Child of Eden

[Julio III]

Just went back to Rez (HD) and did Beyond mode. So much fun. So much more enjoyable than Child of Eden. The music, the sound effects, the absolutely stunning moments like the running man. The way you turn from a wireframe man to reaching enlightenment. The strangeness of level 5.

[Charlie]

Bloody hell, Kaosu, you've beaten everything on hard and completed Hope? You're clearly something of a beast at the game. How many levels are there to Hope?

Didn't play the game today and, like Julio, went back to Rez instead. Which felt like coming come.

[Charlie]

Played through all the levels tonight but didn't complete Journey. I keep dying on it but I don't know why. I can't see what is killing me, but I had full health and lost all of it. I think I'm fairly near the end. If I knew what was killing me it would be better, rather than relying on blind luck. I can't see anything.

I frequently have the same problem, especially on hard, and swear the player perspective is too close to the action.

[Kaosu]

There are 10 stages on Hope. The first six are pretty easy once you realize what is a threat and what isn't. After that... yeah, probably harder than playing Journey while blindfolded. Don't use the Euphoria until the row of black boxes appear in a straight line on Stage 10, I can't pinpoint when that happens, but you'll figure it out as they fire a barrage of orange shots pretty fast. I found the best way to clear Hope was to just hold down the beam while tapping A in a clockwise direction near the center of the screen, it's not fullproof, but it helps.

I still need to score 800k on the last three levels, while getting 100% purification for Hard (much more difficult as lifeforms take more hits to eliminate)... then the dreaded gold star rank for every level on Normal and Hard. The latter will be the biggest challenge, and I don't know if I'll succeed, but getting this far is already a pretty amazing feat, I think.

[nonny]

Congrats... I know already that is something I will never achieve! S

[kingmobster]

Made it through Journey yesterday. That and Passion were pretty hard for me. Started playing around with the challenge mode but had to go to bed. Will try for 100% purification on all levels before I try hard.

To me, it feels a lot like Rez. Especially from level 4 and onwards.

The music really grows on you. Didn't like it at all first, but now I've found I've spent most of the day humming the tunes :P

Great game! Might even buy a Kinect just to try it with that.

[ozzzy189]

it just doesnt work with kinect for me. keeps going all juddery and drops out, tried tuning and going through set up, but all my other games are fine. taking it back.

[bcass]

Why? It's perfectly playable and far more challenging on a pad.

[bcass]

Having completed it last night, and played through all the levels a number of times, I think I can now conclude that it's a very decent follow up to Rez, although at times it feels more like a remake/reimagining than a proper sequel. It would probably be a 9 for me if it wasn't for the nauseating singing. It's mercifully infrequent, but when it kicks-in it totally ruins the experience for me. The last level too, is easily the most lacklustre level in the game, especially compared to the amazing/memorable final stage in Rez. It's like they ran out of ideas. Really bland and uneventful.

[kingmobster]

The last level too, is easily the most lacklustre level in the game, especially compared to the amazing/memorable final stage in Rez. It's like they ran out of ideas. Really bland and uneventful.

Really? I found it fantastic After the difficulty spike during the last sections of Passion, I found the slower tempo of the last level to be really enjoyable. The way the difficulty then ramps up is sublime.

[bcass]

Bland. Forgettable. I think the scoring may be broken on that stage too as it looks like you can milk the flower sub-boss indefinitely.

[Hazuki]

Just started this, and can't really describe how astoundingly great it is. All i can say is its a masterpiece. Totally stunning, one of the best games i've ever played. I'm a big fan of Rez but this is so much better, in just about every single way possible.

The music/sounds are far more interactive and melodic for a start, as are the environments themselves, which when added up do a far better job of toying with synesthesia, which was the whole concept Mizuguchi was messing around with for these games in the first place. It works so well here its mindblowing. Colours, sounds, shapes all meld into one, and at times it makes you feel like your soaring, on top of the world. Its euphoric. That's just the first level!

Just little things like having the snare hit/rapid fire on the trigger, and the hand claps/target lock on the "A" button, allows you to interact with the music more, playing along making up rhythms, snare rolls etc which feels great. Also, i'm not joking when i say that the menu/title screen on this game is actually better and more interactive than half of the games that get released these days. I've spent about an hour just playing around with this alone, sat with the sound cranked right up, in an almost trance like state, as i swish the cursor around the screen seeing and hearing how it interacts with things. Its a similar experience to messing around with an Arp on a Synth. Wonderful stuff. As for people's complaints about the cursor speed........I take it they never played the original Rez on the Dreamcast. The cursor moved a fair bit slower on that.

As for the "game" itself. Its fantastic. Its a brilliant shooter with fantastic score attack mechanics. Very addictive. The graphics and sound are outstanding, in fact its probably the most "Hi-Def" game i've ever seen. Almost feels "next gen". Calling Child of Eden a game though, just doesn't seem to do it justice. Only down side, is that i'm not playing this on a Sega console.

[Hazuki]

Forgot to mention, "Heavenly Star" is a proper TUNE! Cracking melody.

[fuse]

Just started this tonight and initial impressions are stunning. First couple of stages have been absolutely brilliant, was a little worried about the musical direction of this but no complaints so far. Feels like everything Rez didn't quite accomplish to me, which fills me with hope for the rest of it.

My only gripe? I got a Kinect at the same time and am struggling to get it working as it should. I thought this may happen as my wee studio flat isn't that massive, and as I'm using a projector the room is rarely treated to daylight - plus if I am to stand then it just eclipses the display entirely. Strangely enough I can sit on my arse and the hand recognition etc works fine in the dash, yet in game it just has kittens. A little OT, but anyone else had anything similar? If I've completely missed a Kinect issues thread then a point in the right direction'd be greatly appreciated.

[nonny]

I've had the same problem but cured it by bringing the Kinect forwards and sat on the coffee table so I can stand further back beneath my actual projector so I'm not blocking the image. From the sounds of it though... you dont have space to do that?

You should calibrate the Kinect in several lighting conditions for best results (i.e. daylight, darkness, mid) but I believe that only aids it with it's auto-login feature. What I will say is it works perfectly in darkness or poor lighting so it should work fine with your projector... it's just working out how not to stand in the way of the image to solve your problem.