Negative Reception For Devil's Third Is Due To Poor Player Skill, Claims Tomonobu Itagaki

Well what do you expect him to say? The game is what 5years in the making and a labor of love. I respect his work.I look forward to forming my OWN opinion.
I'm also very annoyed that the staff here takes his comment as a personal attack on your journalistic skills...Nintendo life doesn'thave the final say. Get over yourselves

I get what he's trying to get at. Defending his game and all and his first since he founded Valhalla. But he still needs to face reality that his game has a lot of problems. Especially with today's standards. You can only be in denial for too long. Sure I'll buy it. Still looks fun. But that doesn't take away the fact that the game has LOADS of issues. I just hope he supports the game with patches and whatnot post-launch. Mostly focusing on texture updates and performance tweaks. I'm fine with 30fps. Just make it consistent. The visuals personally I don't mind. But it doesn't hurt to improve on them.

I'm waiting for the actual reviews. Can't base opinions off of previews alone. Even something like flappy bird seemed impossible and broken when I first played it, but can now appreciate it after giving it a little time to get used to controls. And the graphics don't bother me. If they did I wouldn't have a Wii U and Minecraft wouldn't have been the biggest thing in gaming for the last few years.

Lol.

Judging by the preview it looks as easy as most FPSes single player mode, so I don't see how he got that idea.

I'm still getting it......... I kind of feel he may be right judging by the response you have.... Ps2 level visuals? Come on now your just playing into the guys hands.

One I will have to pick up myself and see. Any new game is welcome in my book. If it's too hard. I'll just have to get good. I was brought up during the times games had no save points and finite continues. Bring on the challenge. Be good for once.

wow... you can really ignore the enemies... takes so many hits to die, you recover immediately, everything is in hall ways and rooms so enemy back up doesn't get behind you, you can see the bullets and looks like you can avoid them just by walking to the side, also the enemies are shooting nonstop(acting like units in a tower defense). maybe this is like dynasty warriors where you just rip through everyone.

the preview made it look like you were doing tasks rather than playing. go here get weapon go there get other weapon rather than let you do those things because you want to. it's too early to judge though the guys behind this are known for personality right?

Edit: never mind, I looked the people up. oh it's coming out this year? seems like they need to make everything tighter have enemies attack more precisely and have the playable character move in a more entertaining way. or they can give u limited health

@Zyph With the kind of attitude and other things that Itagaki has said in the saga since the games' re-unveiling that is honestly probably asking too much. In order to fix the games problems he needs to admit there are ACTUAL problems in the first place, as you said.

So, to sum it up, he's saying, "My game doesn't suck! You suck!"
It sounds a bit childish, if you ask me.

Straight to the point, ready to burn the opponents and no care for the consequences , I don't find hard to believe that this is the mind behind Ninja Gaiden and Devil's Third XD

This guy sounds like he's a few sandwiches short of a picnic hamper.

i think for the type of game it is, the hefty price point will turn many off. I understand the statement that some make about it being a fleshed out indie, but not a full retail release, i think thats due to the nature of the core gameplay. You'll like it or you won't.

I might play the game, simply because I didn't like The Wonderful 101 much starting out because I kept taking damage, but I gradually enjoyed it more and more as I got better at it.

I'm not sure if it's worth scoffing at Mr Itagaki just yet. The demo shown at last year's E3 treehouse is played so differently to the video previews that have been coming out. NintendoLife's video was almost all running, shooting and melee. There are so many moves in last year's videos, with the most obvious being weapon-throwing. I didn't see any of that in recent previews. Has it been taken out of the game? Or are reviewers brute-forcing their way through a game that's meant to be played with finesse?

Hard to tell right now, but amazing action games sure have been written off as being bad, or too difficult before due to a reviewer's lack of skill. (God Hand, Wonderful 101)

@TromboneGamer Yeah, I agree. Like I said, he's in denial. Maybe party due to the game being in development far too long. Sad but he needs to face the facts.

This will end well.

The ps2 visuals remark seems petty wasn't it only like a fortnight ago the nintendo life writers were on here shouting about how star fox zero and it's gamecube visuals weren't being done justice by the shots released?

Pretty darn ugly attitude to take. He's not really helping the game's cause at all.

A preview build isnt the entire final release of the game, so I'll wait for that and form my opinion around it.

As for the graphics, they look fine to me. It's enough to get the point across and that's all I care about. As soon as Nintendo figures out how their going to market and release this game, I'll be there day1 to pick it up.

He's getting kinda cocky, but seriously those attrocious framerate and "PS2-level" graphics claims are making me doubt your opinion. Sloppy gameplay is one thing, but blindly slandering a game's visuals is another.

To all the noobs out there:

Welp... when the game eventually comes out and I probably rent it to form my own opinion, we'll soon find out who's talking bollocks.

@AVahne Indeed, it kind of reads like he hurt their feelings and now they're attempting to hurt his.

He seems really arrogant there. If he acts like this normally, then he's going to miss potential issues in the game, which could result in the game not being as good as it should be.

@thatguyEZ Except nothing new is being said because all of that was mentioned one way or the other in Thomas' preview. It's not a reaction to Itagaki's tantrum, it's the reiteration of a previous statement.

To anyone here claiming that his attitude is iffy:
The same thing happened to Wonderful 101.

It recieved lower ratings from people who couldnt cope with its controll scheme, who played it like a Pikmin game instead of what it is, basically a Bayonetta spinoff.
So in a way, hes perfectly right. Its not the first game that was looked at more critically because of its controll scheme, playstyle or overall difficulty level.

But the logical conclusion i would draw from this is, that there is a definitive need for a solid demo. If he thinks that reviewers arent up to snuff to properly represent his game, people need to try it out themselfes, or else tehy are going to believe the written reviews and pass on this game.

@thatguyEZ Players skill is a valid point if they want to give out a correct image of the game. People bad at a game will blame the game and says it sucks, while good players will have a more positive attitude.

On the other hand I would say Itagaki is out of line with this comment. As a developer he shouldn't blaming journalists for not liking the game. From what I read the difficulty was not the problem in the game, so it sounds like he's defensive and in damage control mode.

I will wait and see the rewievs before buying this game.

I'll rent it and try it out. It looks decent at least.

Cannot say anything about the quality of the gameplay. But I can't understand the comparison with "PS2-graphics". Even if we'd ignore the higher resolution. Sure, Devil's Third doesnt look like a masterpiece in terms of graphics. But I'm just playing the original Bayonetta on the Wii U, and that doesnt look like that either. Framerate is overrated anyway, in my opinion, at a time where constant 30 fps are the standard. But a game can still function with less, as long as it doesnt drop below 15.
But dont get me wrong: I'm not trying to hype this game or whatever. At the moment, I have no interest in buying it anytime soon, for anything above 15 euro or so. But the visuals seem alright.

@KillScottKill Get the popcorn ready.

@BertoFlyingFox These previews were based on the final version of the game.

He's going to do a Tommy Wiseau next and claim the game is intentionally crap, a black comedy that satirises similar titles from the PS2 era!

Me personally I'm probably gonna buy this to form my own opinion.

if only there was gyro aiming option, I would buy it even if it was otherwise bad game(I even enjoyed Conduit for a good bit, because it had immediate controls) but the auto aim just looks boring.

He could have made it even faster, cranked the difficulty even higher, if he took the autoaim away and put gyro aiming option in place.

This is not the best piece of NintendoLife journalism.....clearly Itagaki is trying to defend his work and isn't going about it, IMO, the right way, but this article is loaded with attitude that just isn't needed. Write an editorial if you wanna call out his "pompous attitude".

Still, from what I've seen, there are some hiccups in the coding that draw away from the experience and that has nothing to do with player skill.

It'll be hilarious if he's right and everyone who's previewed it was just coincidentally crap at it.
Seems unlikely though, he's just doing a Tale of Tales.

Im surprised how many people there are still that defend this game and say ridiculous things like "graphics dont matter" or something along those lines, Yes they dont really matter as long as the game is good but this is the wii U not the ps2 we are talking about here, and there are many things wrong with the gameplay that they ignore entirely.

