoken dialog. But I'm put off by some of the reviews. I suppose I should just try it myself, but it'll be a while before I get to it.

Here's the trailer:



Here is a guy playing through some of it, about 20 minutes. I couldn't watch much, because part of the charm of these games is being immersed in the music without words, and this guy just yammers loudly throughout the whole thing and is kind of obnoxious. But it'll give you a sample of the gameplay. Start around 2:20 or so.



Here's a review on the high end:

9/10 from PushSquare:

These areas each adopt a different art style, which is utterly beautiful throughout. Using a delightful combination of blue and orange, the characters are just the tip of the iceberg, as gorgeous environments exist outside of the gameplay ‘tunnels’, which go hand-in-hand with a breathtaking score by Sam Marshall. This title, through its art and music, actually manages to evoke comparable emotions to thatgamecompany’s seminal smash Flower – and we can’t think of higher praise for the game than that.

In fact, much like the aforesaid botanical blockbuster, there’s no dialogue, so it’s up to you to uncover the heartbreaking story concealed beneath the surface. The campaign only takes a couple of hours to finish, but that ensures that it never outstays its welcome, and, as already alluded, the difficulty curve feels expertly tuned throughout. The abovementioned challenge mode adds replayability to the package, too, so you won’t feel like you’re getting short changed.

http://www.pushsquare.com/reviews/ps4/entwined

There are a couple other 9/10 reviews, but there are also a few low ones, including 5.5 and 4.0 from Game Informer and Eurogamer, respectively. GI said:

Entwined’s experimental nature reminds me of similar games that I’ve enjoyed, but there’s always a “minus” in the comparison; it’s like Journey minus the community, like Flower minus the message, like Rez minus the action. It is a stylish feast for the eyes and ears, but one that ultimately leaves you hungry.

Other reviewers on the negative end had similar comments, essentially saying it lacked the depth that it seemed to promise.

So, I don't know. I was curious if anyone had played this, and if so, what they thought.

 

[DriedMangoes]

They say the game is quite short although really beautiful. I liked how they said it was available right away after they announced it. If they did that for TLoU: R , that would've been a legit megaton.

 

[Intellivision]

According to the press conference the game is $9.99. So like most indie style games, really depends if less than stellar game experience and depth is worth the low price.

 

[KongRudi]

From the impressions I heard, it were mostly praise about a very addictive challenge mode if you have someone to compete with, it were awesome.
It kept going faster and faster, until you failed, if you missed one - you were done, and you were scored about how many gates you managed to pass.

During the normal mode it were adaptive difficulty, not that challenging - if you did well, it adjusted the speed to faster and harder, and if you did badly and missed out alot, game became slower and easier. :-/

 

[Intellivision]

There are a couple other 9/10 reviews, but there are also a few low ones, including 5.5 and 4.0 from Game Informer and Eurogamer, respectively. GI said:

If GI is giving low marks, it's likely a red flag. That mag gives just about every game a minimum of 6.5 or 7.0.

Looks like Entwined is a love it , hate it type of game.

 

[consolewarz]

Right, cherry pick the lowest scores and start talking trash.

I should do that in the Ryse thread right now. You guys really don't know what it's like to get a taste of your own hate troll medicine.

 

[Intellivision]

Right, cherry pick the lowest scores and start talking trash.

I should do that in the Ryse thread right now. You guys really don't know what it's like to get a taste of your own hate troll medicine.

And what does this thread have to do with Ryse?

 

[consolewarz]

It's a game that got a mix of good and bad reviews, I could easily do what you're doing and bomb the Ryse thread with cherry picked 40-50 review scores. Just like you keep trolling this sub-forum.

 

[Andy]

Right, cherry pick the lowest scores and start talking trash.

I should do that in the Ryse thread right now. You guys really don't know what it's like to get a taste of your own hate troll medicine.

Slow down. I think you're being overly sensitive and defensive. That wasn't trolling. I was the one who quoted GI. GI does grade on the typical "school" curve, and the low score from them caught my attention, too. It's not the only low score, either. Saying it is a "love it or hate it" game is accurate. It's why I made the thread.

I was interested to hear from anyone who had actually played the game. Anyone can make armchair calls based on reviews. I'm interested in someone with actual experience.

 

[consolewarz]

I've played it and it's a simple but fun twin stick indie game with psychedelic graphics. Pretty short but interesting, 7/10

You know very well the only reason he's on this board is to downplay, spread FUD, and lie.

 

[Intellivision]

You know very well the only reason he's on this board is to downplay, spread FUD, and lie.

Andy is the one who posted the info from Eurogamer and GI, not me. So if you don't like it, let's see if you have the balls to call him the troll publicly in this thread.

 

[Andy]

Ok, now you're just instigating. Both you guys take a break.

So let's try this again. Anyone played this game (besides consolewarz)? What did you think?

 

[Ketto]

D:

 

[admartian]

Slow down. I think you're being overly sensitive and defensive. That wasn't trolling. I was the one who quoted GI. GI does grade on the typical "school" curve, and the low score from them caught my attention, too. It's not the only low score, either. Saying it is a "love it or hate it" game is accurate. It's why I made the thread.

I was interested to hear from anyone who had actually played the game. Anyone can make armchair calls based on reviews. I'm interested in someone with actual experience.

If by that (the bolded part) you mean a 5/6 out of 10 isn't a bad game, then I applaud them.

More places need to score like this.