Devil's Third is out now in Europe and the reviews haven't been glowing. Tomonobu Itagaki's Wii U exclusive has been given something of a drubbing by critics, with outlets such as IGN, Eurogamer and GameSpot handing it dire critical assessments.
Itagaki has taken to Facebook to comment on the reaction, and has stated that while some of the complaints are fair, he has lamented the decision to restrict access to the online servers during the review period:
Hey guys,
Thank you for playing our Devil's Third.
I believe that those of you who actually have the game in your hands are more than satisfied with how interesting and fun the game is.
Unfortunately the scores we've been receiving in Europe are pretty awful.
Some of the criticism we're getting is constructive and fair - I can accept that.
But in general, I'm going to guess that most of the people reviewing the game weren't given a chance to evaluate it properly.Just as one example, we designed the online multiplayer mode to be enjoyed together with tons of people, but it seems dozens of reviewers were only allowed to try the game in a closed environment.
That's extremely unfortunate for everyone involved. As you can imagine, no one can effectively evaluate the playability of multiplayer games under these conditions.
For me though, I value the feedback you guys can offer much more.
Please enjoy the game for yourselves.
After that, let me know everything about what you're thinking, so that we can make a better future.Gamers, let's build a future together
Thanks as always.Tomonobu Itagaki
Prior to launch, reviewers were placed on special multiplayer servers which were naturally short on participants. For this reason, we withheld our final review score and updated it recently once we'd had chance to properly test this element of the game.
Are you playing Devil's Third now? What do you think of the game's online and single player segments? Share your thoughts below.
[source facebook.com]
Comments (55)
I don't think that's fair. I know that you guys at least held off until you'd played the multiplayer in more suitable conditions.
Just played the first four or so levels of single player. It's ok! I'm finding some of it really hard and I feel like I'm missing something. The boss fights are strange.
did anybody else catch the IGN review? they barely touched the mp and gave what appeared to be a description of the MP menu with no mention of clans, diplomacy, base building/ invasions or the micro transactions.
Even if the multiplayer can potentially be a bit of fun, I don't think that's much of a redeeming factor if the single player game is as bad as it sounds. It deserves the scores it got.
Plus the inclusion of microtransactions automatically ruins any potentially fun multiplayer.
Looks like a game I'll want to steer well clear from, but that's been pretty obvious ever since it was initially revealed.
So how about a demo, then everyone can try it out for themselves and make up their own mind.
Crazy I know, but who knows, maybe such an unheard-of tactic might work.
I'm going to play this game more this week, I think some of the criticism is because of the time this game has been in development.
The game wasn't anywhere as bad as the reviews I've seen made out. I had a blast with it. Beat single player, continuing to enjoy multiplayer. I'm not going to say the people doing reviews were wrong, just that it's another example of how what I think of games just doesn't match up with what others do.
I've not bought any golden eggs, just used the ones I've gotten from multiplayer and beating the single player mode. Most of the things I've seen people buy with eggs are the more outlandish costumes. I used the 30 I was initially given to get a nice little outfit assembled.
Honestly, I'm glad I didn't let reviews deter me.
my opinion is its all around fun an wii u has nothing like this in the library so its a welcome addition for me
Will probably pick this up in a few months, depending on if the online community is still there.
Itagaki is trying to reign in the damages, but he still keeps it real. He's always a much nicer guy than his reputation leads on.
Unfortunately the online mode might never be reviewed properly, as the many disheartening reviews are sure to put a damper on the sales.
I said it already and i say it again: If youre not a fan of how your game is reviewd, be it score wise of even the conditions it was tested under, then release a proper demo.
Pack in a short single player mission an let people dip their toes into the online modes.
Then you controll what people will experience from the game.
As @Pod said, the halfheated reviews will hurt sales in such a way, that the maybe even excellent online mode will probably never reach its full potential.
And in all fairness, you cant solely blame the reviewers for that.
Its Valhallas fault too. In this day and age, there are so many more ways to promote your game.
Contract some twitch streamers and hold a promotional tourney, release a demo or even a watered down F2P esque version, like the Rayman Legends Challenge App.
Putting a game out there that lives and dies with its multiplayer and solely banking on reviewers with tight schedules to review a geme before it reaches enough people so the online mode can even scratch its potential was dumb and naive.
@digga
Hit the nail on the head there with your comment IMO, totally agree with every word.
I'm really having a blast with the game myself, only thing I hope/wish is that Vahalla and Nintendo get together and polish the frame rate and graphics/textures up a little bit here and there with a patch (or two) where possible.