They must be crazy or just really starving for a new game on the wii u that theyll accept any trash that gets handed to them.

the more people dislike it, the more i kind fall for for this game heheh its so over the top, looks fun and funny

@gussie Well said.

There's nothing like that moment where your skills finally click together in a really difficult game. A moment that is now rare to me as I either don't have the time or patience any more - despite this, I'm still offended by the removal of penalties (to the detriment of gameplay) found in the action games that are tailored to my laziness. Since Half-Life set the bar, almost all "adult" "action" games are a passive trudge through a really long and awkward (and desperately cool) cgi movie.

An action game today that takes a few attempts to beat the first section. Fancy that! A little bit of preview time is never going to give justice to a difficult game.

Itagaki does make a good point. Perhaps Devil's Turd just looks a bit crap.

I wouldnt intetpret that as against journalists. Thats nuts. A responsible journalist should acknowledge that some remarks could b lost in translation. Dude, dont b so angry and so desperate for confrontations. Journalists on the internet need a following, writing bitter and creepy articles isnt the way to do it.

What incredible-looking PS2 games have you guys been playing?

@RainbowGazelle https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CJ_GdOhWcAAHNmw.png

this one looks great

So this has has PS2 graphics and looks rubbish yet Starfox which has PS2 graphics looks amazing? Loving the consistency of this website recently. Blindly praise any old rubbish Nintendo peddles (new pretend Metroid game) and slate anything else. Admittedly it doesn't look great but there's no need to take shots at a developer because he doesn't agree with your opinion

@NintendoLife You guys are entitled to your opinion about Gameplay but posting rumors as facts is taking things a little too far.

"I was be able to understand about the reactions" huh?

Why not show people how to play it if you think reviewers are playing it wrong? The dude is obviously in denial and blaming his problems on everyone except himself.

@BarryDunne And then you discover the magic that is the right analog stick and it becomes second nature
Seriously, with a little practice, its not more complicated than your average fighting game controlls.
The trick to draw your shapes while under attack is to manage your units properly. How many do you need for your shape and how many can you spare for the pikmin like stagger attacks.
Its complicated, deep and involving but absolutely doable And very rewarding once the platinum medals start to pop up

@readyletsgo Yep, definitely no translation error in that quote. You can tell he was using a pompous tone through the quote that wasn't even freaking translated properly!

I'll calm down now.
*inserts handful of popcorn into mouth

Don't get me wrong, I love reading articles and reviews on this site. Also, i found the hands-on article about Devil's Third insightful,

but
"Games journalism isn’t journalism. Games journalism is a neglected johnny-come-lately subset of entertainment journalism, which is also—with a few honorable exceptions—not journalism. Because entertainment journalism is a field where all of the money and all of the power lies in the hands of companies selling products, where the only thing to “cover” is the products being sold, where the target audience of the publication is defined by their pre-existing desire to purchase the product, and thus the border between advertising and “journalism” can’t help but be blurred." - Arthur Chu

So i gues both parties are getting a bit childish now. I'll just wait untill the game releases.

Itagaki's reaction was very poor. It basically ignores a lot of negative points that have nothing to do with the difficulty of the game. He should've been more elaboarte about his defense, this short blowdown was pointless, and taking other comments here into account, somewhat antagonizing, even if not intentionally so. He really needs to choose his words more carefully if he doesn't want to instantly burn his reputation,

Guys,
At last, I was be able to understand about the reactions.
If Devil's Third was a game worth a crap it would have been released years ago
That is truth.

This is pathetic.

Professional journalist? Lol.

@Phil_Kavadias
That's such a coincidence you mention Daikatana! Me and my brother were playing it because we have a preview code and after 10 minutes or so we looked at each other and said "Daikatana"! I am not kidding you!

I'm really curious how the multiplayer will turn out, although I'm afraid it won't be as crowded as they initially intended. There has been a lot of criticism about the game so far, totally understandable, I'm not gonna lie, but as far as I know, this game was intended as a multiplayer game and the SP was just to get accustomed to the controls.

The underlying mechanics are pretty bad, but somehow this game won't let me go. If this will be just remotely playable online, I actually feel like I'm gonna enjoy it. This has all the ingredients to become my guilty pleasure, but it needs a decent multiplayer component to stay attractive. I think it will feel a bit like the early online games we played online on our consoles like SOCOM, where things weren't as polished as we are used to now, but where we still enjoyed ourselves tremendously.

Can a game be so bad it's good? I believe this game will come very close to answering that, at least for me it will.

If we learn one thing from this game it is, "everyone sucks at video games".

Oh, boohoo. Itagaki is such a cry baby.
I can understand that he feels bad about the reception, but he should take it like a man with a touch of humor and aspire to, maybe, you know, update the game?

@Damo That bit about the "PS2 level visuals" is a bit of an overkill. Which parts are on par with PS2?
It might not be top tier, but the poly count, textures, lighting and effects seem pretty standard PS3/X360 era graphics, with some higher quality parts.

@BLPs It's only 8:30 in the morning and I'm hungover from last night, you're on your own on this one, I'm staying out of it.

I'm not saying Itagaki is right here, either, but this article certainly doesn't read like it's written by a journalist, something the writer wants very much for us to know he is, and something which he asserts makes him a great gamer.

I don't care how much gaming you've done in your life. Time does not equal skill. I spent nearly 1,000 hours playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl, several hundred in Project M and have put almost 500 in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (hindered only by obligations to my work and wife) already, in addition to who knows how many hours building that foundation in Melee and the original. And you know what? I'm still a decidedly AVERAGE Super Smash Bros. player. More than that, I've spent thousands upon thousands of hours gaming in nearly every genre known to man. In fact, I believe the only genre I've never played is a MOBA because I've never owned a computer good enough to. But despite this deep and wide experience with games over a continuous 20 years, all in all, I'm still a pretty poor gamer. I seriously struggle with Mega Man games, I've never beaten Super Mario Bros. 3, and I find Dark Souls predominantly unenjoyable. Time does not equal skill.

Your hurt feelings have no place in a news article, and neither does your embarrassingly flimsy defense. "Journalists." Heh. You were once. Get it together, NintendoLife.

And mocking his English in the tagline? That's not even poor form for journalists, that's shameful for people.

Oh, jeez. Here we go. The onslaught of comments has barely begun, methinks.

"Not the terrible, outdated game design, atrocious frame-rate, PS2-level visuals or dull, uninspiring boss battles..." Really, guys? You're getting all grumpy because Itagaki talks from an elitist point of view, something he has done throughout his entire career? I mean, I agree that his remarks were unnecessary, but don't go exaggerating your complaints, just because you're a little butthurt over some famous guy's remarks about player skill.

I feel the need to echo the comment above me, though perhaps with a little less hyperbole: that's not the mark of credible journalism.

I agree, though, that the man has never taken criticism well, and it's entirely possible that this attitude causes him to ignore actual, potential problems with his game. Even so, the point about your reaction to his statement stands firm.

@Einherjar As usual, I think that you've got the right idea.

I mentioned before that I don't like LP's and reviews because I don't honestly feel like I'm the one playing the game. Saying the game's bad based on a preview is a bit excessive, I think, as you only really give yourself an hour or so to learn the game. Working at NL as long as you guys have and it's hard not to develop preferences, and if you're dealing with a genre you don't really like or haven't mastered and you're going to be in for one bad surprise after another.

Arin Hanson, a.k.a. Egoraptor, claimed in his Sequelitis video last year that Ocarina of Time was boring and broken. Made the same claim about Skyward Sword. Does that make it true? If you hear the words he says and you've played the game countless times as I have you realize that he's just whiny and full of crap (To be fair, it did seem like he forced himself to play every Zelda game EVER before making the video, so I should cut him some slack).

It's the same thing with any reviewer, really. People will become sycophantic to reviewers they like just to get a pat on the head and a stroke to their ego via the like button from their peers for sharing an opinion they may or may not actually believe in. That's the kind of world we live in today, filled with sheeple with needy egos.

