I picked this up recently, and played it for at least a few hours, so I thought I'd post up some impressions for those who haven't played it yet. (I'm still trying to figure out how I missed out on this one, it came out at the end of LAST year...)
First off, ditch the default stylus controls, go for D-pad and button controls. Stylus controls are great in concept but horrible in execution.
With that much done, this game is INCREDIBLE puzzle-solving ecstasy if you enjoyed the PS1 "Oddworld" games. It plays almost identical, except you can lead your companions around INDIVIDUALLY this time. There are different classes of companions; heavies can push large metal blocks single-handedly, for instance, and dogs can enter small spaces or make long leaps that humans can't to retrieve items but they can't use the items themselves. Every item, every block, every pitfall serves a purpose in Exit... Sometimes, this purpose is to waste your time (there are some CLEVERLY placed platforming bits which are unnecessary and it's up to you to determine which ones to ignore), and time is the key in this game; this game is a speed-runner's dream, much like Mirror's Edge, N+, Megaman 9, and just about every game on the Speed Demos Archive for those who know what the heck I'm talking about.
Controls might seem "clunky" at first but once you realize it's less of a twitch-based platformer and more of an Oddworld-style puzzle game, they make perfect sense. No "cheap" deaths because if anything bad happens it's 100% your fault for making poor judgment of the situation. Some puzzles might take you more than an hour (and dozens of retries) to solve, before realizing the solution, completing the stage, and feeling an uncanny sense of satisfaction.
Graphically, it's a breath of fresh air; simplistic colors, cel-shaded visuals, and well-animated polygonal models. The only thing I can compare the game to, visually, is Viewtiful Joe. IMO the game is much nicer-looking than the DS incarnation of Viewtiful Joe; much "cleaner", so to speak.
All in all, it's a good original IP and a severely underrated title, both the DS port and the PSP original alike. If you have $20 to blow and you enjoyed the Oddworld games, give it a shot.
First off, ditch the default stylus controls, go for D-pad and button controls. Stylus controls are great in concept but horrible in execution.
With that much done, this game is INCREDIBLE puzzle-solving ecstasy if you enjoyed the PS1 "Oddworld" games. It plays almost identical, except you can lead your companions around INDIVIDUALLY this time. There are different classes of companions; heavies can push large metal blocks single-handedly, for instance, and dogs can enter small spaces or make long leaps that humans can't to retrieve items but they can't use the items themselves. Every item, every block, every pitfall serves a purpose in Exit... Sometimes, this purpose is to waste your time (there are some CLEVERLY placed platforming bits which are unnecessary and it's up to you to determine which ones to ignore), and time is the key in this game; this game is a speed-runner's dream, much like Mirror's Edge, N+, Megaman 9, and just about every game on the Speed Demos Archive for those who know what the heck I'm talking about.
Controls might seem "clunky" at first but once you realize it's less of a twitch-based platformer and more of an Oddworld-style puzzle game, they make perfect sense. No "cheap" deaths because if anything bad happens it's 100% your fault for making poor judgment of the situation. Some puzzles might take you more than an hour (and dozens of retries) to solve, before realizing the solution, completing the stage, and feeling an uncanny sense of satisfaction.
Graphically, it's a breath of fresh air; simplistic colors, cel-shaded visuals, and well-animated polygonal models. The only thing I can compare the game to, visually, is Viewtiful Joe. IMO the game is much nicer-looking than the DS incarnation of Viewtiful Joe; much "cleaner", so to speak.
All in all, it's a good original IP and a severely underrated title, both the DS port and the PSP original alike. If you have $20 to blow and you enjoyed the Oddworld games, give it a shot.
I think I'll have to check this one out.