Nostalgia for the Relatively Recent
Whilst reading this, you will be in awe-mo. Article written by Gamoc in Blog, on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 at 14:15.The other day I got a heavenly delivery – you know, the kind that I would fight people off with a sword to enjoy. It was Heavenly Sword, as if I hadn’t made that painfully obvious, from Lovefilm.
Now, I should explain. Two years ago, I bought my (first) PS3, and along with it I got Resistance and Motorstorm. I then bought Heavenly Sword, because this was the game I wanted to play the most and one of the driving forces behind me getting the console in the first place (just imagine, if I didn’t see that fateful TV advert, I might not have ended up here, writing this…). I played both Resistance and Motorstorm a lot, enjoying the former more than the latter, but they still didn’t feel particularly brilliant. They were good, don’t get me wrong, but they still didn’t blow me away.
I should point out that I was playing on an SD TV due to not having a seat made entirely out of gold, nor did I use £50 note toilet paper. In fact, I had to trade in a PS2 and 13 games, a Gamecube and 4 games and pay £100 to get the PS3 in the first place. The only way I could’ve bought myself a HD TV would be to trade in my sister, which I wasn’t sure Game would accept. I’d probably be quite troubled if they did, really.
So I got Heavenly Sword and played it. For 8 hours. Straight. I stayed home from school to play it (which wasn’t particularly wise, really). Heavenly Sword simply screamed next-gen at the top of it’s metaphorical lungs, leaving me reeling as I run across massive ropes in what I like to describe as awesome-motion (it wasn’t in slo-mo, because it wasn’t slowed down, but it was in awe-mo). Even through my rather crappy SD TV, Heavenly Sword’s graphics blew me away. The detail, the backgrounds, the animation, the cut-scenes, it was all amazing. For Christmas, I got a HD TV, through which Heavenly Sword blew me away all over again. I was actually rather astonished at how big a difference between the two there was.
The game wasn’t all graphics, either, I really enjoyed the gameplay, the speed/ranged/power attacking system was pretty smart and fighting was both hectic but manageable. It was a great game. Oh, and on one level you fight over 800 enemies, all of which can be on screen at a single time. Oh, and the level following that? Well, I’ll avoid spoilers, but there are loads more than 800 enemies on the screen in that level.
So two days ago, when Heavenly Sword descended through my letter box in a pillar of light I immediately went and played it like my life depended on my putting that disk into my PS3 in awe-mo. The game doesn’t look as good as it did back then, mostly due to the fact that it’s two years old, but the backgrounds are still great. The gameplay? Well, since Heavenly Sword, I’ve played all sorts of games, including the God of War 3 demo, so it’s bound to feel a little dated, but it’s still a lot of fun. Short of a few questionably placed checkpoints, the game is just as great as I remember.
The biggest draw of Heavenly Sword these days, however, is the exceptionally good story and cutscenes. With Andy Serkis (Gollum, King Kong – not insults, he actually was Gollum and King Kong) helping with the direction and other such related things, as well as being King Bohan in both voice and motion-capture, the storyline and the acting is all wonderful. The story and its telling are all untouched by time, much like those creepy manakin-like connosieurs of plastic surgery, but in a less creepy way.
Heavenly Sword is a relatively recent game when you think about the usual subjects of nostalgia, and if I played it for the first time the other day I wouldn’t be anywhere near as in love with it now as I am. It took me this long to get to the point I wanted to get across: Games are not as good as you remember them. Remember how good Ocarina of Time was all that time ago? It’s not that good now. Remember how brilliant the first Crash Bandicoot game was? It’s not that good now.
Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy Crash Bandicoot when I play it, but it’s not to the point where I’ll play it for hours like I would all that time ago – it’s just not that good anymore. If you used to really love a game a long time ago, I recommend you don’t play it again. Preserve your memory, you’re older, wiser and more experienced now, all you’re going to do is notice the cracks that weren’t there the first time around. If you don’t notice those cracks, you’re ignoring problems in a game just because you used to like it, and what does that make you?
Comments
Please note that all comments are the opinion of the individual author and not TheSixthAxis.
Jamie Solo | 24/11/2009 14:21
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I know what you mean. I loved playing Sonic on the Sega. Now I still play it, but only when I’m bored.
superjag86 | 24/11/2009 14:36
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I don’t think I appreciated what a visual masterpiece Heavenly Sword was when it came out. That game still looks amazing now, and that’s after years of development on both current-gen consoles.
Severn2j | 24/11/2009 14:36
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Totally agree, the retro thing got old fast for me (excuse any puns) and did nothing more than ruin some really good memories, going back and playing old games, just makes you realise that they were mostly great because of a lack of choice and nearly all have been left behind.. As for Heavenly Sword, I missed it first time round, due to mediocre reviews, but a friend recommended it eariler this year and I picked it up for about a fiver.. It is a really good game, not hard and not long but whats there is top notch. Except the QT events. They did annoy me, but I cant forgive because of the rest of the game.
