Table of Contents 64q43
Seven years after the release of the original game's last content, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World returns to digital stores in a remastered version with all the hits (and misses) of the nostalgic title beat 'em up. The game, developed and distributed by Ubisoft, is inspired by the comic book universe of Scott Pilgrim, a young man who discovers that his love life can be more challenging than he imagined. I've been able to play it these past few days and I'll tell you my experience in this review. dq6w
By the way, the full name of the current version of the game is Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game – Complete Edition. However, to facilitate your reading, dear reader, I will treat the game throughout this review as only "Scott Pilgrim vs The World" or "Scott pilgrim“. ing that All images below were captured via OBS with my copy of the PC game, provided by Ubisoft for review.
History and references 5f1s3h
As an background quick to game history, Scott Pilgrim vs The World was released to PlayStation 3 e Xbox 360 in 2010 and, four years later, it disappeared completely from online distribution stores. It is believed that this was just the end of the brand/partnership license agreement with Ubisoft, even though nothing was detailed at the time. To everyone's surprise, in 2020 the remastered version with all expansions was announced, released now in January for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch e PC (overseas, there is also a version for Google Stadia).
In the original comic book story of Bryan Lee O'Malley, which serve as the basis for the game and the 2010 film, Scott falls in love with a girl named Ramona Flowers, who has her love life controlled by her 7 ex-boyfriends. The main part of the game is exactly this: the Canadian boy needs to fight the “League” and only then will he have the chance to date Ramona. In the end, the story ends up being just the background to justify the beating.
With so many pop culture references contained in the source material, the game itself was inevitable. Scott pilgrim be stuffed with easter eggs for epoch-making 8-bit and 16-bit games. This extends to the menus, as right on the character selection screen we come across a copy of Super Mario 2. The map, in turn, closely resembles Super Mario World. With that we see how the Switch version comes in handy, given that there is not so much hardware and we have a convergence of this target audience”nostalgic gamer".
So we come to a crucial point: the story is almost nothing new in the comics, so how good is the game at telling it? Directly, not much. except for cutscene start, it is assumed that you have a basic context of Scott Pilgrim's universe. Optionally, you can choose to drop the story and enjoy the gameplay and gate to get to the bosses.
Movement and gameplay 6i4b17
Games arcade , the Scott Pilgrim vs The World don't have much to innovate in the formula, so it's all a matter of seeing what extra elements are applied to this mix in an attempt to entertain you. I was surprised when I entered a port by complete accident, for example, and started testing different ports. In a quick internet search, I found lists (from the original game) explaining how buying items worked and what exactly you get for each one.
The vague explanations sound poetic, but in a game where items are almost essential for good progress, it can be frustrating to read “this delight will satisfy your hunger” instead of “gives +50 HP points and +3 strength points” . Even if I try to refer to the pleasure of occasional arcade discoveries, in today's times, paying R$60 for a digital game to not understand basic mechanics is another story. Here's the tip: find a guide that explains the bonuses of permanent items and evolve your character.
Having played (and loved) the recent Streets of Rage 4 made it inevitable to compare the evolution of gameplay with these landmark classics. definitely in Scott pilgrim there is a finer line between the different characters at your disposal. Combos are unlocked gradually and the notion of depth can occasionally be confusing, but the addition of item purchases helps a little to “lead a bit” better than just jumping into melee combat.
Scott Pilgrim vs The World at least it has one aspect of classic games that makes it fun: the multiplayer. There are up to three simultaneous friends, with the option of co-op online or location without directly affecting the narrative. On the character selection screen, you can also choose the color of clothing that suits you best. As an addition to this “full” version, both Wallace Wells and Knives Chau can be chosen – which was previously only possible with the purchase of the expansion.
As I didn't know anyone who owned/could play Scott pilgrim online (and we are in a pandemic), I was content with the way single player. Even so, I need to mention that there are certain ways arcade, like surviving a zombie attack, which is sure to be more fun if you play with two or three friends.
Combat and Atmosphere 1j325h
Combat-wise, we have one more humorous cliché, as enemies turn into coins when they die. Between Ramona's weaker and ex-boyfriends, there are few differences in combat. There is no defensive or dodging logic, unfortunately, as you would expect in a paced game of this type. Every now and then, there's a sequence of enemies (mostly clones) that mount your fallen body on the ground and force you to smash buttons over and over again.
There are two attacks for each character, one being forte and a weak, opening up the possibility of making combos when performing sequences of specific attacks. In the movement aspect, you have the main left-right (sidescroll) and the various depth layers. In this, I encountered a certain problem to collect coins and find out in "which" specific layer the enemy was. Often when you get to this layer, he's ready to attack you. The safest thing to do with stronger enemies is to wait for the attack, block and fight back, and so on.
You also have an attack with increased area damage, which consumes your energy points, but is useful if you find yourself backed into one of the corners of the screen. Another less efficient attack method that I it I have used little throughout the game is to summon a friend of yours for a special attack. Too bad there are rare situations where this works as it should.
The boring repetition of facing extensive hordes of enemies until you reach one of the bosses/boyfriends is something intrinsic to the style of play that Scott Pilgrim vs. the World proposes. However, the pace of beat em' ups It's usually a little busier. There are pauses in combat, for example, with knockouts – either from enemies knocking you down or you, prevented from hitting enemies who are on the ground until you unlock the attack that allows it.
