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Oh, I only suggested the first person mode for the Garuda and Merman segments. It was easy to miss shots in those forms. Maybe they could have made those to control differently or something else. I still think this game needed a lock-on system. Fun fact, the E3 2004 footage had a much better gameplay. Maybe this game was downgraded/rushed to meet the release date, but we'll never know what really happened....

Fun fact I didn't include is that the game was originally developed by SEGA WOW. The issue I came across is "what happened to them?" In the E3 preview of 2003 and 2004 you can see SEGA WOW below, but once the game was finished, their name was removed.... For the love of me, I couldn't find anything on what happened. Honestly, they should have given this to the makers of Shinobi, Sega Overworks. It would have rocked! I agree about China. I feel it's the same about India. The quality flickers from one to another. Reminds me of Ken Levine's The Lost. The Indian studio that picked it up changed nothing from the seemingly axed build. They just tweaked some tiny stuff, and released it. And you can see how the graphics are outdated for an 2008 game... After Kill.Switch documentary, I'll do a video presentation of who I'm and of course, what I played/finished this year. Spoiler alert: it's too much! I know it's too late for an introduction, but I kinda started seeing a lot thinking I'm Portugese or Chinese haha. Expect to see that one in early January! Oh, one of the games I'm looking forward to is Little Nightmares 3. Here's hoping it's great like the other two.

​@@freeckycakeOGYour channel used to say you were in Morocco, and I assumed you were a native French speaker. Now it says United States. I live in the US, but I travelled the world in the Navy before I settled down in Texas.

Busted! (T_T) Yes, I'm from Morocco. Born in Morocco :p. I think there's no need to hide where I live. But yeah, I'm 26 at the moment. Being gaming since the age of 7 (I was a noob back then, haha) Then, I think I started the obscure gaming research when I was 12 (?). Sadly, all the games advertised here weren't my thing: GTA, Fifa, Uncharted, Assassin's Creed. But I think the game that caused a major pivot for me was Watch Dogs. It was EVERYWHERE here, including Assassin's Creed Unity. Oh, and GTA V too. I tried them and I felt betrayed. It changed my view on everything. Heck, even anime! Edit: Since you've followed this channel since its inception. I think you deserve to know my real name. It's Yassine.

@freeckycakeOG Ah. Well I'm 45 and my first game system was an Intellivision my dad brought home in 1981. My parents were gamers and got me into it as well. As for who I am and what I look like, I have videos on my channel. I just haven't made any in a long time.

​@@100ServingsNever saw an intellivision or an Atari in my whole life. That stuff was obscure here. Now that I think about it, PlayStation was the real deal here. There were plenty of bootlegs of consoles like the turbografix, Genesis, SNES...etc but rarely will you see the real thing.... You look great, my friend! Now I wonder if I will ever buy a camera to show my face 😅 Maybe one day.

@illusiveMoose03 thank you for the kind words! You've made a fantastic trailer. I think THQ Nordic should use that one if they ever port Sphinx to PS4/PS5/Xbox Series X. If THQ Nordic contacted Swyter because of his Sphinx mods for the Dolphin Emulator, anything is possible. I'm glad you liked the video. It's the least I can do for a franchise I grew up with since 2007!

I have never came across someone who finished this game more than two times. Today was the day! If you ask me, I doubt Brave will ever return. As I said in the video, it needs a community advocating for its return. A subreddit dedicated to Brave will help. People talking about it on Twitter will also help. These actions help big time! I asked both Robbie Graham and Pete Shea if Brave will ever return and they said probably no. SouthPeak Games still owns the IP, but the problem lies with Disney themselves. If they catch someone using the same name as their Pixar-made Brave, it may end up in lawsuits. Knowing Disney, they may do it. Maybe a spiritual successor could happen if the game catches the mainstream eye.

TH-cam for some reason deleted my comment.... You've done the right choice. I remember listening to reviewers praising games like Assassin's Creed, GTA V, and Watch Dogs only to be disappointed in the end. Ever since that day, I just took the traditional way.

Hello, MamaLuvDuv, I'm glad you liked the video. The Sphinx community have done a great job uncovering info on Sphinx 2! Ouch, I had no idea about the Embracer situation, as I didn't look too deeply into it. I just assumed that since they own a lot of THQ IPs, it was the case. My apologies for missing that part!