When I saw the preview video you guys did for Devil's Third I couldn't help but feel the same way Itagaki-san did about early previewers. The general lack of awareness, the running around helpless, the nonessential adventurousness, etc. No offense to you guys, but as far as action games go I agree with Itagaki-san. I'm proud to have such a diverse portfolio of games from countless genres. It keeps me from getting bored, but it also keeps me familiar with everything new that comes out so it's not too overwhelming.

Besides, Itagaki-san has had plenty of controversy follow him, and his attitude has always been blunt. Don't believe me? Just do a little research on him. He's been like this since he created Dead or Alive.

Don't take it personally Nintendo Life...

This definitely doesn't look like a "Ps2" game you guys. But I sometimes get the feeling Japanese Developers/Players don't do as much comparing as we do in the west. I played 3 Uncharted games and all of them looked better than this. A fourth one is coming out soon and it's basically a generation ahead of this.
It sometimes seem to me Japanese people just don't care about these facts. That's not wrong...I actually envy them. But I live in a world we you have limited money to buy games, you compare what you get for that money and there is too much out there where I get more.

A lot of people comparing Itagaki to John Romero.

I disagree.

I think Itagaki is John Romero.

I'm pretty shocked by the number of people defending the developer and game here, given that his comment ignores everything that's actually wrong with the game and none of us have played it ourselves. All the complaints I've seen make it sound like a game with significant technical issues, poor controls, and uninteresting design. Having skill at it won't suddenly make those issues go away. I understand he needs to save face and try to make his game a success, but still. I think it would be better if he acknowledged that the game has some issues and they'll be working on a patch post-launch.

Agree with whoever said this game need a demo, so everyone can play it and form their own opinion. Pretty sure that will make more people appreciate it, if one of the main probs is the control scheme. Graphics could be better, but as long as he can mantain 30fps, I think it's fine like that, and bugs can be patched. Good luck to the game.

Basically he's saying you Nintendo ppl aren't hardcore enough to play this game? Sounds like even he wanted this game on PlayStation or Xbox.

Either way, I think he's insulting Nintendo reviewers and fans by saying that, and I find that kinda funny considering the game is only on Wii U

Is itagaki acting like a spoiled kid .....yes!
Do we expect a professional journalists reaction to equal the immaturity and pompous attitude of the man? Hell no!!!!!
You have let people down by snapping at his bait Nintendo life, I'm disappointed tbh.
On the game front , looks interesting but flawed, like starfox for example......

@kensredemption lol sure mate. Keep shilling for some weird reason.

The pen is mightier than the sword. Look at all the damage Nintendolife did to the game already!

NintendoLife should be exonerated from accusations from commenters claiming it is "taking it personally," "has an attitude," etc. The issue that this article discusses is that Itagaki completely disregarded all possible criticisms of journalists related to the game, except for his own perceptions of the critics' skill levels, which doesn't take into account all the unrelated issues to that that made it an uninspired experience to these critics. That's not attitude. That's not taking it personally. That's certainly not poor journalism. It is only a pointing-out of the diversive statement the creator of the game made in order to deflect criticism of it (and Tom well justified his criticism of the game in his test-play article mentioned above, and most of the negative points of critique in it had nothing to do with "player skill," but rather of a poorly-made game).

People, please take all statements into account before stating an opinion.

So...he's completely disregarding the game's problems and saying that the critics just suck at it?...Okay, then...

So you guys react to Itagaki acting like a spoiled child by acting like a spoiled child.Dont take the bait Nintendo Life you're better than that.

@Achoo This is the dev reacting to criticism so don't see why that is not report-worthy.

The video NL posted of themselves playing showed some really sloppy playing, like advancing past enemies that weren't killed yet. Yes, I would believe that this is a game that is more fun as you get more skilled, as many games are, and that it's skill requirement may be subtle.

@JadedGamer @Damo This is Not the first time that reviewers do not have enough skills when reviewing a game and trash the game afterwards. kgm, kgm... Sonic Lost World?

You know, I haven't given it a play but when all the complaints that I see so far are geared towards visuals...sigh the graphics snobs strike again.

If the controls are bad/unintuitive, if it has bad enemy placement, poor level design, unfair and cheap difficulty, bad glitches that make it nearly unplayable, or just very aggravating, I can understand, because that's got nothing to do with player skill and my hats off to the players that have the patience to beat it, but it would be nice if some people would quit critiquing the cake's frosting (I think today's graphics are amazing) and start learning to critique the whole thing properly and objectively.

I get so sick and tired of some people whining about frame rates and last gen graphics and saying games suck automatically just cuz "It aint purdy nuff for me."

@NintendoLife isn't jumping on the bandwagon, they're far too busy driving it.

I've enjoyed plenty of games which were 'critically' panned. The important thing is if you enjoy it or not.

This site has treated this game unfairly, you guys are expecting some classic game but that's simply not the case with Devils Third. I mean Jesus Christ give this game a chance before going about how much it sucks, I mean Nintendo Life has already made a top 5 list on why the game is bad.

So in conclusion I think this site has done a terrible job covering the game. I mean really, "PS2" graphics? That's just stupid to say.

@Achoo what ? Are you telling me that previews arent worth it ? @damo did what it had to do, say what the game looked and play like.

I dont know about you, but im not ready to spend $60 dolllars on a crappy game, do you remember the NES ERA ? I could have saved my family a fortune if i didnt buy every game that had a cool title and screenshot.

The preview was based on the review copy, i dont anything would magically change...

@Damo Ok nice try buy it still doesn't. I'm sure not many places in the game look like that.

@Damo Sorry to burst your bubble but that doesn't look like a ps2 game, the lighting alone in that scene is far superior to anything the PS2 could handle

@Damo Were you able to test the multiplayer yet?

I kinda agree with the commenters here. This whole Devils Third affair is not making NintendoLife look great.
Yeah, the reviewer could be totally right that this game is a huge mess, but the attitude displayed by the reviewers on this site seems unprofessional to say the least. It's almost like they seem to enjoy bashing this game as seen in comments like "Well I didn't have much fun capturing the footage " in reply to a commenter who said this could still be fun.

Wow... NintendoLife sure isn't taking Itagaki thrash home ". Not the terrible, outdated game design, atrocious frame-rate, PS2-level visuals or dull, uninspiring boss battles "
hahahaha, that's gone personal!

Wait, so he's saying he's developed a system that assesses the player's skill level, and lowers the frame rate accordingly?! Genius...

Calling out life long gamers/journalists probably not his best move. Maybe get some help to fix the controls, and be thankful that people are telling you now before you release a buggy mess. Being overly defensive gets in the way of progress.

Real translation "Everyone but me is wrong. I am the best but you just can't handle my totally awesome game."
I hope this game tanks and this idiot never gets to make anything ever again.

@RainbowGazelle Touché'

The game runs and looks like a PS2 game... on 2015... 2 generations ahead.... and people are defending it, im really speechless

especially considering how Nintendo has manage to do games that look FAR better than this and runs at a steady 60fps. This is just a lazy developer.

**os: saw the vídeo, game doesn't look half as bad as the buzz is making it to be; it seems to be just as good as any other Ninja Gaiden game. Maybe a 7/10 wich is alright if you're into action games like this. With a decent online multiplayer it can be a worthy buy.

@Faruko You really shouldn't compare games that Nintendo develops to game other people develop, whether if they are indie or third party, because pretty much no one makes games for Nintendo's systems that look as good as Nintendo's.

@Hero-of-WiiU So that means we should accept games looking like 2000 on 2015 ? on much more powerful hardware ?

Game looks pretty good in video but difficulty is propably set for too easy because character doesn't die as easily as it should.

What's with this whole, 'give it a chance attitude'? They played a preview, which was of the final build of the game. There's no more chances to give, that's the end product. Not to mention, Nintendo Life played it for at least a week. The game, in the editor's opinion, was simply not good. No sense in defending a bad game like it's your best friend.

@Hero-of-WiiU
None of the criticisms of the game are misplaced. It's NL's job to advise against buying bad games. If anything, NL is overly positive most of the time.

@Faruko Im sure if this was one the Wii no one would be complaining and would be amazed. It's a weaker looking Wii U game but its not 2000. The fact that most of the complaints from the comment section and even the reviewers themselves here are about the graphics are pretty sad.

