All Your Enslaved Questions Answered

This week, two games with lots of potential release, and one of them has been discussed in full over at the PlayStation Blog.

After they asked readers to submit a bunch of questions for Ninja Theory and Namco Bandai to answer concerning Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, the answers are here, just in time for the game's release. They tackle more than a few subjects, including emotional attachment to the characters, the character advancement system, the weapons and skills available, game length, and a revisiting of the pre-order incentives, which you should've taken advantage of already. As we're always interested in story-related information, we'll post the answer to the first question, "What gameplay elements in Enslaved will help players become as emotionally invested in Trip as we will be in Monkey?"

"Now that you’ve played the demo, you’ve probably seen how Trip and Monkey meet. Their relationship starts out as a harsh one; Trip hacks a slave headband and places it on Monkey’s head. If he tries to leave her or leave her in danger, then he feels the consequences. Basically if she dies, he dies.

But despite the intensity of this initial meeting, you’ll learn over the course of the story that Trip has her own motivations, fears, and complexities. She’s not a weak woman by any stretch of the imagination. And as she and Monkey take their journey to the West, they also begin to bond and learn more about one another. As much as this is about a physical journey, the characters are also taking an emotional one as well."

We have our eye on several games for October, and this is definitely one of them. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow should be great as well - it launches the same day as Enslaved this week - and Medal of Honor is another big one. Reviews a-comin'.

Related Game(s): Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

Tags: enslaved, odyssey to the west, ninja theory, enslaved ps3

10/1/2010 8:47:53 PM Ben Dutka

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Comments (64 posts)

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gangan19
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 10:03:35 PM
Reply

ok sorry off topic here but, i killed the black maiden by accident and i really didnt want to, but realize i had to to continue the game in demon's souls and i feel really bad cause i stepped on her head and i liked her... :(....

Last edited by gangan19 on 10/1/2010 10:15:48 PM

2 up, 1 down

hellish_devil
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 12:00:17 AM

As far as I know she can't die.

0 up, 0 down

Scarecrow
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:39:10 AM

She's such a nice person. It's impossible not to at least feel sorry for her.

0 up, 0 down

gangan19
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 11:44:39 AM

i know right, i always went to here to get stronger lol..

0 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 10:18:04 PM
Reply

Well, I know which way the review for this is going to lean but I'm still looking forward to it.

That explanation was fairly obvious from the demo, and standard Hollywood fare at best. Reminds me a little of Fled and Unleashed. I also don't see myself getting emotionally attached to anything called "Monkey." Or the Pigman for that matter. Trip seems like she could be a deep character despite that unfortunate moniker.

Unless I somehow come up empty on games I need for Xmas I'll find it cheap somewheres later.

1 up, 0 down

LimitedVertigo
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 11:39:32 PM

From the reviews I've read (from popular sites) they've all said the story is up there with Uncharted's AAA style and the characters are both interesting and you end up caring about them.

4 up, 0 down

Lawless SXE
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 10:30:31 PM
Reply

I'm a bit torn now. I've read rumblings around the internet that Enslaved is inferior on the PS3. Don't get me wrong, I'll still get it, but my enthusiasm has been dampened. The focus on the story sounds great though. Apparently it is better-paced than U2 was, and that is saying something.
Peace.

5 up, 0 down

maxpontiac
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 10:33:46 PM

Well inferior games will not get my money. I hope this is not the case..

3 up, 1 down

Lawless SXE
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 11:03:32 PM

You're not Robinson Crusoe. I really do hope it's just more haters hating on the PS3 again. I'll see what the good writers here have to say on the subject.
Peace.

0 up, 0 down

Jawknee
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 1:18:58 AM

In other news, Castlevania is indentical.

Shame, this proves NT's lazy. Even though it's unreal, it doesn't have to tear. Bioshock doesn't.

5 up, 0 down

Lawless SXE
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:42:50 AM

Jawknee,
Bioshock runs on the Unreal2 Engine. Enslaved runs on the Unreal3 Engine. I think that the graphical upgrades from one to the other may account to some part of the screen tearing, so don't go blaming it all on NT. But then, nor do I recall Batman:AA having any screen tearing, so maybe I should just shut up.
Peace.

