Crash Bandicoot™ 4: It’s About Time

I don't recommend giving Acitivison or their anti-consumer EULA money. Besides that, though, I think this game is a really good sequel and worth successor to the original series (which I still own on PS1). Just coming off of 100%ing the N. Sane Trilogy (and 100%ing the Spyro ones too), and I'm a firm believer of "New Thing Bad Always", but I actually like all the stuff these guys have been doing with the IP. Wish Jak & Sly could get the same treatments. This game feels tight to play, and the mask mechanics are a good obvious way to expand the original formula. I love all the costumes, and the new characters with their own playstyles. Also I can tell someone on the team was really wanting to show off their shader skills with the mirror maps. Looking forward to finishing up as much of the 100% I can before Silksong drops in a few days. All-in-all solid game that directly improves on the originals. Runs very well on Linux/the 'eck, too.

Excellent game, however, the prices are completely unrealistic. This company is absurdly mercenary and should be setting game prices at truly FAIR prices. Just the fact that Microsoft now owns the rights to the characters is enough to expect some kind of absurd and anti-consumer practice. Mercenaries is the best word to define this company and its unfair, abusive, and unjustified prices. Amazing games in the hands of abusive, evil, and criminal companies.

If you think the game will play as its peak like crash 3 then im having some bad news for you: - every level has hidden boxes (yes not one, multiple boxes) so have fun looking at every corner of the screen - game is bloated with gems so collecting everything to archiv 106% will take a lot of santiy (get it insanity... no? ok) - time trails for platin or dev times, dear god if you dont like speedrunning yourself dont even attempt there is no shame in blue - if you dont care about completion marks just run form beginning to end and get every box you can find. - there is a special mark for not dying once in a level and later on these level get very long now for the good stuff: - the controls feel great and the cricle below you when you jump is a good indicator to show you where you are while airborne - design wise there is nothing to nag about its a pretty game - music in this game is also great for a plattformer, some songs have jingles similar to the older entrys - you can play as coco if you want If you want to have fun with the game just play casual dont go for the 100% or even 106% just pick and play and have fun If you really want to complete the game, get ready for frustration along the way, use walktroughs (im serious) to get every box per level.

Here I will leave the cat, friends who pass by can pet it and give it a thumbs up 　　　 　　／＞　　フ 　　　 　　| 　_　 _ l 　 　　 　／` ミ＿xノ 　　 　 /　　　 　 | 　　　 /　 ヽ　　 ﾉ 　 　 │　　|　|　| 　／￣|　　 |　|　| 　| (￣ヽ＿_ヽ_)__) 　＼二つ

Great game, solid level design that's challenging even for veterans of the series, and a fun story. If you're looking to just casually play through a Crash Bandicoot game from start to finish, this is the best game in the entire franchise. However, if you're like many fans of the series and are looking to fully complete the game, it is a downright miserable experience that will make you beyond frustrated. In concept, a lot of things Toys For Bob added for completion sake are actually pretty cool: 6 gems per level, three are tied to Wumpa Fruit collection (since a "Modern" mode was added that removes the traditional lives system, thus making collecting Wumpa Fruit otherwise completely unnecessary), a hidden gem in each level, the "break every box in the level" gem, and a gem for beating the level with three or less deaths, which is a callback to the original PlayStation 1 version of Crash Bandicoot 1, where you couldn't get the gem in the level if you died after reaching the first checkpoint. These I think, in concept, I like them a lot. However, in execution, I think it falls flat overall. I don't mind the three deaths or less gem, even with the mid to late game challenging level design. The game is difficult and you will die a lot, and I personally think that's okay. "Modern" mode exists so that way you get practically an unlimited amount of tries to finish a level, and in "Retro" mode, just like the classic Crash games, extra lives are so plentiful you're fairly unlikely to game over. Practice (and patience) makes perfect, and these gems are a nice reward for your skill increasing over time. The box gem is as traditional as it gets, however more often than not, boxes are hidden in the nastiest, and downright cruel and unfair locations, sometimes off screen, sometimes in a spot that if you don't notice it and activate something in the level, it's no longer accessible. It's so frustrating in levels with close to 200 boxes, or in the case of one later game level, 600+ boxes, being as methodical and careful as you can, breaking every box you see, getting to the end and finding out you're still missing a few. The original Crash Bandicoot trilogy only had a few unfairly placed boxes throughout all three games total (not per game), and the N. Sane Trilogy remaster notably adjusted the most infamous example. I applaud and respect Toys For Bob's decision at making this game challenging for even veterans of the franchise, but I think with the box placements, they went way too far. The hidden gems at times have the same issue as the box placements, so I won't repeat myself there. But then we get to the N. Verted levels, which are not only mandatory for full completion, but also are reversed, usually have some kind of weird filter over the level that can go from "ooh this looks kind of cool" to "oh god my eyes are bleeding". And to make matters worse, each N. Verted levels has IT'S OWN six gems to collect, and the box placements/hidden gem placements are ALTERED, so sometimes, somehow, they can be even MORE unfairly placed. And finally, we get to my personal biggest gripe with full collection, the time trials. The time trials were originally introduced in Crash 3, and are all about, as you can probably guess, speedrunning through the level in an allotted amount of time to earn a Time Trial Relic. There are three tiers of Relic: Sapphire, which is the basic tier, which you can more often than not grab by just casually going through the level at a brisk pace. Then there's Gold, which in Crash 3 and Wrath of Cortex, as well as retroactively in the N Sane Trilogy version of Crash 2, required more effort, more advanced (but not too much) knowledge of the level design, and the addition of a post game power up to acquire. Then, finally, there's Platinum relics, which require flat out mastery of the level design, including the knowledge of when exactly to start the time trial to get the exact perfect cycles for the obstacles and enemies that are on a timer, when to sacrifice your Aku Aku protection, when to save your Aku Akus for invincibility. These are the top tier and only masters of the game can get all of them. I'd say you're pretty good at the games if you can get even a few of them. In Crash 3, Wrath of Cortex, and the N. Sane versions of Crash 1 and 2, only Gold relics were required for full completion. Platinums were literally just a bragging rights reward. That is no longer the case in Crash 4. Now, it is the Platinum relic that is required for full completion. You are expected to fully master every single level in the game, it's level design, it's timing, everything about it in order to get 100%. And, they got rid of the Crash Dash, (the aforementioned post game power up), and replaced it with the Triple Spin, which I personally believe is a lot more finicky than the Crash Dash ever was. And that's not even getting into the fact that you need Flashback Relics AND N. Sanely Perfect Relics (which you get for getting every gem in a level without dying ONCE) to get the true full completion of 106% and the secret true ending cutscene. I really do love Crash 4, but I can't ever see myself fully completing the game 100%, much less 106%, and it's an absolute shame because I feel one of the joys of the Crash games is fully completing them. I do hope that Toys For Bob is working on, or gets a chance to work on Crash 5, and I hope they can take some of the criticisms of the difficulty they get from Crash 4 and can make a fair and balanced, yet difficult Crash game that can truly overtake either Crash 2 or 3 from the throne, because they were so close with this one.

