Microsoft’s ReCore Previews Come Out – Impressions On the Game

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Today many previews came out on the upcoming Microsoft Game Studios & Armpature action/adventure game. Many of the previews cover a lot of the game and I wanted to share some of the impressions with you all. You can find them below the source link, but credit goes to NeoGaf member SOR5 for gathering a number of quotes and sources from other press/media outlets.
Source: NeoGaf

BASIC SUMMARY

You are Joule Adams, a young survivor of a terrible cataclysm who journeys from Earth to the desert world, “Far Eden” to build mankind’s new home. But when Joule wakes after centuries in cryo-sleep, nothing has gone according to plan… With her “Corebot” companion, Mack, Joule begins an adventure to unlock secrets from the past, defeat powerful foes, and bring new life and hope to Far Eden.
The Far Eden colony was meant to be a paradise, where humans and Corebots could build a future together. Now, however, most of the Corebots have gone rogue, and the planet is plagued by violent sandstorms. In some areas these storms come and go, altering the terrain and revealing new areas to explore and new challenges to overcome.
Combat in ReCore is fun and accessible, but also deep. Defeat your enemies—including massive boss creatures—with creative tactics, split-second timing, and by unleashing your Corebots’ unique abilities. Craft components to customize your Corebots to create your perfect battle party, and then share your creations with other gamers online.
ReCore’s adventure begins September 13th, 2016 on XBOX One and Windows 10.

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS

Sourcegaming

The game itself looks great and controls well. The controls were a bit daunting for the demo, as you had a separate button for charging shots and other buttons dedicated to guiding and swapping the companion. The part of the demo we played was further into the game, so I assume these mechanics will be introduced slowly over time.
All in all, the game is really solid and was a pleasant surprise. It had a Metroid Prime feel in a lot of instances and it was fun to play. I also love the color that is present in this game, and it’s a nice change of pace from the traditional brown gloom that plagued previous Xbox games in previous generations. We’ll have to wait to see how the final game turns out, but this would be a game to look out for if you own an Xbox One.

Geekscape

Gameplay in ReCore is split into 2 sections, platforming and combat. Both styles are fun, but the platforming sections in the game were very well done. Most of the platforming will have you jumping from platform to platform in order to open doors, flip switches, or complete puzzles. Movement feels very nice, especially the jumping since you can double jump and then transition into a dash hover. While easy, this makes most of the platforming fast and fun.
Puzzles are also really well implemented. While only a handful in the demo, most of the puzzles centered around using one of your robot companions, a spider named Seth. With him, you can grapple onto slopes and platforms that you normally couldn’t. While he does move automatically, it feels really satisfying when you’re able to pull off one continuously long grapple move. This is only one of the different ways that your robot allies can be used (more on that in a bit.).
Now for all the good that the game has, there are some things that concern me. While the combat system right now is fine, it could really use some tweaking as it still feels a bit stiff. Perhaps a dodge roll would help the combat flow better. The game also seemed to have some pretty bad frame rate issues throughout the demo. They didn’t happen all the time, but they were often enough to be a problem. This mostly concerns me seeing as how the games release is a little over a month away, so hopefully they fix it up by then.
In the end, ReCore is a very compelling game with some great ideas, but is hampered by some pretty inconsistent performance issues that could really bring down the whole experience if not fixed. What Inafune and Armature have here really is something special, and I can’t wait to try out the rest of it. ReCore will release on September 13th for Xbox One and Windows 10.

Gamingbolt

Sadly, there wasn’t much time to do some snooping around and find out any hidden secrets within this tiny piece of the game I had the pleasure to experience. Not that they’d have any good secrets in a demo anyway. But what was available was truly heartfelt, as though the developers were proud of this game they had concocted. The ways that lead to the paths that must be taken are often sidelined by backtracking to find another way around through clues and unlocks much like in a Metroid game, which made it that much cooler.
What was there revealed a whole lot of character from what Comcept Armature Studio really want to show that they can accomplish. As an Xbox One/Windows 10 exclusive I feel as though this game is going to be a great addition to the ever growing library of games already out there, and it will definitely be interesting to see if the entire game holds up as well as the E3 demo had.

Analogaddiction

It was also enthralling to boost and avoid attacks. When factoring in the choas, using Joule’s acrobatic maneuvers to dash around weaponry firing at me from every direction and avoiding a blast in the nick of time felt satisfying.
Even though the combat was a bit questionable, and I ponder how long it will keep me entertained, I am still looking forward to ReCore. Its universe has a crypticness about it I wanted to explore further and learn why Joule and her team are fighting robots. And though I did not make it to much puzzles, using Seth to wall climb or a green plug robot to power up obstacles has me curious for what the team at Armature Studios and Comcept has in store for players.

IGN

This section is about 3 to 4 hours into the campaign, and one of the first things mentioned by the Microsoft representative is that while there is an end to the demo, the challenge is trying to get there by the allotted time given. I soon learned why it was deemed a challenge.
I had two companions at my disposal, Mack and Seth, but you could only use one at a time so your attention is devoted half on locking on to the appropriate colored enemies given your equipped color ammo, and the other half is spent switching and giving orders to robots that have to recharge to attack. There was a locking on system that had a nice Metroid feel to it, making the combat both chaotic and fluid. While I was disappointed I didn’t complete the demo for bragging rights, I was happy to walk away with a good idea of the action ReCore has in store.
There’s still so much of ReCore that I’m eager to know: What happened to Far Eden? Who’s the mysterious voice guiding Joule; is he really someone we should trust? Will there be mini-games with Mack where I can teach him tricks and give him treats? What type of treats does a robotic animal eat? What I do know is that ReCore was a delightful surprise, and is just a nugget of the great things in store when great minds come together.

Gameoctane

The demo starts you in a desert environment. You need to find a core. You have 2 companions to choose from – the dog and a yellow spider like creature. You can send your companions to specific targets or to attack enemies. The enemies are no joke. It was a nice challenge because different enemies are weak to specific types of ammunition. It is all color coded – use red ammo to take out red enemies, etc. You need to be strategic when you get multiple colored enemies on screen (developer hint – red enemies will wreck you, so focus on them first). Joule has a double jump and dash feature for traveling across large areas without hitting the ground. I ran out of ammo quickly, so look for ammo drops from fallen enemies. You have your normal rapid fire option or you can charge a shot to do more damage. I like the strategy involved in this game. I had to weaken an enemy, send my companion to do damage, then finish it off with a charged shot all while avoiding enemy fire. The platforming is fun and easy as long as you remember the double jump and dash.
Needless to say, I had a lot of fun with this game. It sucks having short demos to review, but we will have the real game soon enough.

Metro

‘That’s kind of what we’re hoping for’, says Pacini. ‘Because I think it fits within the line-up of Microsoft products, but it is different. It’s an unusual offering. I think it’s hedging our bets on the idea that, “Hey, we want people to try it and we want people to give it a shot”. And especially as you buy it once and you can play it on either Xbox One or Windows 10 it has that, “Oh, maybe I’ll give it a shot. Maybe I’ll try it” appeal. And that’s what we’re hoping for’.
Whether you see that as a damning indictment of the modern full price games market or a sensibly pragmatic approach to the current status quo is up to you. All we know is the game looks extremely interesting and we’re very happy to shake Pacini’s hand at the end, for being responsible for one of our favourite games ever and, hopefully, a worthy successor in the form of ReCore.

Attackofthefanboy

Platforming was still a little rough, but the team has a lot of time to work out any kinks in that system. It wasn’t terrible at all, but pressing the right buttons, and making sure you land on your target was troublesome at times, with both a double jump and a boost mechanic creating some definite challenges.
Even with this small fault, ReCore was an E3 favorite of mine. It’s probably not going to be as grandiose as Metroid Prime or Mega Man, but it is a fantastic amalgamation of those two venerable series. If you’re a fan of either, ReCore should be on your watch list for the coming months.

Newgamenetwork

Based on what we’ve seen from ReCore this year, it seems likely that the game will offer plenty of satisfying combat and platforming, with some unique elements thanks to the focus on color and companions.

Cgmagonline

I’m concerned many players have already written off ReCore because Microsoft put politics before play. If you’re in that category, I recommend giving ReCore another chance. The protagonist is appropriate for the gameplay, the gameplay is good, and game developers don’t control the publisher’s marketing of the product they make.
Perhaps we can take some inspiration from the game’s central mechanic and pull the core of the title out of a culture war, into a discussion of its merits as a game. I went in a skeptic and came out a potential fan. ReCore is, thanks to a solid demo, one of the Xbox/Windows exclusives I’m most looking forward to for holiday 2016.

Xboxenthusiast

To add to the multi-tasking mayhem, the game also introduces a combo system. If you hit off enough health off of an enemy, as indicated by its health bar, you get a multiplier for all your hits. With enough strategy and skill, players can get their hit multipliers two times above original damage. In some fights, where enemies have an extensive number of hit points, chaining together shots to hit combos is the only way to wrap up a fight in a time-sensitive manner.
ReCore is a gorgeous game with an interesting game concept, but you probably already knew that. Fortunately, after playing through about half an hour of ReCore, I can also say that the gameplay of the title stands up to the strengths of the presentation.

Gamespot

Mechanically, Recore has a lot going on with it. On top of everything mentioned above, there are systems such as the chain combo kills, which results in greater experience points rewards. As we attacked enemies, damage numbers would come out of them, suggesting there may also be a loot or upgrade system too. We didn’t get to see this in our demo, however.
What’s there meshes together in a satisfying way. The challenge of managing enemies, ensuring you’re not falling prey to environmental traps, and making the most of all Joule’s weapons and abilities to maximize rewards felt thrilling. Recore might finally be the Mega Man successor we’ve been waiting for.

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