0 up, 0 down

Temjin001
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:53:58 AM

Not to make matters worse. But it's been confirmed that DMC5 uses the UNREAL ENGINE 3... (NOOooooooOoooo!)

I'm concerned if it'll be 30fps now... =/
...man, that'd be so westernized

Has there ever been a decent UE3 game that runs 60fps?
I think I read in the past that it isn't a good pick for 60fps.... but I don't really know

2 up, 0 down

Lawless SXE
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 4:09:31 AM

Temjin,
Why are you delivering me such bad news? I was hoping it was running on either the HS or DMC4 engines. Oh well, better to get all of the bad news out of the way early in the dev cycle so that we can look forward to what there is.
Peace.

2 up, 0 down

Crabba
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 10:44:14 PM
Reply

I'm having a hard time understanding how they can make a brand new game look considerably worse than the 3+ year old launch game Heavenly Sword. Especially close-ups of faces, cutscenes and similar don't seem to look nearly as good, but I guess that's what happens when they go multi-platform and use an old outdated engine, Sigh.

11 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 10:59:45 PM

You've answered your own question friend. Rather then use the engine optimized for PS3 (Which was great for its time) they went with the super-outdated Unreal3 engine which is for multiplat.

8 up, 0 down

Lawless SXE
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 11:06:36 PM

Unreal 3 is for the PC. It rarely works properly on the PS3, so I wouldn't call it a multiplatform engine. Shame though.
Peace.

7 up, 0 down

Neo_Aeon666
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 11:26:16 AM

yeah you are right it does look less impressive than heavenly sword... Guess they are hating on the ps3 because their game wasn't popular enough due to bad press probably funded by ms that kept trying to say the ps3 was a bad system XD

And anyway the main character is ugly as hell. I don't really like to identify myself to the weird monkey barbarian type with that old monkey staff legend weapon -_- . The girl is just Nariko 2.0 way to go originality.

The story does look intriguing though. Too bad the cast and overall graphics don't satisfy me XD

3 up, 0 down

Mornelithe
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 10:44:22 PM
Reply

Yep, I've heard the same thing. NT was bi***ing about the PS3 in another interview I read.

http://playstationlifestyle.net/2010/09/29/ninja-theory-hard-to-get-things-working-fast-on-ps3/

Which is really funny, since Heavenly Sword was great and I didn't really experience any issues with the architecture of their engine on the PS3. So, it kinda translates into NT is going for a cash grab multiplatform game. Utilizing a terrible piece of middleware, that's highly dated and has always had issues being adapted to the PS3 (Unreal 3 engine).

Definite pass here.

11 up, 0 down

Temjin001
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 11:03:54 PM
Reply

It's too bad I'm reading somewhat luke-warm reviews from both Enslaved and Castlevania(BTW this game's demo is visually amazing. probably the best looking multi-plat game I've ever played).

Unfortunately, I've read a few reviews that call out Enslaved framerate problems for PS3 =/ Here's a snippet from IGN's PS3 review:

"There's also some major framerate issues throughout the game, particularly on the PS3. These range from distracting to debilitating from a gameplay perspective, but luckily, they're uncommon." -- Arthur Gies.

1 up, 0 down

Shams
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 11:47:49 PM

And it's ironic that supposedly Lord of Shadows runs smoother on the ps3.

0 up, 0 down

hellish_devil
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 12:04:14 AM

And it's also ironic that Nina Theory did one of the best PS3 exclusives but now they give the PS3 the inferior version.

6 up, 0 down

Shams
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 12:12:21 AM

@Hellish_Devil:

That's precisely the irony i was referring to (though i couldn't say for myself that HS was one of the best exclusives, because i didn't play it).

2 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:29:06 AM

Resident Evil 5 (though despised by many here) is the best looking multiplat I've played.

2 up, 2 down

Temjin001
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:31:42 AM

Apparently, the slowdown that reviewers encountered with the 360 version of Castlevania were ironed out for the retail release. I'll be curious to see the final say by the DF or Lens of Truth etc.

