Dark sequel in Dante's Inferno style... O.o Apparently, first game's hell for the poor innocently murdered Tut was not enough for the developers. *My inner Oddworld fan began to stir greedily*

one of the most underrated games of all time, i wish they would return with this style but it will probably be a 2D game like the original

Great video as always! I love how you always pick cool stuff off the beaten path. I would still like to play this one day, but it gives the vibes of a game that on the surface just watching footage it seems ok but it's when you play it you realize it's bad lol.

from what i played of this game i actually thought it was decent and not as bad as what others said. its not amazing obviously but its interesting to see how they turn a classic game into a 3D beat'em up hack and slash and its much better then a few others iv played glad they went with the 3rd person style since a first person game like this would have been weird since its all about transforming into new creatures and you would not be able to see what you turned into lol

I've watched the movie before, but thank you for the nightmare fuel at 03:12

Looking at the footage, I definitely think going with the modern day setting was a bad idea. I think it was an engine issue, but the world looks awful. Some programming engines just aren't made for a specific location. The best example is Ken Silverman's Build Engine, that was used to make Blood, Shadow Warrior, and Duke Nukem. The Build Engine renders real world settings extremely well, like buildings, interiors, and vehicles. It doesn't do natural settings well at all. To be fair, however, setting it in ancient Greece would have made it get compared to God Of War, which wouldn't have gone well either. It also wasn't a big success for Rygar. I would imagine the music isn't great either. Nu-metal was big at the time. That stuff ages like milk. This was an interesting video. Going to China always has a mixed result. Former DOOM creator American McGee has been living there and developing games for years, but the results are incredibly inconsistent. I've been to bith Hong Kong and mainland China and wouldn't recommend either one. Keep up the good work, FC! Any chance of an end of year wrap up? What you played, what you're looking forward to? I'm looking forward to Mechanicus 2 in a major way.

Perfect music selection for this video. Sphinx has an amazing soundtrack.

Thank you for checking out my Sphinx fanmade trailer that I posted on my channel!

This is a wonderful documentary. Great clips used and I like how much detail you went into the background and development. If only Sphinx had become the proper franchise that was originally planned.

Man, this game holds a special place in my heart. It was one of my childhood games back in the day. I've beaten it 5 times (Feb 2020, Nov 2020, Dec 2020, Feb 2022, Mar 2023, Feb 2024). I did a playthrough of it on my channel (not to self-promote) and it's probably my favourite and most successful playthrough I've ever done. I'd really like to see this franchise revived one day, especially at a time when there's a push for more native American representation in media. Also, the scene where the Wendigo attacks the village scared the shit out of me as a kid 😂

This is the video I found you in.

👌When this came out Gamesmaster mag gave this 35%, they also rated Harry Potter 75% next page 🤭 bloody eeeadiats, I stopped listening to fools like that long ago and now have a very healthy game collection 🎮🕹♥️ P.S. Shadow Of Rome 2005 ( Capcom ) is also criminally underated.

Fantastic video! It's really good to finally have a video going over the history of this game. Though there are a few things incorrect here though I'll only go over one as Swyter and yourself have already corrected the others. At the end of the video you say "With THQ Nordic now under the umbrella of the embrace group". I'd like to correct that, Embracer Group and THQ Nordic have always been parented to each other. Embracer Group used to be known as THQ Nordic AB (as opposed to THQ Nordic GmbH) however in 2019 they decided to rebrand (for the second time since the Nordic -> THQ Nordic rebrand) to Embracer Group to stop any confusion between the two. So it's less a "now under the umbrella" and more "With THQ Nordic under the umbrella".

I really would like an Xbox and PS port with achievements! Thanks for making this. It's one of my favorite games.

Never played this yet I remember seeing for it a LONG time ago lol. Nice research and presentation 👍

I received this game when I bought my Gamecube and honestly I was not interested in the game at first, but I ended up liking it a ton. The guy at the store said I would like it if I liked "Zelda games" so oh well, no pressure there buddy. Game deserved to be as recognized as Juju and the other THQ-tier franchises tbh. It would've done better had it had a portable version (GBA). I swear.

Good job making some of these things more widely known, I'd definitely post this in the Sphinx Discord and Steam Discussions. The only inaccuracy is that Eight Pixels Square (now part of Miniclip) was essentially the regrouped Eurocom V2 team refocused into phone games (deemed more profitable) and working in the same place *after* the original company went under. So, from what I gather, the timeline is something like: (Nov 2003) Sphinx releases -> (2004) Java version releases -> (???) They try to make at least an Xbox 360 version years later, and who knows what else -> (Dec 2012) Eurocom and THQ go kaput after the global crisis hits them and projects are harder to come by -> Eight Pixels Square replaces it, same Eurocom owners -> (???) they work on a secret Mummy infinite runner prototype (with some of the original artists) that apparently goes nowhere -> (Dec 2016) the company was sold to Outplay Entertainment -> THQ Nordic buys the rights from them. Hope that helps. :)

It never ceases to amaze me that so many people put in so much effort to ultimately disappoint everyone involved. This really begs the question: what is the secret to making a game into a successful franchise? How did Mario and Sonic succeed where everyone else failed? I guess if there was an answer to that, we'd have a lot more successful franchises.

Some things to address from the video: 1. Sphinx went through four names in development: Sphinx Sphinx and the Shadow of Set Sphinx and the Misfortunate Mummy and finally Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy The reason why I didn't mention it is because I couldn't find a clear logo of it. There's a print ad of that one though. 2. THQ went bankrupt in December 2012, and ceased all operations in January. The February mention is my mistake. (I don't know where did it came from, haha) 3. An Xbox 360 port was in the works after the Java release, but it sadly didn't go anywhere. Krow made a list of beta changes/prototype builds of Sphinx. You can give it a watch. I shared it in the description. That's all I guess. Thanks.

Evan Hanley uncovered many cut content and changes that didn't make it into the video. Give it a watch if interested! kzbin.info/aero/PLLRkqQjo9BqP5BqRWHgJ0bJ5jk06oPkqV

*Road 96 had the least boring level design I've seen in a looonnngggg time 👌 each segment of the story was randomly auto selected and it always kept you guessing* 🌈

Nice video! We had fun making the game! Long live Maximo!

1:10 made me chuckle lol

Im gonna go ahead & assume that after so long & after taking off my own rose tinted glasses on this game, it wont be remastered officially. However, Activision now being owned by Xbox, maybe making a new one gets tried out.

I agree with you that open world often makes restriction on you so it really isn't so open. If i remember correctly then Pokemon Violet was pretty open. You could fight any gym you want but the only restriction was that some gym where more meant for later game because of higher levels.

And also but seriously when Alice in palaces get made. Can we get a epsidoe when stickler return. That would be great. Maybe he is head of CIA that would kinda intersting.

And do monster Madness Battle for Suburbia

CAN'T AGREE MORE

>Boring game desing >Puts Control, one of the most original designed game in recent history, under "bad" in the thumbnail and calls it "shallow" in the description. You know what's actually boring and shallow? Small channels putting out controversial content about "mhu modern games bad" hoping to get boosted by the algorithm via grifters arguments. You succeded, but at what cost?

I absolutely love how you put Shadow Hearts Twilight Street (Town of Twilight) music in the background ♥♥♥

Good luck with games analysis in the future. Pro tip when you read your scripts try to relax and be natural, your voice will be less tense, and lots of loud reading will help with articulation. The best YTubers have own distinct voice and this is kinda secret to good videos in general, other half is just good script and topics. The worst is, everyone have to learn this, and listening to own voice is cringe to many ppl. You did fine job but I see a long road ahead of you, just keep growing and work on your craft. Wish you very best.

Imo the best open world game is RDR2, the rest are fine, but it feels like companies are either too lazy or too scared to make a good linear game

I believe the bane of open world games is that they often serve as hubs filled with generic content to connect zones of a game. There is less design density in the open parts so the experience as a whole becomes diluted.

My favorite type of level design is when you have a good over world that has levels and things you have to unlock or get enough experience to traverse that location. Metroidvanias also do this well. You want a sense that you can progress something, and having sections locked off or provide a limited experience in is what made the old GTA games, 3d Platformers, side scrollers so fun. I even think about the classic Legend of Zelda where each dungeon requires an item that specifically works with the dungeon. In a way, those games are open world or open environment, but it's more in flow with the story.

Massive open worlds focus on the size of the traversable areas instead of their mechanics and gameplay patterns which lead to a ludonarrative disonance, the universe becomes a broken illusion because it was crafted to be looked at, not played in. The reason games like Shadow of Colossus, Outward or Gothic 1 make open world work well is because they have been designed to interact with the world. The player is not led by hand from point on a map to another. The unimpeded exploration that leads to meaningful gameplay is what makes the open worlds interesting

While I agree with another commenter that there are plenty of modern games with great level design, I think this video does point out a trend that is real. I think to find creative level/game design today, you have to look for smaller publishers or indie games. In the past, video games were such a small market that ALL games were like this, and they had to be creative to get people’s attention (or at least most of them did). In the past decade, however, video game markets have become so large that the most popular games are all following very similar formulas, because they are market tested. Small publishers have to be creative to get people’s attention, and that was the position almost all publishers were in during previous generations. I also definitely do think it’s true that technical restrictions actually breed creativity. Not just in video games, but in everything. That’s probably also one of the reasons this trend exists.

lol at 1:08 one weird thing i like about older game levels is whenever there is an area where you can see a new location but you cant access it. it always makes you wonder what the rest of it looks like. a good example of this is in banjo kazooi, the area with the ice key that you cant access right away. you can always see it but you cant do anything about it yet so it makes you really curious to go there. and then you have a game like my good old favourite deception where every time you see the outside of the castle. it makes you wish you could walk around out there to see more of what the world is like but you cant and yes it may be limited but these curiosity are kinda cool to me.

Love your videos

This wasn't very well structured. I feel like the video was all over the place, and didn't really substantiate your points. You were mostly talking about game design not really level design and you didn't really do enough comparing to establish a trend. This video wasn't about modern level design, it was more about linear vs open world design. For every good older game you mentioned, one could name equally many good linear modern games and we usually only remember the good games from the past, there were just as many really bad levels. Also games are about their target audience so you kinda have to look at games with that lens. The comparisons you did have didn't make much sense, and felt like you were just using nostalgia and didn't really highlight specifically why those levels were better, than an open world environment. You showed the old God of War games, so why not compare to the new God of War games. There are multiple GDC talks with level designers who worked on these, that could be a good starting point. Not sure what's the point of comparing AC with Dishonored, those are very different games, with different goals and different types of players. Why not analyze a GTAV mission design and how it utilizes its open world, or a Far Cry open world or how Elden Ring uses its environments. This felt too shallow right now and it feels like you didn't really prove your point.

What you described witb Assassin's Creed was exactly how i was feeling with GTA V while doing the mission. It has such an amazing huge world but, during the missions, the put you on such a tigh leash that they make npc's cars go faster during mission so it's impossible for you to reach them until the game wants you to. Instead of letting us be creative and complete an objective in a dozen different ways, they just take away your choice. I felt the same thing with Red Dead Redemption 2's campaign, but then i think it's more about "quest design" or whatever

You're being silly. Your analysis skills are top-notch. You simply describe what your eyes and ears witness and the feelings it gives you. There's not a whole lot more to it than that. I've actually been thinking a lot about this exact subject as of late. I remember seeing a map of a Wolfenstein 3D level compared to a modern Call Of Duty level. The Wolfenstein map is huge, has hidden doors and passageways, and sometimes even secrets within the secrets. The Call Of Duty level is effectively just a hallway, carrying the player from story beat to story beat. One allows exploration and discovery, while the other carries the player to plot points. Surprisingly, both have a valid point. This brings me to what I've been pondering: one of my favorite games of all time, PREY (2017). It's ironic you bring up Dishonored, since PREY was made by the same studio (the late Arkane Studios), and was HEAVILY inspired by Looking Glass Studios' games. It's so blatant that the 3D screen technology the characters in the game use is actually called "Looking Glass". Besides just a massive environment, there's so much verticality and alternative paths. It's not enough to get through an area; you also need to go behind the walls, under the floors, and inside the ceilings. There's really nothing else like it anymore. So why did it sell so poorly and is completely forgotten? They made a few massive mistakes. First of all, they chose to name it after another game that it had nothing to do with: Prey (2006). Second, they really didn't communicate that the game was a love letter to games like System Shock and Thief. Worst of all, it is a game without flaws. Let me explain what that means: The combat is tight and responsive with incredible depth, the story is complex, the enemies are a constant threat, the puzzles are almost impossible at times. The voice acting is phenomenal, being carried by the remarkable performance of Benedict Wong. With nothing to complain about, there's also nothing that critics could cling to. You can only say "it's good" in so many ways. To paraphrase a line from Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, pure water freezes poorly because there's no impurities for ice crystals to form around. If you're looking for a game that redefines level design, this is it. It also runs great on older PCs, so there's no excuse not to play it! This was a great video. Your editing is really good. I picked up on the MegaMan X: Comman Mission music in there! Keep up the good work!!!

There was a lot I wanted to say in this video, but I didn't. Mostly because I'm still not good at analysis and all this sort of videos. Will do better next time, hopefully.

Here some request dead head fred and Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat

Yes is Jake Thomas or he use to be Lizzie McGuire brother or stickles from Cory in the House. Yes is same Guy look it up.