Too Human: Top 8 Title Update/DLC Requests

The reviews are in and the fans have spoken. If you can say the dust has settled now that the game's been out for a week, then yes, I guess the brouhaha is essentially behind us. Players who are taken with the game, present company included, are quietly enjoying what is likely to become the most critically savaged one-million plus seller this console generation. The skeptics will have moved on to other pursuits, perhaps compiling a "Best Of" mashup of Denis Dyak video clips for posterity sake?

Too Human has easily eaten up over 20 hours of my personal time since its release last Wednesday. Like with a certain brand of India pale ale, those who like Too Human, like the hell out of it. It's a divisive game for sure and that's to be expected for a game that's stewed in development hell for so long, it's become the stuff of legends or myths. Compounding the extended development cycle has been the dev studio's very outspoken president, Mr. Denis Dyak, who has never met a mic or camera he didn't like. His unquestionable passion for his game has both helped and hindered the public's perception of TH, although I'm inclined to feel that there was a not long ago, maybe around the time the last GDC ended, when Dyak could have zipped up and just let the demo and the final release truly speak for itself.

But I'm focusing on the mundane, the superficial and superfluous. This is just gaming press and Internet drama cranked up to 11 when all you really have at the end of the day, is one humdinger of an addictive Diablo clone... for the Xbox 360. Finally. Fuckin' finally.

I'm loving this game. It's fast becoming my favourite title for the 360. And you know what? The game is rather chock-full of glaring flaws and design oversights. I have a few ideas, sort of a wishlist, for what I'd like to see addressed in the inevitable title update and DLC. I'll begin with the bug fixes:

Title Update fixes



1. Graphical Glitches: Minor stuff, like Valkyrie feet sinking into the ground and floating bodies. Smoothing out the cutscene animations would be nice but I realize that may be too large of an undertaking.



2. God-Awful Menu SFX and Sound Loops: the Equipment and Stats menu screens make my ears bleed. 'Nuff said.



3. Sound Options: This omission puzzles me to no end.



4. Advanced Online Matchmaking: Let me search for games based on other players' levels and include a message for the type of game that I am hosting, such as doing a level run or playing to get an Achievement.



5. Coat of Polish: This is harder to put my finger on. Menu navigation needs to move faster. I also really wish there were notifications for completing rune quests and finding the last piece of an armour set. Show me the most recent batch of loot that I've picked up in the Equipment screen, sorted from most powerful on down. Little things like this...


And on the DLC side of things:


6. Expand the Number of Players in Co-op: If not 4, then at least experiment with 3. Even playing 2-player, I've noticed that the action can reach intense levels and kill poaching can be a small issue. With 4 amped-up Level 50s sliding around, I'm sure that would present some design issues... readily fixed by scaling up the difficulty of enemies but, how would the frame rates and net code be affected? With Denis Dyak slyly hinting at the possibility of increased co-op fun, it's likey not as big a design problem as some make it out to be. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.



7. New Enemy Types: A new critter doesn't even have to be that unique. Do a nastier variation of the trolls or driders or goblins. Do a minor palette swap but give them a cool new ability to combat.



8. Bonus Challenge Areas OR a New Stage to Beat: I would love to continue Baldur's adventures just a little bit longer before warping back to the Hall of Heroes and having to do it all over again. A fifth bonus act doesn't have to be that fleshed out or large... just make it memorable and fulfilling for players to fight through.