Mirror's Edge Catalyst: 5 Years Later

[Music] [Applause] [Music] just like you just [Music] and i've tried to make [Applause] mirror's edge is a title that doesn't matter what matters is its soul and its soul was just sung still alive that's what it felt like to play but it's also what it meant in the industry look at me i can be different it said i can still be different when being different was meaningful in a world of being the same its art style was an inversion of seventh generation trends but its mechanical non-conformity still reverberates through the industry today a breakthrough in first person movement the true first friend type game and so the first to be controversial but you wouldn't know it now over time the imperfections of mirror's edge have faded from the public consciousness its reputation grows further from its actual merit with every passing year why because the soul that made it worthy of respect then is more yearned for now than ever we want still alive in our games that's why a quiet desire for a sequel grew into a feverish longing still alive is why mirror's edge mattered still alive will show us why our begging was answered with a reboot instead [Music] we set out to bring the research to a new generation of gamers welcome to mirror's edge catalyst catalyst we waited eight years it's as if it never came out this game inspired nothing nothing but a heated debate for those who remember it exists not as to if it failed but as to if it deserved to everyone has their take like this one i can't think of anything else that made so many bad choices in such a small package but i like it i'd play it again and i know i'm not alone still alive is where the rabbit hole began there's a reason those two words were chosen video games are a multimedia art form mirror's edge is what you get when they come together in harmony to create the same feeling aliveness or to be specific the fantasy of the parkour runner danger thrill energy rebellion verticality cohered with the sound design of wind breath and footfall with energetic music with graceful but impactful first-person animation and with the most important part of all mirror's edge was symbolic simple objects devoid of nuance beyond their meaning collectively composed a mythologization of parkour itself where a bright human presence whose only two character traits were love and willpower tattooed with the icon of a bird and named after a purely human quality faith engaged in a never-ending act of rebellion by treating a series of colossal empty symbols of material power as her playground the city kept itself in specific blending east with west and emitting fictional details to stay widely relatable there was no world building no character depth no narrative flesh but we understood its meaning without it ever saying a word and then the problem started you can guess why mirror's edge wanted a conventional story and being deliberately one-dimensional tends to be a downside when it comes to emotional connection that did not kill its narrative but it certainly held it back and a sequel would be born in the same handcuffs you can go to a new city introduce a new runner but that's less of a mirror's edge too than a reboot would be and building beyond the borders the first game set risks killing its symbolic weight in retrospect these advertisements are not believable but we accept them because we know what they mean any other explanation or expecting us to believe they exist within a larger universe is a tough sell like suggesting a city that needed to avoid fictionalization is one among many in a fully fictionalized universe go too far and you lose its soul stay put and you're still in prison in more ways than you'd think the worst part is the ugly pretty truth that exciting new visuals sell a game and there is no way you can go from a perfectly realized vision mirror's edge was as simple as it could be you can't change that but it also meant the tech of 2008 made it just about as crisp as it could be to and visuals sell a game take next-gen tech to flat colors and you get slightly sharper flat colors this is mirror's edge rendered in unreal engine 5. did you even notice the difference catalyst is a reboot because it keeps mirrors edges recognizable icons while escaping its symbolic prison it was free to build something that would sell in 2021 i wrote a script for mirror's edge catalyst you knew that point is i wrote it because i already had one from two years before something drew me to it a simple innocuous youtube video a tour of its city where at days shapeless godlight echoed infinitely from reflection to reflection in a marriage of the sun in the simple white wall that earned the name glass and at night the sci-fi cities of our desktop wallpapers came to life a world you could touch and feel that earned our hearts attractive no this was gravity an inescapable pull that became a problem as the mechanics buckled under overwhelming pressure to stop paying attention what was i saying oh yeah the city center is a blaze with life and few of its skeletal walkways have guardrails but what better place is there to stare into the bewitching bear chaos it's all too easy to miss the gap coming up for the