Kraut Buster New NGDEV - 2015

LegoSlug

Over Top Auto Mechanic
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Dec 10, 2012
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864
People were complaining about it being too much of a MS clone, but now everyone seems to be digging the fact that it is a well done MS clone. Personally, I am not a huge fan of the direction it has taken, with the chicks, the masks, and the sci-fi additions. Nonetheless... this looks like a much better game than it was before, and I am glad I pre-ordered a MVS kit. I haven't been let down yet by their games, and this one seems to be the best one yet.
 

Jonmkl

Rasputin's Rose Gardener
Joined
Aug 29, 2012
Posts
715
Man, this game has come a LONG way! That said, I still can't seem to get very excited about it.. It just doesn't feel as fresh as Gunlord or Xyx or Neobitz' Knights Chance. All the new enemy types are definitely a step in the right direction though, I'll give it that. Those walkers look fantastic and there are some really cool designs that push the Nazi aesthetic much harder than slug ever did. They are definitely working hard on this.

I think a big issue for me still, believe it or not, is the protagonist. Compared to Gordian Gaiden or even Marco and Tarma he just feels bland and uninteresting. When you contrast him against something like Skycurser's katana-wielding-jet-fighter the gulf in player Sprite personality is huge.

As crazy as this sounds I actually think it would make a huge difference if they took the time to redesign the player characters to make them more interesting and more unique. Look at Demon Front for example, those characters are obvious slug clones, but they still feel like unique characters.

Maybe make the characters MORE over the top? You could just do something stupid like give the main character a big cliche eye scar and a cybernetic arm (to go with the new robo-nazi enemies) and I'd be pretty happy! It would at least make the game pop more at a glance. It doesn't even matter really, give player 2 a big mustache, or slap a cigar in his mouth, give him an eyepatch, I don't care, just do something fun with the main characters. I'm being purposely ridiculous of course, you don't have to go that far, but they just need a little more flavor.

Of course the sensible argument is that the gameplay is all that really matters, and NGDEV has done a lot of great work here, and that's TRUE, but your character is the star of the game, and if he's boring then it can make the game feel pretty boring.
 

Fakk2

Crossed Swords 2 Bootleg Artist.,
Joined
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Posts
1,548
Personally, I am not a huge fan of the direction it has taken, with the chicks, the masks, and the sci-fi additions. Nonetheless... this looks like a much better game than it was before, and I am glad I pre-ordered a MVS kit. I haven't been let down yet by their games, and this one seems to be the best one yet.

Personally, I feel the same as you do about the chicks, as when they first said that we needed to save the chicks, I was thinking about some sexy girls to rescue, not yellow birds. The whole yellow bird thing needs to seriously go, and they need to make the hostages like sexy babe's to rescue, that perhaps can help you out a bit once they are rescued like seen in NAM-1975. That would rock!

I happen to feel the same about the masks as well, even though they now no longer start up horrible music each time you grab one, I think that the masks could have been something different that have the same effect on the character. Perhaps before a game stage begins, you would have a prompt on how you would like to begin the stage, in a "powered up" mode, or a special "speed up" mode, or something like that, thus changing your characters outfit which allows you to understand the choice you made, and how it works as well.

Like if you start a stage and you choose an armor, or clothing, (or grab an item that looks like a certain type of outfit during the gameplay), much like a Ghouls and Ghosts style outfit for example, which allows you to change the way the character behaves, and changes the gameplay style.

For another example, instead of using a Wolf Mask, have it look like an outfit that is big and bulky, with armored knee, elbow, and shoulder pads made of steel with spikes on elbows for slashing people along with on your gloves, like a knife but with more swing distance, and more deadly, with a huge machine gun on the floor next to it, and it your character touches it, he jumps into the outfit as in G&G, and he becomes more powerful, walks a bit slower but is like a walking tank. (yes, I play Dark Souls too much) lol

Then when you touch another outfit like a simple camouflaged shirt and pants, that has a pistol and knife under it, you jump into that and can now run around faster, jump a tad bit higher, but your limited to a knife ala Metal Slug when close to an enemy, and when far away you have a normal pistol with unlimited ammo.

I think something similar to that would be MUCH better, would fit the theme a bit better than the mask idea, and would be simple enough for people to understand and use the items as they pop up in the game.