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I would also love to see an Xbox and PS ports too in the future!

I'm glad you liked it, @EhurtAfy I remember seeing this game first in a German TV channel that I now can't recall its name. I think I was 6-7y old back then. Years after that, and I started seeing posters of it in my country. Platformers were very obscure here, so nobody bothered with the majority of them. As soon as I saw it advertised, I saved some money and bought it. Those were the days...

I love how you can discover older games through youtube. Ive found myself playing games I saw a while ago because a youtube video inspired me to.

That store owner is a badass. I had a store owner once suggesting many hidden gems to me like Legend of Kay, Kya: Dark Lineage and Okami!

I'm glad you liked the video Swyter! and thank you for the clarification! by the way, that interview was a blast ;)

Sonic and Mario were pretty new, and had the opportunity to succeed.I believe they also established a community that watched them as they grew. When they succeeded, they established a bar nobody can really surpass. This game was sadly heavily compared to Legend of Zelda and it gets compared to Loz today. Reminds me of an old article I made praised this game and some bunch called this a LOZ rip-off :/ It also didn't help that platformers died back then. A lot of them were destroyed as soon as Call of Duty and GTA 3 released :/ And around this time they didn't really feel like platformers anymore. They had all these different genres mixed in together that made them unique, but that didn't save them in the end. It's a shame that most of the platformers I covered so far will never return. (Unless if they downgrade these to AA)

@freeckycakeOG At least Legend Of Kay got modern rereleases. I picked up the Switch version for my kids after your video. I just think the development costs of the modern systems is too much to justify making platformers, and they're difficult to play with mouse and keyboard on PC.

@@100Servings And platformers are risky for publishers. It was a miracle Croc returned, but it's still not guarantee more sequels will be made. The older a game goes on hiatus, the harder it is for developers to make a sequel. I mean, sure Psychonauts 2 got a sequel, but who funded them? People via Kickstarter. Microsoft didn't do anything. It just goes to show that nobody is risking it with these type of games..... I hope the kids are enjoying Legend of Kay!

Well, I would say the game is quite boring: too much running and dialogues (which are uninteresting because there is no plot as such), too few battles and too low difficulty in all. Uncomfortable and slow sword fights. Very often it is completely unclear where to go next and what to do. Also what is extremely important at least for me in any game, is the plot, and here's non. What exist here is not even in sketch state. The only intrigue and moment that evokes emotions is a question why Tut was killed and whether he will get his body back or not. More than sure that all these shortcomings were the reason of unpopularity. Plus, of course, not enough advertising, apparently - for example, I have never heard of this game before this month, although I was a big fan of the genre and PS2. However, I see huge gameplay, story and visual potential in this game that was simply not executed correctly.

Literally increasing the difficulty, better made fights (I'm honestly very much surprised how they managed to make bad fights using Zelda formula), more varied Mummy puzzles and a full-fledged story would have elevated this game to such a high top, that only a few can reach it. Especially now if they'll make a sequel, because nowdays you won't find truely good new 3D platformers anywhere in any form (there are a couple of not bad, but I didn't like them for a number of reasons).

I'll have to try that one!

That is not level design though... That's just game design.

Thank you for the kind words, Mr Rogers! You are absolutely right. Everyone at Capcom Digital Studios made a masterpiece!

I would love to be as optimistic as you, but I'm keeping my hopes low. Still, it would be nice to see what Activision would do if they ever made another 3D Pitfall. I'd love to see a Crash Bandicoot cameo in there too. Because....why not?

I didn't like Control, and I felt its design was boring. There's a difference between the word "boring" and "'bad". Please, learn English. I see you edited your comment. First and foremost, you have to look at yourself real hard in the mirror if opinions trigger you this much. I didn't do it for algorithm, and I didn't expect the video to blow up either. My opinions are mine, and I've always not been into modern games. Ever since I played Watch Dogs, I changed my view about modern games and the unnecessary hype that comes with them. Games like Control are not as original as you think. Psi abilities were already a thing in Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy and Second Sight. Some of the elements in Control were already in Quantum Break. Where's the originality? It was a fun a TPS with a great art direction, and a somewhat intriguing story, but I wasn't a fan of the level-design. I will do more of these ideas in the near future. I hope you don't lose it like you did today.