Mixed bag. There are some improvements over the Crash Bandicoot trilogy, like new gameplay mechanics such as masks and other playable characters for specific levels, improved boss fights, unlockable cosmetics. However, Toys for Bob's level design is a disappointment. The levels are simply not fun, especially towards the ending of the game, they're just annoying and a pain to get through. Trying to 100% this game is meaningless and frustrating, because the game is constantly punishing the player for dying, which is absurd given how frustratingly difficult this game is, which relies more on pixel-perfect luck or perfect timing, sometimes multiple times consecutively, which is more of a test of patience rather than a test of skill. The levels are also excessively long (sometimes containing over 400 crates), taking more than an hour if you die a few times, and even longer with more deaths, which highlights another issue: there are too few checkpoints throughout the levels. There are some good aspects to this game, but because of how frustrating the levels are and how poorly the difficulty is designed, I can't recommend it. Save yourself a headache and get the N. Sane Trilogy instead.

[h1]Прекрасное продолжение[/h1] Являюсь безумным фанатом серии и пройдя эту часть остался в восторге. Расскажу об игре кратко,так как игра является традиционной и повторяет все аспекты оригинальных частей. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3631930847 [h2]Геймплей[/h2] Прочитал и просмотрел множество обзоров,и считается,что это самая сложная игра в серии. Не могу не согласиться,особенно последний остров Кортекса дал запотеть,однако для меня эта сложность приемлема,так как я подкован к этой серии и многие уровни мне давались легко! Что,конечно,не сказать о прохождении игры на платину...мне жаль нервную систему людей, которые прошли ЭТО на все трофеи. Как и говорю,эта игра не отличается чем-то кардинально от классических частей,это такой же приятный коридорный платформер. В этой части появилась механика масок,что добавило + к сложности и разнообразию уровней. В этой части нам даже дали поиграть за разных персонажей: Тону, Коко, Дингодила и Кортекса (уровни с последним самые противные). [h2] Сюжет[/h2] Сюжет в этой серии не всегда был столь важным: Кортекс всё-также харизматичный злодей,но появляется и Эн-Тропи,который уже является центральным антогонистом. НО кратко: благодаря ним случился разлом времени и Креш с друзьями обязаны остановить это. [h2]Графика и дизайн мира[/h2] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3631929944 Приятная и красочная картинка будет радовать ваш глаз. Немного и изменился дизайн персонажей,сделав их мультяшнее. Освещение просто бомбическое. В игровом мире есть отсылки на старые части,что очень приятно и удивительно (на мою любимую TwinSanity в том числе). [h2]Босс-файты[/h2] Остались такими же интересными и в меру сложными,игра следует канонам серии [h1]Итог[/h1] Безусловно,игра стоит вашего времени,а может,даже и нервов! Получил огромное удовольствие от прохождения. Фанатам Бандикута зайдёт на ура! [u] РЕКОМЕНДУЮ! [/u]

I bought this game because of my nostalgia for the original trilogy. I quickly grew in frustration as I died over and over again. It took me a few play sessions to realize that I instinctively was trying to complete this game as fast as I did the Remake trilogy. This was a NEW crash game, and I was not used to this new levels. From this realization, I took a couple of days to get back into the mood and tried to take levels slow in order to beat them. Once I took it slow, I did feel rewarded as player of the OG PS1 games. I noticed that my mechanic understanding of the crash formula from way back was useful and relevant for playing this game. That is a feeling few sequels revivals can achieve. Further more, I really appreciate the understanding of 3D space that Toys for Bob as a developer brought to the game. Modernizing the platforming was a huge feat by Toys for Bob, as the original crash bandicoot trilogy was made at the beginning of the 3D platformers. Little fun fact: Andy Gavin (Co-Creator of Crash Bandicoot) revealed that the way the crash team dealt with the 3 dimensions for a 2 dimension audience was by removing another dimension out of the mix, like in tunnel levels and chase sequences (Ars Technica YouTube Interview). Toys for Bob did an amazing job into translation the vintage crash formula into a new generation and applying it to a new audience that is familiar with 3D game environments. Really appreciate their work and want to follow they future endeavors as an indie company.