Lastly, I feel the same as well that this is their best game yet, and I also have not been let down yet by their games. Gunlord being one of their best games thus far, taking a long time to beat with 100% on each stage, and having bosses that just plain rock! This game looks to be the only one to beat Gunlord, and I hope this is only the beginning of the games they will make in the future!

I think a big issue for me still, believe it or not, is the protagonist. Compared to Gordian Gaiden or even Marco and Tarma he just feels bland and uninteresting..

As crazy as this sounds I actually think it would make a huge difference if they took the time to redesign the player characters to make them more interesting and more unique. Look at Demon Front for example, those characters are obvious slug clones, but they still feel like unique characters.

Maybe make the characters MORE over the top? You could just do something stupid like give the main character a big cliche eye scar and a cybernetic arm (to go with the new robo-nazi enemies) and I'd be pretty happy! It would at least make the game pop more at a glance. It doesn't even matter really, give player 2 a big mustache, or slap a cigar in his mouth, give him an eyepatch, I don't care, just do something fun with the main characters. I'm being purposely ridiculous of course, you don't have to go that far, but they just need a little more flavor.

Of course the sensible argument is that the gameplay is all that really matters, and NGDEV has done a lot of great work here, and that's TRUE, but your character is the star of the game, and if he's boring then it can make the game feel pretty boring.

You hit the nail on the head here, the main Protagonist is simply horrid in design, and is one of my biggest gripes now that they got rid of that absolutely despicable music that they once were going to use. The overall look of the character that you use in this game looks like a lumberjack or something. I mean if this game were about cutting down trees , then I would be all for it, however this is not the case. They need to get rid of this guy and remake the main character, and at the very least get rid of that aweful damn huge ass beard! It's horrible!

I was hoping that they would at least give you 4 characters to choose from like Slug 2. The girl on the front of the game case for the C.E. AES looks hot and would be an amazing character in game. Why the hell did they not choose her for the main character, or at least make the main guy look similar, (but not identical), to Tarma, or Marco? Even a small version of the Ikari Warriors Team from KOF would be neat looking in this game. They need to give this game more characters to choose from, and give them some amazing unique animations that feel fun, cartoony, and something that stands out as original. Especially with different death sequences, being stabbed, blown up, catching on fire, etc... so much needs to be done in this dept. If someone can do that with Earthworm Jim, I am sure that NG DevTeam can think of something better than what they have now with Kraut Buster!

I agree the music needs changed asap. They need to have the music fit the theme or the game will take a serious hit. That was the great thing about the slug games, the music made u enjoy the rest of the game so much more.

While I agree about the Slug games having unique soundtracks, I thought that Slug 5 had the best music and Kraut Buster sounds similar to the rockin' tunes found in Slug 5. I loved how Slug 5 sounded and it kept me playing the game over and over, despite it being shorter than Slug 3. If they can actually make the music in this game sound similar to the music in Slug 5, and even Sapphire on the PC Engine, I would LOVE the shit out of this game! Some NG DevTeam games have sounded very similar in music style, with Gunlord, Last Hope, and Neo XYX standing out as being very different. Rafael Dyll seems to do the best when composing music for these games, but I had always hoped that he would do something rockin' on the Neo-Geo, and I think we might finally get that in this game.

Why does this music not sound good, in your opinion, for the game that it is in? I mean, while it might not fit the 1940's time period of the Nazi Army, who is to say that this is actually WW2 and it's still 1940's? This game might actually be taking place in the future, which is why there are robots and cyborgs in the game, (this game feels much like a pixel art style of Wolfenstein The New Blood), so for myself, the hardcore style tunes seem to fit the gameplay very well IMO. Lets just hope it gets even harder and harder of music, the further toward the end you get, going full on metal for the last boss! That would be rockin' for sure!
 

mjmjr25

went home to be a family man
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Holy text. Donald could use that to secure the borders.
 

BIG BEAR

SHOCKbox Developer,
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The game is definitely much improved.Love the robotic train conductor and watch dog.
I agree with a few other folks here about he protagonist,Duck king's chick and the mask element.
The protagonist looks more suited to be an antagonist, shades of O'neal from MS .Give the protagonist some blonde hair tied into a ponytail,some sunglasses,tank top,desert camo pants and boots.
The masks should be removed and bonus items should be hidden along the way.The chicks should be replaced with various types of hostages.
BB
 

Gyrian

Hardened Shock Trooper
Joined
Mar 24, 2016
Posts
443
The music is likely here to stay, they are pretty clearly proud over how it's coming along. Shame the reaction here is mixed. For my part, while I would've loved to see them partner with some of the insane talent that still exists today for synth, overall I'm too delighted to see something of this caliber coming along so nicely.

yep, i guess this forum gets triggered by the laws of supply & demand.