heavenscape to the side unless you count walking into transparent pains that's the true mechanical twist of regatta bay where a shoal of petals sink in serenity through the still ocean air a garden of eden fused with only enough artifice to make our world work within theirs for every blossoming tree a fiber wave canopy glass and the glassy waterfall marble and the uncut rock in the shimmering heights in the crystal valley constellations of neons green space and the darted lights of drones compose a technical night sky to complement the bay's gated paradise glass is the heavens brought down to earth and that's exactly my point in simply describing it to you i've proven that it varies itself as a sci-fi city well in simply showing you've seen its remarkable beauty but there is a deeper pattern did you see that there is nothing but beauty big bobby b aka robert briscoe aka the talent behind mirror's edge's visuals at their best said on first glance at catalyst trailer every game today wants to look like it's shot through michael bay's sunglasses or jj abrams mirror's edge wasn't shot through a camera lens but someone's eyes he's right catalyst isn't concerned with visceral reality it's a movie a dream with wild bleeding rainbow diffractions and lens flare in a similar way catalyst had no less control than mirror's edge over where the city would take you but instead of distinct settings that represent the power we're fighting against we see chaotic amalgamations of things that look good serene living space is accessed by an incomprehensible jumble of water fixtures and art exhibits even the city center itself is a blend of meek white roofing spread thinly widely and nebulously undeniably crisp but not meaningful and in many places glass doesn't even bother with a veil of logic why are there networks of pipes in square transparent housing why are there high-tech displays on random insignificant panels why do communications antenna have logitech gamer lighting and spinning buzzsaws inside it what why are 500 inch wide screens pointing at blank walls where no one could see it oh god make it stop why in the does the game's most important access ladder have purple light strips to the side as if linus sebastian was their architect and a maintenance hatch was part of the exhibits the thought and creativity of glass's technology doesn't extend far beyond what can make it look good in photo mode geography is easier to forgive gameplay begs in practical architecture and dice don't get enough praise for designing a city that so clearly communicates what you can and can't do your options are always clear that allows you to make choices on the fly but necessary sacrifices for gameplay aren't what takes a sledgehammer to the immersion have a look at this okay so you got your definitely practical inch roof pool you got your minecraft lovecraft crossover event you got your dummy thick oled reminding us what water looks like in case you forgot but what you really need to see is that you can only properly see all this together from right here it was designed for a human presence right so why is it surrounded by unmarked drops why here on bryson's reception area in the midst of what resembles a clipping disaster is there a slippery wet pathway to certain death on two of its four sides is this or is this not a scattering of seats and tables what's that what happens when a girl checks my subscriber count at the sacrifice of meaning this was meant to look complex and appealing but my suspension of disbelief is as broken as my bones forcing glass to sit on the mirror's edge between an engrossing sci-fi metropolis and a tech demo but we haven't just lost coherency we haven't just lost symbols of power we've lost a meaningful visual representation of the fiction jesus would any player truly view this city as dystopian even as some underlying corruption if they weren't told it was meant to be racevic said sorry i said that every aspect of catalyst feels like it was made in isolation and i never fully understood what he i meant until faith said this i've never seen this many trees before it's beautiful here after just having walked through this it appears the writers were as fooled as me assuming that a supposedly dystopian future was actually going to look like one that there is a suffering low caste is nothing more than words and what can words do against the power of what we see and feel the city is more alive than faith is drones buzz through the streets conversations can be heard muffled in houses like city-wide announcements in the distance beaming news flashes are the sound of hundreds of cars echoing up from below levels direct the player through living space whose residence can be seen in person or in great number from great distance or through thin transparent pains the glass that separates our world from theirs is a distinction the glass we know seamlessly obscures it burns with life and lacks even the few representations of corporate deadness the first game had whitewashed trees are replaced with the blossoming orchards of shangri-bolla king la the effect is polar two-tone billboards are replaced with vast fully rendered william balls whose representation of consumerism goes as far