2008 (Fallout 3, GTA IV, Fable II, MGS 4, Far Cry 2 and LittleBigPlanet are released) WIP
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS, 2008)
Subgenre: 2D Igavania (exp point leveling and stat upgrade items, gear focus), Rescue mission aspect (various rescued villagers end up as vendors or quest givers in town; have to find and save all of them to get to Dracula's castle and get the good ending)
Movement Mechanics: Magnet glyph lets you pull and shoot your body like a slingshot at magnetic points (after beating the optional training hall you can combine it with the boomerang weapon from there to use it basically anywhere), paries - travel through certain walls (kinda like digging as the mole in Yoshi's Island), bounce on enemies via the dive kick, running dash which affects jump length, flight although you get it in the last sub area (no air dash unlike in SotN - OTOH you're still in human form and can perform normal attacks (just not special attacks))
Other: Hub map system (one town, multiple entry points to various areas and certain exits open up new areas on the map that you can later travel to from any other location (also have to pass through in-between areas to get to an unvisited one further away until you've cleared the ones in-between) - similar to Baldur's Gate II), Glyph system replaces the previous soul system (can map a different glyph to two of the face buttons, glyphs also represent basic weapons here). Can swap between glyph setups with Y+L/R after picking up that ability a few areas into the game (Aria of Sorrow?), All attacks drain some MP but it regenerates quickly (special attacks (up+attack) use hearts as ammo). Against tougher enemies it works like a stamina bar as you can't attack at all without MP, Various fetch quests and an optional collectathon/killathon element to some quests (also have to buy the item at the shop afterwards which is kinda lame when it's expensive)
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
LostWinds (WiiWare, 2008/iOS, 2011/PC, 2016)
Subgenre: 2.5D Zelda-like (3D visuals, 2D gameplay)
Movement Mechanics: Triple air dash in any direction+some hovering if you keep mashing it (after upgrading the spirit early on), slipstream (draw a path that for example a torch's fire or a sapling you're holding onto moves (similar to Okami; after getting the cape you can use it on yourself for temporary flight )
Other: Overworld and dungeons, Pretty creative physics-based puzzles and movement (wind theme - the mouse/wiimote controls wind gusts which are used to make your avatar air dash in any direction (your main way of moving around, ) as well as to interact with various objects, can only move left/right with the KB/d-pad), Semi-automated regular jump for your avatar (jumps when moving off of ledges, jumps like in Prince of Persia rather than Mario)
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review (PC)
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (NDS, 2008)
Subgenre: Beat 'em up hybrid (forced encounters - generally you can't go backwards to escape, attack combos w/ juggling)
Movement Mechanics: Web swinging and pulling, wall and ceiling climbing, dashing up walls, wall jumps
Other: Switch between different two suits on the fly (different abilities; can web an enemy with the red suit then quickly switch to the black one and use its combo attacks), Get bonus "exp points" (basically money used to buy new combat moves) for stringing longer combos together until you fill up a meter (or being aggressive enough in general - the meter slowly drains between hits), Can buy any move from the get go if you just save up the money for it (except for the last one for each of the two suits as well as the combo extenders for them) and you can also return moves you didn't want or are no longer using, "Test upgrades" mode accessible at shops however you can't see the damage each move does, Escape sequence after the final boss (relatively difficulty as you have no mini-map but the game auto-saves before it)
Some notable cons:
Playthrough - Mini Review
Fortune Summoners: Secret of the Elemental Stone (PC, 2008 or 2009?) - WIP, ARPG/Platform Adventure
CPU-controlled allies
Kung Fu Panda (Multi, 2008)?
Bionic Commando: Rearmed (Multi, 2008)? - only adds two new tools (power claw - pick up and throw enemies, secret dossier - alerts you to secret areas when near them)
Penguin no Mondai: Saikyou Penguin Densetsu! (DS, 2008)?
Zeta's World (PC 2008)? - Zeux's World remix/update
Ainevoltas II (PC 2008)?
The Power (PC 2008)?
Final Vision (PC 2008)?
Treasure Hunter Man (PC 2008)?
Pieces (JayIsGames.com 2008)?
New International Track and Field (DS 2008)?
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA, 2003/Mobile/Java, 2008) - Differences?
Outliers:
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii, 2008)? - "The Great Maze" level in “The Subspace Emissary” mode - No ability gating and any level can be completed by any character, Save points and warp points
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (XB360, 2008)? - 3D, mini-game/challenge focused
Soul of Darkness (Mobile 2008/DSiWare)? - WIP
Classicvania clone w/ MV-style visuals, One scrolling shooter level (similar to the Sonic 2 level)
Level-based without backtracking?
Upgradeable weapons between levels (4 categories)
Some ability gating (create platforms on walls with the ice spear - see Quackshot; three creature transformations used for certain segments - fish form for underwater segments, larva w/ grappling hook)
Some breakable walls
Some QTEs during boss fights
Dead Space (Multi, 2008)
Subgenre: 3D Survival Horror/TPS/ARPG, Mission-based, Turret segments, One protection segment
Movement Mechanics: Zero gravity jumps (and movement on walls and ceilings) in certain rooms
Perspective: TP view w/ RE4-style over the shoulder viewing angle (pretty zoomed in - can be tweaked with the widescreen fixer app for a more zoomed out view)
Other: Can only jump in zero gravity rooms (you do have control over the gravity via switches in most of these), Shops (weapons, suit upgrades for better armor and larger inventories, ammo and healing, can be upgraded to sell better gear - have to find the schematics for weapons+ammo types+suits, can sell items)) and upgrade stations (Upgrade your weapons/rig/suit/tools with node items (guns - damage, capacity, reload speed, shot speed/fire rate; rig - HP and air supply; suit - armor and inventory space; stasis module - energy and duration, kinesis range, basic upgrade grid for each which is kinda similar to the one in FF10 but simpler - sometimes you have to spend a node item on an empty node to get to where you want which is fairly expensive)), You're forced to kill enemies fairly often (sometimes you're locked into a room until you clear it)
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Iji (PC, 2008/v1.7, 2017) - Action Platformer w/ RPG elements
Level-based (no branching paths between levels but levels themselves have them) without backtracking to previous levels Only higher jump is a hard ability gate
Hacking and kick (str) work like keys
Some weapons and enemy attacks can be used to reach higher via knockback
Mini Review
Check GameFAQs
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii, 2008)? - "The Great Maze" level in “The Subspace Emissary” mode - No ability gating and any level can be completed by any character, Save points and warp points
Subgenre: 2D Igavania (exp point leveling and stat upgrade items, gear focus), Rescue mission aspect (various rescued villagers end up as vendors or quest givers in town; have to find and save all of them to get to Dracula's castle and get the good ending)
Movement Mechanics: Magnet glyph lets you pull and shoot your body like a slingshot at magnetic points (after beating the optional training hall you can combine it with the boomerang weapon from there to use it basically anywhere), paries - travel through certain walls (kinda like digging as the mole in Yoshi's Island), bounce on enemies via the dive kick, running dash which affects jump length, flight although you get it in the last sub area (no air dash unlike in SotN - OTOH you're still in human form and can perform normal attacks (just not special attacks))
Other: Hub map system (one town, multiple entry points to various areas and certain exits open up new areas on the map that you can later travel to from any other location (also have to pass through in-between areas to get to an unvisited one further away until you've cleared the ones in-between) - similar to Baldur's Gate II), Glyph system replaces the previous soul system (can map a different glyph to two of the face buttons, glyphs also represent basic weapons here). Can swap between glyph setups with Y+L/R after picking up that ability a few areas into the game (Aria of Sorrow?), All attacks drain some MP but it regenerates quickly (special attacks (up+attack) use hearts as ammo). Against tougher enemies it works like a stamina bar as you can't attack at all without MP, Various fetch quests and an optional collectathon/killathon element to some quests (also have to buy the item at the shop afterwards which is kinda lame when it's expensive)
- Linear overarching structure (the optional areas can be done in either order, part of Dracula's castle is non-linear, various minor side quests)
- Two optional areas (training hall (platforming challenge) and large cavern)
- Fewer reasons to revisit previous areas though it is still required to get the good/real ending. There's still some backtracking within areas after gaining new abilities to progress
- One unlockable alternate playable char (Albus - can same screen teleport and high jump), Boss rush mode (beat the game)
- Frequent save points which also heal you, Some ammo/heart stations (your default ammo capacity is pretty low however and there are only single heart drops outside of the village, the lovers' ring does increase hearts per drop but its stats are so-so))
- Teleporters within larger areas (usually 2 per area)+consumable town portals/magical ticket items (one way though unlike in Diablo)
- Some decent puzzles (underwater exploding barrel physics puzzle - similar to Ecco, windy room, one puzzle style boss though it's a bit too easy)
- Unlockable hard mode (sometimes new enemies and more dangerous hazards)
- Audio cue when near treasure if wearing the dowsing hat (mid-late game item; there's also a hat that reveals breakable walls gained in the late game)
- Pretty good economy overall in that money stays relevant until the end-game unless you start selling off unused equipment (there's a support glyph (inire pecunia) that makes enemies and item containers drop 100G but only the ones that would've dropped gold anyway). Some items are a bit overly expensive however
- Multiple endings (good and bad)
- Some monster transformations (succubus/werebat (HP stealing secondary attack (only 1 HP at a time though), can't crouch), robot (lose MP instead of HP, very limited movement), black panther/werecat (rapid HP stealing main attack+can talk to cats); not enough of these though and the drop rates are annoyingly low on the robot and panther, ultimately they feel superfluous)
- No oxygen limit underwater
- Healing items are more expensive and don't heal that much until the late game (carry limit of 9 and need to finish a couple of fetch quests (involves a bit of grinding unless you're lucky) to buy high and super potions, can still stock up on the best items for the late game bosses if you sell some gear and grind a bit with the gold glyph)
- Can remove knockback entirely with the tower ring
- While there is an HP regen support glyph that you can find in the late game the effect is very slow
- Somewhat slow default movement (can be increased in the late game with a pair of boots you find but you'll have to sacrifice the stat boosts of other boots)
- Some sequence breaking possibilities in the late game via the boomerang weapon+magnet glyph combo (don't need flight)
- Non-linearity hack
- Some control/interface issues (have to time your dashes and attacks or the next one doesn't even register (back dashing has somewhat more delay/cooldown than in PoR) - can't mash the button to dash (some weapons like the knife make you stand still for a bit between attacks too unless using a combo with a faster weapon mapped to the other button or jumping in-between attacks), dashing is so ineffective against some enemies that you're better off jump attacking while moving away from the enemy, kinda floaty jump - slow falling speed, if you attack right before landing it's canceled - can be used for a quick extra hit as in previous games though, a stun animation plays after falling about a screen's length, map doesn't mark points of interest nor let you place markers, glyph/equipment/shop menus don't wrap around, etc)
- Sometimes very uneven difficulty
- Various corridor rooms with constantly respawning enemies in the first hostile area and some later ones
- Some trial & error (some bosses, finding the hidden exit out of the castle leading to the optional areas unless you equipped the right helmet when near it, enemies can sometimes be readying a devastating ranged attack while off screen as you move towards them so you barely have a chance to react, etc)
- Some tedious parts (curses (drains MP) become really annoying when attacks are MP-based+there's no invincibility period after using one so you can easily get cursed over and over in one fight, overly slow horizontal movement while underwater, certain flying enemies, sometimes overly binary enemy weapon type/elemental affinities, some glyph and gear drop rates are too low, etc)
- Weird drop system on the item containers in dracula's castle (they either drop only gold or only hearts, has a chance of changing when moving between sub areas)
- Some areas are very short and straightforward (the first forest for example is literally just a long corridor that you don't have to revisit later, these traversal areas could've had more interesting platforming and/or winding paths)
- Some items are placed out in the open without a combat/movement/puzzle challenge leading up to them
- Invisible roof in the sky in most outdoors areas
- Some copy paste rooms at Tristis pass and Dracula's Castle
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
LostWinds (WiiWare, 2008/iOS, 2011/PC, 2016)
Subgenre: 2.5D Zelda-like (3D visuals, 2D gameplay)
Movement Mechanics: Triple air dash in any direction+some hovering if you keep mashing it (after upgrading the spirit early on), slipstream (draw a path that for example a torch's fire or a sapling you're holding onto moves (similar to Okami; after getting the cape you can use it on yourself for temporary flight )
Other: Overworld and dungeons, Pretty creative physics-based puzzles and movement (wind theme - the mouse/wiimote controls wind gusts which are used to make your avatar air dash in any direction (your main way of moving around, ) as well as to interact with various objects, can only move left/right with the KB/d-pad), Semi-automated regular jump for your avatar (jumps when moving off of ledges, jumps like in Prince of Persia rather than Mario)
- Linear structure overall (can choose between two dungeons after the first two (after getting the cape), )
- Some backtracking with new abilities and looping back around to progress
- Fairly frequent save points (one slot per game, can be tricky to avoid using these)
- One interesting tool used for progression (vortex - charge a mid-air object with kinetic energy which lets you throw it with more force at obstacles to break them+make crystals break - a bit like Ecco or Kirby Super Star and similar to the later Zelda: BotW as well)
- Pretty good if easy puzzles overall (some systemic elements (burn a plant to create a seed then move it, plant it and water it to grow the plant in a different patch of soil), )
- Various shortcuts (there could've been a few more out of later dungeons though)
- Only one boss and it's easy
- Pretty vague map (shows the general layout of rooms and connecting paths but no items or doors and no room shapes or topology) and no mini-map
- Short
- Destroyed walls don't stay removed
- Various control/interface issues (overly slow mid-air movement right after using a wind gust, mid-air movement for objects and your avatar feels a bit restrained almost like you're on the moon or in water, sometimes inconsistent physics - can reach higher if you interact with a rock at the same time, can't place markers on the map, can't look around with the mouse - some leaps of faith, the camera tends to share its focus between your avatar and the enemies when near them and battle music plays, etc)
- Combat feels bland and is too easy (not enough oomph when flinging enemies into the environment)
- Collectibles don't affect gameplay and some are too easy to find
- Some tedious aspects (some fairly long backtracking after falling down during a platforming segment, saplings automatically destruct a bit too quickly, no fast travel - boring backtracking out of dungeons, sometimes too far between checkpoints, etc)
- Pretty one dimensional characters and generic story
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review (PC)
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (NDS, 2008)
Subgenre: Beat 'em up hybrid (forced encounters - generally you can't go backwards to escape, attack combos w/ juggling)
Movement Mechanics: Web swinging and pulling, wall and ceiling climbing, dashing up walls, wall jumps
Other: Switch between different two suits on the fly (different abilities; can web an enemy with the red suit then quickly switch to the black one and use its combo attacks), Get bonus "exp points" (basically money used to buy new combat moves) for stringing longer combos together until you fill up a meter (or being aggressive enough in general - the meter slowly drains between hits), Can buy any move from the get go if you just save up the money for it (except for the last one for each of the two suits as well as the combo extenders for them) and you can also return moves you didn't want or are no longer using, "Test upgrades" mode accessible at shops however you can't see the damage each move does, Escape sequence after the final boss (relatively difficulty as you have no mini-map but the game auto-saves before it)
- Mostly linear structure (linear progression between areas, in-area progression is also linear in terms of the sub objectives in them, can backtrack for a few optional items in each area, can choose to help either of two NPCs at a couple of points, can enter downtown from the west early but it's pointless as you can't proceed without a new ability and the enemies are much tougher, while you can visit the hive area to the west of the residential/beginning area before exploring the rest of downtown (after becoming able to climb slime walls) you'll be faced with an empty room with locked doors blocking your from progressing further into it, linear final area)
- Two different endings depending on which NPC you help (fairly subtly hinted at when picking which one to help)
- Frequent save points (one slot per game only but can copy the save file - two different endings depending on your choices) which also serve as shops for combat moves as well as health+partial lives restoration points
- Can recover from death 3 times by default but after that it's game over (can gain more lives)
- Decent map system (3 levels of zoom though you have to find the "detailed mini-map" of an area for the max zoom level and the detailed/fully zoomed in version doesn't show adjacent rooms (it just shows your exact location and more detailed topology), shows explored rooms+which room you're in+save points+the next sub goal (game doesn't tell you what it is unless you press the objective button below the map)). The default zoom level map doesn't show your exact location and none of them show points of interest like ability gates or seen but uncollected health upgrades plus you can't place markers on it
- Great movement options from the get go (can throw webbed enemies into each other, can swing yourself up onto a platform from below it, wall jumps, can quickly attach to and pull yourself towards a nearby wall with the straight shot if in mid-air, start with a four hit attack combo, etc)
- Some interesting combat moves
- Voiced tutorial messages that don't pause gameplay
- Some alternate paths through areas
- Subtitles
- Some scripted scenes during gameplay (NPCs getting snatched away)
- Some destructible objects
- Good enemy AI in terms of following you around rooms and ganging up on you
- Different (but not stronger) enemies sometimes appear while backtracking through previously visited rooms
- Some minor spatial awareness puzzles (no other puzzles)
- Start with an enemy drop magnet
- Some pretty good bosses
- Support attacks (based on NPCs you've met: black cat (heals you), green goblin (kinda weird; bomb attack), nightcrawler - not gained if you didn't choose to help him unlike the other two; can only be used against bosses for some reason, have to wait for them to charge up while fighting the boss)
- No touch damage
- Partial control config (choose between six layouts)
- Dynamic camera (generally good but sometimes zooms out a bit much)
- No difficulty options
- Some fast travel via Nightcrawler but you have to find him (he's not marked on the map but is in the downtown area after getting the ability that lets you climb ichor/slime walls) and he teleports you without telling you where to or saying anything at all+you can't go back afterwards - feels unfinished.
- Unlimited web
- Shows boss's health bars but not enemies'
- Enemy attacks tend to take priority over your stronger moves that lock you into a move like a tackle or ground slam
- Some fourth wall breaking comments by your avatar (generally fine but a bit obnoxious if you stand still for 20 secs without pausing and he tells you to move)
- Enemies can juggle you as well
- Some grinding if you want to buy all combat abilities and not return any of them
Some notable cons:
- Some control/interface issues (can't pull yourself towards a wall or ceiling if you're standing on the ground, some tutorial messages won't go away (to show the map again) until you move far enough, somewhat slow wall crawling - slowed down further because you can't shoot the web while in vents and pull yourself toward the next wall, somewhat overly tight camera when jumping, can't close the subtitles when some dialogue triggers - they cover up the map, fall off ledges if performing combos near them, etc)
- Various minor dead ends early on with slime covered walls that you have to remember for later (can't climb nor web sling to these at first, also means you can't swing around that much early on). Some pointless one way paths (pier->downtown)
- The game sometimes spoils minor puzzles by telling you what you need to do and where to go to do it and it's kind of annoying how it tells you to get back to the main objective after finishing a sub objective
- Some trial & error (enemies in the last area blend in with the environment, some fast flier attacks from off screen and some enemies can start performing an attack while you're falling towards them from above and they're off screen, etc)
- Have to play a stupid simple mini-game to respawn after dying, where you grab health orbs and avoid negative power ups with the stylus or your finger - while it's short it should've just not been in the game as you die rather quickly and it's annoying to switch control methods just to respawn when no other game does this)
- Sometimes uneven difficulty
- Only up to two lives are restored at save points (meaning if you had say, 3/4 lives when reaching one then you don't regain any) and going to a different save point doesn't restore the rest. Given some parts are harder they become even harder if you have fewer lives - have to beat bosses to fully restore lives (black cat's support attack occasionally restores one life but it's not reliable)
- Most ability gates and abilities are metaphorical locked doors and keys
Playthrough - Mini Review
Fortune Summoners: Secret of the Elemental Stone (PC, 2008 or 2009?) - WIP, ARPG/Platform Adventure
CPU-controlled allies
Kung Fu Panda (Multi, 2008)?
Bionic Commando: Rearmed (Multi, 2008)? - only adds two new tools (power claw - pick up and throw enemies, secret dossier - alerts you to secret areas when near them)
Penguin no Mondai: Saikyou Penguin Densetsu! (DS, 2008)?
Zeta's World (PC 2008)? - Zeux's World remix/update
Ainevoltas II (PC 2008)?
The Power (PC 2008)?
Final Vision (PC 2008)?
Treasure Hunter Man (PC 2008)?
Pieces (JayIsGames.com 2008)?
New International Track and Field (DS 2008)?
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA, 2003/Mobile/Java, 2008) - Differences?
Outliers:
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii, 2008)? - "The Great Maze" level in “The Subspace Emissary” mode - No ability gating and any level can be completed by any character, Save points and warp points
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (XB360, 2008)? - 3D, mini-game/challenge focused
Soul of Darkness (Mobile 2008/DSiWare)? - WIP
Classicvania clone w/ MV-style visuals, One scrolling shooter level (similar to the Sonic 2 level)
Level-based without backtracking?
Upgradeable weapons between levels (4 categories)
Some ability gating (create platforms on walls with the ice spear - see Quackshot; three creature transformations used for certain segments - fish form for underwater segments, larva w/ grappling hook)
Some breakable walls
Some QTEs during boss fights
Dead Space (Multi, 2008)
Subgenre: 3D Survival Horror/TPS/ARPG, Mission-based, Turret segments, One protection segment
Movement Mechanics: Zero gravity jumps (and movement on walls and ceilings) in certain rooms
Perspective: TP view w/ RE4-style over the shoulder viewing angle (pretty zoomed in - can be tweaked with the widescreen fixer app for a more zoomed out view)
Other: Can only jump in zero gravity rooms (you do have control over the gravity via switches in most of these), Shops (weapons, suit upgrades for better armor and larger inventories, ammo and healing, can be upgraded to sell better gear - have to find the schematics for weapons+ammo types+suits, can sell items)) and upgrade stations (Upgrade your weapons/rig/suit/tools with node items (guns - damage, capacity, reload speed, shot speed/fire rate; rig - HP and air supply; suit - armor and inventory space; stasis module - energy and duration, kinesis range, basic upgrade grid for each which is kinda similar to the one in FF10 but simpler - sometimes you have to spend a node item on an empty node to get to where you want which is fairly expensive)), You're forced to kill enemies fairly often (sometimes you're locked into a room until you clear it)
- Can't backtrack to previous areas unless the story sends you there (chapter-based, mostly takes place in a large spaceship), Lockers sometimes unlock when backtracking through an area you've been through (determined by the game and not your performance or if you found a key - perhaps done for pacing since you have a limited inventory and it seems more of them unlock based on chosen difficulty mode but I would've preferred either of the former)
- Partially non-linear (very guided beginning with frequent voiced assistance and pretty much only objective-specific doors being unlocked, can choose between two different sub objectives in chapters 2/3/7 (3 in chapter 4 and 10 (though the different paths don't branch out as much in the latter), 4 in chapter 6), can choose whether to use a node to upgrade something or to unlock a room with optional goodies at some points; Can't fail a mission and keep going, Can't save the story relevant NPCs)
- Pretty frequent save points overall (20+ slots, shows difficulty/current area/time taken) and frequent temporary checkpoints as well
- Decent map system (shows the layout and your position, what you've explored, doors and if they're locked or not, the next objective, some points of interest, can rotate and yaw+zoom in/out), Objective markers+path markers on the map (can't turn either off except for segments where there are two objectives active at once in which case you can switch to the one you're not moving towards), Optional path marker outside of the map view, No mini-map and the regular map screen is a bit small, can't turn off floors above your current position on the map screen, can't browse the map - only rotate and yaw+zoom in/out (sometimes it's not even centered on your location if you zoom out a bit), not enough contrast between unexplored rooms and the black space around them on the map screen, the map screen doesn't save your chosen viewing angle, Can't place map markers - the map doesn't mark node locks
- Shops are also item stashes - items placed in one can be accessed via any other shop (limited but upgradeable avatar inventory)
- Good sense of vulnerability in some ways (begin unarmed - not for long though, get separated from your team early on, small flashlight mounted to your default gun, surprise attacks, parts where the lights go out, vacuum/space areas where you need to use oxygen stations or canisters to survive for longer periods, enemies appearing in shafts or scuttling out of the way before attacking, parts of the scenery suddenly getting blown up or breaking in scripted events - system shock, invincible enemy at two points+enemies that crawl on walls and can follow you between floors when using lifts+some enemies don't take the most straightforward path towards you if they can flank you+the Brutes can break certain walls+exploding enemies+enemies that suck the oxygen out of a room until killed, the game doesn't pause while checking the map or inventory)
- Gain two abilities used for exploration and traversal (stasis module - make an object or enemy move in slow motion for a limited time (lets you avoid some combat), kinesis - grab and move/throw objects and corpses from afar (similar to half-life 2's gravity gun and a psi ability in system shock 2, lets you grab consumables from afar as well, only objects around your own size or smaller can be thrown) - can't throw living enemies with kinesis)
- Can take out individual body parts of enemies and shooting their limbs is the most effective way of dealing with the first enemies (inspired by RE4 but more intricate and gory here)
- Some hidden rooms
- New enemies tend to appear while backtracking as part of the mission progression and sometimes the level design is altered as well
- Control config, Subtitles toggle
- Some decent puzzles (timing puzzles involving stasis fields, moving certain objects to progress with kinesis, luring the hunter boss into a spot where it can be killed (Soul Reaver?), mining asteroid, block/bed sliding in chapter 10)
- Some shortcuts
- Difficulty options (easy-very hard/impossible, have to unlock impossible by beating the game on any difficulty, besides stat differences enemies also dodge your shots on higher difficulties)
- Explosive barrels that can be carried and thrown with kinesis however these aren't used to break walls or other obstacles, Can't pick up and place explosive canisters or other objects (besides keys) without using kinesis
- New game+ (works only if the same difficulty mode is chosen sadly - select the cleared game file; you get to keep weapons plus upgrades, suits, RIG upgrades, money and everything you had in your inventory and in the in-game store stash)
- Generally easy to distinguish interactive objects (highlighted+pop ups when close)
- Secondary firing modes for all weapons
- Two mini-games (turret segment where you shoot asteroids (also used for a boss) - decent, zero grav ball game - didn't play it)
- Some minor sequence breaking opportunities (when taking the horizontal lift through the fog you can hit the refueling mechanism from afar with kinesis without stepping off of it which triggers the next sequence for that mission, line gun mine (alternate fire) to skip tentacle grab segments, rail skip in centrifuge room, can skip freezing the bridges that fall back down during the final mission)
- Alien language (some notes here and there - can find an alphabet in chapter 6)
- Can sometimes lure enemies into instant death hazards (there's a handful of them throughout the game)
- Unlockable level 6 suit (30% damage resistance)
- Tutorial pop-up messages are a bit distracting but you can play while they display and remove them quickly
- Placed health items+enemy drops - ammo drops seem to mostly adjust to which weapons you have
- Can't manually talk to NPCs - feels like a semi-interactive in-game cutscene, Can attack some NPCs but nothing happens and there's no reaction (other times your avatar simply refuses to shoot), enemies sometimes stop and scream at you
- Shows your HP/energy/ammo on the avatar itself (works well enough but feels gimmicky, can't see current ammo in a clip without aiming and sometimes you still can't see it due to bright lights in the environment)
- Can't crouch, No dodge move (melee punch/swing attacks serve as weak breakout moves to avoid being grabbed and mashing E gets you out of a grab)
- Borrows text and audio logs as well as some of the vibe of the setting from System Shock+some mechanics (secondary firing modes for weapons and some other things). Also borrows a bit from the movie Event Horizon
- Can't cancel out of a punch or a stomp attack animation (fine unless you happen to spam the button a bit as you'll then swing 2-3 times in a row and not be able to switch to a gun)
- Silent protagonist
- Ammo and health is pretty common on Normal (sometimes makes opening a door with a node item feel less rewarding unless you take the time to backtrack to a shop)
- Enemies don't respawn (Normal) - means it's pretty much always worth it to backtrack for items if you don't mind spending a bit more time (only when you backtrack as part of mission progression do new enemies appear)
- Better to focus on about 3-4 different pieces of gear as you won't have enough money to upgrade all of them fully (Normal)
- Can't fall into pits or off of elevator platforms
- Some invisible walls early on and you can't climb waist high objects
- Can't open doors while carrying something or while viewing the map
- On PC: Inertia when looking around with the mouse+slow acceleration and deceleration/smoothing - can't turn it off in the options however you can mostly fix it with a patch (still feels a bit laggy when making fast and large movements unless you turn off v-sync - doing this can cause some issues however), Aiming controls get screwed up when you're grabbed by the tentacles and by the final boss
- The diegetic HUD sometimes isn't properly centered or your head gets in the way a bit)
- Can't skip or speed up cutscene dialogue - the best option would be on a per line basis (the game also tends to lock you out of saving and opening doors during dialogue)
- Can't see your total amount of ammo without going into the inventory menu
- Sometimes can't move past ankle high obstacles
- Items used only for selling don't stack
- Can't remap weapon switching to the mouse wheel - game uses a weird unoptimized for PC system where you can't map each weapon to a number
- Pressing the reload button doesn't register if you're moving - have to stand still
- Camera shifts focus to your avatar if you get knocked down or hit by certain other attacks - makes it fairly easy to accidentally be aiming in the wrong direction when it goes back to normal
- Kinda slow elevators (very slow in hydroponics)
- No abilities or tools gained after the early game and puzzles don't grow more complex in the late game besides one block sliding one in chapter 10
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Iji (PC, 2008/v1.7, 2017) - Action Platformer w/ RPG elements
Level-based (no branching paths between levels but levels themselves have them) without backtracking to previous levels Only higher jump is a hard ability gate
Hacking and kick (str) work like keys
Some weapons and enemy attacks can be used to reach higher via knockback
Mini Review
Check GameFAQs
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii, 2008)? - "The Great Maze" level in “The Subspace Emissary” mode - No ability gating and any level can be completed by any character, Save points and warp points