Cjdamon042 | 24/11/2009 14:46
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Heavenly Sword was my first ever PS3 game (along with Warhawk, but I played Heavenly Sword first) back in October 2007 and it was a blast; definitely one of the best ways to start the next-gen in my opinion. I loved pretty much everything about it; the graphics, the story, the characters and the locations. It all just worked. I also played it on an SDTV first and it still looked great. Only got a HDTV this year and when I played it through again it looked even better. Sure it’s outdated now, but it’s still pretty awesome.
nickerton | 24/11/2009 21:41
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mmmmm Warhawk!
makibah | 24/11/2009 15:01
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This is so true. Case in point, Destruction Derby. I remember playing that when it came out. I was amazed by the destruction and graphics. I bought it off PSN and I really wish I’d left that memory untouched.
skibadee | 24/11/2009 21:13
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lol i feel ya on that
ttuna | 24/11/2009 15:03
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I hope Sony or Ninja Theory are at least THINKING about a sequel…
Watchful | 24/11/2009 16:38
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Ninja Theory weren’t working on the sequel, having fallen out with Sony and SCEE dropped the sequel claiming it wasn’t commercially viable. One of many articles from the time:
http://kotaku.com/5017126/heavenly-sword-2-axed-ninja-theory-moving
Kings | 24/11/2009 15:18
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Remember how good Ocarina of Time was all that time ago? It’s not that good now.
This line insults me! To me, this will still be my favourite game in years to come, it definitely stands the test of time.
cc_star | 24/11/2009 15:21
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The cut scenes are still the best on a console, I wonder why no one else has gone down the mo-cap route
SpikeyMikey23 | 24/11/2009 15:37
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Isnt uncharted and uncharted 2 mo-cap?
Aitrus | 24/11/2009 15:53
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Yes they are.
Watchful | 24/11/2009 15:56
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Mo-capped bodies and movements, but Heavenly Sword mo-capped the actors faces in much more detail than Uncharted 1 and 2 did as far as I’m aware.
cc_star | 24/11/2009 16:16
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Sorry, yep they mo-capped actors and their faces in a level of detail not seen before (or since)
Most games seem to use the game engine to render cutscenes, which is good for continuity, but I think looks pap in comparison to this http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2007-heavenly-sword/21362
DRCD1 | 24/11/2009 19:22
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Not exactly, as ND doesn’t mo-cap the hands nor the face.
jacklum | 24/11/2009 20:02
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Motion-capture is quite expensive I would imagine. Plus hiring Andy Sirkis (the best motion-capture actor in the business) isn’t going to be an option for everyone. Nice if you can afford it though.
MyLeftTesticIe | 24/11/2009 15:51
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I agree With almost everything you have said here. Older games when I go back to them just arn’t as good as I remembered them with one exception!
The GOW collection would like a word with you…
Watchful | 24/11/2009 16:03
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For a long time I thought it was just me that loved Heavenly Sword when it came out. Awesome game. But I have resisted the urge to go back and replay it for exactly the reasons you point out, though the desire to play more “twing twang” is pretty strong.
SpikeyMikey23 | 24/11/2009 16:05
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I may go and have a play of heavenly sword in a bit, have to prise mw2 out of the playstation!
mynameisblair | 24/11/2009 16:19
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“Remember how good Ocarina of Time was all that time ago? ”
I still play Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask and they are two of my favourite games.
But yeah, I really enjoyed Heavenly Sword when I completed it a few years ago, if they added trophy support, many people would pick it up again and it would be amazing.
Deathbrin | 24/11/2009 16:51
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“If you used to really love a game a long time ago, I recommend you don’t play it again. Preserve your memory, you’re older, wiser and more experienced now, all you’re going to do is notice the cracks that weren’t there the first time around.”
Exactly. It was great fun back then but it had it’s time. Like One Must Fall: 2097 or Metal Fatigue or Total Annihilation.
There was always once exception for me, though, and i consider it the only game i’m truly a fan of – Worms. You can launch the good old W:A now and instead of seeing it decayed, you see how it has evolved. The community made this game – introduced new game modes, rules, made some amazing maps out of the crappy editor. Some genius programmers joined Team17 to develop extra patches to introduce features like online replays, fully-coloured extra-size custom maps (and there’s an enormously huge database of those), every piece of customization there was was brought to life and prospered. You can go there now and each time enjoy it more. That’s the Game, with the capital letter.
On the side note, do you still recommend Heavenly Sword now as i haven’t played it yet (yes, that’s a shame)?
Gamoc | 24/11/2009 19:37
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You should definitely play Heavenly Sword if you haven’t already. You can probably get it for about £5 if you look in the right places.
Damigos | 24/11/2009 16:54
* Banned *
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i play some WoW from time to time..
Rob92 | 24/11/2009 17:23
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Heavenly Sword was and still is fantastic. It takes the honour (along with Uncharted) as one of them games I refuse to trade in despite playing through it millions of times and in Uncharteds case, platinuming it
They should release some trophies for Heavenly Sword actually. And a sequel please
Deathbrin | 24/11/2009 17:53
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Aww, i take back my question then. No trophies – no buy. Wiith the exception of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Time Crisis 4, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, hmm… seems like there are enough exceptions indeed.