Crash Bandicoot 4 is great, I doubt many people are questioning that. It feels like a true successor to the original trilogy, more than Wrath of Cortex ever did; and it plays fantastically, the new powers are interesting and fun to
experiment with, and the overall experience is challenging whilst also being fair enough.
But - I think Toys for Bob overstepped the mark a little on this one. While the way that Crash 4 plays is fantastic, it's the game design itself that suffers. It really does feel like the original Naughty Dog trilogy, yet dialled up to batshit insane level. This game is tough, probably tougher than Crash Bandicoot has ever been, and the original trilogy was already pretty punishing. Fortunately, Crash Bandicoot 4 does have something of a modern 'easy' mode, that allows for essentially infinite lives, removing the threat of lost progress.
The levels here are longer than ever, and to go along with it, there are far too many boxes placed throughout the levels. Many of which are either fiendishly placed, or hidden from view entirely, requiring hours worth of scouring through each level just to find them all without using some sort of walkthrough. To add to this, each level has 6 gems, requiring you to collect 80% of the levels Wumpa Fruit, destroy all boxes, have no more than 3 deaths, and find a gem hidden within the level. With the insane box placement, this alone can result in each level being replayed upwards of 5 times, bearing in mind there are over 30 levels and each of them can take around 10 minutes to complete.
All of that is just a couple of symptoms that make Crash Bandicoot 4 an insanely - and artificially - long game. These multiple level replays only serve to make the game longer than it has to be, forcing you to just wish the experience would end far sooner than it does.
Then there are the recycled assets - the N.Verted levels, these are literally just the original levels, flipped and with an odd gimmick that adds almost nothing to the experience. Sure, it's extra gameplay, but it's essentially just the same game again, because you have to do the exact same stuff, with the aforementioned 6 gems, all of the boxes and the hidden gems, all over again, for virtually no reason!
Crash Bandicoot 4 is really good....if you just play it through to the end once. If you spend too long with it, you'll just become exhausted and reluctant to see that orange face again for a long time, so, honestly? Stop playing it when you beat the last level, and then if you ever want to play it again, start tackling the N.Verted modes. The experience of Crash Bandicoot was designed to be short and sweet, that's how it could get away with being a tough platformer on the PS1, what Crash was not designed to be, is a gruelling 60+ hour experience that saps all of the player's enjoyment and will to go on.
experiment with, and the overall experience is challenging whilst also being fair enough.
But - I think Toys for Bob overstepped the mark a little on this one. While the way that Crash 4 plays is fantastic, it's the game design itself that suffers. It really does feel like the original Naughty Dog trilogy, yet dialled up to batshit insane level. This game is tough, probably tougher than Crash Bandicoot has ever been, and the original trilogy was already pretty punishing. Fortunately, Crash Bandicoot 4 does have something of a modern 'easy' mode, that allows for essentially infinite lives, removing the threat of lost progress.
The levels here are longer than ever, and to go along with it, there are far too many boxes placed throughout the levels. Many of which are either fiendishly placed, or hidden from view entirely, requiring hours worth of scouring through each level just to find them all without using some sort of walkthrough. To add to this, each level has 6 gems, requiring you to collect 80% of the levels Wumpa Fruit, destroy all boxes, have no more than 3 deaths, and find a gem hidden within the level. With the insane box placement, this alone can result in each level being replayed upwards of 5 times, bearing in mind there are over 30 levels and each of them can take around 10 minutes to complete.
All of that is just a couple of symptoms that make Crash Bandicoot 4 an insanely - and artificially - long game. These multiple level replays only serve to make the game longer than it has to be, forcing you to just wish the experience would end far sooner than it does.
Then there are the recycled assets - the N.Verted levels, these are literally just the original levels, flipped and with an odd gimmick that adds almost nothing to the experience. Sure, it's extra gameplay, but it's essentially just the same game again, because you have to do the exact same stuff, with the aforementioned 6 gems, all of the boxes and the hidden gems, all over again, for virtually no reason!
Crash Bandicoot 4 is really good....if you just play it through to the end once. If you spend too long with it, you'll just become exhausted and reluctant to see that orange face again for a long time, so, honestly? Stop playing it when you beat the last level, and then if you ever want to play it again, start tackling the N.Verted modes. The experience of Crash Bandicoot was designed to be short and sweet, that's how it could get away with being a tough platformer on the PS1, what Crash was not designed to be, is a gruelling 60+ hour experience that saps all of the player's enjoyment and will to go on.