Well, the demo of this is now out in Europe and I've just played through it and I... still don't really get it.

The music is nice, and it is pretty - expecially if you liked the design of Pixar's Incredibles as it looks like it could take part in that universe.

Gameplay in the demo boils down to mashing a couple of buttons with no real understanding of what the hell is going on. There is so much happening on the screen that it is hard to keep track of what you are fighting, or where you are. Both screens are filled with so much information it is overloading, particularly when the action is interrupted by pop-ups to tell you that you've just picked up a 'space pear' or similar, or to press a button or draw something. Cluttered is the only way I can describe it. For example on the gamepad screen there are large icons for the ZR and ZL buttons, which just seems strange considering that those buttons are at your fingertips. There are some nice touches, such a a puzzle in a garage which makes use of both screens, but generally I found it to be the same button mashing combat for set piece after set piece until I reached the end.

It could be that the full game has great tutorials and teaches you the controls and the theory behind them, but the demo doesn't. I just ended up wondering around the screen about mashing X & A, and occasionally drawing a circle, line or ↱ on the control pad (which if you hit in just the wrong place suddenly opens other screens) without really having any understanding at all about why I was meant to be doing this. In all honesty having now played it, I am a complete loss as to why this particular title is to be considered the 'system seller' for the Wii U as the demo was incredibly underwhelming for the hype that this is getting.

I guess the most damning thing for me is that having watched the preview videos, I still wasn't really sure how this game was meant to be played. Having now played it, I'm still non the wiser. I guess maybe it is one of those titles that you have to play until it 'clicks' and you have the ah-ha moment but I didn't have that during this play-through of the demo. It wasn't bad, but sure didn't make me want to lay out £40 on it.

The game might be Good at the end of the day but you are right this game wont make me put down £216 one sadly.

So there's no tutorial in the demo or am I misunderstanding?

@kishinfoulux: A basic one. It tells you how to do stuff but it's either telling you how to do things on the bottom left of the TV screen or on the GamePad screen.

This game doesn't hold your hand and guide you through everything. It's really about just experimenting. At the beginning I literally had no idea what to do, but after about 5 or 10 minutes I "got" it. I'm going to actually play it a second time now that I understand how to do everything correctly, but I spent most of the time just figuring out things and getting used to the controls. Once you do, it's pretty fun.

Drawing the shapes with the right analogue stick was a bit annoying at first, but when I got more heroes it seemed easier to do, but I still prefer using the touch screen on the GamePad.

I'm not at my house. Would the demo be available in the US?

I think people should stop looking at every Wii U game as a potential system seller . It's really unfair to the game . It's all about how many good games are on the system . Not one game is good enough to justify a purchase of a system all by itself .

@spraynardtatum: Yeah, it's available in the North American eShop now.

@haziqonfire: awesome! thanks. I'm going to download this tonight.

Think your being harsh on it. Yes, it throws you in there without much to tell you what is going on (except that tutorial box on the left that covers a good portion of the screen which I found annoying).

But it feels super unique. I loved what I played. I've read Pikmin meets Viewtiful Joe and I'd say that sounds like an quick, accurate description.

I also just played the demo and don't know what the hell is going on in this game.

I've played the demo too , and holy balls this game is wonderful . I'm sold .

Also , I was fully aware what was going on . Might be a slight learning curve , but that's not a bad thing at all .

Yup . It has a nice level of craziness added on top of that .

Just played through the demo. I like it, but far and away the best part is the song that starts playing just after you finish the demo.

First run of the demo could only be described as completely baffling, second a bit fiddly... third... HOLY SHIT THIS IS AWESOME!

Once you get the hang of knowing that you always have one unite tied to a button and can quickly pull off auto attacks withe the x button you have a glorious mass of superhero action.

Using the jelly-parry thing seems better than the dodge and can turn what is initially a super frustrating mess into something that can probably only be described as wonderful.

It seems like it would be a lot of fun once you get used to it. The garage puzzle was really cool and I really like how colorful it is. I had a hard time telling what was going on, but once I play the full game I think I'll get used to it.

This game seems like yet another added incentive to buying a Wii U, but not a system seller.

Yeah. If you take like 5-10 minutes to just mess around in the demo and learn how everything works, it's not bad. The learning curve isn't nearly as bad as the OP is making it out to be.

