Confusion

I just hit level 20 in Too Human, and I'm taking a break for some food and life. Having gone a good chunk into this game now, I am completely confused by a lot of the reactions that people are having to this game. It's really at the point where it sounds like they're playing some other game entirely.

The first critique that I notice is the graphics. I've seen people say this game is flat out ugly, and that the graphics are, "serviceable". I actually think this game looks good. I really like the environments so far, the backgrounds are nice, and the huge machines operating in the background also look good. I don't even think the models look bad. Sure, the mouth's are a bit weird, but there have already been multitudes of games with models that look the same or worse that haven't taken anywhere NEAR as much criticism as these have (I liked Skate, but the models in that game look more jacked than these do, and I don't recall anyone harping on *that*).

The next complaint that confuses me is about the combat system. The combat is apparently bland, and repetitive. This comment confuses me because it seems to disregard the fact that this game is an action RPG, and EVERY action RPG game that I have ever played has an infinitely more bland combat system than this one. In most games of that type all you is click around on stuff. For added depth, developers have also been implenting hot key skills so you can also tap a number button to do an additional skill. There might be lots of these "skills" in games like this, but each one is usually a slight variation on DoT, Damage, or Root.

In Too Human they obviously don't have a mouse, so they replaced that with the stick. Instead of clicking and holding on an enemy, you're moving the stick and guiding to the enemy. It's an effective implementation of the diablo combat style in a fully 3D game on a console with no mouse. The only other action rpg's that I know of on consoles are the Dark Alliance games, and that piece of crap that shipped at the launch of the PS3. Those games just had you tapping a button from a top down perspective, and again, no one decided to make a big deal about the combat being bland. In my mind, Too Human is an updated and good implementation of an old system that was already tired long before World of Warcraft came out.

The final complaint I'm going to comment on, are the comments I see made about the story.  People complain that there's no story in this game... when to me story is all over the place. I know I am only half way through the game, but I like the story so far. They're talking about his past, the start of a war, betrayal, murder, trickery, etc. In addition to that, the art assets and design of the levels convey the story themselves. This is one of the most confusing complaints to me, as saying this game has no story is mind boggling to me. This is the one that really makes me wonder if people are playing a different game entirely.

The entire situation with this game reminds me so much of The Club. I'm not trying to tell people out there that they are wrong for disliking the game, but I *am* going to say that I think it is because they were expecting this to be some other game than what it is. That is something which is *also* really confusing to me, as this is exactly the game I was expecting as it is *exactly* what they said it is. They've been saying it's an "action RPG" in the vein of Diablo, which is why I can't understand why it isn't being looked at as one.