as one perfume brand some headphones and two jackets but most of which display nothing more than pretty pictures again the opposite effect this is what catalyst has to remind you it's a dystopia like tattooing damaged on joker's forehead it's one step away from dice sticking a post-it note to the city as a reminder this is the soundtrack you hear in the bay [Music] are you kidding me i don't believe there is nuance beneath the surface there is only the pretty face only the sheep's clothing the uncompromising reflection of our own utopian dreams the gleaming white paradise we like to attribute to alien civilizations rather than our own so i'll cut to the real question in what way does the setting contribute to the experience of catalyst beyond just looking good graphics don't make parkour feel more thrilling verticality might mirror's edge knew that catalyst has forgotten but assassin's creed 2 mastered it the system was relatively challenging that was tense but what we're here to see haha is that few other games who play with height quantify it quite like florence did interesting isn't it that one of the most common complaints with catalyst is that we hardly got to see the strengths of glass doesn't seem like this should be such a big deal but it is we yearn for perspective being on top is meaningful when you've seen what it's like to be low as true for the story as it is for the level design climbing the tallest tower in florence and looking out over your home man it's unforgettable because of perspective interior space with quantified walls and roofs is perspective inexorably built in which is how the basilica of saint mary the flower makes vertigo its play thing mirror's edge played too the storm drain the atrium the pit this was where mirror's edge was at its most thrilling in catalyst there are beautiful peaks above the baseline but the baseline varies from weak to non-existent instead of great jumps to cross vast gaps that might just kill you if you're not careful when you can see the heights rajata bay the city center they're off to the side or divorced from risk by the quicktime magrum at its worst glass will enclose your view in spaces that don't even speak an implication of their height we could be two stories up or 2 000 you'll know which most of the time thanks to small gaps obscured in the play space sometimes it'll be a short fall sometimes it'll lead to a new area and sometimes it'll just kill you am i meant to slow down to find out which this is catalyst's leading treatment to verticality none of the fear but sometimes a punishment 10 seconds of loading screen because it's on frostbite because it's just so graphically advanced because it's high resolution textures are more important than you and at times catalyst would rather be gawked at than played the game's toughest trials require the boldest choices what could discourage experimentation more than a 10 second loading screen for an unsuccessful result one by one every aspect of visual design that contributed to a harmonized parkour fantasy has been complexified into empty pretty meaninglessness the bimboification of mirror's edge is absolute why is still alive in glass is this a parkour game or is it a game with parkour and the examples we've seen could fill a thousand lofty towers but gameplay is where catalysts failure to produce a harmonized experience will complete this game feels incredible now that's a plot twist bear with me because it's add time i get offers all the time from billionaires who promise to make me rich if i take their daughter's virginity but i turn those down because i have standards that's why today's sponsor is myself if you're like me then you wouldn't be seen dead in public without your favorite item of youtuber merch everyone loves cool shirts where you can buy classics such as the benny shappy slappy tea and the metgala's own danny devito but i've taken the opposite approach my shirts don't exactly scream youtuber much in fact they don't scream anything because screaming is for virgins and my shirts will soon fix that we sell to both unisex and women so if you're either of those genders infinite tinder matches await introducing the white light pinup girl shirt is so astoundingly attractive that the people around you will react with exactly the expression you're looking at this blend of pop art and white light chic has been officially recommended by over one self-appointed fashion expert enjoy my artistic genius in purple blue and not at all like a game i may or may not have made a video on sponsoring myself helps just like my fantastic patrons it helps with control schedules and the videos themselves we've got a wonderful shop set up already at whitelight.store and more designs in the works because eventually i'd like this to be the way forward here at white light we don't just deal in drip we're in the tropical storm business and i want nothing to stand between you better videos and most importantly stylin on these hoes game feel is about making the control of a character feel good it's a science that mario celeste and spider-man understand but as no one had expanded first-person movement no one had ever mastered first-person game feel until dice starter pistols