I have been playing the game over the weekend and I have really enjoyed it! Both solo and multiplayer are very entertaining!
@CliffordB .,,true i think there will be a patch real soon,,ivan etc look real nice but the odd wall n vehicle look really poor but overall its a thumbs up from me
@BenAV But the multiplayer seems to be the main focus of this game, so it's unfair to just give scores on the single player alone. You could say the same about Splatoon. Its single player is mediocre, so should it get bad scored just based on that alone?
@DrkBndr Is the site going under or something?
@DrkBndr a bit overzealous are you
Uhh what the hell Dkr? Nice spamming!
Despite being more than a little cautious, I picked up Devil's Third on Friday, and have been really enjoying it. It's not a great game, hardly even classes as a "good" game, but as I get more used to the gameplay systems, I'm really enjoying it in spite of the technical difficulties. It's definitely not as deep as something like God Hand or as intuitive as a game like Bayonetta, but it's something unique in the Character Action genre, and I guess that's enough to keep me playing. Multiplayer's pretty unique, particularly for the Wii U which is lacking in these kinds of games, to boot.
@PaperMario64 @DrkBndr clearly, the wires got crossed somewhere =P
@Tubalcain @PaperMario64
I have trouble opening the site a few minutes ago so maybe that's that.
@DrkBndr I'm sorry what was that? I wasn't listening.
Don't know what happened there. That was weird 😊 The site was stuck for some reason.
@DrkBndr Yeah... Nintendo fans are confusing. When giving their impressions on a Nintendo game, they take an "Instead of focusing on what the game doesn't have, focus on what's great about it" approach; when they're giving inpressions on a non-Nintendo game, however, they're like, "Haha, it doesn't have [X], so it sucks," even though the game in question has other great merits.
Reviews or not. The style of game never appealed to me.
I don't think there's going to be tons of people online, especially as time goes on....
@Mus1cLov3r
Oh I've been saying it for years; (the majority of) Nintendo fans are the reason their beloved company is in the position it is in. Some of the most undeserving fanbase around.
I'm definitely getting this when it comes to USA. However, it will be pushed into my backlog as XCX will consume my whole month of December.
It is probably more of the problem that people came in expecting a bad game and treated it as such so they never gave it much effort. Personally, I don't care for the game and if I did get it, it would be when the price goes down.
I respect the Creator's option towards the reviewers of the game,
my only problem is the fact that the game is $60, if price could go lower then 60 i'd get it in a heart beat, it more likely a Christmas present
. i like to try multplayer first on PC, then get the full game of this if i end up liking it
and imo it looks much better from it's final release then it does with a pre-release (as far as i seen gameplay wise,)
@gatorboi352 The most undeserving fanbase around.
@wayneyrob22 some of the criticism is also because Itagaki said the reviwers lacked any skill hehe whats probably true
@Mus1cLov3r
Thou speaketh the truth.
Never really understood why Nintendo fans have such double standards when it comes to games. Sometimes feels like they want Nintendo consoles to fully become Nintendo only.
Will definitely be getting this game, but only on sale or after price drop. $60 is a bit much for an okay shooter (I apply this to Splatoon as well), especially when I could be using that money for Battlefront 3 instead.
Oh Itagaki shut up! LMAO!
Itagaki just settle down and accept your game sucks dude. It happens, now go make another one, this time a GOOD one.
Too many people don't play a good game because they read that it was bad according to 1 person. I don't not expect this to be any better then the "just as broken" ninja gaidien games. I just expect this to be lots of fun and am buying it day 1.
Hey, can anyone with the game clear up a couple of things about the multiplayer?
1. Is it possible to unlock everything without spending on microtransactions, or is there a limit to how many golden eggs you can earn through gameplay?
2. Is that cat head costume from the early trailers still in there?
You know, it bugs me, that guys like this have such opportunities in life and just create something pretty junk, and it looked as such from the first moment I saw it, when most of us would kill for this kind of chance at creating our own game.
"Are you playing Devil's Third now?"
Nope. Bloodborne and shortly MGS will have my time...
Having a blast with this game and I'm playing (and liking!) the multiplayer more then I ever did in the COD's that where released on Wii U.
What makes a good game. Do you score an online shooter on how well it emulates established titles like CoD and BF (on PS4 or XBone) or do you look at it as an separate experience and how much fun it provides.
