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Topic: Reflection is coming this Monday under a new name!

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Birdman

I saw Divergent Shift on the ESRB website when looking for DodoGo! Challenge, and I was going to post that info but never got around to it. I may get it, but the concept sounds more like that of a Flash game than an actual video game.

Exactly.
My Birdloggery

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cheapogamer4life

Sounds good. If nothing else comes out tomorrow that looks interesting i'll download this. Depending on the price and block size as well.

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ErrorSupply

Anyone else pick this up yet? After completing it, my opinion is although the story portion is short (about 2 hours max, thanks largely to infinite lives and frequent checkpoints), what is there is well thought out and cleverly designed enough to warrant a purchase. Making it through the assorted hazard filled levels requires you to think ahead, as well as use your reflexes, and playing the stages in "Time Attack" mode shifts the emphasis from simply reaching the next stage, to speedy memory based completion of the levels to earn medals in what at times feels like a 2D parkour sim, given the flawless sliding and wall jumping acrobatics you'll need to earn the gold.
It's a shame they didn't go with a 500pt price, not because this game doesn't deserve 800, but because that extra 300 is a hurdle most gamers aren't willing to jump when it comes to DSiWare, which leads to overlooked gems like DoDoGo! and Mighty Flip Champs.

7/10

Edited on by ErrorSupply

UNO FC: 5199-7153-8508

joek0

ErrorSupply wrote:

Anyone else pick this up yet? After completing it, my opinion is although the story portion is short (about 2 hours max, thanks largely to infinite lives and frequent checkpoints), what is there is well thought out and cleverly designed enough to warrant a purchase. Making it through the assorted hazard filled levels requires you to think ahead, as well as use your reflexes, and playing the stages in "Time Attack" mode shifts the emphasis from simply reaching the next stage, to speedy memory based completion of the levels to earn medals in what at times feels like a 2D parkour sim, given the flawless sliding and wall jumping acrobatics you'll need to earn the gold.
It's a shame they didn't go with a 500pt price, not because this game doesn't deserve 800, but because that extra 300 is a hurdle most gamers aren't willing to jump when it comes to DSiWare, which leads to overlooked gems like DoDoGo! and Mighty Flip Champs.

7/10

I agree with errorsupply. The main game is short and takes about two hours. For me the final stage was hard and took me an hour or two to get right. Any tips on the final stage! The extra stages and time trial mode is more than enough extra content. The first extra stage can be gotten before beating the main game with enough journals. I have yet to get the second extra stage. I have all but 3 journals.

joek0

ErrorSupply

joek0 wrote:

Any tips on the final stage!

No tips from me. The first phase of the last stage was pretty much trial and error, and the second phase felt pretty much like dumb luck.
Nice to finally hear someone elses thoughts on the game, by the way. I think I've got 2 more journals to go, and have been slowly earning the gold medals in time trial mode. The time limits they set are pretty hardcore, but it wouldn't be as rewarding otherwise.

UNO FC: 5199-7153-8508

ErrorSupply

I pretty much agree with their points. The running animation doesn't look too silly to me though, just sort of makes her look like a jointed paper cut-out. I thought it looked kinda cool.

EDIT: Another review in from NWR: 8.5/10.

Edited on by ErrorSupply

UNO FC: 5199-7153-8508

Codetainment

^ Link to the NWR Review ErrorSupply mentioned: http://nintendoworldreport.com/review/23892


Hey folks,
I'm one of the developers of Divergent Shift (Reflection). First off, on behalf of the team, a huge thank you to everyone who's checked out the game! It's been quite the unbelievable journey, starting from a class project, and it's really great to hear people are enjoying the game!

Quick Note: Since I'm posting from an individual, personal account, please note that any posts/comments/opinions are mine alone and may not represent the views of Intrinsic Games, Konami, or Nintendo.

Arite, having said that, wanted to address a couple of things we keep hearing about directly. Apologies for the long post

Divergent Shift and Mighty Flip Champs
Some people have noticed similarities in screenshots between these two titles since both of them present the bottom screen as upside down images of the top screen. They're actually pretty different games though. Best way to describe it is that MFC is a puzzle game with platforming elements, DS is a platformer with puzzle elements. MFC is a fantastic, challenging game, if you haven't checked it out yet be sure to (but check out Divergent Shift also!). The folks at WayForward are really great people - they served as our Technology Advisors for Divergent Shift since the DSi was a platform we were unfamiliar with at the time, and I've had the pleasure of meeting them.