He might have a point - it wouldn't be the first example of game "misunderstood" by the press - from Giga Wing to Wonderful 101. I haven't played the game so it could be anything - it could be journalists being a collective of hacks, who knows.
But just as the press has the right to say everything they want about the game, the person who actually made it at least has a shot at defending his product if he thinks it's been misunderstood.

@Damo I'm not too fond of the way you're trying to convince people that you are right and Itagaki is wrong. I mean, this is something entirely between Itagaki and the press, and we (the general audience) haven't played the game, so can't really side with any of the two factions. You seem to be taking it too personally - as Itagaki is...

@Fazermint I just think its unfair or even rude to give a game such a bad reputation before its released, but I am not so ignorant of the Internet that other gaming sites do that too. I bet Valhalla Studious regrets giving this site a review copy.

@Damo http://nintendonuggets.com/nintendolife-catching-flack-for-over-entitled-articles-and-slanted-journalism-towards-devils-3rd/

@Hero-of-WiiU The wii didnt even had HD capabilities, people knew what to expect, this is lazy.

graphics ARE part of a game, frame-rate ITS part of a game, they might not be the end-all be-all of a game, but they are indeed important. Nintendo knows about that, thats why 60fps are indeed a pillar of Nintendo games because they know that they not only make a game more responsive and look better (seriously, ill take 60fps over better graphics any freaking day of the week), it makes gameplay much better.

@Faruko Many games run 30Fps and they look fine. As for our debate, I don't know why it's comparing the specs of the Wii and Wii U now...

I'm sorry but this game still looks like some silly fun. Still getting it regardless of what I'm reading online.

Here we go with the classic statement of "git good" from a developer who has clearly went through development hell,and won't even admit the flaws of the game. At least Sega admitted that Sonic boom sucked and all of that, but these people don't even seem like they care about the problems. All they need to do Imo is fix the problems with frame rates and graphics, but hearing from this they probably won't. I mean maybe it gets better if you practice like Star fox zero, but otherwise this is coming out to be a fail...

The poor framerate killed my launch purchase, I'm not the type that expects 1080p 60fps for every game but the low framerate seems lower than Sonic 06 (which I only love because of the glitches, Silver and hilarious LPs). Not that it matters though because I managed to find space to add my GameCube back into my gaming setup so I'll be reliving the fantastic F-Zero GX along with my current backlog.

@Damo, lol... Seriously nuggets wont be reviewing UCraft

@JadedGamer
I agree, and I have no interest in getting the game.
Nothing bugs me more than a journalist who thinks their opinions are the be-all and end-all.

Technical problems aside, I'm sure there will be people who adore this game.

@Damo
While I doubt Itagaki's words are anything other than damage control about a sloppily-produced product, you're acting like an angry fanboy and have started attacking people who are commenting on your article. You're taking this whole thing personally. People could sense it in the article, and you're making it crystal clear in the comments. You need to stop writing about this game, for the time being, as you don't seem to be able to maintain professional distance from it.

I love NintendoLife and I love my Wii U and I love Itagaki-san . . . . I'M SO TORN RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!

@Damo here is ps2 in case you can't remember. And these were decent ones
http://www.capsulecomputers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/shadow-of-the-colossus-screen01-400x300.jpg
http://86bb71d19d3bcb79effc-d9e6924a0395cb1b5b9f03b7640d26eb.r91.cf1.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/prince-of-persia-the-sands-of-time-platforming-screenshot.jpg
http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=JN.xNsPoEiJfngR2RVxfQM25A
http://theisozone.com/images/screens/playstation-38749-21318748770.jpg
Just saying...it doesn't look that bad. Now mediocre PS3 yes.

@Hero-of-WiiU Literraly out of your comment #130

"Im sure if this was one the Wii no one would be complaining and would be amazed."

you brought Wii to the discussion, not me.

Well I guess if everyone fails equally in online multiplayer, that will turn out fine!

I came here and there's a war going on! LOL Alright back to the topic on hand if Itagki has to defend his product then it must be bad. Cause why would he defend it if it's a good game? The game will defend itself when it releases.

@ULTRA-64 Exactly! Don't feed the troll, you guys. Itagaki sounds like a brat with that statement; don't drop to the same level. It only fuels the mindless defenders.

I, meanwhile, will remain firmly on the fence until my butt starts hurting, or I get the chance to play it myself.

This all just seems so odd, because word was that Nintendo was super involved with Bayonetta 2, helping the game reach its full potential with pointers and such. And considering that they produced Ninja Gaiden 3, they're no strangers to chaotic, super-difficult action game design.

Something seems off that the big N is acting considerably less involved with this one, not to mention (I know that I'm a broken record with this point) the disconnect between regions. Europe and Japan seem to have no issues that anyone has mentioned, but NoA seems really cautious about releasing the game. As Nintendo is typically very unified in their approach to releasing only finished products, I really wonder what's going on inside this whole debacle.

Right or wrong this is just bad PR for him and his game.

I think this game looks fun and I have no problem spending $60 on it to make up my own mind.

Videogamer.com - http://www.videogamer.com/wiiu/devils_third/preview-3910.html

"Devil's Third is shaping up to be one of the worst games Nintendo has ever published."

NRW - http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/hands-on-preview/40748/devils-third-wii-u-hands-on-preview

"The single-player of Itagaki's latest is a drab, shallow adventure."

Eurogamer - http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-07-15-devils-third-is-a-terrible-game-but-can-it-be-so-bad-its-good

"Have you ever pondered over the question of what would happen if Tomonobu Itagaki made a mash-up of Ninja Gaiden and Modern Warfare-era Call of Duty, most likely while drunk and working on a PlayStation 2 devkit with a fiver and a pocketful of loose change to bring it all home? Boy does Devil's Third have the answer for you. (...) Going from those first few hours, then, Devil's Third is undoubtedly a bad game. It pushes beyond that, even, to be a truly atrocious one, one that now teeters on the edge of becoming a glorious car crash you can't help but stop and stare at. I'm amazed that Nintendo has backed this mess"

I cant be the only one seeing the trend with this game, like a comment on eurogamer: "Devil's Turd"

2015. Year of damage controlling!

This is amazing! The Game is not the problem (it's perfect!). YOU are the problem!

The whole point of journalists reviewing games is to give us their opinions before we spend our money. We don't have to listen but chances are if 20 different sites are saying 'this game is broken and dull', the chances are that's the truth. W101 got some bad reviews, but it also got some wonderful reviews. This seems to be just a bad game. Itagaki will have trouble making another game if this one flops, but then if he can't make a functional game that a large group of people enjoy, that's his own fault.

Remember: any game can be criticised.

Except Nintendo produced ones. Thy're faultless.

Sounds like Itagaki knows what he's talking about

@Damo And when there's people that get the game and adore it or hate it, that means nothing.
@Faruko That's not a very good assumption on what he is saying.

Aww Itagaki, don't ever change. Although I feel like his can do no wrong aura has diminished more than he realizes. Ah well I'm getting the game day one so I don't really care either way.

Query: Was difficulty a complaint of any previewers?

I don't really have an opinion on the game otherwise. Heard it's name tossed around near E3 2014, and I only found out it's genre a month or so ago. Judging by what I've heard, it seems to be this generation's Geist (game developed by external party, rated M, published by Nintendo, got mixed/ negative previews/ reviews).

@BLPs

Is doing a wall jump in Sonic Lost World easier then I'm making it? I swear it simply doesn't work, even after reading the pamphlet of a manual. I'm fully aware this might sound like a stupid question.

And the homing attack having a 25-50% chance to result in taking damage for no discernable reason... that and a few other issues made me lose interest in it. Shame, because I'm not sure it's BAD bad, but, it's certainly no Generations...

@Phil_Kavadias Wait, don't bring that back up. I bought that game...and still regret it to this day.

Looks like Itagaki prefers to think that gamers worldwide have terrible skills, instead of admitting that his game isn't very good....

With this kind of attitude... who is he hoping will buy it because he is kind of insulting people with this.... I won't buy a game from a person who throws insult. I remember questioning buying Smash because of Sakurai's attitude.