Yeah I just played it last night. The tutorialising seemed a bit poor, and left me wondering what the hell was going on. I did start to get the hang of it towards the end though.

I can imagine it will be really satisfying to play once I'm comfortable with it.

People are saying "this demo makes no sense," "I don't know what is going on," "this shit is crazy..."

This is a Platinum game, right? All of those statements suddenly make a lot of sense. I'm sold.

@jakob187: Typical Kamiya game.

The tutorials tell you enough of the basics. It's fun to figure out the rest on your own.

This game has dodge offset too. This seems to be a combination of all previous Kamiya games and more, which is pretty cool!

The game totally feels hectic and puzzling at first, I found that by the end of the demo I was coming to grips with it, though. By the time I was done with a second playthrough I felt quite at home. I've played through the demo about 5 times now and think it plays great, it's just not immediately accessible.

It takes some getting used to but by the time I got to the end of the demo I knew what I was doing. Drawing shapes with the right-stick to choose the different weapons takes some time but it all falls into place. The fighting reminds me of Bayonetta and the dodge system also feels familiar to that game. I think the game will be a good but fair challenge on higher difficulty settings once you get the controls in your head. I'm looking forward to it a lot more than I was before I tried the demo.

I hope it does well because the Wii U needs it to be successful. I don't know if it will sell many systems but I know I will be buying it and hoping for more from PlatinumGames.

Yeah, seems like the game could be really awesome once you understand how to actually play it. Unfortunately, no one has effectively explained how to actually play the game, not even Platinum themselves. This video kind of changed my mind on the whole game though.

@mysterysheep:

That vid actually does clear things up a bit. I didn't know you could draw different shapes to get the different weapons. I just used the big hand the whole demo. I remember it telling me something about drawing shapes but I didn't quite understand... I thought it was just telling me to draw a circle to recruit the other people.

I was going to post this. To be completely honest, I think Platinum could use someone like Chip in whatever department is in charge of making sure the game explains its own mechanics.

Just played through the demo and didn't really like it. Super mashy fighting. Not for me.

THIS is your tutorial, guys. Kamiya explains basically everything you need to know.

The combat isn't button mashy at all. Just because it's hard to grasp what you're doing the very first time through and thus end up mashing button doesn't mean it's button mashy.

They let people play the opening of the game at Comic-Con. It starts slower and asks you to do very simple things (I think it's right before the demo part).

This isn't some mindless game you can walk through with your eyes closed, you've gotta play the demo a few times and apply all the different things.

You can also just start up Wonderful Missions (basically a challenge mode) and play around without being driven down a path to advance in a level. It even supports multiplayer.

Wait, so you never looked at the gamepad or paid attention to anything about the game ever? Drawing shapes to form new weapons is the very first thing they ever showed about the game. Nevermind Kamiya going into great detail about it in the Direct and previously the platinum blog and every hands-on ever.

But you did notice that it said in big letters: "HOLD L: OFF" over that tutorial box, right? And as if through magic, holding L will make the box disappear.

Guys, please don't take this the wrong way but I think paying a little more attention wouldn't hurt :D

There is a lot going on in the game but it's not too much to ask to just experiment a bit, try out the Wonderful Missions to get a feel for controls or reading up on it on the internet or even watching a Nintendo Direct hosted by Kamiya that explains everything to you.
On-rails press-A-to-win games seem to really have taken their toll on gaming as of late.

@def: I think you're being a -little- harsh.

I feel like the demo does appear to be lacking in some ways, possibly giving a less-than-ideal impression of the game. People shouldn't have to look at others videos or have been keeping up with press releases to really understand it. It may just have a flawed demo, as many games unfortunately have. Hopefully the full game does a much better job conveying the information in a way that will maximize people's enjoyment of the title. :)

Finally got around to playing it. Weird demo. I had fun mostly, but I feel like it could've done a better job explaining things. I couldn't seem to get my dudes to pile on the bigger enemies. Analog stick takes getting used to, but it's good that time freezes for that. Makes it less frustrating.

Also this is meant to sell me on the game. Having to play through it multiple times to "get it" or get a feel for it isn't a good thing, for me personally. I shouldn't really have to experiment to find things out. Like I said I had fun mostly, but it also was equally as damaging to the prospects of me buying it.