1 up, 0 down

Temjin001
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 10:04:41 AM

WEWM, RE5's demo visuals were good, but I really have to say LoS tops it. It has better texturing, post-processing, lighting etc. Try the new demo (UK demo is free for all now).
I remember reading at CVG that they thought LoS was near GoW3 quality in visuals and I was like "no way." And while it's not as good as GoW3 in a few ways, it is near it, and more-so than I would have imagined.
The frame-rate isn't as good as GoW3 though.

0 up, 0 down

Jawknee
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:35:15 PM

That was the one thing going for RE5 that didn't make me sell the game as soon as i was done with it. The graphics are quite good for a multiplat and for one that came out when it did. Though the PS3 version did suffer from a few minor set backs. The shadows were less abundant, some textures were lower res and it suffers from frame rate dips. Obvious Capcom ported the 360 code though they did a much better job than most devs do when porting games from the Xbox to the PS3.

THe 360 version suffered from some minor screen tearing while the PS3 version did not.

Last edited by Jawknee on 10/2/2010 2:36:18 PM

0 up, 0 down

Jawknee
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:47:02 PM

WOW, Castlevania manges to look better than expected. World, Castlevania is now the best looking multiplat out there.

Temji, while it looks good, its still not on par with God of War III. The textures are nice and the colors are vibrant but the cleanness of it is lacking compared to GoW3. Everything looks much cleaner and clearer in GoW3 and as you said the frame rate is better. Though it could just be the section the demo takes place. Rainy night.

Also the combat isn't as fluid. Theres a strange pause or slow down when your attacking. its kind of annoying. Its not a frame rate dip more of a slo-mo feature they added for affect.

Last edited by Jawknee on 10/2/2010 2:52:11 PM

1 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 3:27:53 PM

I don't have a UK account, but if we ever get the demo here I'll get it for sure. That WOULD explain why the frame rate dips on 360 if it looks that good.

0 up, 0 down

madmike
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 11:05:53 PM
Reply

i have played the demo and although the framerate is good for the most part there is a lot of screen tearing (at least on the ps3 version) and its pretty noticeable. i will not be getting this game

2 up, 0 down

Snaaaake
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 11:37:11 PM
Reply

I'm still waiting for more reviews before I consider getting this.

0 up, 0 down

LimitedVertigo
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 11:37:20 PM
Reply

I'm getting this game early next week. From all the reviews they've said the same thing. Amazing story with interesting characters. Also said some of the best pacing in a game this generation. Sad to see it go Multiplatform which seems to have resulted in FPS issues but oh well.

1 up, 0 down

aaronisbla
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 6:41:19 AM

yeah im hearing great story and interesting characters that you care about, but im also hearing gameplay thats on the other end of the spectrum, and thats not good. i love a great story in a video game, but it needs good gameplay. i will wait for ben's review before i grab this

0 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 11:56:26 PM
Reply

I can see on PSN Ben is playing it right now, he must be reviewing.

2 up, 0 down

KNG201
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 1:07:54 AM
Reply

what is screen tearing?

0 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:09:43 AM

It's that horrible ugly thing where (and Heavenly Sword had a ton of it so don't listen to anything to the contrary) in a scene it's like between a second or two of action instead of being smooth it's kind of like when a DVD skips only this invisible line between the frames rips from top to bottom between the old image and the action catching up. Hard to explain. There's a lot in Heavy Rain too, tend to be due to graphic overload.

1 up, 0 down

Jawknee
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:32:09 PM

Its unacceptable thats what it is. Especially since we are close to 5 years into this gen. No developer should be letting their games hit the shelves with the amount of screen tearing in games like Enslaved, Assassin's Creed etc.

Even Heavy Rain had its fair share which is quite odd since there really is never a moment when a ton of stuff is going on on screen like in the other two games.

1 up, 0 down

Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 1:20:09 AM
Reply

Just quick-

I'm on Chapter 4 now. It's not anywhere near as technically proficient as Uncharted 2 but I can understand the comparisons. I have noticed a few bugs and frame rate hitches, but as the IGN review said, they're very uncommon. I don't have the 360 version so I can't comment, but the PS3 version is certainly more than playable.