Divergent Shift and Chronos Twins
Don't worry, nobody ripped off of anybody. Chronos Twin first released in 2007, but at the time was a Europe only, budget release. As such, few people knew about it in America, and none of us on the team had heard about it. It wasn't until after we submitted our IGF build (this was late 2008) were we made aware of CT. Just two independent developers both looking to use the two screens in a unique way. While the mechanic of using controlling two characters exists between both games, there's actually some fundamental differences between the games. I like to think of Chronos Twin as a dual screen Mega Man - there's a lot of action, enemies, you can jump and shoot, and it's pretty difficult. Divergent Shift is almost the opposite - there's no enemies, so the focus is on the platforming. Partly because of this, DS is easier to get through for most people than CT. There's definitely a different feel between each game - CT is much more action/shooter oriented, Divergent Shift is more speedy and puzzle oriented. As such, I do hope that people who are interested in/enjoyed the concept of a dual-screen platformer (even those who've played CT), get a chance to check out Divergent Shift as well.

Thanks to NintendoLife and everyone here for creating such a great, active community for DSiWare! If you guys have any questions, I'll be glad to answer them - provided of course that it's not something that Nintendo ninjas will kidnap me if I answer

Divergent Shift - Now Available on DSiWare (NA)
http://www.divergentshift.com/

joek0

Can anyone give me advice on the hopscotch bonus stage. I can't get the timing right. Also, are all gold medal times possible. Alot of my silver medal times seem impossible to gold.

joek0

ErrorSupply

joek0 wrote:

Can anyone give me advice on the hopscotch bonus stage. I can't get the timing right. Also, are all gold medal times possible. Alot of my silver medal times seem impossible to gold.

Hopscotch is definitely a toughy (I can't imagine how hard the "pro" version will be). I haven't made it through yet, but it seems the ideal rythym is to get it so just before you hit the ground on the bottom screen, you jump on the top.
I'm sure all the golds are attainable. I've got them all up to 4-1, and the "Pokey" bonus stage. Just keep an eye out for ANY way to make your path as direct as possible.

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eryx

Dear Codetainment,
Thanks for the comments, Divergent Shift, Chronos Twins and Flip Champs are a great Games, similar concepts but with different gameplay.

eryx

ErrorSupply

@ joek0

I finally beat "Hopscotch", and can offer a bit more advice: at about the halfway point, you need to stop and allow your jumps to synchronize. My main hang up was not realizing this, and trying to hopscotch all the way through. Once I figured this out though, I earned the gold within my next 10 tries.

UNO FC: 5199-7153-8508

ErrorSupply

I've gotten all the gold medals except for Hopscotch Pro, and am pretty much at my wits end. I've spent about 2 hours just trying to figure out how to get through the segment where the large boxes are going up and down with staggered saw blades on the ground. If anyone can offer any advice on what you're supposed to do, it would be much appreciated. Thanks.

UNO FC: 5199-7153-8508

Codetainment

ErrorSupply wrote:

I've gotten all the gold medals except for Hopscotch Pro, and am pretty much at my wits end. I've spent about 2 hours just trying to figure out how to get through the segment where the large boxes are going up and down with staggered saw blades on the ground. If anyone can offer any advice on what you're supposed to do, it would be much appreciated. Thanks.

You'll notice the last block is slower than the others to rise, so you'll have to figure a way to delay getting there so that you can pass under it. Then it's just a matter of watching out for the spikes!

Divergent Shift - Now Available on DSiWare (NA)
http://www.divergentshift.com/

ErrorSupply

@ Codetainment
Thanks. I believe that should be all the info I need to figure it out, and thanks to you and the rest of the team for making this fun and addictive game. I hope it brings you much success, and leads to future DSiWare projects by the same creative minds.

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sonic_brawler95

I'm tempted to buy this now, but I don't have enough points. Maybe in the future.

3DS FC: 5412-9891-8712

Codetainment

Hey folks,
Once again thanks to everyone for their support for Divergent Shift!

It's important to us to hear from you guys about the game - we're always on the lookout for feedback and comments from reviewers and players on what they liked and what they didn't to try and integrate that feedback into our next games. We're always browsing various forums, and any comments that can help us make better titles is always appreciated!

Divergent Shift - Now Available on DSiWare (NA)
http://www.divergentshift.com/

ErrorSupply

It would have been nice to be able to replay story mode without resetting all of your medals, journals and time trial scores.

UNO FC: 5199-7153-8508

KnucklesSonic8

I know exactly what you mean.

KnucklesSonic8

ErrorSupply

A couple of other suggestions for a potential sequel:

When the player dies during time trial mode, maybe it would be best to restart at the beginning, rather than using the checkpoints. When I was going for the golds, I had to constantly restart because if I died my chance at earning it was blown. It would also add sort of an endurance aspect, forcing the player to clear the whole stage in one shot.

Total up all time trial records and display it. Having one easy to share record might encourage competition on the forums, or you could even go as far as DoDoGo!: offer a score code that you can enter at an official website to be ranked in a worldwide leaderboard via your web browser of choice.

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