fire and momentum based sprint speed is the first factor in play mirror's edge increases your speed the longer you run uninterrupted but vaulting knee-high objects gets you a boost in the symbol city that was incentive for precision because if you made a mistake you'd lose your momentum and a chain of precision was called flow in glass things have changed you press a button instant top speed no cooldown explain that oh it removes any downside to making spontaneous course corrections good for open wild but then why lug around the corpse of the mechanic game feel because going fast is meaningful if you have to stop yourself from going slow because some form of acceleration is a star player in good game feel check out the vents you see how faith's cruel speed now has a pronounced acceleration phase it feels good i think the focus shifted precision as necessity leaves acceleration stays it works camera shape cleanly quantifies the forces on faith's body in harmony with the excellent breath work and wind effects that believably blur your vision at high speeds faith connects to her mark with an electric magnetism there's an audible clap as she snaps to a pole and the certainty of motion is smoothly displayed in animation in direct contrast faith becomes like water to anything she needs to smoothly traverse as her arms and legs move just enough to believably flow over that small ledge being stuck on the environment is a thing of the past like recovery roles that sap momentum catalyst flows uninterrupted and even accounts for backwards momentum in the role where downforce is neatly converted to a dip in faith's knees as she hits the ground stumbles and falls are simulated with a realism that sweeps me off my feet to this day it's a simple trick if faith hits a surface with enough force she stumbles but you're still in control if you move off the surface to fall again the stumble simulates an uncontrolled trip and has her collapse onto the floor it's simple it's brilliant making a mistake in catalyst is its own reward i couldn't name a floor with it if i tried now it's time for the twist all of that is true and the first game was more thrilling a feeling can only do so much without the support of the mechanics seeing is believing but is believing accurate to the nearest centimeter in mirror's edge there were times it had to be without my inbuilt human senses a first-person perspective on a 2d screen could become an unfair handicap recommended treatment a snap feature something that would account for coming just a little short catalyst forgot to read the warning label this is a game oh deed on magnetism the practically plays itself is the hardest thing to do now is miss there was never challenge in using an interactable half the challenge was getting to it without that what does catalyst have to resort to for compelling gameplay open world pathfinding you know as well as i do that's not true what about the choice of which interactables to use the choice between relevant balanced options is the definition of depth and dice get full marks for providing so many possibilities the potentials in glass's dense play space are incalculable options present balance there was a time springboards were a gift now you can spring from any knee-high surface of many knee-high surfaces then why wouldn't i if there's a nearby chance i'll always take it it'll always be the best play and though the snap combined with the flexibility of the springboard makes on-the-fly optimizations easier than ever how can that help us if you have no motive to make those optimizations what you have is an automatic gps the open walls design makes all but certain you'll never question i speak a lot about intrinsic motivation this is a game where if you can't bring some subjective driving force to occasionally experiment your gameplay will never even jolt above a zombified baseline run his vision a chainmail safety net and an easy choice what do they call it a no-brainer sounds about right the three tight ropes that exist in glass are a monument to catalyst design both because there's three and because they are the way they are oh whoa ah the illusion's gone there's nothing to be afraid of which is exactly the problem i've jumped ten thousand times in catalyst and i felt alive for two of them i've made my point now i'd like to pull catalyst just a little out of the shadow of mirror's edge to zero in on the experience it can provide instead of what it can't but of course there is a question begging to be answered which jumps this one [Music] i've reached the top and a mirror image up there you don't need me to say it but this is the exception that broberfett is some perspective david meet goliath i'm a big fan welcome to the shard hours after a catastrophic explosion where the splinter glass rain falls storming down from gabriel kruger's shattered throne room the entire climb is an exercise in perspective and its central mechanic is an exercise in risk this is catalyst reflection of the old design a rebooted shard and one that plays far more to mirror's edge's strengths now it's a horror game when it works half the time you're climbing poles mindlessly grappling from platform to platform and the glass mechanic