Let's Look At: N++!

[@Northernlion]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. Unfortunately it seems like the levels shown off here are indeed misleadingly easy in comparison to how tough the game gets as you progress. While my opinion was true to my experience, I will admit to being relatively new to the N series and I didn't realize it ramps up to that point eventually. And, thank you for the feedback regarding Let's Look Ats in general. I'll continue to try to refine my style for this in the future. Thanks for your support!

[@winjuice]

It was hard listening to you miscategorise such a cult classic like N but I get where you'd get that opinion from. The starting levels are definitely easier than in N+ and waaaaaay easier than in N. You're a cool egg, keep up with the let's look at's, they're great!

[@amrit6252]

[@kosmosyche]

I hate easy casual games like this one. Thanks for your review NL. I'm not spending my money on this walking simulator for little girls. Keep spreading the truth.

[@y2kbug77]

There was a level in N+ that I got stuck on back in 2010. I just managed to beat it a couple months ago. This game will become rage inducing later on.

[@TheGoldenDunsparce]

Aw man, that was close! I almost Thumbs Up'ed your comment, but saw it already had 69 and stopped myself!!

[@recurveninja]

I generally really enjoy NL's first impression videos, but this is the first time it's been very apparent that not every game should be "first impressioned". The prime point of *n*, *n+*, and *n++* is that the game starts out as a basic platformer, and gets more and more difficult over time until you realize "holy shit, how am I actually supposed to do this?". Sorry lad, but this video was a trainwreck if you're even the slightest bit familiar with *n*. That said, I would quite like to see NL continue playing and see if his view changes as he gets further, maybe as a first-segment NLSS game or something.

[@Northernlion]

Fair enough, thanks for the feedback.

[@NickDAnim]

My thoughts exactly I remember in the original one, the chapters in columns of ten (00, 10, 20, 30 etc..) and the 90's column being absolutely ridiculous. So if NL touched on the ones further in the game (A9? etc..) he probably would've noticed the jump in difficulty.

[@abyss2590]

+Nicholas Daicopoulos I still recall the feeling of intense happiness when I finally beat all levels of the original N. There were no Steam achievements, nothing like that, and I didn't even attempt all-gold runs, but MAN those last few columns were tough. I even recall making sections of the levels in the editor so I could practice before actually attempting the level proper - that's the kind of crazy finesse you need!

[@KittyPittyMeowmeow]

Considering that N came out before Super Meat Boy, I don't exactly like your continued comparisons towards saying that the game is like Super Meat Boy. Saying that N++ is "Super Meat Boy-esque" is almost insulting. It's like saying that the Lord of the Rings series is "Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire-esque." Just my two cents here.

[@budspudsy436]

Well he did say it's not a fair comparison and that N came out first anyway.

[@packy341]

He literally addresses this right after he said it

[@TheDragonsBastille]

So thanks for watching the whole video, he literally talked about exactly this. Jesus.

[@ChaosCron1]

+Bud Spudsy He said that N came out first

[@budspudsy436]

ChaosCron My mistake, meant to say that lol

[@EVANH18]

The levels get a TON harder. You'll be happy the game is relatively easy at the start.

[@AJ-kj1go]

NL is a truly talented when it comes to stream of consciousness commentary. As entertaining and as thoughtful as anyone. It will be interesting to see if he can learn to organize his thoughts a bit better for videos like these in the future.

[@Northernlion]

Appreciate it.

[@UberGingah]

+Northernlion even though I love the n series I can respect your opinion. thanks for so much great content NL!

[@PieInTheSky9]

I actually disagree. I think the stream of conscious commentary is entertaining and what makes NL who he is. If he tried to do a more "organized" review, I feel like the quality would go down and it would feel a lot less organic.

[@WateringCan]

I can't wait till NL's like 50 and has completely stopped giving a fuck and instead of being fervently polite and understanding when he critiques a game he's not crazy on just says "this shit's hot garbage, don't waste my fuckin time".

[@spinningundeadzom7621]

Never change NL.

[@dragoniukas]

he's canadian lol, he can be 100 yr old and still be polite

[@nalc45]

If you play down A1 B1 C1 D1 you will find it gets drastically harder. Not only that, but you can find yourself running out of time if you're not finishing the levels with enough gold, and having to restart whole campaigns.

[@umbaupause]

Kinda sad to hear NL lament about the first levels being easy, and so much too. Yeah, some games don't just push the difficulty up to 9/10 in the first five levels, you know?

[@KittyPittyMeowmeow]

"I may still be early in the game but it's too easy" - NL who has played an hour of the game Seriously, I think NL's kinda slipping when it comes to his reviews

[@umbaupause]

Lady Palutena I mean, that Is why he calls them Let's Look At, cause that is what it is: NL looks at some game and just gives his first impressions. It's not a review, not at all. But... Assuming that cause Meatboy punches your gut right away, suddenly it's bad not to be like that, this opinion saddens me. It makes one come off as elitist, a bit.

[@Draukagrissah]

If he's played an hour and hasn't hit anything remotely challenging, then they clearly padded the levels with filler. It's pretty nice to have a gradually increasing difficulty curve, but when you can complete some of the early levels in 10 seconds with little to no effort, if it takes you an hour, easily 100+ levels at a consistently slowing rate, that is too fucking long.

[@KittyPittyMeowmeow]

+ Draukagrissah But did you take a look at his completed levels? His "hour of gameplay" was the optional Intro, which is basically a super tutorial for absolute beginners. His actual progress is something like four episodes, so he's done less than 20 actual levels. That is practically nothing.

[@umbaupause]

Draukagrissah Have you seen NL's gameplay though? He replayed a lot of the levels over and over despite getting through them in two or so tries. If he had that pace when he checked it out before, then you don't need to wonder why he didn't find the more challenging stuff.

[@themodernshoe2466]

I don't want to come off as ass-holey but I just wanted to correct you that the original N came out way before super meat boy. Most of the enemies in N++ such as the missile turret, Gauss turret, Lazer drone, etc came from the original N. I never really thought of comparing it to super meat boy.

[@LfunkeyA]

N++ is a much bigger game than SMBoy, and it has the smoothest difficulty curve of all the N games. That's why it's difficulty seems mild in the beginning. I think the early levels teach you a lot of techniques. What you're missing is that there is NO gimmick. that's the gimmick. it's a no-nonsense game and always has been. it's the most elegant game in this genre, if not one of the most elegant games in general. N++ especially nails this aesthetic, and the amazing soundtrack reflects it too. this game is meant to be enjoyed by all audiences, and is not just a hard-as-nails platformer; it's also a game to relax to (may seem paradoxical, but the design and slower movement kind of make that point).

[@joo01234]

having played N+ i know that levels will most likely get a LOT harder, so chasing the time giving pellets is really important, since your time is spread out during the 5 levels.

[@_alex_y.not_]

The comparisons between SMB and this game should start and end at they were both flash games on Newgrounds. They do not play alike at all.

[@radyjko8590]

I wanted to thank you for making LLA for this game, I am really exited for N++, as original N is practically game of my childhood, and one of the best platformed games, truly the best in it's category. Edit: Before N+ there where a flash game (called just "N"), released in 2003 I think. You can still play refined version of N on their website, and I encourage you to do so

[@Northernlion]

Thank you!

[@DanGheesling]

Is this Lode Runner?

[@xpandaman777x]

is that a meme?

[@ImperatorZed]

Are you Dan Gheesling?! The Rimworld star in NL's Rimworld series?!

[@NoSeKe]

Is not Dan a meme himself?.

[@girlfriendsgayming]

dude I wish, that game was the best

[@epickduk]

i think he's an undertale.

[@lethauntic]

I understand that this was your first impression on the game, NL. And I understand that you felt that the game started out a little "misleadingly" easy, which isn't the case. But you can't say that games that start out too easy are too easy as a whole, games typically start out easy then get hard later on... Look at super meat boy... That started out easy as fuck, but it still get's hard later on. You can't do the first 5 levels in SMB and mention how it allows you to get through levels by being bad, and how it's a "score attack" game, as clearly, the games get's harder later on. The first 2% of gameplay doesn't perfectly reflect the rest of it. I don't know, I don't blame you, considering that this is a 'first impressions' video, but did you really not expect it to be hard later on? I hate to be rude, but it's pretty darn obvious, egg. Well, Keep up the good work anyways.