Of course, it's one of my favourite games!

Thank you for the words of encouragement!. I'll keep all this in mind!

I think the closest game to emulate some of the Legend of Zelda formula and still provide a great level design, in my opinion, was Darksiders. You also needed to acquire several items to progress, and if you needed to visit previously locked ideas, these items helped. It's a shame that Darksiders 3 was not as memorable as the first two....

I like how although the world in The Shadow of the Colossus seems empty, it's full of symbolism. Fumito Ueda has a knack for making empty worlds feel rich.

Couldn't say it any better.

Yes! The sense of curiosity! That is what I tried to convey. Not everything has to be explorable and open-world. Since you mentioned Deception, there was this mod I saw long ago for Haunting Ground where you could turn to camera to over the shoulder. And when you look at the outside, it's very spooky and dark. Makes you wonder if Fiona even survived after she left the castle....

@@freeckycakeOG that sounds like an interesting mod for Haunting Ground. would be fun to replay it that way

Hey thanks for the words of encouragement. Trying to always get better.

Criticism noted! There's always a next time Edit: some of the games I mentioned here are some I fairly played recently. So I didn't speak entirely from nostalgia. I still believe the AC vs Dishonored criticism is valid. Both are about stealth. One is open world game that promises a vast enivronment, which inherently should feature multiple choices to tackle your executions but it doesn't. You're disillusioned to believe you have choices, when you don't. Dishonored, while not open world, is better. The world is smaller but feels bigger than Assassin's Creed. Both audience for these two are "stealth fans." So it's fair to compare them. I think you didn't watch the part where I said that not every PS2-era game was a masterpiece, and that not every modern game is bad. But like I said above, there's always a next time to do better. Thanks.

@@freeckycakeOG AC and Dishonored are very different games, just because because both have stealth. Alien Isolation and MGSV also have stealth. All very different games with very different target audience. Systemic sim in general are a very niche genre, with very few players compared to AC. Most players are looking for a more casual experience, something the AC games are much better at providing. I don't know why you think open worlds should inherently feature more gameplay opportunities. An open world is just a connecting zone. AC games don't need supernatural abilities or the same kind of systemic sim approach, because that's not what the target audience is looking for. They want a storybased, fluid experience, with not much trials and error. More spectacle than depth. That's why these games are not comparable in any way. Since you didn't even touch on this, I think good level design is like a good visual effect, it's best when you don't even notice it. When a player instantly knows his options and how to navigate the gameplay challenge. Both Dishonored and AC games are fairly good at this, it would have been cool, if you would have explored this in your video, by analyzing actual missions and how many ways they let the player tackle a challenge. With all that being said, I like Dishonored more than AC for gameplay, but RPG fans will like AC more than Dishonored. Also, if you reply, don't edit the comment, because I won't see that.

@@kabeltelevizio Comparing Alien Isolation to MGSV to me doesn't feel right. Hmmm. You have to put into consideration the themes too. Dishonored and AC both feature an Assassin. Both rely on stealth and chaos. You have a choice to either go rampant or pacifist. A better comparison to Alien Isolation to me would be comparing it to maybe..... System Shock (?). That one also has stealth elements, and like Alien Isolation, going rogue in that game is not the best approach. I still think open worlds should offer many opportunities for you to tackle your objective. Why is the world is so big if it won't be used to its full potential? Assassin's Creed or Watch Dogs could benefit from better level design. They could add as many things for you to assassinate your targets. Take for example Thief: Deadly Shadows. You have these semi-open environments that frankly aren't that impressive, but as soon as you can get inside places, you have rooms to tackle your targets. How I wished Assassin's Creed or Watch Dogs had this type of gameplay instead of giving you the illusion of freedom, the illusion that you're playing an open world game. When in reality, it's an illusion. I agree Assassin's Creed doesn't need supernatural abilities, but come on, give me something that makes feel like an assassin. Don't make every environment so shallow, linear, and oversimplified while giving me the freedom "I can do anything I want." Isn't this how Ubisoft marketed Star Wars Outlaws? Yet look at the game. Very bare bones. "Both Dishonored and AC games are fairly good at this, it would have been cool, if you would have explored this in your video, by analyzing actual missions and how many ways they let the player tackle a challenge." That's a very good idea. I may just do that next. I promise it won't suck this time XD Thank you for taking the time to comment. I'm fairly new to analysis and all this. Hopefully next time it will be better.

