You would not believe how hard it is to pin down my final review of this. I keep debating whether to praise or criticize it, because at this point, so close to finishing it, I am left with a wish to do both. There are some amazing things in Origins, just as there are some of the most teeth grinding, frustrating elements I've ever encountered in a platformer such as this. All I can say for now is -- I hope Rayman Legends fixes most of the problems I mention here, as I've already got that pre-ordered...
Well, for those of you who haven't played Rayman... expect to be basically as clueless as the rest of us as there is almost no pretense of story beyond some jammerings from the above creature with a long beard and a few bits of basic direction from forest nymphs (more on them later). Basically, our heroes were chilling in the forest, snoring very loudly. This awakens and undead lady who literally unleashes hell and sends the entire topside world into chaos. As a result, your first order is to... jump around and collect random creatures that seem to serve no purpose? Yeah, unlike Mario, they don't even really bother explaining how the Teensies actually seem to be the magic macguffin of their world, they just point you in the right direction.
In any other game, this could be damning, what with especially the fact that the ending is severely unsatisfying, but that's not the point of Rayman Origins, which is why I say I am not finished. The real focus is on continually unlocking new Teensies for costumes and more levels. After that... I guess completionist stats? You'll unlock most of the content just by playing through the game normally, but the last two costumes and the Livid Dead levels are permanently locked off unless you put in some serious effort. It's about this time during you run through the game that you'll find a serious problem with Rayman Origins.
It's checkpoints were apparently handled by monkeys. Not only are they extremely unforgiving -- they are sloppily done and often go so far as to make me question the amount of QA was devoted to that. You can only activate them upon entering a new room/area. This is the only instance, outside of maybe ONE level, in which you save your progress. Sometimes this encourages running through the next door then coming back -- but you have no knowledge if it will permanently seal on you or not. This wouldn't matter if you didn't lose everything you picked up, but you are literally reset to the moment you enter the room. This is awful design, especially for a platformer that descends into pure masochism near the end of it's campaign.
Another downside is that the controls only hold up in the moderately hard sections -- I once got sent back repeatedly not due to my own reflexes failing me, but due to damn near broken ability to make sure I wouldn't jump too high and hit a spike. Hit boxes also being fairly ambiguous for some objects make it increasingly hard to tell what you're doing. These two aggravations become worst in the boss fights. Boss fights with specific patterns? Fine, I'll abide that, but not with a checkpoint system that sends you back to the start every time. Due to the one-hit-death nature of the game, even if you get a heart to give you a second hit point, that's a once in a blue moon bonus in the face of some very unpleasant bosses. The best "boss" sections are more often in a side scrolling shooter section or when you're running and fleeing from an enemy. Unfortunately, you still get the scripted sequences, stupid as they are.
The least impactful but still stupid design decision though, is the Nymph clothing design. Guys, this is a game meant for all ages. Showing us skimpy girls in bikinis that clearly barely fit, even showing their chest jiggle in animations, is not cute, it is not funny, it is just pandering to a specific audience. I mean, I am laying out the criticisms here for the later levels and the checkpoints but really... your game is better than this sort of stupidity. The first two thirds or so of the game are well worth the price of entry even if the climax is a rough, unpleasant ride. I was nearly ready to nominate this game as one of my GOTY candidates alongside Dishonored back then. The controls work well in the less insane levels, the sound design is amazing, the visual creativity is amazing, the originality of the universe pours through every single inch of the screen... it's enchanting and amazingly well done, yet you keep making these dumb mistakes! I want to love you Rayman Origins. Why do you keep slapping me in the face when I tell you that!? If you don't get your act together, we're through. It was a fantastic ride but trying to recapture old magic while trying to ignore the bad just won't work.
This is one of those good-but-not-great games. It's fresh, it's original, it's enticing, it doesn't require a lives system *side glares Mario*, and it lets me play as whatever character I want. Yes, I didn't play as Rayman. I apparently played as Goth Teensie (yes, to m
y understanding, both the little purple creatures you collect and the long nosed creatures are called Teensies), and he's a goth because... he dresses in black and red? I just thought he looked like a monk, plus his animations are adorable! Oh who am I kidding? Every animation, save for the nymphs, is like something out of a lost kid's cartoon. You could put together footage from in-game and I bet, if you removed the HUD, that someone would think it's purely 2D animation. It's also refreshing for something that isn't dull gray or ULTRA-HAPPY-FUN-TIME-WOOPIE!. It's got a tinge of dark, it's not trying to follow anyone's ideas, and it's, in the end, just trying to do it's own thing.
I really can't emphasize enough that the problems I'm having, big as they are, will not effect you until well into the campaign unless you are bad at platforming games. This is one of the most varied, curious, and enjoyable games out there, and probably one of the few non-pretentious Ubisoft games on the market. It's a bit like Killzone 3, oddly enough, in that respect. It just wants to do what it's doing, flaws and all, and get the job done so you can have fun. It may have it's hang ups, it may have it's issues, but it will stand by your side so long as you're both getting along well. Rayman Origins gets an 8.75/10.
Additional Note for PC users: While I'm not aware of gamepad support (and there appears to be no online support), you can script WHATEVER keys on the keyboard you want for every player. Depending on your keyboard size, and the small list of controls, that can mean anywhere from two to four local players on a PC game. I know, right? Crazy talk!
Cheers,
Paradigm the Fallen
Better to do something mostly right than something completely wrong.
Trivia: I collected roughly over a hundred or so screenshots playing this. I usually only get to use a few for my blog posts, but when I can, I capture about that many images for any given game I'm reviewing. A few highlights that didn't make the cut:
