Chorus

[i] Version courte : - Un jeu d’action beau, varié, et au contrôle très satisfaisant. - Un “double A” honnête mais qui souffre d’un peu de remplissage. - Une SF classique mais efficace. Version longue : [/i] J’ai un fétiche pour les jeux à la maniabilité poussée. Que ce soit MGS5, BoTW ou Dishonored, j’ai toujours un grand plaisir ne serait - ce qu’à lancer le jeu et à prendre en main leur protagoniste. Surtout, ces jeux qui font le choix de proposer un large panel d’actions comptent souvent sur une maîtrise croissante du joueur au fil de l’aventure, complexifiant les obstacles qui lui sont proposés jusqu’à atteindre une sensation de maîtrise absolument grisante. Chorus fait partie de ces jeux. Chorus m’a saisi dans un premier temps par sa beauté. Son espace coloré, ses champs d’astéroïdes à perte de vue, ses immensités glacées bleuâtres intimidantes, mais surtout ses affrontements spectaculaires. Je m’étais dit que c’était trop beau pour être vrai, et si c’est un peu le cas, je n’ai en rien regretté de sauter le pas. [h1]Ne faire qu’un avec son vaisseau[/h1] Nara est une mercenaire au passé meurtrier. Elle a fui le Cercle, armée de fanatique dotés de pouvoir psychiques et abandonné son vaisseau. 7 ans plus tard, le Cercle s’attaque à la colonie où vous avez posé vos bagages, vous obligeant à renouer avec votre appareil doté de conscience et à affronter vos anciens démons. Chorus c’est une métaphore filée d’un chemin de rédemption ponctué d’épreuves qui vont, tout en débloquant des pouvoirs et équipements de plus en plus variés et meurtriers, faire évoluer le personnage de Nara ainsi que l’IA de son vaisseau, Forsaken. Le développement est très classique mais ponctué de bonnes idées, comme parmi tant d’autres le fait que les échanges en combat entre les deux évoluent jusqu’à ce que l’un termine les phrases de l’autre. Comme je l’ai évoqué, la panoplie d’action est très large, vous pourrez peu à peu (passez si vous redoutez le spoil : - Accélérer selon trois modes de déplacement - Vous téléporter derrière une cible unique - Switcher entre mitrailleuse, laser et missile pour vous adapter à la cible - Attraper les vaisseaux pour les lancer ou carrément foncer à travers vers la fin. - Etc. Mention spéciale pour l’INCROYABLE mécanique de dérive, qui permet de conserver sa trajectoire tout en faisant pivoter le vaisseau sur lui-même. A vous les 180 degrès à toute vitesse dans le dos de l’ennemi ou les drift meurtrier au dessus des batteries antiaériennes ! Les combats sont brutaux. Dès le début du jeu on ressent à la fois une sensation de puissance et de maîtrise mise en valeur par les VFX, les bruitages, le retour haptique ou encore l’interface. Tout est fait pour vous noyer sous les feedback pour vous indiquer que vous leur en avez mis plein la gueule. Le tout via un pilotage très souple et facile à prendre en main dans l'ensemble, c'est vraiment la plus grande réussite du jeu. Les ennemis sont étonnamment variés pour un jeu de ce scope, tous vous introduisant des astuces qui mobilisent vos équipements récemment acquis. Les cohortes d’ennemis se diversifient ainsi au fur et à mesure de l’aventure, jusqu’à l’incroyable mission finale. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2sVK4WZlEQ [h1]Un jeu qui pêche un peu sur ses aspects secondaires[/h1] Chose surprenante lorsqu’on lance Chorus, c’est qu’il propose une succession de zones ouvertes là où on s’attendait soir à un monde totalement ouvert ou a contrario à un couloir d’action du style Star Fox. Et clairement si ces zones sont assez belles, les missions secondaires ne sont pas franchement palpitantes. Au niveau normal, elles sont totalement dispensables, mais j’imagine qu'au-delà, il faudra s’y investir pour renforcer assez son vaisseau. La faute à une réalisation modeste qui ne permet pas de mise en scène intéressante : tous les dialogues son une alternance de portraits statiques, si bien que même si les doubleurs sont investis, on a du mal à en avoir quelque chose à foutre des problèmes des habitants de la galaxie où se déroule Chorus. Pire, les dialogues en anglais sous titrés dans un jeu où on est sensé être en permanence en déplacement nous obligent, si on a pas l’oreille bilingue, soit à les zapper, soit à s’interrompre pour se concentrer dessus. Bref, ce contenu ne gâche en rien le jeu, mais on aurait préféré un jeu moins vaste et plus qualitatif. On regrettera aussi quelques manques en termes de qualité de vie (taille du texte grrr) et des menus bugs (la téléportation qui vous envoient balader du mauvais côté de la porte spatiale, collisions aléatoires, etc). et on est forcé de constater que Chorus brillera sur sa quête principale. [quote] [h1]Pour qui est ce jeu ?[/h1] Chorus est un jeu qui vous prend par la main et vous apprendra progressivement à piloter au travers de l’aventure de Nara. Il s’adresse à des joueurs et joueuses qui sont à l’aise avec les jeux en 3D, car les combats sont rapides et vous allez souvent vous retrouver la tête en bas. Il est ce que la Saga des Star Fox aurait dû devenir en évoluant avec son public des années 90 et parlera en général aux fans de jeux d’action comme Zone of the Enders ou le plus récent Armored Core 6 par exemple, d’autant qu’il n’a pas fait tant de bruit que cela à sa sortie, ce qui est regrettable. Un jeu que je referai probablement un jour dans un mode de difficulté plus élevé, et ce avec autant de plaisir et malgré ses petites faiblesses. Pour un prix abordable les devs de Fishlabs ont su mettre l’essentiel là où il faut pour nous offrir un jeu honnête et plaisant à la fois. Manette conseillée[/quote]