Not from supply and demand, for the cynical riding of these rising prices. It doesn't warm any hearts to think that some folks might miss out on trying this game over someone that thinks like you grabbing that copy instead.
 

TuSecsy

War Room Troll
Joined
Mar 26, 2016
Posts
50
The music is likely here to stay, they are pretty clearly proud over how it's coming along. Shame the reaction here is mixed. For my part, while I would've loved to see them partner with some of the insane talent that still exists today for synth, overall I'm too delighted to see something of this caliber coming along so nicely.



Not from supply and demand, for the cynical riding of these rising prices. It doesn't warm any hearts to think that some folks might miss out on trying this game over someone that thinks like you grabbing that copy instead.

Blame falls on the producers, produce more product then. Supply...and...demand.
 

MCF 76

Vice's Love Slave
10 Year Member
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Jan 21, 2010
Posts
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I think the music will be perfect once it's done. Hell Dyll has done all the other sound tracks and they have kicked ass one the game was finished. Also when the 2nd trailer was shown he was out of the project according to ngdev due to other obligations. So the sound track on this latest video was probably just a very early composure of some of the old work he had done on the first video and bashed together plus alot more new stuff we have yet to hear. I wouldn't sweat the sound track you know Dyll will kill it like he always does.

As for the main character, I like it myself but they could / should include the girl to choose from to play that they shown on the "limited edition" AES artwork. That would be very cool and maybe quench some of the thirst for a varied line up.
 

xsq

Thou Shalt Not, Question Rot.,
Joined
Jan 17, 2013
Posts
7,414
Blame falls on the producers, produce more product then. Supply...and...demand.
yes, it is true NGDev should increase production - which they seem to have done drastically with KB compared to the last releases. However they can't be blamed for not taking greater risks - if they overproduce, they might end up stuck with a lot of unsold games and would have to reduce the prices to get rid of them (meaning they would loose money if they didn't calculate for this - if they did a lot of the early adopters would pay for the later price reductions. Both unfavorable scenarios).


This is an independent issue from the one I (and it seems a lot of other members) have with your attitude. You outright said you want to make a profit by buying and reselling at a higher price (which is called "flipping" around here). A lot of scumbags do this, they are in this for the money, not the games and it is (together with the hipster collectard idiots buying) one core reason for rapidly (and artificially) rising prices. Instead you could be enjoying the game and when you're done with it (or want to let it go for other reasons) sell it to a buddy for a fair price (what you paid or less) - like a lot of hobbyists do.
You can take your shit to ebay, you certainly don't understand what this community (a peninsula of sanity) is about. And before we derail this thread further: I'm not going to explain this to you in greater detail. If you don't get it, read around the forums, this has been discussed a lot of times.
 
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oliverclaude

General Morden's Aide
Joined
Feb 3, 2013
Posts
7,688
The uncanny valley is a hypothesis in the field of aesthetics which holds that when features look and move almost, but not exactly, like natural beings, it causes a response of revulsion among most observers.

Well, Dev games look and play almost like their paragons, but not exactly. The actual gameplay, the way Dev games progress for the player, the pacing, the overall feel while playing -- all that could never shake off the homebrew origin. Despite all their ambitions, their games could never fully recover from the fact, they're only imitations and in consequence, always felt inferior to those original Japanese and European video game milestones they fake up, causing a response of revulsion among most players.

Now, keeping the above in mind, I think this is indeed the most valid and troublesome criticism:

The only nitpicking I have is that some of the enemy bullets have strange flight characteristics (too much diagonal).

The devil is in the detail, let's hope not: details. I can live with any graphical/musical drawbacks, which are, for the most part, purely subjective to begin with, but the game should't destroy my immersion by petty little DIY annoyances, which, if add up, create that kiddish, amateurish feel and reveal the fact... the game being merely an imitation.
 

