Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time

[Mr EliteL]

Yup, really looking good. From the Cortex gameplay I'm wondering when it comes up to play as him as we see in the short cutscene he's watching Crash go through the same area of his own gameplay/level. Then when the scene appears to be over it's already transitioned to Crash's point of view and supposedly you immediately play as Crash from then on and finish the level. So does Cortex gameplay happen within Crash's levels? Hm.

[Moonface]

Yup, really looking good. From the Cortex gameplay I'm wondering when it comes up to play as him as we see in the short cutscene he's watching Crash go through the same area of his own gameplay/level. Then when the scene appears to be over it's already transitioned to Crash's point of view and supposedly you immediately play as Crash from then on and finish the level. So does Cortex gameplay happen within Crash's levels? Hm.

That transition isn't how the level would actually be, because there has already been Snow Way Out gameplay featuring only Crash. Cortex's segment either ends there, or they didn't want to show more, but either way the transition is just showing Crash's version of the level alongside Cortex's to demonstrate better what Cortex tampered with for anyone who didn't see that prior gameplay.

Also, there's going to be new footage released this Thursday during that days State of Play presentation. Most speculation I've seen is putting a pretty solid bet on it being N. Gin boss fight gameplay.

[Moonface]

So the State of Play that just aired started with Crash Bandicoot 4, and revealed lots of new gameplay features and even the ability to play as Dingodile!



I am honestly surprised by Dingodile being playable. I was expecting it to be N. Tropy since he's the next most prominent character in the game after Crash/Coco/Cortex, but I'll happily accept this. The level variations look sick too!

This is really shaping up to be my favourite release of the entire year at this rate.

[Mr EliteL]

Ah, OK gotcha on Cortex. Makes sense.

Agreed it being surprising to see Dingodile playable after he's meant to be retired. Happy they've addressed that so we know why he's taking up action instead of Tropy, although he may still get confirmed? As I thought it was only going to be Crash, Coco and Cortex they give us this news. Anyway, I suppose Dingodile will be on his own "side" and not for Crash or Cortex, which does make this more interesting to see what's going to happen. Liking all the ways they're bringing the game together with skins, inverted, character perspectives and all that.

[Moonface]

Dingodile being on his own side also calls back to Twinsanity, where he works against both Crash and Cortex in the game.

Tawna is being rumored as another playable character, which I could see since she has been prominent in any marketing materials that also feature Dingodile.

Huge shout-out to the animations though. It makes N. Sane look shit in comparison.

[Moonface]

This game just gets better and better! During Gamescom last week Toys For Bob revealed a new feature for this game; flashback levels!



It appears these are going to replace Death Routes, as you can only unlock them by reaching a point in a level that contains the flashback tape to collect without dying before you get there. In other words, imagine reaching a Death Route in Crash 2/3/WoC but instead of a platform it's a collectible item that unlocks a Death Route style level that can be accessed independently. These flashbacks are set before CB1 and are side scrolling puzzle levels that are meant to be Cortex running tests on Crash and Coco while he was experimenting on them. As the video shows, the music for these levels will be the original music from the original trilogy.

I'm a really big fan of this addition! I would love if the proposed multiplayer aspect this game will have is actually letting us create our own flashback levels, since they're all side scrolling and constructed from crates, so you could easily make levels this way.

[Moonface]

Crash Bandicoot 4 – Tawna Gameplay Reveal
Tawna has been officially confirmed as the fifth playable character for Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time in a new video from PlayStation Underground:



If you're wondering why Tawna looks so different and didn't watch the video, this Tawna is from an alternate dimension where she became her own hero in the wake of the presumed deaths of Crash and Coco in that dimension. Her abilities include a grappling hook and wall-jumping, as well as her own version of the classic spin and stomp attacks that Crash and Coco both have.

Also, if you pre-order this game digitally you will get access to a demo on September 16 featuring two levels from the game: Snow Way Out and Dino Dash.

[Mr EliteL]

Liking the many different levels/gameplay styles they have come up with that's been shown so far. I was worried at first with Tawna's look but being from a different universe makes her change more sense and acceptable. Was wondering how original Tawna was going to be implemented, and now if original and alternate Tawna will meet? I doubt original will appear anyway.

[Moonface]

OG Tawna went off with Pinstripe, so if she was in this game I'd like her to appear with him so as to make it more canon than just a footnote in the credits sequence of the original Crash Bandicoot. It would be really interesting if she turned out to be a villain due to being around Pinstripe, although I don't think either of them are going to appear.

I really hope the bosses aren't shown before release. I like that we only know of N. Gin, Cortex, and Tropy as being on the villains side and the rest being kept secret.

[Moonface]

Launch trailer is out! This game looks so damn good! And Polar is back !

[Moonface]

I reached the end of this game last night, and overall the game is OK. It's definitely a return to form and such, but fuck me the difficulty and level length is far too high once you get halfway in; some levels have taken me over half an hour to beat. Another problem I have with the game is introducing you to a new mechanic and instantly throwing things at you as if you're a master of it already.

There's also far too many crates hidden completely off screen which breaks the flow of the game because you end up constantly stopping trying to determine if one is hidden in your current location. I don't mind stopping to figure out an approach to a crate layout I can see, but not to try jumping off the edges of the screen to check for a random crate. It just gets tedious, especially with the longer levels because if you miss one crate you have to scour the entire level again trying to find it.

N. Verted levels are also a missed opportunity. It should have been more than just mirrored levels with a visual filter thrown on top. When I do a Time Trial some of the crates change into TNT or Nitro crates, and that should've been what happens in N. Verted levels so that you're not just doing the exact same shit but mirrored.