When I opened it for the first time and heard that menu theme I knew I was in for a good time. Good music, good story, nice designs. Really enjoyed the gameplay, once you start unlocking the different abilities and start using the drift properly the dogfighting becomes very fun but still challenging enough. Some achievements were a little grindy, but not a problem.

非常爽的太空空战，键鼠游玩主角机性能非常强大，在游玩的时候用漂移就可以咬敌机，导致我甚至打完流程连仪式的熟练度都没打满（ 敌机ai也不会做太离谱的机动，开shift推进就可以跟得上，反而最大威胁是炮台，在大船内部，神庙里这些狭窄空间里飞得慢的话，炮台是真的能把你肘下来的 传统的RPG线性流程，稍微摸下鱼打完所有支线，流程大概是13小时左右，但是还得加上漫长的半光速飞行，跑支线得飞一个多小时，半沙盒的地图，地图上每个地标都有支线，如果飞过去没有反应就是需要接取任务 大支线记得全部选是 ，拒绝就是放弃任务而且没办法重新接取，路边的小支线可做可不做，会重复刷新 任务追踪得看是否在所在的星系，如果不是就切换不了追踪，这个要注意任务描述在的星系

I know for every game out there, even great ones, there are always a bunch of reviews saying how bad the writing is. But it really is atrocious here. It's all just pure vibes, there is no logic or thinking behind any of it besides just going for a certain vibe. If you think of classic spaceship games like Freespace or Tachyon The Fringe, those games would have you working across multiple missions preparing the needed elements for a big assault mission or some such. In this game, you just kind of stumble across a station and by chance all the main characters happen to be there and it's just like, "Hey, let's attack the station!" Like there is absolutely no sense of cause and effect, or building up to anything, or anything like that. ♥♥♥♥ just happens. The game looks nice and runs well, unlike a lot of stuff these days.

Great on deck

Finished one quest and the other two that were in-progress completely vanished from my mission list. I can no longer do anything but the infinitely repeatable random encounters now. ( -_-")

