{"id":47,"date":"2021-01-27T03:47:41","date_gmt":"2021-01-27T03:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/?p=47"},"modified":"2021-01-27T03:47:41","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T03:47:41","slug":"just-shapes-and-beats-savior-or-false-shephard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/27\/just-shapes-and-beats-savior-or-false-shephard\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Shapes and Beats: Savior or False Shephard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This article originally ran under a different banner\/website in June of 2018 and is now being here re-uploaded for purposes of convenience and consolidation. Please enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!!\u00a0 BOYS AND GIRLS!!!\u00a0 I have played another game from PAX East.\u00a0 It\u2019s called Just Shapes and Beats<\/em> and it has shapes and beats.\u00a0 GOOD NIGHT EVERYONE!!!\u00a0 Now wait!\u00a0 Don\u2019t break out the torches and pitchforks just yet.\u00a0 I know you came here to know if this game will save the gaming industry or if it will lead us down a path of want and destruction.\u00a0 Well, gather round as I recall my adventure through a world of geometry and metronome.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The premise is you are a simple geometric shape in a colorful world of pixels that are being invaded by a pink monster.\u00a0 He\u2019s on a rampage to make sure no shade of blue or green is left.\u00a0 You must venture throughout the realm to reach the rose-colored ruffian.\u00a0 Along the way having to dodge various pink-colored hazards, that one could classify as shapes, to numerous different electronic dance music tracks that can be considered the beats.\u00a0 Maybe my early statement on the game being shapes and sounds wasn\u2019t too far off.\u00a0 Very similar to Guitar Hero<\/em>, only instead of classic rock, we have dance music and instead of trying to line up with actions with notes, we are trying to dodge the notes.\u00a0 All hazards either fall in from one side or phase into the rhythm of the track and with your dash ability, you get an almost reverse Dance Dance Revolution<\/em> feel.\u00a0 While, it is clear from my Double Kick Heroes<\/em> review and my mention of Crypt of the Necrodancer <\/em>that I have a soft spot for rhythm games; however, I always find one thing incredibly frustrating about them, and Just Shapes and Beats<\/em> fails to avoid the pitfall.\u00a0 I am, of course, talking about the difficulty curve.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Partway through the campaign, I encountered what I would like the call \u201cthe wall.\u201d\u00a0 The difficulty curve shot upwards and almost became a cliff face.\u00a0 I encountered a level that I had to retry over 20 times and still couldn\u2019t survive.\u00a0 Sure, previous levels could catch me off guard and I have to restart them, but not 20 times.\u00a0 Each time I started over, I began to notice the flaws as the rave-liked ecstatic peeled away with each attempt of the levels.\u00a0 Small like nitpicks began to grow like parasites, sucking out the blood and fun from this game.\u00a0 Then I had a revelation…\u00a0 This game has been sacrificed on the altar of multiplayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of my parasitic nitpicks seem to be designed to beat my introverted ways out of me for the sake of progress.\u00a0 The biggest one has to be the life system.\u00a0 Each level allows you multiple attempts to complete it.\u00a0 Each time you die, you restart from the last checkpoint.\u00a0 Once you run out of lives, you are shunted back to the level select screen.\u00a0 Why am I not allowed the Cuphead <\/em>approach of continuously banging my head against the wall without kicking you to the menu screen after so many attempts?\u00a0 After playing games like Shovel Knight <\/em>and Cuphead<\/em>, I firmly believe life systems don\u2019t improve your game, but artificially pads out your game.\u00a0 It is worse here though, as it is designed to make co-op more appealing.\u00a0 Assuming you and your co-op partner brought your A-game, you essentially can have infinite lives.\u00a0 Rather than rewind back to the last checkpoint, if you die, your partner can rescue you by touching your shape.\u00a0 Reviving fallen friends costs nothing.\u00a0 When you play co-op in Cuphead<\/em>, for example, the bosses get a boost in health, but in Just Shapes and Beats, no additional challenge is added. \u00a0 All of this shatters all challenges that playing stag brought.\u00a0 It is clearly due to the fact Just Shapes and Beats<\/em> thinks I need more friends, but excuse me, Just Shapes and Beats<\/em>, you have no right to judge when you have a player count of 86 people.\u00a0 Yes, that is quite the low blow, but forcing me to interact with whining 10-year-olds, makes me want to condemn Just Shapes and Beats<\/em> to the darkest pits of hell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After that revelation, all my complaints that make me want to snap my controller appeared to be sacrifices made in the name of co-op.\u00a0 There is no consistency between how much damage you will take from certain attacks.\u00a0 A small dot scratching can make a small dent in your health on one level, but then chunk your health in others.\u00a0 The hitbox seems off as numerous times I swear I was hit by flying debris only to not suffer any damage.\u00a0 I hear the mumbling of me complaining of the game going easy on me, but I say this because I don\u2019t think Just Shapes and Beats<\/em> is consistent.\u00a0 If something in Cuphead<\/em> hit me, I knew I was hit.\u00a0 I am not questioning it.\u00a0 I would also appreciate it when we are hit, your shape doesn\u2019t go flying across the screen like Lebron trying to draw a foul.\u00a0 All these bugbears seem to be there not to improve the game, but to create \u201czingy co-op action\u201d, I mean, challenge in the co-op.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t believe a good co-op game should force you to play co-op.\u00a0 Anything could be improved by the addition of friends.\u00a0 The end of the gaming industry could be happening, but if you have your wise-cracking friend there to remind you of all the times EA angered consumers, it would probably be a better experience.\u00a0 With that in mind, I always judge a game by its single-player alone and see if co-op improves the experience.\u00a0 Rock Band<\/em> is a fine example.\u00a0 It is incredibly fun to play Rock Band by yourself, but get together a few friends and beers together and the experience is vastly improved.\u00a0 While I initially was having a lot of fun with Just Shapes and Beat<\/em>, it clearly caught wind of bachelor status and decided me to beat me over the head unless I made friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not you Just Shapes and Beats<\/em>.\u00a0 It is me.\u00a0 I prefer a story I can curl up to a fire with, and you prefer going to the club with friends to listen to the EDM you love.\u00a0 Though I might not enjoy you Just Shapes and Beats<\/em>, I can\u2019t say you are bad, especially when it comes to the goals you strive for.\u00a0 Like other great rhythm games, the EDM infused soundtrack elevates the game above most failures.\u00a0 If you are able to find someone to join you, the campaign has all variety of levels with various colorful bosses despite them all being one shade of pink.\u00a0 The tortured smile of a once carefree flower who fell into the pink smile only to be transformed into a violent monster still haunts me at night.\u00a0 Sure, if you are planning to purchase the game on your PC and just dance through the campaign, I would caution you to try something else.\u00a0 However, Just Shapes and Beats<\/em> is available on the Nintendo Switch.\u00a0 If you have a Switch and a co-op partner, this might be a good fit.\u00a0 I can\u2019t deny the couch co-op was fun, but I feel like it will only last until someone realizes that Rock Band<\/em> isn\u2019t on the Switch and releases a Rock Band Infinite <\/em>or Guitar Hero Eternal<\/em> on Switch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This article originally ran under a different banner\/website in June of 2018 and is now being here re-uploaded for purposes of convenience and consolidation. Please enjoy. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!!\u00a0 BOYS AND GIRLS!!!\u00a0 I have played another game from PAX East.\u00a0 It\u2019s called Just Shapes and Beats and it has shapes and beats.\u00a0 GOOD NIGHT EVERYONE!!!\u00a0… Continue reading Just Shapes and Beats: Savior or False Shephard<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":48,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions\/50"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}