Quick Look: Ascend: Hand of Kul

I don't know, this seems kinda Kul.

@cptbedlam said:

Just like Capcom's PS4 exclusive next-gen game, Deep Down.

@whatisdelicious: Glad I'm not the only one getting annoyed with Brad lately. What makes it worst is that ever since Ryan's passing, Brad's been in A LOT more quick looks. I know it's a shitty thing to say, but I can't help but close the tab once I hear Brad. I WANT MORE HAPPY TIMES WITH VINNY AND DREW, NO MORE NEGATIVITY.

You're right, it's a really fucking shitty thing to say.

It'd be really cool if you just never commented here again. Better yet, just stop coming to Giantbomb. You're not supporting the site anyway.

Please don't pull that "You're not supporting the site" shit.

@magris: Wow, what an absolute cunt you are.

woah these comments got nasty quick

So only paying members allowed? Yeah, no thanks. I don't really like your vision of Giant Bomb.

What up dawwwwwwg? lol

Oh and I love Brad and I love negativity. It's honest, and also amusing.

I feel like Ryan was a happy in-between. He could be happy about the good things in a game and be angry about the bad at the same time, while Jeff and Brad seem to go on one side or the other(speaking in general). Like obviously I don't want game critiques to sugarcoat when a game is bad, and Ryan could shit on a game like nobody else if it deserved it, but yeah maybe there's not as much open-mindedness going on lately, but then I don't really blame them. Also, maybe our wanting to see the guys be happy doesn't even have to do with video games.

"The dudes without shirts won't get on me." - Brad Shoemaker

Kul story bro.

@buzz_clik: yea sorry, you're right. I should have gotten my point across in a different way. I'm simply burned out by Brad who's been appearing in certain quick look "teams" as of late, i.e Vinny/Drew Flight Club, Vinny/Jeff sports club, etc. I like how Vinny goes about presenting quick looks in an open-minded manner and I feel Brad's quick judgments and negativity takes away from it.

@magris

I don't actually think you said anything that bad at all.

You're entitled to your opinion. Maybe people are thinking you said something about Ryan because they didn't read it properly. I honestly don't understand what everyone is getting all shitty about.

Actually think this looks kinda neat, but since it's F2P i'll never touch it.

@john_pits: I think some find the need to protect the bomb crew members in the face of any criticism. They might have felt I was unfair to Brad who is probably appearing in more quick looks due to the absence of Ryan, and that his goodwill was being criticized.

Jeff's "The Hand of Kul" voice is amazing!

Especially DD, since it's Capcom. That game is going to be a microtransaction nightmare.

Maybe Brad just doesn't like F2P games, and shouldn't play them; it seems most of his criticism hinges on the exact model (buy this after limited use items runs out, et al) which just seems like a weird thing to criticize. At some point it just seems lazy to lament so much over a game that was offered for FREE.

F2P impacts game design. A game based around a monetization model is just bad, no way around it. Therefore the criticism of F2P games in general is valid. There are very few exceptions that do it right, mainly because they stick to microtransactions that are cosmetic stuff only (and therefore doesn't impact the game design).

RE: Your latter statement - DOTA says hello.

@vitor: My other posts say "hello". Exclusively cosmetic microtransaction models are the exception to the "F2P = bad" rule.

If this is Dark Souls, True Crime LA is GTA V.

Watching Brad play games infuriates me. Looks directly at a chest then runs right by the big blinking arrow. JUST OPEN THE CHEST BRAD, IT'S RIGHT THERE.

Combat looks a little closer to Skylanders than Dark Souls.

Looks like a fun concept, I hope someone picks this idea up and make something out of this :)

@radioactivez0r: Um...DOTA

Why does every video game critic and website user get hung up on the idea of micro-transactions in a free-to-play game? That's how these games work. YOU DON'T PAY FOR THE GAME ITSELF, you pay for in-game advantages or avatars or content, etc. That's how the developer and publisher make money. Stop being outraged/surprised and just don't play these games if that business model is not what you want. But don't sit here and tell me something is inherently bad because paid DLC is available, or even a core tenet of the game. The constant whining of privileged gamers is really driving me away from reading comments and blogs and watching these videos.

Probably because their opinion has been soured because MT's are becoming this growing cancerous creep in proper full price games. If MT's were purely restricted to the realm of f2p it probably wouldn't merit discussion but as it stands they're doing more and more harm.

While I don't think the game is anything for me, I thought it was kinda neat that it does not have ten different currencies of which some are free and some are for real money only, having everything go under the same currency means everybody has access to the same pool of items and upgrades, and the time it took Brad to accumulate more souls didn't seem terrible either.

Huh, I didn't expect to but I really dig the mechanics and lore. I wish the graphics/feel of it were as developed as the other elements, but it still looks pretty fun.

Edit: Boyhowdy, seeing how the gameplay plugs back into microtransactions really spoiled this whole thing.

Phantasy Star Online meets Dark Souls meets Rampage! meets Primal Rage meets....

Nice concept, and the combat looks alright but it seems way too repetitive.

Honestly, this is a pretty cool concept, and looks like a fairly fun game, but the F2P/P2W element absolutely murders any interest I would have had in playing it...

@Ministry4390

You can straight up purchase currency which directly relates to equipment and power. It doesn't matter if they're not literally putting a gun to your head to buy things to progress, the point is that your power in game can be directly influenced by how much money is thrown at it. I don't care if I can just barely get by in a game without having to pay a cent. I'd much rather pay a flat fee/buy game time if the alternative is "pay to cheat".

If free to play games became the norm then the need for a game critic would reduce significantly.

People are being MORE negative about Brads negativity on this game. Ironic.

I played a bit of this and it's such a boring game. It needs some more work to find the thing that makes it click because it's basically repetitive hack-and-slash with some loot.

@carryboy: There's a comment directly above/below yours, depending on whether you use "first-to-last" or "latest" organization, that rather eloquently sums it up. The problem with F2P games isn't the simple fact that it's possible to pay money for microtransactions, far from it.

The problem comes with the fact that nearly all of them severely restrict the gameplay until you either spend a lot of time playing the game, a lot longer than you'd ever need to to progress in a "real" game, or throw money at your problem to make it go away. Some of them, as Kordesh points out, also allow players to become massively more powerful than their peers just by paying for the privilege, nullifying any concepts of fair or equal play.

The simple fact of the matter is that while there are worthwhile, enjoyable F2P games, the vast majority of them would be significantly better if they dropped the F2P elements entirely and just asked for an admission fee right off the top... like more traditional games have been doing for decades.

Would you say this is a Dark Soulsian Roguelike?

@saturdaynightspecials I love you sir

Really, guys? This is the game where you start giving Brad shit for being negative? This completely unremarkable light attack-heavy attack God of War/Dynasty Warriors rip off, that BARELY steals one or two ideas from Dark Souls, that is also riddled with weird microtransactions?