[@sirjayden]

your profile picture says aaa

[@lethauntic]

Sir Jayden It sure does

[@THB192]

this got a lot wrong about the game, but that's not entirely Lion's fault: the tutorial isn't 100% clear. It tells us a lot about the newbie experience. Go see NerdCubed's video for a seasoned N player's perspective.

[@aussiebounty]

I can assure you the game gets much...much harder.. There were some later levels that took me well over 500 attempts and that was just beating the level, not attempting to get all the gold. It simply gets insane.

[@transformersloverjon]

There are over 2000 levels in this game... This guy has only scratched the surface...

[@nonsweet]

Haven't played this game yet, but as I have completed N+.... the levels get way harder and the begging is just made easy for everyone, so maybe if you hadn't tried to "prefect" these early levels you would have reached something harder at this point

[@SilverBinge]

Going from point A to point B is frickin impossible in n++ once you get past the starter levels..

[@itsjjkaz]

I'll give you a ++ for this video

[@Lazy034]

More like a C++

[@PFloydWall]

Glad they didn't call it n = n + 1

[@shotgunshelz7987]

You judged this game, when you were only about 1% in.

[@ericlamb4501]

Compares N+ and N++ to SMB = wrong If anything, SMB should be compared to games that came out first, comparing this series to SMB is a bit disingenous because N+ was a thing before Super Meat Boy. Now that SMB is out, yes, compare N++ to Super Meat Boy, but keep in mind that N+ was also a thing and this is a good successor to that. If any of what I just said makes sense

[@winjuice]

The movement and gameplay is so different that it's kinda moot to compare to SMB anyway. Also comparison isn't monodirectional, it's bidirectional. But yeah I still kinda get what you're saying.

[@GamersOff]

also, N++ is a momentum based platformer, diferent from SMB.

[@FreyrFox]

MAN. This series has been a small staple that keeps coming back into my life, and I love it.

[@MrMightyGnome]

Holy fuck NL is getting hammered by comments but I actually can't disagree with them. N (flash game) came out before SMB (2004) and you have honestly not played enough to see how tough this game actually is. Eventually you get to a point where your hands get sweaty and your spending 3+ hours on a single level and your still trying to figure out the best possible route and momentum of gameflow. I really hope NL makes a follow up video of N++ after having at LEAST 5+ more hours.

[@NotLegato]

i haven't really said this much, but i've thought it very often, so here's a little bit of critique: all of your opinions are a little samey. you coddle every game, and you're a little afraid to offer actual critique. you say "oh, but don't take this as a negative" and try your hardest to turn it into a positive, and this takes all the weight off your opinion. please, don't be afraid to say things you dislike about games. it's a little dishonest. if a game is shit, don't call it "charming". not related to this exact video, of course. n++ is a pretty good game.

[@The-Comedian]

I agree with you and stated it in the past as well. NL is too Canadian for the job of a critic.

[@Nuage151]

I agree with you, but I think its also because the game is very long. Maybe he judges he hasn't seen/played enough to give a full critique. It's, after all, a "look at". Some channels gives full review of a game. The game is not attractive tho, he didn't need to hold back or give it excuses.

[@MegaTyler93]

That's actually something I quite like about NL, he stays neutral and is respectful of what others possibly like and dislike and it's refreshing.

[@NotLegato]

MegaTyler93 but he doesn't stay NEUTRAL, he just praises every game that he sees, no matter the quality or what he really thinks. he self-censors his commentary.

[@purpleice2343]

He can't criticise a game or call it shit after 2 hours of so... For example, even NMS, it's mainly shit, but if you like exploring, doing nothing, mining resources just to use them and mine even more of them, it's a good game, in a way. Anyway, at least N++ was probably hyped, but delivered what it was supposed to.

[@Logisticious_gg]

NL++ I think you'd enjoy the game more as it got harder, because then the gold coins become more important.

[@moozarger190]

hurt every time he called n+ the original

[@realchatlabs]

This game just keeps coming back. I remember playing it as a kid, young teenager, teen, and now young adult.

[@pradachains]

I remember playing the original when I was 8. And here we are 12 years later. Really makes you feel old, doesn't it?

[@GodInHisPrime]

Yo what was wrong with my man's voice, he sounds so different (And I've been watching since like 2011, it's just so weird going back)

[@prudX]

Notepad++ looks different since last time i played it

[@ElwoodPlays]

I guess the floaty jumping mechanics feel like Meat Boy, but other than that, N++ and its predecessors feel a lot more tight to me, more thought out in terms of level design.

[@i_am_ergo]

Since NL is out for improvement, here's something I haven't found addressed in the comments. You want to be more specific with what you found inside and about the game. If you've realized that it's a hardcore platformer with emphasis on perfection, just say it. Don't sugarcoat it - or worse - say that it makes the game this or that, 'cause you're well aware yourself that with 2 hours played, you're not even remotely informed about what this game is. (Remember Inside?) It's not your thing? Fine. That's one sentence. People who randomly stumbled upon this Look-At neither know nor care what's your thing. People who watch you constantly know exactly what is and what isn't your thing. Don't dwell on it, because it literally kills the purpose of the video: informing people about the game.

[@bratsampson]

The game does get pretty damn hard, but there are a bunch of easy levels to work through too. I think it gets harder faster if you work down the level columns rather than along the top row if that helps anyone :p Assuming it's like the original, each column gets harder as you go down and the columns in general get harder as you go along. So say if you nail A-00, B-00 and C-00 but find you're struggling on D-00 you can move onto A-01 and start with those instead as a break.

[@mel200goalll]

Loving these more frequent let's look ats, keep it going egg man.

[@yummyfrostboro2934]

I feel like people forget that N+ was also on the DS. I mean, that's where I played it... every day... because of the stage creator...

[@benw5835]

If this is anything like the original N (the flash game) then it gets a lot harder in the later levels. The initial levels do seem a little too easy to finish, but since there are apparently thousands of levels, not even including the user made ones, it's not a bad idea to skip the easier ones.

[@stvmlly]

Stoked that you've done a video on this - I can't wait to pick the game up myself. As you've probably been told already, N+ was NOT the original - it itself was a remake of the N : The Way of the Ninja online game, from 2004! I appreciate you've already 'done your time' in this game, but I hope you play some more in your down time, and see just how rough N can really get!

[@thousandTabs]

I remember N+ as a game you stuck on a thumb drive and played with your friends during high school typing class in the computer lab. N++ will be the successor to this, maybe

[@TetanuszHUN]

I used to play n+ on PSP and I didn't even know there's a sequel to it.Definitely picking it up,thanks for the review egg daddy!

[@SMackHammer1]

it gets way harder NL

[@needycatproductions6830]

Watching the full video of one of your "Let' Look At"s is very very hard. You talk SO MUCH and even for your standards very fast and sometimes even incoherent. Too much "This is ths and this kinda game NOT TO SAY it is this BUT ALSO not this BUT you know what I mean... BUT you don't know what I mean."

[@ImTehRiZe]

Classic NL

[@Muzzycal]

question: have you seen zero punctuation

[@Romanticoutlaw]

welcome to nl, that's just how he's always done when he's not on stream

[@jacobjacobsonson7965]

you talk too much? that's just idiotic. what do you want? just a couple of seconds of silence here and there?

[@carl.j917]

he's not scripted and he's trying to explain the game and his point of view in a way that everybody understands and doesn't diss the people that think different about the game, of course he talks a lot, there's no other way to achieve that with 5 words, and if there was there'd be no point making a "let's look at" video

[@TheShadesOfBlack]

"There's never a point in which I feel like I've learned more about the world I live in""Wow we survived. Just learning a but more about the world I live in"

[@Krystalchan2009]

I mean the design of N+ made the early levels start as easy to complete so that not as experienced platformer players get introduced to new hazards one at a time. While these hazards provide an even stronger challange when you attempt to 100% the level and get all the gold

[@LfunkeyA]

'N' came up with almost every concept seen in SMBoy, both great games with a different feel, but N was the first game to really have this particular trial and error formula.

[@raoulduke2924]

I spent many hours in N+ back in the day-- cool to see a Steam released sequel

[@Tuku]

duuude, this game, I used to play it a lot when it was a flash game on miniclip or some website like that, like, A LOT, was one of my fav games, that was about 11 years ago lol Tho i miss the blood splatter :( does the color palette change?