If you play the multiplayer you will level up pretty consistent (even when you are a bad shot like me). Leveling up will provide you with plenty of golden eggs. The golden eggs are mostly spend on fun costumes. I really love the colorfull and outlandish things you can put on to intimidate your opponents.
I recommend you find someone with the game and play it for a while before you take the published reviews as gospel. Sure this is not a new AAA franchise but it is a d*mn fun game that has some unique gameplay. Try and maybe buy!
I have to admit what I Have played of the game I have enjoyed. It takes me back to a time when games were fun and wernt so serious. I think the fact that the reviews were so poor has made my enjoyment that much more. It's far from amazing but I think it's fun, and I haven't noticed the frame rate issues at all. Go play Devils Third then play Watch dogs then you will no what frame rate issues are.
Gotta wait for the NA release but judging from the comments it'll probably tickle my fancy.
I'll get it for Christmas in NA. I think NOA was waiting for the game to br patched before releasing it here.
Itagaki sounds just like Sega, released a broken game and then be like, it's not that bad guys, if you are going to release a game on a Nintendo system it needs to be good it specially this go around where there is very few good shooters on the Wii U
@Mus1cLov3r Great work on making another evidence-free generalization!
@abbyhitter Same here. I was ready to buy both, but with Devil's Third pushed back to December in the Americas, I made the choice for XCX instead.
@Gauchorino I mean the hardcore fans who act like Nintendo are prefect.
Evidence-free? You must be internet-blind, or something. Splatoon has a great multiplayer but a mediocre single-player, and it's critically-acclaimed; Devil's Third has a great (it seems) multiplayer but a mediocre single-player, and it's trashed by everyone. Hmm, that's totally fair.
@CB85 thank you. Played the demos for both Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta 2 and now own both of them.
I am impressed with his ability to take the criticism and admit that their it was fair when it came to the multiplayer, but I do agree with him that some of the reviews I saw were harsh on a multiplayer mode that did not really function during the testing.
I'll pick this up when it's on clearance. If the mp is its only redeeming factor then obviously they spent too much time on that aspect and not enough on the campaign. If they wanted a mp only game then they should have done that. Not everyone wants to play mp games all the time so having a subpar sp game is going to get a subpar review. They built a single player game with multi-player, reviewers are going to score it that way.
@Mus1cLov3r Professional reviewers are not necessarily "hardcore Nintendo fans," especially since many of them also review games from non-Nintendo systems. They're the ones praising Splatoon and dismissing Devil's Third. On the contrary, many "hardcore Nintendo fans" in the comments here have been praising everything about Devil's Third's fun factor despite the mediocre score it received from NintendoLife.
But while you might believe that NintendoLife reviewers are generally "Nintendo fanboys," keep in mind that the review that Devil's Third got here was based on actual evidential criteria as stated in the review, not due to the supposed bias of the reviewer (for it seemed he really wanted the game to be good, according to several comments he made in his review and pre-release coverage about it).
As for Splatoon, it has attracted an extreme amount of non-Nintendo fans to the Wii U, so your statement about it has no merit, either.
I wouldn't accept Devil's Third if you offered it to me as a gift.
@MagicEmperor. Did you try the game for yourself or do you prefer that someone else makes al the decisions for you? I will never decline a free game and I will always try it for at least a for a few minutes to form my own opinion.
That why I respect NL's review on the game, the very least they held off on the score until they played the multiplayer in a more open and populated environment.
I tend to side more with the gamers that owns and put in some good hours playing a game thoroughly vs a reviewer that play rush a review copy to post a review asap.
Proud owner of devils Third I've plugged over 60 hours into it (about12 for SP an the rest for MP), it happily occupies my time at the moment alongside the over rated MGS V (which again I have plugged 60 odd hours into-probably more than any MGS including Peace Walker). The main thing that makes me shake my head in disbelief at MGS, snake (or any combat operative) has a lot of difficulty crawling across uneven terrain, especially down hills, which is laughable when you consider MGS has a lot of it's basis on 80s films such as Predator, where Arnie himself (Dutch) Crawls and slides supremely well, down a hill, without the slightest hiccup, then his team follows shortly afterward. Snake is incapable, as is his army, just because Kojima's team didn't quite get traversal correct.
Devil's Third has some actual good traversal within it's game spaces, granted not all the walls act 'like' you might expect, but the majority you can fly up like you'd just entered a top kung fu or Matrix movie. Great fun. Reminded me of a better version of War frame (although apparently they have finally changed traversal in War frame now, I've yet to retry it)
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