I will say though that this game looks rough. Not unplayable rough, but not up to the standards that I expect from Itagaki-san and former members of Team Ninja. Look at NINJA GAIDEN for the original X-BOX. That is a ten year old game, which also had a labored development, that still looks amazing to this day. I think they had problems porting over the code to Wii U and they need to get it out so they are cutting their losses. I will be playing it because it looks hilarious. But with more development time the fluidity between melee and firearm combat could be smoothed out. I do realize that Ivan is NOT Ryu Hyabusa and that his attacks will be slower and more deliberate, I just hope I can get some sort of rhythm down. Overall I think this will be a 5/10. 7 if the MP is as awesome as it looks.

always thought this game looked awful I dont think it deserves the spotlight its getting at all like you guys said it looks like a clunky ps2 game

The hate Devil's Third is getting from NL is getting a bit too much... I'm on Itagaki's side with this now... Anything to combat the Devil's Third haters. I don't even like much FPS games but this looks fun.

"...professional journalists who have played thousands of games previously simply aren't good enough to match Devil's Third"

Okay look, nothing against the fine people at Nintendo Life; I respect everyone here a lot, but from what I've personally seen over the last few years is that there are plenty of game journalists who aren't THAT good at games. If I recall correctly, most of the reviewers who weren't so impressed with The Wonderful 101 mentioned difficulty. I'm not trying to compare the quality of W101 with Devil's Third, nor am I disregarding legitimate flaws that you guys experienced with your preview. All I'm saying though is that there are definitely game journalists out there that aren't that good at games lol...

If someone thinks that this game looks like a PS2 game, you never played a PS2.

(Not saying that this game looks great either).

One thing I can say for certain is that regardless of how many games reviewers play, I've never gotten the impression they were good at them. Reviewers for Ninja Gaiden 2 and Wonderful 101 quickly come to mind. There might be truth to both sides.

Hey @Damo don't let them get to you man. You're in the right, but don't go starting a flame war.

I'm still amazed by the dead body floating in the air. Up until that segment it was looking decent. I don't use just reviews to determine wether or not I buy a game, but after hearing what everyone is saying, I might wait a bit before picking it up.

Sad to see Itagaki blame shoddy programming on player's skills though.

I'll definitely give it a shot. Both sides could be partially right. I'm willing to take a chance on a new exclusive, unless it just gets overwhelming negative reviews from everyone before I pick it up. I never would have got, and enjoyed, Zombi U if I had listened to just the IGN review that I read first.

@Tempestryke Sadly that seems to be what must games are judged by today.

@JaniN83 My guess is since more people owned PS2s then Gamecubes or Xboxes, its easier for many people to understand the comparsion.

Kinda like how retro-style indie games are compared to the NES, even if they showcase graphics that are beyond what the NES could do. You're unlikely to see a review or news story compare an indie retro style game to what was on the Sega Master System or the Atari 7800.

I think its the same thing for the PS2. Because of its popularity during the sixth generation, its the standard for its generation.

@rdrunner1178 the other 3 previews i found all pretty much say that this game sucks... (the links are on comment #153), one of them even say this might be the worst Nintendo published game ever

@Damo This screenshot is from an earlier build of the game. Infact it's also in the E3 2014 trailer. This was a work in progress screen shot. They have improved many of the textures since then. I don't know if you really didn't know that or you did and trying to discredit the game visuals purposely. I admit Devil's Third visuals are pretty much mid tier out dated 360/PS3 visuals, compared to today's standards. But in no way it looks like a PS2 game. People are down right reaching and delusional making those statements.

@BLPs

I think I knew about wall-running... but I could've sworn that jumping just made him jump off the wall, then plummet. Maybe I was trying to do something else, expecting him to vault off the wall to get on a platform. So I might've been trying to wall jump in a place that simply didn't allow it...

As for the homing attack, I don't recall enemies doing anything, and yet I'd semi-spontaneously get hit for what appeared to be no reason. Unless they had JUST launched an attack. Guess I'll keep an eye out next time.

Well, on one hand, I feel somewhat stupid... but on the other hand, I feel compelled to at least try and beat it. If I can survive Black Knight, I can survive this.

The game looks like crap. It will be reviewed like crap. And sell like crap. Try again Itagaki.

Shots fired bang bang. He's burning all the reviewers XD. Anyway, I'm still looking forward to the game

@TwilightAngel I seem to recal you defending your product while insulting another dev recently. I have no plans to play any minecraft inspired titles but wanted to point this out.

If a guy who plays thousands of games and reviews games says a game is a mess. The game is usually a mess. I think they know its a mess and have now made it seem as though the people who review games don't have the skill to play Devils 3rd? I don't buy that.

a majority of the reviews here at Nintendolife are right on. the only reviews I have an issue with lately are the Rash of very high reviews for all these DSi GG series games which have come out as of late. Most of these games have been getting poor Eshop Ratings but every single review here at Nintendolife has had a pretty stellar score. just seems to be conflicting. but hey if a guy likes a game, a guy likes a game, he's going to say its a great game. I've downloaded a few of those GG games and well, you get what you paid for is my experience with them. I wont make that mistake again by buying anymore of them.

@Faruko

How about accepting or rejecting games because they're really good or they're genuinely terrible to play? Because that's what games are for. To play.

@faint "I seem to recal you defending your product while insulting another dev recently." My product? I never made a game ever!

I admire his conviction. I'm gonna try this out at some point. I'm pretty sure it will be bad because it seems to be a universal consensus at the moment but I often find fun when others don't.
I saw reviews of Zombi U that rated it down with the Flappy Bird clones, I loved the game when I played it.
I saw reviews of Ninja Gaiden 3 on Wii U that made it sound like a broken mess. I think it is only few rungs below Bayonetta on the beat em up ladder and has some aspects I actually preferred. (although a Platinum made NG game would be my dream come true)
Sonic Racing got good reviews for Wii U but I thought it was a stuttery, broken mess.

In summary, I won't knock it til I've tried it. For less than £10

@gussie

applauds

@Tempestryke Because you first need to pass the $60 dollar bracket to play a game

Im not sure im ready to gamble that money blindly, especially when its universally the consensus its that its bad, if you can, be my guess.

@NintendoLife has knowingly spread false information about this game even after Tomonobu Itagaki confirmed it to be false. NL is normally pretty good about fact checking but for some reason the same effort wasn't shown for this title.

Typical "is not bad you just don't get it" japanese game developer attitude

Can people stop saying this game looks like a ps2 game? it doesn't and apparently it has been a while since anyone played a ps2 game...

@TwilightAngel sry I must have confused you with one of the sdk ucraft guys. In my defense the thread was pretty nuts. Once again sorry for the confusion.

@BLPs

Heh. I've played FF XIII, so, yeah, I know. I can't imagine Lost World would require a huge tutorial... although in my case, maybe it does =P.

@Nintenjoe64

The PC version of Sonic & Allstars Racing Transformed is pretty good. Definitive version, hands down.

@faint You must be taking about @NexisGames. The dev's that are still on the comment section and using Nintendo's Life to get clicks for their site.

@NexisGames I'm just laughing at the 6th gen PS2 comments. Then someone trying to show a screen shot from an early unfinished build of the game. Which they probably got from the E3 2014 trailer. If you watch the trailer from the 1:18 mark, you will see what I'm talking about. If they really believe DT look like 6th gen visuals. I wonder what they think of Star Fox Zero, Splatoon, Rodea, etc. Which all really do look like 6th gen Gamecube visuals ran in HD.

@TwilightAngel how many clicks have do you think I given them over the past 2 yrs. Seriously, I just don't care for how certain games are treated on this site.

Man is telling us to "Git Gud."
I can respect that.

@classicgamer78 At least all those gamecube visuals run at a stable 60fps

Not even stable 30fps lol

@Faruko
Eh, that's the majority of 360 games with its framerate

Hmmgame that looks terrible equals terrible game. Tell that to Shulk and XC

@Faruko Not insulting, or bashing StarFox Zero, Splatoon, or Rodea. As I see that as childish or moronic, I'm not 12 years old. But anyway, l'm just curious, what they think of those game visuals, considering the low poly count, low quality textures, etc., that's on par with 6th gen. Devil's Third has higher poly models, higher quality textures, etc., than any of those games. For the record I have Splatoon and Star Fox Zero is a day 1 buy for me, despite it's visual quality. I'm on the fence about Rodea The Sky Soldier. So it's not an attack on those games, as some people tend to be doing in the comment section.

