Couldn't find a "megathread" about this game, but then, it probably doesn't merit one?

I just wanted to see if anyone else was playing it - I caught wind of the re-make a while ago, and while I never played the original, my older brother remembered it.

So I saw the review (a bad one, no doubt) on Gamespot today and I noticed the primary things the reviewer didn't like were not explained or elaborated on - he cited issues with the combat primarily, and while I think any criticism is valid, I really wanted to know why he didn't like it - specifically.

That said, I took the plunge and picked it up anyway, and I do not regret it. For all the faults with the controls - they are decidedly slow to respond, and the combat - it is a little strange in its patterns, as you are encouraged to do certain actions, but can be severely punished for doing what the game sort of puts out as the "right decision." I do think the combat isn't as bad as the review says; it was pretty easy to get into it on even the step-up difficulty once I ate the dust a few times. The game is definitely a throwback - there are no checkpoints, and a consequence-free resurrection (right at the point you died, no less) is very rare, and there is a resurrection with the cost of the "soul of an innocent" that gets consumed, I have yet to figure out what that means.

The game is very social-based, another feature the reviewer criticized heavily, and I can't say he was wrong, as I don't really see the point of those kinds of things, it seems like the developers were being quite bold and assuming pretty big sales to add that in - I don't know a single person who is going to buy this game, so I'll probably never make use of many of the "Friends" features.

All-in-all, I think mechanically and systems-wise, the game is fair. The combat is better than the review stated, but the controls and the social stuff are definitely low points, sort of.

On the other hand, I fully agree that the game is really, really good looking, and the world and its inhabitants were designed by an extremely creative set of people. The main character, the enemies, and the environments are all very strange and spiffy looking, and the environments are very pretty, and quite varied, even within one stage. I was especially impressed with the second boss, I thought the design was clever.

I haven't finished the game yet, but I do think if anything, it's a very pretty game all-around, and while it's a bit flawed, I think it was certainly worthwhile.

Anyone a fan of the old one or also get this one not having played it? I'm curious if anyone else gave it a whirl.