some thoughts on the Yars' Rising Demo

[Cardboard76]

Hi All,

 

I've recently played some of the Yars' Rising demo on Steam, and I have some thoughts about it.

 

There's certainly some Atari influence, but it's only really relegated to some hacking minigames where you play as Yar, the plot having a bit of Yars' stuff in it (the main character having the online handle of Yar and a Yar sprite tattoo, the company they work for being called QoTech, etc), Yar sprites in the loading screens, the save points being shaped like Computer Space arcade cabinets, and potentially some other stuff. To me it seems like a fairly standard 2D metroidvania affair with that typical Wayforward charm to it, but with a Atari coat of paint to it. it's fun, and I'm probably gonna buy it when it comes out, but it doesn't really feel all that Atari to me. Sure, there's references to Atari, but a lot of them come off to me as "pre existing game retooled slightly to be more Yars' and Atari related".

 

That's all from me for now, I look forward to reading your responses.

 

Many thanks,

 

Cardboard76

 

 

[Gamemoose]

I gave it a go when I found out it was available.  In short, I like it.  People on Discord have complained about the voice acting but I got a legit laugh listening to Emi's inner thoughts and her banter with other characters.  The game play and feel is very much like the new "Strider" or "Shadow Complex" (leaning more toward Shadow due to the environment Emi is in and that's the game I'm more familiar with as opposed to NewStrider).  The ability inventory, shaped like a Yar, hearkens to what "Tron 2.0" or "Resident Evil 4" used-each ability takes up a certain amount of blocks (and I think each might have a different shape, I don't remember).  You need to place them in areas with open boxes in order to use them.  Control seemed pretty tight and needed directions pretty straightforward if you are used to the "MetroidVania" style game play.

 

I probably get this day one to show some support for this game.  I'm not sure if I want to get it on Steam or physical on Switch.  My main worry with modern games on cart recently is the fact that updates to fix potential game breaking bugs may not be available in the future, rendering your purchase in varying degrees of broken.

[CharlesEChuck]

On 9/2/2024 at 8:00 PM, Cardboard76 said:

come off to me as "pre existing game retooled slightly to be more Yars' and Atari related"

This gets mentioned a lot and that's ok, but then if you play the demo or watch a video of it and get to the Burning Sentinel boss fight, you see that "Yar" has to nibble away the enemy's shield (an ability central to the gameplay) and then dodge it "swirling" at you from the back after which you need to use the "Zorlon terminal" in the front to kill it in classic manner. You'll probably realize that if you could look at that scene from the top you basically have Yars Revenge!

 

That's absolutely not generic and in my opinion it wouldn't really make sense to design any other game except a Yars game like that.

 

It's just one example, but I think A LOT of thought has been put into such ideas and they are not really appreciated enough yet.

Edited September 5 by CharlesEChuck

[Cardboard76]

19 hours ago, CharlesEChuck said:

This gets mentioned a lot and that's ok, but then if you play the demo or watch a video of it and get to the Burning Sentinel boss fight, you see that "Yar" has to nibble away the enemy's shield (an ability central to the gameplay) and then dodge it "swirling" at you from the back after which you need to use the "Zorlon terminal" in the front to kill it in classic manner. You'll probably realize that if you could look at that scene from the top you basically have Yars Revenge!

 

That's absolutely not generic and in my opinion it wouldn't really make sense to design any other game except a Yars game like that.

 

It's just one example, but I think A LOT of thought has been put into such ideas and they are not really appreciated enough yet.

oh that's actually pretty cool, unfortunately i keep getting killed by the guard robots on the first stealth section, and the no saving thing of the demo kinda makes it a pain in the rear since i have to skip through all the dialogue and other stuff, then get back to where i was before, only to get killed again and redo that whole process.

[+Zeptari]

On 9/4/2024 at 10:44 PM, Gamemoose said:

The game play and feel is very much like the new "Strider"

Sold!!! I love Strider on Genesis and the 2014 one. 

[Gamemoose]

It is out now but the physical versions don't seem to be coming until the end of December.  Atari Club had 10 copies of Switch and PS5 each but those flew, natch.

 

I'm still debating on physical or Steam so I haven't gotten it yet.

[bojay1997]

19 hours ago, Gamemoose said:

It is out now but the physical versions don't seem to be coming until the end of December.  Atari Club had 10 copies of Switch and PS5 each but those flew, natch.

 

I'm still debating on physical or Steam so I haven't gotten it yet.

Switch version was released physically yesterday.  Best Buy delivered my copy today.

[Gamemoose]

Wow! Ok. Either misread or got bad info. Wonder why Atari made a big deal of only having 10 copies available?

[bojay1997]

12 minutes ago, Gamemoose said:

Wow! Ok. Either misread or got bad info. Wonder why Atari made a big deal of only having 10 copies available?

I was confused by that myself.  It looks like the PS5 version is also available from major retailers already including Best Buy and GameStop.