@Faruko
It's spelled third m9

@Mona-Reggie You know that man is damage controlling his own game right?

I just want to try this game for myself the preview here got me excited when I read the described boss fights.

@Mona-Reggie Funny thing is 90% of games out there frame rate isn't solid. Also Skyrim for PS3 was atrocious and still got good reviews. Despite being a broken mess. So I tend not to trust reviews, although I don't completely write them off either.

@classicgamer78 Ill take 60fps over extra textures or polygons, any day of the week.

the smoothness of 60fps >>>>>>>>>> anything. 60fps games are way more pleaseant to the eye, the stuttering that comes from going back to 30fps its really hard to pass up.

The man who created Ninja Gaiden is slowly becoming one of "those" developers. Who don't understand criticism and decides to just throw stones at people in order to scare them off. Any dev who insults their OWN player base doesn't deserve a single penny from anyone. Your game is bad, deal with it. Improve on it. Dont moan about it like a child.

@Faruko Absolutely I agree. I would take 60fps also over 1080p resolution. But that's not the point I was making. I just wonder what they think about those game visuals, when they're pretty much 6th gen quality, with an HD coat on them.

Sounds like Devil's Third must be running on a really revolutionary new engine if it can give you a crappy frame rate and poor graphics by somehow detecting the player to be a bad player.

@TwilightAngel
Maybe, but I'd like to play a demo to see if its as big a mess as it really is. Outdated screenshots on this site won't do it for me

@TwilightAngel
Maybe, but I'd like to play a demo to see if its as big a mess as it really is. Outdated screenshots on this site won't do it for me

Can't say I was interested in Devil's Third in the first place, but at least we get a car crash of a media war out of it.

Is there any popcorn left?

Lol. Itagaki's comments, this article, and these comments are so ridiculous. Is anyone even going to care about this game a few months after it releases? I can understand the intent behind Itagaki's comments because he's trying to defend his game, but none of this is worth making a big deal out of.

@bro2dragons Agreed on your comment about the writer mocking his English. Disgusting behavior.

In regards to framerate I can understand that some people don't notice too much of a difference but if you actually watched the gameplay the moment things get any bit intense it drops like a rock. if the game is truly 'difficult' a consistent framerate, fast even, is EXTREMELY important ESPECIALLY in a 3D action game. Of all the things that need to be fixed this needs to be the #1 priority.

Looks fun to me. 3D beat em ups aren't for everyone. Anarchy Reigns got tepid reviews as well, and I think it's a bit of a masterpiece.

@Storytime7
If I weren't so polite I'd say
"It's that typical British attitude towards Japanese people"
But I'm polite so I won't say that

I'm starting to notice a slight anti eastern attitude here with this and the article about the studio that argued with its Japanese superiors

@NintendoLife
Don't be mean by making fun of an asian's English. What if I made fun of you for saying trousers instead of pants like a normal guy?

Amazing how we can bombard Nintendo's E3 2015 Digital Event, calling it the worst E3 ever, but now that Nintendo Life is bombarding Devil's Third, some people turned a new leaf!(no pun intended.)

@minotaurgamer Oh please. Itagaki is anything but a typical Japanese game developer.

He's always been somewhat of an enfant terrible and a take it or leave it kinda guy.

The game still looks fun to me. The gunplay seems to be the weakest point of the game, at least from what I can make out in the videos I've seen.

Not saying that this will end up being a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but I've played lots of games that didn't click with me the first couple of hours and once they finally did, ended up as some of my favourite games till this day.

Taking Itagaki's generalisation so personal is a bit of a mistake I feel.
In the end, opinions will vary and people wil end up deciding for themselves what side they fall on after the game is out.

@BLPs I enjoyed Sonic Lost World. It definitely has some good points, but there are some definite flaws. Probably the only thing that got me was the bonus levels for getting all the emeralds. They were more proof of concept levels than anything. Like the one where the levels timer had to run down to win. It just made no sense.

Well, the graphics look to be on Hyrule Warriors level or higher.
And the gameplay preview..... what gameplay preview? A tester that played the singleplayer campaign? It's like reviewing Splatoon by only knowing its offline mode.
Last time I checked it was online multiplayer that was Devil's Third big draw and selling point. And as of now, no one has played the online. So much empty talk here.

Grabs popcorn

@Notoriousdrp I'm trying to figure out if your being sarcastic or not. Flappy bird controls?

Any game with 5+ year dev time and multiple dropped publishers is likely to not be very good, they probably went thru lots of programmers, and was probably dropped and then restarted several times by new teams, ( people have to get paid)

I hope it turns out good, but my hopes are bashed.

Lol, it's starting to get ridiculous how Itagaki's trying to defend his game.
I mean, I will still wait until release before I judge the game, but I don't think the criticism is totally wrong.
I usually don't care about graphics but if it should in fact be worse than in other Wii U titles (and a closed world title like DT should really have no problem in showing big graphics), that would be disappointing.
And looking at the gameplay trailer in this article, I have to say it looks like it's lacking polygons. And since the game was previously planned on older consoles five years ago, it's not impossible that they're just using the old graphics. Maybe the developers themselves thought the Wii U didn't have better graphics than last-gen or that Nintendo users wouldn't notice it and didn't give it their best effort, that would be a big mistake.

BTW Itagaki could release that the whole problem pretty easily: Just give us a demo to download from the eshop, so we can make up our own mind. Then again, if he should decide against that, it would be a clear sign that he doesn't believe in the game himself.

Really trying to stay neutral here (I was actually looking forward to this game), but everything is hinting at it being a bad game. We'll see.

@bro2dragons Pretty much my thoughts. I'm pretty simple when it comes to playing games, and I know I suck at a lot of them.

http://www.videogamer.com/wiiu/devils_third/preview-3910.html look at the video, minute 5:17

and tell me if that its acceptable, THE DAMN CAR HAS NO TEXTURES, NOTHING... and by the way, IS THAT EVEN A CAR ?

I'm surprised this comments section is still open, these flames are out of control!

I personally thought it seemed that they were trying to be polite in the preview article and that all they did here was say what they really wanted to in the first place. After Itagaki's ridiculous comments, I can't blame them. I'll buy this game just for laughs when it drops to $10, same as the Wii U port of Watch Dogs.

@electrolite77 Well, @damo isnt alone, robinson from Eurogamer said the same, and i quote:

"feels like it belongs in the sorrier scatterings of a PlayStation 2 bargain bin. Even if Devil's Third were being played in the time that its visuals and style clearly belong to, it would still come up short."

@electrolite77 How is he worng ? we havent played the game, they are the only ones to do so, for all we know its a terrible resolution upscalled to 720p, that it looks like HD doesnt mean its HD.

For all we know the only reason it looks "better" (not forme thou) than a PS2 game its that it runs at HD.

Im pretty sure DF will do a tech review of the game.

@Faruko No that's not acceptable and like I told someone else before that scene looks 5th gen N64 territory. That needs to be fixed with a patch. But with that said. The majority of the game still looks like a mid tier PS3/360 game. People are trying to go out their way and find any kind of bad images to prove a point and pass it off as the entire game looks like that, when that isn't the case. Devil's Third visuals are pretty much on par with similar mid tier late 7th gen games like Lollipop Chainsaw, Shadows of the Damned, Ninja Gaiden 3, Knights Contract, Never Dead, etc. But falls short when compared to AAA big budget late 7th gen titles, like Uncharted 3, Mass Effect 3, Gears Of War 3, The Last Of Us, Halo 4, etc.