The game is fun and as LV has said, the characters are great (to me, anyway), as is the story. It can be pretty powerful, and it's just super fun to play. I'll save the rest for the review. :)

P.S. Both IGN and GS scored Enslaved higher than Castlevania, but there's some snafu flying around about the review code for LoS and how it's buggy, but the retail version isn't. So don't freak out; I'm willing to bet - as I predicted before - that both games are WELL worth playing.

1 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:12:07 AM

Yeah the hubbub seems to be that LoS isn't anything like Castlevania and it really isn't anything new either. But IGN mentions the PS3 version is better in their view as the 360 has frame rate issues. Which makes a lot of sense if you take everything into account.

0 up, 0 down

Temjin001
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:39:25 AM

It's crazy that Gametrailers thought Castlevania's combat was good but puzzles were lame; where IGN thought the exact opposite. Sometimes I wonder why IGN picks reviewers that don't seem like a good fit. The IGN guy apparently finds combat action games boring and mashy.... something tells me this guy either needs to find different material to review or increase the difficulty so it's no longer boring, or mashy.
Plus, IGN couldn't seem to get over the notion that Castlevania didn't feel like a Castlevania.

And apparently the 360 code for Castlevania was cleaned up for the retail release--apparently making it "identical" to PS3... but we've heard that before.. and I don't think it's ever been right.

1 up, 0 down

aaronisbla
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 6:30:12 AM

the IGN UK reviewer seemed like a total Metroidvania fanboy and it seemed he just couldn't accept that it was in 3d. He said it was a great game but not a great Castlevania game. Don't you think its about time people rate games for what they are instead of what they have been known for?

Game informer and especially this site are my normal go to venues for reviews as of late, IGN has been a bit unreliable on some of their things lately

Last edited by aaronisbla on 10/2/2010 6:34:08 AM

4 up, 0 down

Jawknee
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:25:45 PM

Daemeon Hatfield reviewed the game. He works for IGN in LA. Hes was whining the whole time about the camera and it not being like old Castlevania. From what i gather, Daemeon is mostly an Xbox reviewer who likes shooters. Why on earth would they let him review a game thats A not a shooter and B largely took inspiration from GoW which is a Playstation brand.

They gave Enslaved a better score which so far to me looks quite lame in comparison to Lords of Shadows.

Im downloading the Castlevania demo from the UK store now. Just from what i have seen, it already looks loads better than Enslaved. Better gameplay, graphics, and better technical quality. Just read Enslaved on PS3 is an Xbox port while Castlevania is a PS3 game ported to Xbox.

Last edited by Jawknee on 10/2/2010 2:27:09 PM

1 up, 0 down

tes37
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:49:51 AM
Reply

After playing the demo of Enslaved, I'm interested in getting it. The only thing I didn't like was the controls seemed a little too sensitive. I'm going to play Castlevania first. So Enslaved will have to wait until after I play GT5.

0 up, 0 down

Temjin001
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:58:51 AM

Apparently, Castlevania is over twice as long as Enslaved, too.

But I can already tell Enslaved is much better with story telling. They even hired a professional Hollywood studio to handle it.

2 up, 0 down

tes37
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 3:09:57 AM

I think they are both going to be good games and I want to play them both, but Amazon has a $20 credit on Castlevania. For me it's a cheaper deal to buy Castlevania first.

0 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 3:33:30 AM

Are you nuts? I press the stick forward and two seconds later Monkey takes off, he jumps quick but responds slow.

@Temjin: that explains why it feels all Hollywood.

Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 10/2/2010 3:34:23 AM

0 up, 0 down

tes37
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 4:45:47 AM

Well... yeah a little, but what does that have to do with my thinking the controls were sensitive. I got jerking motions from it instead of fluid movement.

0 up, 0 down

Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 1:03:27 PM

That's called momentum physics, tes37. When you start to sprint, you don't magically snap into a full sprint, do you? They use it most in sports sims, but it's starting to become more prevalent in other games, too.