@@freeckycakeOG "Comparing Alien Isolation to MGSV to me doesn't feel right." I was highlighting that comparing those two is just as nonsensical as comparing Dishonored and AC. The theme is irrelevant for the most part, the aesthetics of a game do not necessarily correlate with the gameplay challenge what matters is what kind of gameplay the players are looking for. The target audience is very different for these games. AC players do not want the kind of gameplay you think they want. They don't want the kind of freedom Dishonored provides, because they enjoy the RPG and story elements of the AC game more than the different approaches of the Dishonored series. I am not even sure anything past Origins is still that stealth heavy, they are more combat oriented, no? So, I don't think your analysis of AC games is accurate, because these games don't even want the same thing. But even pre-Origins, AC would just give you a target and a location and you could approach it in many ways. Through a garden, though windows, through the roof. It wasn't as sophisticated as a systemic sim, but it's level design was very good at providing that experience. Again, it is for a more casual audience, for hardcore stealth people there is things like MGSV.

What great constructive criticism. This is exactly how I was feeling about the video!

That's a very good observation. Open world games promise you vast world to roam through, but they're inherently flawed. And let's face it, we won't even explore half of these worlds. They're too big and every corner looks the same. Plus, the illusion of choice in these games is baffling. I remember getting Watch Dogs during its 2014 launch and being excited to delve into this "new next-gen" game that promised you endless possibilities. All with the power of a phone. What I ended up with was disappointing... Suffice it to say, I didn't bother with the other instalments...

I'm glad you liked the video, @1000Servings! It's interesting that you mentioned Wolfenstein 3D because I remember playing Wolfenstein: Old Blood and feeling like it still had that bit of the originals' spirit in the game. New Order was alright, but The New Colossus was straight up linear, and to me, felt rushed. I'm not shy to say this but, Wolfenstein (2009) is still my favourite in the franchise. I wished they made a sequel to that... The whole concept of superpowers and fighting sci-fi inspired Nazis was great. Of course, while we're on the subject of level design, I think Return to Castle Wolfenstein also had a great level design (?). My memory is foggy, but I remember collecting all the secret items from that game years ago. There was a LOT! I played Prey (2017) and I haven't finished it yet. And yes, I agree with what you said. May I also add that I feel like it wasn't marketed well? I only knew about it when I finished the original Prey (2006) just a few years ago and being like "Is this the sequel?" And this led me to a rabbit hole. You know, the cancelled Prey 2 and all that. I completely agree with what you said about the design. You know, the game had a sense of dread that's been missing from games lately. Actual dread. You're busy crafting some items and bam! a chair turns into another thing and it scares the hell out of you. Ammo was a scarcity even on the easiest difficulty, and each encounter was a real challenge! I'm definitely going to return to the game very soon! I showed the game "Control" on the thumbnail but I didn't talk about it. I wanted to say that while the game had a fantastic shooting mechanics, good visuals and great storytelling, I felt the level design was repetitive. To me, it didn't feel like a metroidvania at all. I knew where I had to go, and each new level didn't really impress me.... It isn't as bad as Alan Wake: American's Nightmare per say, but still, for a game that gets touted "Underrated" in several forums, I wasn't impressed. Heh, you caught the MMX OST, Nice! I'm almost on my way to finish it! Good game!

@freeckycakeOG Prey 2 was such a loss. I don't know how much you know about the story, but the twist would have melted everyone's brain with how crazy it was. Unfortunately, it will never be.

Prey is magnificent. While it certainly takes inspiration from Thief and System Shock, the game it most resembles in terms of player freedom through immersive interaction is actually Deus Ex. Thief and System Shock don't offer that much player freedom in compariso. Thief naturally restricts the player within the role of a thief, while System Shock never had much environmental interaction in terms of picking up objects and so on. Prey follows Deus Ex's philosophy while drawing inspiration from Thief's stealth and System Shock's aesthetic.

Hey, Melvin. I appreciate the enthusiasm! Many obscure games are being worked on! Dead Head Fred is in the cards along with other obscure platformers! One of the guys who worked on Dead to Rights was involved with that one as well. Once a Dead to Rights video is made, I'll ask him again about the game!