This quote coming from who its coming and just the overall bad vibe this game transmits due to its lenghty development, comes off as arrogant andy somewhat "mean" I guess.
But what he is actually saying is something that is so true, I don't know how many games have gotten bad reviews by no fault of their own, KID ICARUS uprising comes to mind really quick, I mean its still the most innovative , original ,creative, best looking, best written, most funny and better sounding game you can buy on 3DS, and you know what, its controls are the main reason the gameplay is so good and addicting, but its a game that requires skill and for you to work with what the game is trying to do, you have to adapt, its called a god damn learning curve, and a lot of times nowadays, some reviewers just like games and to think of themselves as gamers and think all games should addapt to you, when its not always the case, 'cause that limits creativity, and if a game is out of their skill level or they just don't like it to begin with, they never look for fault with themselves but always in the games control/mechanics.
In the 16bit gen this wasn't even a thing some games you just knew were hard and some of them out of your reach and that was it, there was nothing wrong with the game.

@Genesaur yeah you make a great point, the handling of this will be a fascinating story when the details come out. The result, good or bad, will have had little support from Nintendo. With them as you said so supportive of the bayonetta games including costume rights etc, and saving this from oblivion in similar circumstances it's very strange overall....
would it be too wild a guess to suggest that itagki pissed off some people within the hierarchy(particularly NOA) with some trash talk of some kind!?!

All your base are belong to us, Itagaki

@NintendoLife Please rescind the article's tagline in favor of a less offensive one. The current tagline is in poor taste.

Well, this comment section went straight to heck.
I mean, wow.

@Souflee

In fairness, Kid Icarus Uprising's control scheme caused hand cramping. While the control scheme itself worked fine (in my opinion), it's hard to enjoy something when your hand hurts after a short while. And the stand isn't always an option. But I agree that it's a fun game.

Metroid Prime Hunters had similar criticism when it had standard FPS controls. I worked around it with via thumb pad (the bottom screen became a giant right stick then), but it's not the perfect solution. Thumbs only reach so far...

Somehow, I'm transported back to the days when PSM (Unofficial PlayStation magazine) was holding interviews here and there with Itagaki. The two kind of bounced off each other rather cordially, since both the PSM staff and Itagaki were off the wall in their conduct, but it was mostly all in good fun or just being brashly boisterous. The idea of going off on developers within a professional spectrum where your words are being watched seemed like such a foreign idea to me... That would be known as "burning bridges", one of the worst things one can do in this industry.

This reaction to Itagaki's (admittedly not unusual) off the wall response to criticism is something I can't help but feel is due to a lack of understanding between parties. I mean that in the sense that the dialogue has gotten to the point where it's not really about the game anymore, but about "proving a point" and "being right." It's just a bunch of poor behavior snowballing into oblivion. I'm disconcerted at the direction the dialogue is going...

Not a big deal. After all Wii U has the sublime Bayonetta 2. Not every game is amazing.

First of all i will admit devil's third has not shaped up the way i was hoping it would, but comparing it to ps2 graphics is plain stupid and your reactions to itagaki's remarks really show you up to be extremely petty "journalists" you might be right about the outcome of the game but your opinion is just that. For the record however, in your video there did seem to be a severe lack of skill on display, as well objectivity...and humility.

@Damo Even if it's a direct quote, it's being spoken by someone whose native language is not English. Putting it into the headline of an English site in this fashion puts a little too much focus on their grammar and inability to express themselves fully outside of their native language. Either a correct translation of his sentiments from his native Japanese or just using another reference to his sentiments would be more respectful. (Even if Itagaki has historically been characteristically disrespectful.)

@BLPs You're not alone! I love Sonic Lost World, though I can see some of the issues people had in regards to levels design. Controls though? Nah, they're fine. The Wii U version is underrated. The 3DS version...well...

Anyways, I'm not sure I'm really liking this guy. Sounds pretty obnoxiously egotistical, and it seems like he won't live up to his own failures. I'm pretty sure he's deleting negative Facebook comments on that post though, 'cause I didn't see a single negative one. It's all just "You're so great" and "Reviewers are terrible!"

All this drama...

@minotaurgamer That's more characteristic of Western developers than Eastern ones. There are people who are stuck up on both sides, but it's definitely more typical in the global West.

@Resh My...GOD... Is Colbert THINKING that popcorn into existence!?

1. Make game
2. Release preview codes
3. Get bad reviews
4. Insult reviewers for bad reviews
5. ????
6. Profit?

The arrogance and way he is stuck-up here is astounding. I just lost any respect I had for this guy. Of course he's gonna make a bad game with an attitude like this.

@PlywoodStick I don't think a fancier translation would help here. His arrogance is clear, and making what he said fancier doensn't change. You even said this guy has a track record of statements like this. Apparently he's also deleting any negative comments on Facebook he can. It's not like this was taken from an interview either, he posted this on his own decision. He deserves to have this reported.

@ThomasBW84 Thanks, Thomas, for returning a degree of professionalism to this discussion with your comment. (I'm not being sarcastic, so we're clear.)

@Jaz007 @Damo I'm just saying it might reflect better on us to express our chagrin with Itagaki's antics without using his obviously broken English in the headline of an English site. Using it in the article is fine, though; it is what it is. That's all.

@ekreig

I swear I had nothing to do with this.

From what I've seen of this game I haven't been very impressed. I may pick it up when the price falls.

@Damo Of coarse there wasn't

Wow, everybody here who is outraged over Itagaki's comments has obviously never heard of him. What he said here is tame compared to what he would say in the past about critics of Dead or Alive. Being crazy and argumentative has always been his MO, just look up his thoughts on the Tekken series.

It's nice to enjoy popcorn for once on this site instead of watching everyone else eat it...

What the heck has happen to this comment section?

"but the fact that professional journalists who have played thousands of games previously simply aren't good enough to match Devil's Third:"

I'm not interested in the game currently but that could very well be true and his viewpoint is a valid one regardless of if Devil's Third is good or awful. In the past games like Godhand, Wonderful 101 and Codename:S.T.E.A.M have handed these "professional" gaming journalists their asses if you just watch the videos and have received negative reviews and being called flawed despite being solid games, Gamespot even attacked games like Luigi's Mansion 2 and Kirby Rainbow Curse for their difficulty(kind of bizarre that Nintendo's "games for everyone" approach has actually placed their games into being more core oriented it seems). Games journalists are notorious for not actually bothering to learn new control systems or types of gameplay yet writing as if they understood it fully.

I find you can't really take journalists words on challenge or the quality of the game mechanics, because if they don't bother to attempt to understand the game mechanics a game will still be blamed for the journalist's inability to do something that a basic understanding of the game could overcome.

It's no surprise why a lot of games use cookie cutter control schemes and all but a few new IP typically don't feel like new IP. In today's market the more different you make a game from something that already exists, the more likely it is that you'll get game journalists to turn against the game's mechanics and make it look bad regardless of the games quality, as a result you get a lot of new IP that feel extremely familar.

Alright so, one thing to say. As somebody that LOVES Skyrim, I do want to point this out- Why wasn't Skyrim bashed for its horrible FPS? Frames drop all the time on my Xbox, and that game has a cosmic asston of graphical errors (mainly with water textures, sometimes the ground doesn't load though). I don't understand why it's ok for Skyrim to be perfectly fine, but god forbid we see a single frame drop in this game. Admittedly I haven't really kept up on this game, so if it goes deeper than that, let me know.

@Damo
Maybe you should have added some words in brackets to make the sentence more understandable

@damo it is absolutely ok to dispute itagaki's claims, but there is a way of doing it, which does not include acting out like a petulant child. countering his bizarre comments on many's lack of skill ( though judging by your preview, it certainly applies) with such a lack of dignity and equally absurd remarks, comparing the graphics to a ps2. the reaction in your article, in no way resembles the work of a journalist, and using an incorrectly translated quote is just embarrassing. lastly i played starfox last week at hyper japan and at this moment at least, it looked graphically terrible and actually very gamecube like, though i hope it improves in the next 6 months. anyway, yo guys judged your reaction wrongly and just need to accept that there is a way of doing things.

Ahh so he is one of THOSE developers... Can't open his mouth without making himself seem foolish and blaming others for the shortcomings of his product.

@Zyph the only fact he needs to "accept" is that journalists are terrible gamers and anything beyond a walking sim that holds your hand the entire way is going to get a mixed reception

I tried to be optimistic, but after 4:15 I just quit.

