Explicitbaron's Thoughts: Enslaved: Odyssey to the West Review

Every year among the cluttered holiday season a few great games get missed and brushed under the rug. They end up in bargain bins months later or not in stores all together. Enslaved: Odyssey to the West was one of those games. Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is an action adventure game set 150 years in the future in a post-apocalyptic world. The story revolves around two people, a strong and lonely nomad known simply as Monkey and Trip, a young and seemingly innocent girl on a mission to get back to her village. -

[explicitbaron]

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[Baka-akaB]

It wasnt that cluttered actually ... most of those games you listed were releaded at least a month after in nov , and some at the very end of it .

It's an excuse ... Enslaved didnt fail because of Gran turismo , assassin creed , cod , fifa or fallout . Again most of those werent even there , and from a widely different genre and appeal .

Enslaved mostly had Castlevania Lord of Shadows to fight against , and was wiped to the floor by it .

Its sales werent impressive like you claim . The whole media was backing the game , there was a demo for everyone to see , some advertising , and it flopped hard .

Castlevania easily outsold enslaved at launch and through its life . That excuse doesnt work imo .

[Auld]

Well said my friend, well said. I couldn't agree more :)

[explicitbaron]

I don't recall a big marketing campaign, nevertheless it was a good game. Don't dismiss due to the sales. It's still one hell of a game and an overlooked game like Ico and Rayman Origins.

[Baka-akaB]

I think it's a very mediocre game , with an awful gameplay (it even got input lag ...) , and with technical issues , on top a beautifully designed universe , with a story i couldnt grow to like (but still a well executed story) , but that's not related to my point about sales .

I never mentioned a big marketing campaign , but there was still one .
The game also had a demo , and a massive push from every press outlet out there online and paper as well . It was their critical darling , and they event tried to guilt people into buying something they "were missing out on" .

People just werent attracted to the game or prefered , rightfully so , better games (like again Castlevania) .

To each their own , but i find it insulting to even compare it to Ico or Rayman Origins .
Enslaved brought nothing new on the table , mechanics or storytelling wise , and had a traditional but subpar gameplay . Enslaved has the mechanics of three different games, combined by people who have no idea what makes them fun .

Ico was actually an ovni , and Rayman Origins while nothing new was perfectly crafted .

[Redempteur]

I agree with Baka-akaB

Enslaved failed by his own faults , and for the crime of having only a design for their story but not for the gameplay ..

If you want to succeed on november during the sales YOU HAVE to have good gameplay ..average or just "ok" isn't enough ..That's why bortherhood, castelvania and many others floored enslaved ... if pretty graphics ( or stories ) were the key to make good games ..nintendo wouldn't be stuck years in the past for so long ... With all their franchises

[NeoTribe]

Enslaved dererved to fail. It was horrible.