Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (PS4 / Xbox One)

[Sonicka]

Saweeet! And potentially Less than 4 months away? Amazing. 

Also guys, you want to know what is more tiring than discussing Activision’s shitty practises? It’s watching you gang up and continually throw down the gauntlets at Jango’s feet when he isn’t asking for it. The guy couldn’t agree with you more and you’ll still find a way to misconstrue his words and deprive the poor fella.

He isn’t laying down and accepting the reality of Activision’s capitalist greed, he’s blatantly saying why keep banging on about the same old bloody thing over and over again, when we could instead be talking about the excitement of the game itself. God knows we could do with the positive vibes in these current times.

He’s not disrespecting anybodies views or feelings on the matter, it’s just that we already know these issues. To be clear, there is also nothing wrong with having the discussion or annoyance at Activision. But I think his point is that time and again it brings the tone down. Ultimately we will have zero impact on changing how Activision operates by discussing it further (on here at least). We will all still buy the game regardless, so it’s just hypercritical in the end. 

ANYWAY... IMO Re: No Switch Version for a multi-release, if this is true then I support and agree that this is pretty crappy. There isn’t really much in the way of an excuse after CTR: NF released multi platform.

I would like to suspect that their priorities are on a cross generation release so the focus is also placed on PS5/Series X ports over anything else right now. But the Switch has a high enough install base to still be worth the investment over a new console. So praying on the double dippers that want portability and/or making switch only customers wait is pretty unacceptable - unless the pandemic has anything to do with this. 

I guess we’ll know for sure on Monday what the official deal is.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

3 hours ago, Jango said:

It could be october 9, 2021 :P

Given Activision's MO, and the nature of this announcement schedule in correlation to the Reignited Trilogy's, highly doubt that to be the case.

[Harkofthewaa]

That Crash design looks pretty good, dunno about Coco though. Eyes are off. Speaking of her, I wonder if they're going for the angle of "well Coco used the Time Twister to go back in time in NST, that created a new timeline and the Quantum Masks". Whether this turns out to be a soft reboot of post ND Canon of just that we shall see. I guess all (or some) will be revealed Monday.

 

 

[Celestia]

Yeah, I can't see them announcing it that far ahead of time with box art and (if leaks are to be believed) quite a bit of info right off the bat.

[JosepHenry]

Spoiler

trailer screenshot leaks on spoiler

[KHCast]

oh good already digital cosmetic content being carved out to hype up pre orders for certain versions. My cynicism is already beginning to grow

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Interesting, looks like Crash and Coco have received another redesign.

[Dejimon11]

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More screenshots thanks to ResetERA

[Sonictrainer]

So it seems like the game is a mix of Wrath of Cortex & Twinsanity...except without Coco constantly getting tazed.

[Blue Wisp]

Spoiler

I'm getting extreme Crash of the Titans vibes with some of these screenshots. Not a bad thing by a long shot but this feels like a combination of all types of Crash, original Crash, PS2-Era Crash, CotT!Crash, and a bit of Skylanders flare here and there.

Good but it'll need some getting used to, definitely.

 

[Sonicka]

Yeah, not overly thrilled by the redesign to be honest. The HD overhaul with the N-sane trilogy and CTR was beautiful enough and pretty faithful to the originals. Mostly I just wish they kept Coco’s dorky/cute design the same rather than continue the weird developer trend of trying to make her appearance “grown up” or  “cool”. 

That being said, it’s a good thing is that they are not simply expanding on the assets from the remakes (although I would have been totally fine with that) and are crafting an entirely new game with brand new aesthetics. So it will “fit” with their new world designs I suppose.

Anyway, will be good to see this trailer in motion. Hopefully Crash 4 will feel like the sequel fans have wanted with enough advances but less of the “formula shake up” that plagued the other entries.  

[mayday2592]

On 06/20/20 at 7:42 PM, KHCast said:

 

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oh good already digital cosmetic content being carved out to hype up pre orders for certain versions. My cynicism is already beginning to grow

 

Because that's indicative of the entire game's quality am I right?