has a few cracks yeah i get the idea dice but instead of running atop the braking glass i think i'll just go for the not breaking metal that leads in a straight line from here to my destination the shard's got a lot of misses but for the first time it's also got the unmissable which is why it's my favorite mission it's the final mission and the only one in the game with an exotic gameplay scenario open world could suggest a diluted mirror's edge but that implies a campaign of memorable moments levels and ideas stretch thin more filler your mirrors are jing just about to get to the good bit will it ever come you'll be waiting for quite some time kingdom a secret underground mega prison is an interesting concept the ride up to the dogs the perspective is a godsend the shard i'll never forget it it's pink so when it's wearing its most flattering dress usually the peaks themselves but its baseline is climbing unremarkable things with unremarkable effort could you say the same for the first game when the campaign isn't set in the open world it's mechanically indistinguishable and so just as damningly trivial every level in catalyst is smooth every frame a painting there is nothing frustrating or broken there is no hull punctured in its design from which it bleeds its potential the campaign is functional and here and i'd give it about six of the 15 four missions are set in the open world yeah most open wild games would do far more but this is not most open world games most open worlds aren't designed to be traversed numerous times at minimum being approachable from any direction glass can't slowly complexify its mechanical demand needing to withstand repeated use glass can't use exotic gameplay to jolt above that baseline these are things for a campaign but for an open world some games like to use police systems some games like to use level design to create depth some games rely on unleashing their movement mechanics and catalyst the fantasy of open wild mirror's edge was pick a direction and go but with such shallow movement perhaps fewer pathfinding options for more refined balanced choices was the right place to try to build depth for catalyst glass wasn't designed by a civil engineer it's a handful of blended playstation 5s occasionally chained together with matchsticks one or two of which are the only ways from zone to zone linus tech tip's ladder didn't you know it's iconic for being the only way from the first half of the map into the second the visual appeal of open world becomes inverted as thousands of varying potentials become thousands of exact repetitions and as for the gameplay heresy it may be to say but this design has a potential that with enough choke points you could unlock a degree of interconnectedness metroid-like where a good informed choice between multiple balanced options could get you from a to b faster sure sounds like it fits the fantasy but it is itself mere fantasy there isn't enough connection in glass for that to happen and even if there was you'd still have a problem because not only do you need to use the chokepoint you need to find it ah so i'm looking to get to the bay any ideas conventional wisdom says landmarks should mark choke points from a great distance the zephyr transit hub is an excellent example it's massive it's distinct but do you see anything something like that thing is the transit hub is also the only example this is how you get to the development zone right there the only way is a completely innocuous broken matchstick that i couldn't see 20 meters out let alone 200 the entire city center is divided into zones this way whose connective tissue is invisible until you're staring into the chasms and as for the bay swing into someone's apartment from the back of an art museum of course but the museum would join the transit hub as an example of catalyst getting it right we're the only way in not hidden amongst a labyrinth of unintelligible lights and shapes i can't aim for something i can't see from a distance i can see the shard or elysium as big as they are distinctive a mile away i can't see what i need to see until i'm already there and if the time it takes to find the way is immense and the time you want it to take in a game about running is not then we're sitting on a cataclysm guess what does know the way runner's vision ah so that's how i'll get to the museum catalyst doesn't just provide full guidance it doesn't just automatically activate it whenever there's a waypoint it doesn't just automatically set them whenever you're in a mission for police chase but it all but forces you to do it manually even when you're not because the path is just that obscured by encouraging use of a satnav the potential for thoughtful pathfinding is inverted and the average trip through glass in a game desperate for depth becomes a matter of following highlighted instructions so for all the veterans out there i hear you and for everyone else you ought to know with practice you can commit glass to memory and navigation is not insignificantly more rewarding when you do but it's like with the first game the average player will never come close to that point the average player will never turn off runner's vision which is why glass