TuSecsy

War Room Troll
Joined
Mar 26, 2016
Posts
50
yes, it is true NGDev should increase production - which they seem to have done drastically with KB compared to the last releases. However they can't be blamed for not taking greater risks - if they overproduce, they might end up stuck with a lot of unsold games and would have to reduce the prices to get rid of them (meaning they would loose money if they didn't calculate for this - if they did a lot of the early adopters would pay for the later price reductions. Both unfavorable scenarios).


This is an independent issue from the one I (and it seems a lot of other members) have with your attitude. You outright said you want to make a profit by buying and reselling at a higher price (which is called "flipping" around here). A lot of scumbags do this, they are in this for the money, not the games and it is (together with the hipster collectard idiots buying) one core reason for rapidly (and artificially) rising prices. Instead you could be enjoying the game and when you're done with it (or want to let it go for other reasons) sell it to a buddy for a fair price (what you paid or less) - like a lot of hobbyists do.
You can take your shit to ebay, you certainly don't understand what this community (a peninsula of sanity) is about. And before we derail this thread further: I'm not going to explain this to you in greater detail. If you don't get it, read around the forums, this has been discussed a lot of times.


Call it whatever you want, (scumbaggery in this case), it's capitalism, supply and demand, plain and simple.

My comment was meant to entice people to buy the game because there are 100s out there that are seeing this as an easy opportunity to flip. It happens in every single genre of collectible. To honestly get angry or even spend 2 seconds thinking about this modern day reality, is beyond me.

I make plenty of money flipping real time items, I don't personally ever fuck with preorders, they aren't worth the time. I'd rather pay 800-1200 for this thing a year and a half from now than preorder personally. It will be worth whatever I purchase it for, whenever I purchase it, if you catch my drift.

Ngdev could easily just put in reorders for their past games time and time again, preorder it, call the factory, tell them to print up another batch, but they don't. Why? To appease the very same asshole collectors who want the values of things to always go up, but don't want the marketside economics that come along with it. Reprint things to death until it's only worth retail, again, the blame for any price increase falls solely on the producers.
 
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Gyrian

Hardened Shock Trooper
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Mar 24, 2016
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You don't understand capitalism nearly as well as profess if you really believe that NGDev is sitting on big money they could be making just by reprinting their earlier releases, and that their single reason to not benefit from that is to appease collectors or inflate prices. Also, that supply and demand or capitalism are amoral by nature is a poor defense to why you are being perceived that way.
 

TuSecsy

War Room Troll
Joined
Mar 26, 2016
Posts
50
You don't understand capitalism nearly as well as profess if you really believe that NGDev is sitting on big money they could be making just by reprinting their earlier releases, and that their single reason to not benefit from that is to appease collectors or inflate prices. Also, that supply and demand or capitalism are amoral by nature is a poor defense to why you are being perceived that way.

Considering what their AES releases currently go for, I don't see any other way to look at it.
 
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Gyrian

Hardened Shock Trooper
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Mar 24, 2016
Posts
443
Considering what their AES releases currently go for, I don't see any other way to look at it.

You don't see a difference between:

A. Someone taking a finished good, doubling or tripling the price, and selling it among a pool of maybe 10 people that would cough up that kind of cash in a flash, with nigh zero risk for the seller

B. A small company with few resources needing to plan and fund a reprint of x minimum quantities, ensuring that everything is produced to a standard that they've set and is expected of them, to sell for a price tag that would most certainly not be double or triple, all while taking on huge amounts of risk on the short and long term

What they're doing with the MVS reprints and the really, really long lead time is clearly what they feel mitigates the risk best while still serving a customer base that still wants to grab these.
 

MCF 76

Vice's Love Slave
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2,171
Every time NGDEV releases a game we start the tired old debate on the price. Every single fucking time we go through this shit, it gets boring after a while. Its simple the price is what it is, if you don't like the price don't buy it.
 
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Xian Xi

JammaNationX,
15 Year Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Posts
27,748
Even with reprints you need a minimum, they're not gonna just make 10-20 units because those people want one. They would need a lot of interest to even consider it.
 

pipes

DO NOT DEAL WITH!!!, DEAL OUTSTANDING!
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Every time NGDEV releases a game we start the tired old debate on the price. Every single fucking time we go through this shit, it gets boring after a while. Its simple the price is what it is, if you don't like the price don't buy it.

I'm not sure why we even pretend to know their business anyway.
 
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