Too Human - First Impressions

I just completed my first run-through of the Too Human demo, which was available on Xbox Live. Getting my Live account to work in the first place was a bit of a challenge, as I'm trying to connect my Singaporean set to the network from Australia. I'm not able to change my contact details to accurately reflect where I'm living now, plus I think I'm still connecting to the SE Asian service.

I've been looking forward to Too Human for a long time now. The premise was very intriguing: A sci-fi-esque reimagining of Norse mythology. Coupled with a high-quality action-RPG, I was sure that this game would be right up my alley.

But as of my first playing, I've become a little ambivalent about the whole thing, and I'm a little undecided now. At the very least, my enthusiasm has waned just by a little bit.

Positives

1. The graphics, and the art direction, from what I've seen, is quite inspired. Wind swept, frost covered, cavernous ruins. Mystical forests where magic is seemingly alive. Menacing metallic robotic golems and goblins.
2. Even at the very onset of the game, there are hints of a very deep character system, which allows of different skills sets and equipment. In addition, there's crafting, as well as customizable weapons and runic upgrades.
3. Controls were not as hard to get a grip of at all. When playing, you do not attack with a button press, but rather push the right thumbstick in the direction of the enemy; your on-screen avatar would then slide a short distance and proceed with attacking the intended target. It works a lot better than I would have suspected, and contributes to very dynamic battle sequences, especially when there are multiple enemies on-screen.
   

Negatives

1. The interface, especially in the sub-menus, is a little confusing, and not very intuitive. It took me more than a few minutes to figure out how to upgrade my skill tree. and there weren't any hints or help on how to do so. I also didn't know I had equipment other than weapons, as it was not made clear how I'd access these. I spent the better part of the demo without any armour because I didn't even know I could equip it.
2. Combat movement can be a little sluggish at times when I'm trying to switch directions in mid-attack. It almost seems as if my avatar requires time to re-orient himself and not go dizzy from the abrupt change.
3. Targeting in combat seems a little weird, and I haven't figured it out yet. It seems that with guns, I'm able to target specific part of large enemies, but I'm unable to do so with a melee attack. It's especially frustrating when I'm standing at the feet of a large golem, and I'm just slashing air and not doing any damage at all. I have to repeatedly jump and attack, which is an antithesis of the quick dynamic combat that the game promotes.
4. Character designs of the avatar seems a little boring. at the onset Even with the new armour that I finally managed to get on, my character still looks the same no matter what. I'm guessing that later in the game, there's more stuff that I can individualise my character with, which would make him look far cooler.
5. The demo doesn't allow me to try the other classes, but it seems that some are more suited to a team-play environment. There will be options to play as the Defender (as a tank) or as a Bio-Engineer (as a healer) in the final game, but I worry about their limited effectiveness in the single-player game. That's particularly worrying for me, because I've got a shoddy internet connection, and I'm not sure if I can play on Xbox Live at all. And if I'm not able to play multi-player, then my experience with some of the other classes may be diminished.

All in all, I'm still hopeful about the game. I'm slightly worried that the emphasis on multi-player may impact my enjoyment of the single-player campaign. The parts that I played were very fun, in spite of the bits that annoyed me. As such, I'm going to temper my enthusiasm a little, and keep a cautious watchful eye on the game.