I owe the original Sly Cooper trilogy a revisit, but I expect a ton of it will hold up super well. Fun, silly, creative, often mature, thematically rich, mechanically satisfying... very much one of the all-time great gaming trilogies. And by pure consequence of creation, Sucker Punch Productions coming out of nowhere to out-do Naughty Dog and Insomniac at their own "3D Platformer Mascot" game.
I mention all this because I do not hold the same enthusiasm for Thieves in Time. Sanzaru had a solid core here, taking the Sly 2/Sly 3 formula and rolling out a couple new worlds/characters to play with. If the series was to continue, the Cooper ancestors were a good avenue to explore. The first three chapters are all pretty solid. But...
Well, so, Sly 3 had such a strong, perfect ending to the series that at least one thing needed to be undone to justify this game's existence. Thieves in Time undoes two things. The first of these - pull Sly out of retirement - was necessary. The second of these, which gets spelled out at the end of Episode 4...
...well, there's a reason I put the game down for half a decade. I am rarely someone who pretends works of media don't exist, but I legitimately try to forget about Thieves in Time entirely because of how much that twist pisses me off. You can make an argument that that moment makes a certain character more interesting, but I dunno. Just feels like it was done to reset status quo more than anything.
Things sorta feel a little off in general, largely indicative of a different director/creative team. Sly this time around sounds a little more ironic and a little less soft-spoken in his narration. Dimitri's personality has been all but sand-blasted away. Most of the new characters look all right, but Le Paradox does not at all fit the series' general aesthetic. The game is back down to five chapters, the same as the first game, yet it feels like a lot more could be done here. The Cooper Ancestors we get are all fun, as are the environments, but I feel like one more would have rounded things out nicely (and staved off the cliffhanger ending).
Actually, supposedly, there was a whole 'nother level planned, but it was scrapped so the game could be released on Vita. ...that kinda sucks.
Oh! I forgot about this game's costume system. Some legitimately top notch animation on those. Sly pompously strutting around in samurai armor or crawling around in sabertooth tiger-skin is great stuff.
Thieves in Time is mostly there. Sadly, I feel like the places where it doesn't hold up are the most sensitive things that could have been botched. Sanzaru made a pretty decent effort, but all they managed to accomplish was to ruin Sucker Punch's precariously-balanced house of cards. Too bad.
I mention all this because I do not hold the same enthusiasm for Thieves in Time. Sanzaru had a solid core here, taking the Sly 2/Sly 3 formula and rolling out a couple new worlds/characters to play with. If the series was to continue, the Cooper ancestors were a good avenue to explore. The first three chapters are all pretty solid. But...
Well, so, Sly 3 had such a strong, perfect ending to the series that at least one thing needed to be undone to justify this game's existence. Thieves in Time undoes two things. The first of these - pull Sly out of retirement - was necessary. The second of these, which gets spelled out at the end of Episode 4...
...well, there's a reason I put the game down for half a decade. I am rarely someone who pretends works of media don't exist, but I legitimately try to forget about Thieves in Time entirely because of how much that twist pisses me off. You can make an argument that that moment makes a certain character more interesting, but I dunno. Just feels like it was done to reset status quo more than anything.
Things sorta feel a little off in general, largely indicative of a different director/creative team. Sly this time around sounds a little more ironic and a little less soft-spoken in his narration. Dimitri's personality has been all but sand-blasted away. Most of the new characters look all right, but Le Paradox does not at all fit the series' general aesthetic. The game is back down to five chapters, the same as the first game, yet it feels like a lot more could be done here. The Cooper Ancestors we get are all fun, as are the environments, but I feel like one more would have rounded things out nicely (and staved off the cliffhanger ending).
Actually, supposedly, there was a whole 'nother level planned, but it was scrapped so the game could be released on Vita. ...that kinda sucks.
Oh! I forgot about this game's costume system. Some legitimately top notch animation on those. Sly pompously strutting around in samurai armor or crawling around in sabertooth tiger-skin is great stuff.
Thieves in Time is mostly there. Sadly, I feel like the places where it doesn't hold up are the most sensitive things that could have been botched. Sanzaru made a pretty decent effort, but all they managed to accomplish was to ruin Sucker Punch's precariously-balanced house of cards. Too bad.