1 up, 0 down

Jawknee
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:29:04 PM

Its the same idea in Uncharted 2 TES. Seems they tried to make their movements life like like in Uncharted 2 they just failed at it for the most part. The controls stink in Enslaved in my opinion. Way better in Uncharted.

1 up, 0 down

___________
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 3:38:07 AM
Reply

im really looking forward to this, NT are showing the industry there a top tier developer!
despite what they have done with my beloved dante.
GGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NEVER FORGIVE THEM FOR THAT!!!!!!!

1 up, 4 down

ValdiPS3
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 5:07:35 AM
Reply

Unreal Engine + Ninja Theory = Meh.

3 up, 2 down

Jawknee
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:29:42 PM

I agree.

2 up, 0 down

Ultimadream
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 5:10:01 AM
Reply

1st day purchase for me. It looks like the fun action/platforming game i've been waiting for.

1 up, 0 down

aaronisbla
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 6:34:57 AM
Reply

im willing to bet that if Ninja theory didn't talk as much and just let their games do the talking for them, they would gather more fans

3 up, 0 down

maxpontiac
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 9:26:43 AM
Reply

After reading Game Informer's review, I don't see this being anything special. I'll see what Ben says about it, but we should have seen this coming with all the comments coming from NT.

They should have stayed Playstation exclusive.

Now I wonder how poor this game is going to sell.

1 up, 0 down

Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 10:45:37 AM

I agree with some of what GI said, but they're wrong on two major points: firstly, the idea that there's no exploration is a little off, because there are many places to go to collect orbs that are off the beaten path. That always encourages exploration. But it's not GTA; it's like Heavenly Sword...a game in which nobody seemed to complain about a lack of exploration. This is the open-world sandbox approach - which is far more prevalent now - having an impact on someone's review, I guarantee it.

Secondly, saying the combat controls are unresponsive is weird. I don't get that at all. That's never a problem. I do agree with the frame rate and the camera issues, though, and I haven't decided about the fact that they won't let Monkey die in basic platforming.

Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 10/2/2010 10:46:04 AM

0 up, 0 down

aaronisbla
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:08:15 PM

But with Heavenly Sword, its more of a hack and slash, not many would hope for exploration. LoS people would expect some since it seems as if it focuses on it more, some would assume the same for Ensalved

0 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 3:32:32 PM

I agree with Ben about the combat, I found it swift, responsive, and satisfying. I didn't think it would come off as well as it did.

0 up, 0 down

FullmetalX10
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:45:35 PM
Reply

Aight, I just played both demos, Enslaved and Castlevania, and I think I'll go pick Castlevania up someday, I don't know about Enslaved, I know it's just the demo, I'll wait what the review brings, if it's great, I might just pick it up as well, even though I still need to get that laptop, if I ever get the amount of cash...

0 up, 0 down

Jawknee
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:57:57 PM

After playing both demos, Castlevania is a no brainier over Enslaved.

0 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 3:34:37 PM
Reply

Ultimately, I might have been very interested if I controlled Trip. I know it's a stupid thing to nitpick about but I hate controlling these big dumb hulks. I'd rather identify with a cool guy or stare at the backend of a hot chick.

I don't know this off the bat, but I bet there are a bunch of moments where Monkey literally scratches his head like a cartoon character dummy. It irks me.

0 up, 0 down

Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 7:37:26 PM
Reply

Review going live in a few hours.

2 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 9:36:04 PM

Working late?

0 up, 0 down

Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Sunday, October 03, 2010 @ 12:07:45 AM

So what else is new? LOL

0 up, 0 down

Shiva369
Sunday, October 03, 2010 @ 2:41:24 AM
Reply

I really want to like this game, the story intrigues me, the concept and characters sound good and I loved the TV series Monkey as a kid, so there's a little of that in there too- but...the demo was really underwhelming for me. Graphics, controls, just the general 'feel' of it did nothing for me. Perhaps I had unrealistic expectations- I was thinking it'd look and control more like U2, so yeah, the bar was high, but still...

0 up, 0 down

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