[Sonicka]

1 minute ago, mayday2592 said:

Because that's indicative of the entire game's quality am I right?

Exactly, it’s just a crappy publisher move. Hardly the fault of the game developer that resides under their corporate branches.

Besides, Crummy CTR practises (and the grindy nature aside) didn’t exactly stop the game being top quality fun to play at very least. 

[KHCast]

33 minutes ago, mayday2592 said:

Because that's indicative of the entire game's quality am I right?

Did I ever say the quality of the game itself was hampered by this? No. It’s a tacky business practice and it’s Activision thus I’m gonna be cynical. Especially given Activisions track record. God damn what is with Crash fans and getting offended and defensive when someone doesn’t drink Activision hype kool laid on every aspect of the games. 

Quote

 

Besides, Crummy CTR practises (and the grindy nature aside) didn’t exactly stop the game being top quality fun to play at very least.

 It actually did, because the grinding was a intentional design as a byproduct of the “crummy CTR practices” you can’t just put those aside and act like they didn’t effect how many people enjoyed the game. 

[Marcello]

You can really tell this is by the people who did Spyro Reignited. Especially in the screenshot with Crash and Coco.

I'm honestly surprised. I assumed they'd stick with the look of N. Sane Trilogy.

[FReaK]

Doesn't look bad imho. can't wait to see it in motion. also, release only a little bit more then 3 months away, thats amazing!

[Sonicka]

1 hour ago, KHCast said:

Did I ever say the quality of the game itself was hampered by this? No. It’s a tacky business practice and it’s Activision thus I’m gonna be cynical. Especially given Activisions track record. God damn what is with Crash fans and getting offended and defensive when someone doesn’t drink Activision hype kool laid on every aspect of the games. 

 It actually did, because the grinding was a intentional design as a byproduct of the “crummy CTR practices” you can’t just put those aside and act like they didn’t effect how many people enjoyed the game. 

To flip this back, it’s also constantly frustrating to have to deal with posts being misinterpreted. 

I’m more than happy to admit that I got it wrong last year and got off my Activision Defence high horse because I didn’t understand the nature of the beast being brand new to the online gaming community and was fairly ignorant to the manipulative side of their practises.

But to keep suggesting we’re drinking the Activision “Kool-aid” is unwarranted. 

The Grindy nature of the online modes of CTR was for the most part, not fun. It got better with time but not enough to make it eventually feel like a chore to get items you wanted without spending real money.

I specifically said the “grindy nature and crummy practises aside” - this is me singling out that I’m talking about the rest of the game - which was actually good IMO. If the gameplay was rubbish in general or unfun to play, we wouldn’t all continue to play the game after all. 

 

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

56 minutes ago, Son-icka said:

But to keep suggesting we’re drinking the Activision “Kool-aid” is unwarranted. 

Granted,  the tone of the defensive posts does not help the case one iota.

2 hours ago, mayday2592 said:

Because that's indicative of the entire game's quality am I right?

Now, now, to his credit, he really didn't say what you're suggesting.

56 minutes ago, Son-icka said:

The Grindy nature of the online modes of CTR was for the most part, not fun. It got better with time

No, actually, it just got worse. You'll recall the infamous coin rate nerfs that absolutely no one was asking for, but got implemented nonetheless. 

2 hours ago, Son-icka said:

Besides, Crummy CTR practises (and the grindy nature aside) didn’t exactly stop the game being top quality fun to play at very least. 

Eh, top quality of fun is a stretch. 

Due to the game being rushed, and the focus being on mainly content, it was quite buggy, the physics were questionable a lot of the time, and items were an issue to say the least. To the point where the original Playstation classic handled some stuff better.

Missiles have terrible targeting,  the online is a joke honestly, good luck getting matches for battle mode, they couldn't be bothered to include Nitro Kart's campaign despite having literally everything else from that game in there, and the list goes on.

CTR Nitro-Fueled was fun, but, for various reasons both on Activision and Beenox's parts, the game wasn't exactly the top quality of fun. It was just even more of a drag if you didn't have online.

Oh, and even if you did have online, the game is grindy and the God-awful roulette nature of the Pit Stop would torment people trying to get specific items. The GPs while meat with the content they provided, could be quite draining to complete, month after month as well.

This was not helped by rabid fans constantly trying to defend the practices because they were afraid Crash would go away again if the game didn't sell well.

Which, to their credit, Activision unfortunately would likely do more rather than listen to criticism going off of their track record.

[Jango]

C'mon guys... I even added the :P I was kidding.

And how about those screenshots? Really diging it!

[StaticMania]

3 hours ago, Son-icka said:

...trying to make her appearance “grown up” or  “cool”. 

She looks younger though...and I assume the face is suppose to look cuter.

[Sonicka]

8 minutes ago, Nina Cortex Jovahexeon said:

Granted,  the tone of the defensive posts does not help the case one iota.

No, actually, it just got worse. You'll recall the infamous coin rate nerfs that absolutely no one was asking for, but got implemented nonetheless. 

Eh, top quality of fun is a stretch. 

Due to the game being rushed, and the focus being on mainly content, it was quite buggy, the physics were questionable a lot of the time, and items were an issue to say the least. To the point where the original Playstation classic handled some stuff better.

Missiles have terrible targeting,  the online is a joke honestly, good luck getting matches for battle mode, they couldn't be bothered to include Nitro Kart's campaign despite having literally everything else from that game in there, and the list goes on.

CTR Nitro-Fueled was fun, but, for various reasons both on Activision and Beenox's parts, the game wasn't exactly the top quality of fun. It was just even more of a drag if you didn't have online.

Oh, and even if you did have online, the game is grindy and the God-awful roulette nature of the Pit Stop would torment people trying to get specific items. The GPs while meat with the content they provided, could be quite draining to complete, month after month as well.

This was not helped by rabid fans constantly trying to defend the practices because they were afraid Crash would go away again if the game didn't sell well.

Which, to their credit, Activision unfortunately would likely do more rather than listen to criticism going off of their track record.

Tone is regrettably quite hard to decipher on a message board a lot of time. That’s what makes it frustrating when someone is being specific. That admittedly goes both ways however.

Fair points on the rest. To be honest I forgot about the coin nurfs. For a time it felt as though Beenox were finding workarounds and implemented methods that made it seem less grindy with Nitro, on the other hand it forces you to use cosmetics you might not want to use.

Despite that, I guess it’s just my opinion that I still enjoyed it a lot. For me I expected just a straight up HD visual remaster of CTR with not a lot else. So to get that plus a lot more over the year counters a few of the issues I still have with missing content and issues with missiles etc... On balance it’s Certainly not perfect, but I had a fun time overall. 

Anyway, I digress

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

6 minutes ago, Son-icka said:

Despite that, I guess it’s just my opinion that I still enjoyed it a lot.

Oh, it's absolutely fine if you enjoyed the game, just remember that a lot of people have good reason to have been disgruntled with it.

 

6 hours ago, JosepHenry said:

  Hide contents

trailer screenshot leaks on spoiler

Hmmm, it looks the rumors of

Spoiler

Cortex being playable from way back and affecting the levels before you play them as Crash

might very well be true.

[Lord-Dreamerz]

The leaked screenshots look pretty good to me! Feels like they are going for a slightly more "cute" art style this time, which appeals enough to me personally. However I do wish they would stop changing the art style endlessly and just stick with a solid look for a good long time.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Anyway,

Spoiler

There we have it. Confirmation of the release date. 

[mayday2592]

On 06/20/20 at 11:35 PM, KHCast said:

Did I ever say the quality of the game itself was hampered by this? No. It’s a tacky business practice and it’s Activision thus I’m gonna be cynical. Especially given Activisions track record. God damn what is with Crash fans and getting offended and defensive when someone doesn’t drink Activision hype kool laid on every aspect of the games. 

 It actually did, because the grinding was a intentional design as a byproduct of the “crummy CTR practices” you can’t just put those aside and act like they didn’t effect how many people enjoyed the game. 

I admit I was being a bit snobby. Crash is one my all time favorite fanchises, and i tend to get a bit too defensive at times about my favortes. But you did make a good point in retrospect.