[@2Cosmo]

yes there are very many color palette options that the user can unlock and choose.

[@Tuku]

Max N. do you happen to have any idea about how many players can play this in local co-op? getting it for the weekends with my friends might happen if it has 4p local co-op (also for the nostalgia)

[@2Cosmo]

It's got a co-op and competitive mode for up to 4, so looks like you'd want it! The bottom of the "about this game" section has a lot of info on the steam page. store.steampowered.com/app/230270/

[@Tuku]

Max N. thanks bro and hell yeah i'll be picking this one up!

[@4nn4t4t]

You can enable the blood in the options!

[@radyjko8590]

I will also say that some levels (I don't want to be specific, because I didn't play this game yet) are really difficult to even just pass. I guess they appear later, but I have no idea.

[@joesandy3424]

Last time I was this early harambe was still alive

[@pixelninja5646]

i used to play the original game called "N Ninja" on newrounds on my lunchbreaks at school, soooo much gd memories of this game :3

[@JakeIGuess]

I used to LOVE this game back on the xbox 360. Played it 'til I was #1 on the Race mode leaderboards. Good times.

[@od1401]

I prefer SMB's more responsive controls personally but recognise the value of slower and more deliberate movement.

[@stblack404]

I'm pretty sure the original N was Super Meat Boy's main inspiration.

[@MrKangorilla]

Played "N" in half of my GCSE IT lessons. No regretti

[@gerald216]

You know I see lot of people asking you to be harsher when taking about games, well I am not one of them. I recognize that there's flip side to you being "nice" to games you don't like, and that's you calling out bullshit in games you do like. So stay the same egg man

[@deathpyre42]

Still, this is probably one of the best examples of the genre. Threats are plainly visible, the rules are consistently explained, and the controls are polished.

[@XtraZero]

The point of games like this, even moreso than Meatboy, is to get good at it FOR THE SAKE of increasing your skill as a human who understands complex patterns and physics and the joy of refining your abilities. The goal is not within the game, or even in the leaderboards. It is within you.

[@BeastlierIguana]

Oh shit, I remember playing this the minute it came out, the only time I'll ever be on any leaderboards XD

[@JSmashChannel0]

OMG memories... I played N, not N + but the first

[@noobzor21]

Ahhhh remembering the hours spent playing the first one in school instead of working

[@znxster]

I think your "easy beat" is just early game, I remember the original n and n+, both started simplistic but later the ramp was extreme. The user made levels in n+ were amazing and incredibly difficult.

[@Katekyo504]

13:57 I don't see myself being the best in the world at this. Neither do we.

[@liljagsa]

There are 2,360 levels in N++ and NL has played about 150 of them. I don't think that's enough to make a judgement call on difficulty.

[@randysterbentz5599]

I remember one of my favorite things about playing n+ was just watching my body parts flail around and trying to set off every mine haha

[@ryxie6438]

You're right about it being too early to call the levels easy. They get pretty damn hard later on.

[@mephistovonfaust]

I played the original N in 2004... Yes it is a lot older than Super Meat Boy Nl... I loved it back then and it was a free game ;)

[@camholocker7109]

actually the origional was a flashgame it came out before N+

[@xXwebraiderXx]

Wow, so much salt in the comments. Guys, almost no reviewer plays through the whole game. He had no way of knowing how hard the game gets. And I for one am glad that he just plays and talks about how he feels about it. If I want pitch perfect and thought-out analysis of a game I watch TB. Dont need that for a game like N++. But whatever - everyone is entitled to his/her opinion. I think many of you are too harsh with the criticism. That is all.

[@drummersam1]

I remember playing N as a flash game in high school! Instead of doing actual work in IT class...

[@mooncrime4998]

A bit of advice for confident criticism in Let's Look At, NL: one day, pick a game you know is terrible and do a Let's Look At where you outright say that it is terrible, really trash it if you feel that's warranted. Don't say "But I could just be an idiot," really just pick a game you aren't going to feel the need to defend. It'll help you get used to levying criticism at games without feeling the need to immediately follow it with a positive spin. People want to know what you think, and the more authenticity you can convey the more engaging that will be for them.