is shattered and we haven't even called the police yet 9-1-1 there's about to be a murder the model citizen for a good police system serves as a powerful player-driven stressor on its host game's primary systems gta's police isn't a quirk it's the mechanical ace in the hull that brings the best out of its combat and movement competently on demand mirror's edge the police encourage nothing the gridlink senses that report a static faith to them don't nor do they require intense performance in any facet of gameplay even failing as a way to easily engage in combat because not only is the rate of reinforcement slow but at heat level 2 the veto opens fire pressuring the player to stay on the move and so to move away from the fight get out of sight you're told easier said than done but only because it's a lie the system fails more often than it succeeds claiming faith is still visible in fully enclosed spaces losing detection is only consistent when you escape the blue circle but it doesn't matter if you're looking for consistency a safe house is always your quickest option so what could have been a pressure for the player to read their environment and what may trick them into believing it is one is actually a pressure for the player to thoughtlessly follow the red railroad to the nearest safe house ironic as catalyst claims enclosed spaces aren't out of sight safe houses that instantly end the chase are often directly exposed so if you wanted the police system to provide an immersive fantasy you're out of luck and out of time because knowing the system's failure gives way to another revelation i want to do a mission or stare at some pretty colors because staring at pretty colours is my god-given right and if it's averted for the equivalent of a buzzing fly then the smart play isn't running over to a safe house wasting time getting there and back it's becoming a pretty color myself [Music] balancing the depth of a police system is never as simple as it seems as watchdogs has repeatedly proven but one that's best met with suicide that's a first the reach of catalysts highest ambitions far exceed their grasp and their grasp is frankly pitiful but combat is another branch of the same tree let's see if catalyst can punch its way past its problems submit before we start does anyone want to get out i don't even have a gun catalyst disarms you for the sake of the parkour runner fantasy not a direction familiar to it but direction is exactly the replacement hit enemies into each other or into the environment and the damage will make it worth your while this is the fantasy of the parkour runner slapstick drunks bouncing like bowling pins from muppet to or stumbling over waist high ledges is a circus act to complement the comedy of faith a master of speed and agility fighting like a heavyweight brute switch place uses muscle to drag 200-pound fighting men behind you attacks are distinct simple and impactful creating an empowering experience that befits conor mcgregor but the mechanics outweigh the cast directional attacks are undeniably deep the potential to optimize positioning spatial awareness and the choice of direction far exceeds the first and it needed to be so because there's a problem it's what the system survives on yes faith can empower her attacks with movement the speed the weight of a wall run or fall is a gravity assist her kicks made rockets the environment is your enemy or ally the room you're fighting in is a minute reflection of the room to alter your play there's just one thing though why bother risk reward says standard melee is both quicker to end the fight and reliably quicker but the immediate environment the location of enemies that's consistently inconsistent i could climb up there assume the enemies won't move and jump kick down but i could meet the same ends quicker and for sure by fighting on down here shock protectors are especially weak to environmental attacks which could tip the balance but largely when environmental attacks are used they're used reliably they're reliable as the entrance into an encounter they're reliable if you can find a reliable wall outcrop or ledge to repeatedly exploit further decohering the player from any semblance of visual fantasy and that brings us on to mirror's edge one which must begin with a colossal concession that it did an impressive job of hiding its depth and only a few ever saw it at the height of its potential but catalysts reflection is given a new clarity through its lens light punches were quick great when in range a very short range and with no tracking faith was encouraged to use her most stylish moves otherwise jump kick slide kick wall run kick could spin an enemy round a low blow could stun at the cost of your speed and a slide kick could duck underneath an enemy attack followed by an exclusive recovery strike your motives were small some were contextual none were perfect but you had reasons to consider your options depth by definition in catalyst the slide wall run and jump kick are meaningfully distinct from a standing strike only in that they take longer reducing many worthwhile options to one heavy and light one you'll see in mirror's edge runner cops could dodge which encouraged aggressive