Wait, wait. Was my comment #232 edited without my consent? That's seriously messed up and I'd rather the whole thing just be deleted. There was no foul language or anything. DON'T CENSOR ME BRO.

@Stu13 The mods always do that, it been like that for a long time. Just censor your swears (something like f***ing or flipping are the best ways to censor yourself).

@Stu13 Your support of NL was denied? Your beginning sentences about other sites having a similar reaction as NL were chopped off.

@Chaoz Unless 'hell' is a swear (and I'm sure that's a can of worms that they don't want to open), I didn't swear. The chopped portion of the comment was very obviously in the review staff's favor, so I can't imagine why it was messed with. I sure don't like that it was edited, though.

In my opinion, the quote tag line of this article is mocking Tomonobu's command of English. Very unprofessional. Whether any level of professionalism should be expected at NL anymore, though, is another question.

@PlywoodStick I dunno, maybe mentioning google is a no-no now. I mean, all I did was mention how negative reviews of the game could be found anywhere if you just look.

If @NintendoLife is looking for someone to censor their comments section, then look no further. I am American and therefore more than accustomed to silencing people who don't agree with me. I mean, we got away with the Iraq war and even got you guys to piggyback with us. I'm at least 50x smarter than Dubya and if he could corral Tony Blair than I'm sure I could handle this lot.

Aw! I missed the movie! Well, I guess I can still eat some popcorn!
EDIT: Hoo boy. Just realized the full extent of this comment war. And it's definitely one of the worst comments section I've seen in a long time. I don't even think it's worth my time saying my piece...

@Stu13 I didn't even know what a Norwegian Krone (the NOK currency) was until I looked it up!

@McoobabWATP But—you see—Star Fox Zero is developed by Nintendo, and NintendoLife are huge Nintendo fanboys.

@Dr_Lugae right. Zombi U was a great example. Too difficult for most lame reviewers.

From what I have seen of Devil's Third, I expect it to have same level of quality as Madworld for the Wii. It will have a decent campaign that will be easily completed on easy and more difficult options that require and understanding of game mechanics.

@dumedum @Dr_lufae Wut ? ZombiU had an average of 77, thats damn good, it had some bad reviews but it also had A LOT of great reviews. The 4 previews Devil Thirds had, all end up in the same thing... it sucks.

I dont get why people keeps using ZombiU as an example of a good game with bad reviews, the reviews were pretty good.

I don't see why this comment section isn't closed at this point. There isn't a single bit of civil discussion going on here, just people throwing crap at each other.

@Chaoz Even this is still not as bad as what GameFAQ's has to deal with on a daily basis. (Although it might be one of the closest points for NL comment sections to there!)

Player skill eh. Oh dear oh dear. I'm afraid I've seen the N64 era car in one of the previews and I can only say... Fatal Frame will be getting my money, not this dross.

@BLPs @ThomasBW84 I agree with you that Sonic Lost World is not a difficult game, but see what Nintendo Life has said in their review:

"this is a demanding, difficult game to play... The 3D environments are most troubling, as Sonic moves relatively quickly — even when not dashing — and lacks the precision and balance of a certain chubby moustachioed rival. Lining up a dash for a wall climb, making precision jumps and any moves that require accurately hitting a specific spot are fiddly to execute."

So skills are busted by reviewers nowadays. Sonic games always require some skills to control Sonic's speed. However, Nintendo Life's standard is that a game should be easy to pick up on control. A game requiring skilful control, on the part of the players, are no longer favoured well.

It seems that reviewers nowaday are just good at writing but not at games. I bet the same thing happens to Devil's Third.

@NexisGames
Hello, could you give me your Email, Id like to chat with you about proposition I have to offer.

@ULTRA-64 No, not all that outrageous an assumption, but I really just don't know. Seems more like Nintendo would pull the plug entirely, than risk a "bad game forever" under their name.

@BLPs I agree. Actually, Megaman series is a difficult game that requires a lot of attention to skills. I remember the first time I owned Megaman X and I died a lot. After picking up the skills I can go through most of the stages without much difficulty. It is unfortunately that reviewers and gamers nowadays just want a game to spoonfeed them.

Dont take it so personal NLife, very unprofessional.

Wow so many shills here

@rylo151 People here being shills would imply that many of us work for Nintendo/Itagaki and many of us just join a few hours ago, which many of us didn't. Just one thing I learned from /v/.

@Chaoz It seems like theres many people here who are so invested in making sure this game does well and ignoring all problems and giving the same lame reasoning as the man himself that they may as well be working for him

I never subscribed to Itagaki and company's scool of design, neither in terms of controls, game structure, or visuals.

That said, please contain yourselves. Devil's Third does not look like a PS2 game, and at least what he is saying is somewhat true for the Ninja Gaiden titles he oversaw. If you didn't want to get good at those, they were terrible games.

lol all this drama...

Honestly the game looks garbage though. No matter how you wanna spin it. This isn't 2006 anymore fellas. We have standards.

Game looks trash but I've been wrong before

Man, if the game sucks, it sucks...if it does not, ...big deal! Defend or attack the game all you like, it won't change a thing whatsoever. Why are you guys even arguing??? Do you honestly think you can convince other people to your way of thinking?!
There are dozens of other games to play right now, so stop wasting your time and everyone elses. And please just stop with these nonsensical rants!

@DiscoGentleman @BLPs

I never liked the rebooted Ninja Gaiden series or the Dead or Alive series so I'm not surprised by the negatives. I think he should put his money where his mouth is and release a demo. Gamers will decide on their own then. As of right now, I'm not interested in buying it only to confirm the negative criticism.

@DarthNocturnal yeah, that's true, I still think Kid Icarus was completely thrown under the bus, because reviewers just demanded that the game had a control scheme that they felt comfortable, the outrage was more how can this game be so different from what I'm accustomed to, I just don't want to adapt and see what the game offers by being like this, the game is just wrong and its bad nobody should buy it, its unplayable, it really hurt the sales and chances of more entries in the franchise future, and I feel like Sakurai did a really great job bringing Kid Icarus brand to the 3D era, it always felt like overreaction and unfair criticism, even if the hand cramps were real, which they were, but it also depends, almost every game I play on an handheld for hours I will get discomfort in my hands, that position of playing with the stylus might make it more noticeable, but the games controls made it so fun, and part of the reason I was getting cramps was because I was just playing it so much,

that said its a real shame the wii U is already reaching the end of its cycle and we won't be getting a Kid Icaus game on the U, those controls would def work with the gamepad and playing the game on TV, same goes for Fire Emblem, its a shame the Wii U didn't sell better,

@BLPs - Thats good, I was actually a little hesitant posting that gif b/c I was afraid you might be offended by one of the words, but it seemed fitting for "Devils Third."

That and I wasn't sure you would get a reference from 15 years before you were born, which coincidentally came out when I was 15. I knew Disco would get it, it killed his whole generation.

@BLPs - Well you look like a 15 year old japanese anime girl so...

Experiences do age us, I was born in 65 but I was reading the Beats in high school before it was cool. In grad school I was always hanging out w/ people 15 years older than me. I was always more a hippie than "me generation".

@Faruko not good enough though. Zombi U should have had TLOU score and vice versa.

@BLPs -

@Phil_Kavadias Yes. Yes he does.

This reminds me a little of the time that Edge Magazine wrote a negative review about Sonic Lost World, with the reviewer complaining for the most part that there was only one button to jump and a lot of the time Sonic's homing attack didn't work properly. The reviewer awarded the game 4/10.

Or in other words, the reviewer hadn't realised that there were 2 jump buttons...one to just do normal double jumps and the other specifically to do homing attacks. I've played through Sonic Lost World myself, and whilst the game has other issues, problems with the jumping and homing attack mechanics not working properly wasn't one of them....they were absolutely fine for me.

I'm still prepared to give Devil's Third a chance. Itagaki sounds a bit like a petulant child here. But so does Damo.

@Damo Oh geez, that looks like crap.

No wait, crap looks more appealing than that.

This game doesn't look that bad, but if it supposedly has so many issues, then it's likely not the players' fault. This guy sounds pretty butthurt to me.