[@solanikienko8954]

Can we also get a "Let's Look At" for C++? And I was wondering if there was an N# version too so I can work with some different stuff...

[@RNorthex]

i liked n+ on the DS, it was a pretty neat little on-the-go game

[@REDANDSILVER741]

N+ is online Ryan, try it out with a friend. Your competitive nature would shine through

[@DibbzTheLoner]

From the title I definitely expected this to be a programming game.

[@MumblyJumbles]

The devs posted on r/Games a week ago confirming the game would launch for $15.

[@danflaherty1861]

I remember n+ being super hard. Is that just me being super bad at games at the time i played it or did it have a steeper difficulty curve than this one?

[@Caleik7HD]

Awesome game with an awesome soundtrack :)

[@itsonlyhersh]

It's like saying the light world forest no bandages in SMB isn't hard..

[@TheDestrab]

Drink Yourself to Death Game: Take a shot every time Egglord says "Super Meat Boy".

[@TheGoldenDunsparce]

Hard Mode: Take an additional shot every time Egglord says, "Too easy".

[@RealFakeLabel]

"Super meat boy before super meat boy" you mean Jumper and Jumper 2, the games that literally directly inspired meat boy? And N+ is the sequel to N, so this is the third game in a trilogy.

[@Spamster3212]

Oh man, I LOVED the original N+! I'm so buying this.

[@Mrretartedcow]

the game gets a lot harder as you move way farther on. i remember in N+ how hard the late levels got

[@Sirmenonottwo]

You say the game is not hard and you can beat the levels easily YET you died about 600 times in about 25 minutes. You managed not to say anything of actual substance. The entire review can be summed up as "I like super meat boy better because I never played N before." Also you played in the most unflattering color scheme and didn't even mention that you changed it to that way until the very end. Overall very ignorant review.

[@Sirmenonottwo]

Goat Bot Hes been doing this for like 4 years now. This was amateurish. Least he could have done would be playing in the default color style, so we actually could know how the game is ment to look. He didn't explain any of the enemy types or mechanics besideds saying is was a "super meat boy esque platformer." And he knew N is older than super meat boy, so N can NOT be super meat boy esque.

[@Sirmenonottwo]

***** Northernlion

[@ikward2217]

+Eli Kelley who forgot to use protection?

[@Sirmenonottwo]

Darth Olimar do you actually know what protection is for?

[@y2kbug77]

Well clearly, it's for tits.

[@AzurefluxMusic]

You misquote it all the time though, it's "so it's only right that I let the top drop on my drop-top Porsche, _it's_ for yourself, that's important", instead of "convince".

[@GamersOff]

Thanks for accepting my request!

[@Chrizzz42]

So based on what I'm reading in the comments, then people just want for NL to be more of an asshole? Personally, I really enjoy his style of not just calling an element hot garbage as soon as he finds something he doesn't personally like.

[@harrysarso]

when playing the first version of this game i never looked at leaderboards if there where any i just find the game very enjoyable and pretty with realy smooth physics and art also " Just fuck my shit up " Northernlion 2016

[@IsAMank]

I honestly thought this was going to be a programming game based on the title

[@Daemsco]

tfw we will soon have more let's look ats than isaac episodes

[@dubliostower]

damn this brings back some nostalgia, I played the fuck out of the original back in the day

[@osmak66]

Dang! This game was the bomb when I was a kid.

[@Splozy]

i wanna see more NL N++!

[@Shukiriahuama]

It's called "let's look at..." not "let's review...". You can do both things at the same time, but the name says it all, he's more interested in showcasing the game, specially if you take into consideration they are mostly indie games.

[@EpicGamerScout]

You want a game where jumping over spikes is hard as nails? IWBTG fangames man... Now I'm imagining NL trying to beat the first stage of a game like K3...

[@The-Comedian]

Notepad++ devs diversifying into video games?

[@MaxxsHandle]

this game is so much fun! I loved it

[@mustardguzzler7377]

Do you know if online co-op will come in the future

[@ExGavalonnj]

this game is much better playing with friends

[@4twi352]

This game will come out on my birthday?! (Today) Yay! Love this game :3