Blocking attacks can also be problematic until you reach the level needed to grab enemies. For these and other reasons, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World approaches the mechanics of RPGs, almost reminiscent of the “rogue likes“. By context: this second genre cited is the type of game like Hades, where you must die and get back to square one with new skills. This slow progression logic was something I noticed in another recent one from Ubisoft, Fenyx Rising Immortals, but here it is more complex and with less fluidity.
With the exception of the first boss, Matthew Patel, the ex-boyfriends have relatively simple attacks and almost never show a degree of difficulty that, apart from the lore, make us caricatures of “bosses”. In other words, if I didn't know about the story, the second boss could definitely just be a subtly different kind of "normal" enemy. This also includes the mighty vegan Todd Ingram, who is still hilarious as in the comic/film.
There are certain minigames and minimal strategies in each combat, however, none of the highlights are too special. The appearance of Knives' father in a completely random encounter for any player was one of the few surprises of respect to build on top of the base material. This also ends up being one of the most difficult disputes in the game. Losing a life for him is synonymous with death. You go back to the end of the previous level in the map selection, which differs from resuming the fight with one less life. To face him again, you need luck.
Something that would help to convey the immersion in the characters' skin would be simple dialogue options, even if it was limited to one per character (per level). Scott Pilgrim vs. the World has a huge world built into a comic book series, with dozens of secondary and main characters. It was to be expected, for example, to bump into Lisa Miller – and all her friendliness – inside a store and have a gesture or a speech bubble that recognizes the character's presence there. Or the reaction to some gesture (taunts) that you do. A single reaction would be enough.
With all the praise and criticism cited here, an “absolute truth” when talking about Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and other games with nostalgic atmosphere is that there is a fine line between tribute e copy. Being familiar with a game genre can be positive for you to accumulate similar skills in more than one title, but this goes down the drain when all there is is a chain of references without much consistency in the story.
And I also recognize that a fan with a greater cultural background can be on the fence when noticing the copies / tributes, but it's up to each player to understand the game's progression as they want. Repeating some missions and dying dozens of times, I managed to finish Scott Pilgrim vs. the World in just 5 hours, which is an acceptable average for sidescrollers modern with a retro feel.
Visuals and Soundtrack 1m2e6
The audiovisual is the strongest point of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, without a doubt. I emphasize the stages that take place on the train (world 4), with a very dynamic change of scenery. The whole look manages to capture the energy of the comics very well, with a mix moderate of pixel art.
I understand that, in part, I only liked certain visual choices because they were a respectful reference to the comics (which I read and reread). However, even those who haven't played Scott Pilgrim vs. the World need to recognize that the look of the game, exemplified by my captures throughout this post, it is a pleasure to the eyes even without any movement. With references to the comics, one can perceive discrete speech bubbles and onomatopoeias to indicate that the enemy has been defeated. The “meta-referential” logic of the fake game/comic/game adaptation is great.
To tie everything together, we have group compositions anamanaguchi, Band of chiptune – that style of classic 8/16-bit tracks. Many of the bosses had a different atmosphere thanks to the musical compositions, which complement the action seen without being distracting. This is a delicate point when talking about games, as the music should pull you into that game environment. In Scott Pilgrim vs. the World we have demonstrated this very well. Extra sound effects also stamp the retro proposal.
Conclusion 60664y
Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game – Complete Edition does an excellent job of translating Bryan Lee O'Malley's masterpiece, which itself was inspired by games. Music and visuals are what make the experience more immersive and put you in Scott's shoes. However, the same does not work when we try to tell a story.
There's no denying it. THE Complete Edition was launched thinking about who has played the first one, or who wanted to and never could (in my case). This same segment of the public, therefore, is familiar with Scott pilgrim and even with the end of his saga. So, the question is worth asking: how long will a game beat 'em up Do you have a responsibility to tell a worthy story?
To make it easier, I draw a quick parallel with blockbusters. Movies where action is the main genre do not necessarily need to have a good plot, after all, we only pay the ticket to see “shot, beating and bomb”. However, it's always great to have a story to stitch these scenes together and justify the protagonist's journey. the movie of Scott it was good at adapting the pacing of the comic, but I didn't feel the same when it was carried over into the game's slow progression.
One of the factors that ironically contributed to this is certainly the speed of production, since the developers had only 5 months to create Scott Pilgrim vs. the World from scratch. Now, being on a new generation of consoles and more than a decade after the original game, it was to be expected at least an update of what everyone sees as flaws (even those who love the game).
I never expected anything like Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy nor the recent ones resident evil, but a refined minimum in the commands and a redoubled attention when explaining certain systems of the game would help a lot. It's clear that the game won ports for last generation consoles aiming 100% profit coming directly from the longing fans of the comics. Still, it would be satisfying to have something more appealing and intuitive to gamers who have never played the first one. Looks like we'll have to wait another ten years for that.
The game Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game – Complete Edition is only available on digital media by about BRL 60 and also to Xbox (One and Series X/S), PS4/PS5, Nintendo Switch and PC (via Epic and Ubisoft store).
So, what did you think of Scott Pilgrim vs The World? Tell us in the comments below!