[h1][i]“IN A UNIVERSE SO FULL OF WONDERS, THEY HAVE MANAGED TO INVENT BOREDOM.”[/i] ~Death (Sir Terry Pratchett's Hogfather)[/h1] As usual, when talking 'bout a game, the first thing we should do is look at its dev. Now, who's Deep Silver Fishlabs? Why, of course, those are the makers of such big hits as Star Wars: Imperial Ace, and Deep: Submarine Odyssey. What? Never heard of those? I really wonder why... JK, of course, I know exactly why. [i]Because those were bloody J2ME games![/i] You know. Java? For those bulky, huge phones your parents used to have back when dinosaurs used to roam our planet? That was Deep Silver Fishlabs, known simply as Fishlabs back in the day. And now, that the Ice Age is finally over (I really hope that the dang squirrel got its acorn, BTW), they're back to deliver their dream project: an expensive new take on their first game—Galaxy on Fire. No, seriously. No matter how you look at Chorus, it's Galaxy on Fire all over. Chorus is so close to what we had on mobiles back in 2005 that it feels more like a remake than a new game. The formula is exactly the same (it's mainly a space shooter, but you can also dock at stations and buy better weapons and upgrades there). That certain design aesthetic that feels like a shameless rip-off of the ships from popular Sci-Fi like Star Trek, Star Wars, and Battlestar Galactica is still there too. You played Galaxy on Fire? Or maybe some other Fishlabs games I mentioned? You'll instantly recognize the stuff. Which... isn't necessarily a bad thing. I mean, I joked a lot 'bout the old phones being bulky and stuff, but those [i]were[/i] a thing, [i]and[/i] Fishlabs' games were highly regarded by both players and the press. Galaxy on Fire, for example, is currently rated 8.2 on MobyGames, while lots of the journalists gave it 90+%. Which [i]does[/i] mean something, thanks to how, back in the day, the video game press wasn't just one glorified AD—not yet. In other words, those [i]were[/i] good games. So, bringing those back? With a bigger budget and modern tech? It kinda made sense. Is Chorus good, though? Well. 'Bout dat. Don't get me wrong, though, it's not terrible. Far from it. With Fishlabs making such games for OMGWTF how long (after Java mobiles finally died out, they continued their Galaxy on Fire series on Apple devices), they... kinda knew their sh*t. Giving us a ship and making us do pew-pew is just the thing they do. Like, you know. Bakers make bread. Baristas pour you the sweet juice of life. Fishlabs makes basic space shooters. That's just how things work. There was just no way in hell for them to fail so hard that the game would be unplayable and/or make you rage quit. Especially with a much bigger budget than usual. [i]But[/i]. As funny as it is, in Chorus's case? A big budget is actually a bad thing. Why? Well, it's quite simple, really. The thing is, despite utilizing the latest GPU tech (yes, this game supports everybody's favorite slowdown tool, AKA ray tracing) and providing surround audio (which always feels good in this kind of game), at its core? Chorus is still that ancient mobile game. And no, I am not exaggerating. Despite the world being technically bigger and there being quite some optional objectives you'll be able to pick up while simply flying around in an open-world style, Chorus is a [i]ridiculously[/i] basic game. With only a few places to dock and only a few weapons/upgrades to buy. What's even worse? The missions are like that too. There's, like, no variety. Like, [i]at all[/i]. Usually, you either pick up stuff or kill things. I know, I know, [i]technically[/i], you can describe the majority of video games that way, but you know what I mean. Goals feel ancient and fail to satisfy from the very beginning. And the more you play? The worse those will feel. Especially since it looks like the devs were desperate to make their game feel longer. I mean, I have, like, zero inside info on that, but it looks like a demand from a publisher to me. To make this game at least 10 hours long (there's another possibility, but we'll return to it in a bit). And Chorus? With its 22 basic main missions? It just isn't that. What did they do? Why, the worst thing possible, of course. They've added talks. See, in my opinion, there's always room for some basic space shooting. ROCKFISH Games' EVERSPACE (like Death from Sir Terry's books, dudes just love their Caps Lock) is a nice proof of dat. But those games were fun exactly because of that. You know. Because of all the shooting. In a way, you can compare the effect to so-called “boomer shooters”. Less talk, more fun. Now, Fishlabs added lots and lots of talking (technically, talking NPCs were there since the very beginning, but again, you know what I mean) and... it instantly made things, like, a million times less fun. Think 'bout it. There's a very good reason why you care about your favorite characters. They have traits about them. Strong personalities, backstories... You know, things that make 'em... [i]Them[/i], not just a bunch of polygons on your monitor's screen. In Chorus? We've got a nobody who, like Zeta from Batman Beyond, used to be “a weapon to destroy, but will not destroy anymore”. She has a talking ship, which is supposed to act a bit like Arokh from the Drakan duology, but that's it. That's the whole thing about them. They fly around and they talk about the past. Which isn't even properly described. Yet they keep talking about it. [i]A lot.[/i] You know how “fun” it is when you're at the wrong party? Sitting there, listening to people you don't know doing the “remember when...” thing? 'Bout things you can't possibly remember? That's Chorus. Moreover, every single NPC is a function, not a proper character. Yet guess what? Those just lo-o-ove talking too. And in its second half? The game just goes crazy with all that. “OMG! It's that dude from that old event I was in!” What dude? What event? [i]WHY SHOULD I CARE?!![/i] *SIGH* Moral of the story, guys. Writers. Hire 'em. But you know what? In all of that “let's talk about the past” nonsense, there's actually something that hints at non-linear gameplay. Remember that second possibility I mentioned? Again, I'm only guessing here, but it [i]feels[/i] like Chorus was supposed to have choices. I mean the real ones, not just the ones about picking up or ignoring a certain optional objective. [i]It looks[/i] like at the end of the game we were supposed to end up fighting for good [i]or[/i] getting back to our evil roots. I know, I know, it's an ancient Jedi/Sith trope, but still, it sounds like something that could add quite some fun, while also making us care. But even if it was planned? It was ultimately canceled, and all that we're left with are endless and meaningless talks I just can't force myself to care about, no matter how hard I try. Like I said, at the end of the day, as counterintuitive as it is, Chorus is a game that only suffers from all of its budget. Gameplay is way too basic for it to really be needed, while bigger money only meant more trouble. Remove all the boring talks and meaningless flying in a world that doesn't feel alive at all? Make the game more... [i]condensed[/i]? I won't mind it. I mean, I won't [i]love[/i] it (just because there's nothing special to remember here), but I won't mind it. But doing tons of recycled optional objectives? In order to make our Senua-like character (yeah, aside from other things, they copied the most boring character out there—Ninja Theory's Senua with her voices in the head) talk even more about how she feels about events that aren't even in the game? Screw dat. Is there absolutely nothing good here? Well, no. Blowing up the big ships in a Battle of Yavin style is quite fun, and so are the boss battles. Those are poorly designed and more confusing than needed, sure, but they're still fun. All in all, though, going bigger only killed the original, basic fun of good ol' Galaxy on Fire. Dixi.

An actually pretty fun space flight game, but with crippling design choices in the mid-boss that's turning it from fun space fighter to an annoyance with boss mechanics that make no sense, requiring constant movements tight corridors and super-tight time limit. All in all it's an annoying progress blocker that's better off skipped or removed from the game.