response to keep the upper hand and stylish response because slide and jump kicks had the best tracking so the best ability to keep the upper hand they could also counter repeated player attacks preventing the most exploitable strategies encouraging consistent variation and so keeping the depth intact over the course of the combat the energy stayed high the visual composition stayed strong but in catalyst every enemy is static and similar rangers protectors shot protectors sentinels each have one true ability in a melee fight punch with shock protectors having a larger range and sentinels forcing the same three second cut scene every time they hit being counted meanwhile exists solely to give the distinction between light and heavy attacks a reason to exist see those spunk lollies over there light attacks like environmental attacks are meaningful right now before the fight because if i go in with a heavy my momentum goes with it but if i go in with a light i can keep on running no compromise smart design for an open world but of course once i commit to combat neither have any independently meaningful quality light attacks are always best on rangers heavies are always best on everyone else and the game knows it so it casts an illusion by having the protector types and sentinels punish repetition to respond you vary between light and heavy until interrupted you switch targets or the fight ends that's not depth because you don't have a choice it's visual variation which they could have had and depth if slide and jump kicks had a reason to exist but they don't which is exactly the pattern options are not being removed we're not lacking breadth reasons to consider them are and as we lose worthwhile choices we lose depth even a shallow system like batman arkham asylum forces you to rapidly switch between your few options with a rebalancing presence of enemy types but in catalyst enemy design distinguishes the length of their health bars not the strategies to bring to a fight if not deep asylum was a challenge and a visually coherent one but in catalyst the challenge is staying sane as the readability of the system is reduced by first person nonsensical hit ranges and short telegraphs that can start connect and damage inside a single one of faith's uncancelable attack animations leaving her helpless if catalyst wasn't so easy its unreliability would be catastrophic his faith is stunned and passed around by enemies she can't see and hits that shouldn't connect or couldn't be avoided but even this was less troublesome in the first because melee fights kept numbers low hits reliable and telegraphs clear you might be tricked then since the boss type sentinel is usually alone into thinking this is where things would be at their best yeah he is immune to any light attack that isn't immediately preceded by a heavy he is far more resistant to directional attacks can you see the problem here as we're slicing off the faint heartbeat this system survives on so yes you have to watch the same animation nearly every time you're hit but perhaps more pressing is that you have to endure trading between the same attacks until his boss type health bar runs dry if you're feeling disco you could bounce off a wall and since i'm such a great guy i'll let you in on a secret if you want to end things quickly and you wanna end things quickly there's always the easily exploitable switch place upgrade yes it's just a setup for a heavy so yes it's just the same attack again but there's a mechanical twist it's broken cool huh the sentinel is beyond all repair and it's the final boss which brings us back to the beginning catalyst has directional attacks the limited depth and visual appeal of this system can just about stretch to service the campaign otherwise it's outdone threefold by minecraft and so the hunt for depth in catalyst must go on there's almost none in the campaign there's not much in the combat there's none for the 99 in the open world what else is there calm down we haven't even looked at the side missions yet you might think i'm at the bottom of the barrel yep but there's a glint of we struck goal the answer to that is kinda and the reasoning is simple a great deal of catalyst shallowness is rooted in having no reason to think but races a time limit a leaderboard a three-star system on the condition those things are subjectively capable of motivating you that is a reason runner's vision can't get you past that top boundary cutting corners can developing faster routes where they exist and using exploit advanced movement techniques can if you're among the 0.1 percent you watch the right online tutorials but there's no help for us with the rest of this hunt see anything come on depth you can't hide forever or i'll lose youtube engagement aha meta leaks there are four of its kind a scattering of orbs to collect in time so you better develop an efficient plan it's a simple but smart test of planning and execution away perhaps to do what grid nodes do with a lower budget there was something hiding behind that fan a short dungeon-like test of pathfinding and accuracy of three in total where a labyrinth of laser grids act as a high-tech band-aid patching catalysts overzealous snap into inputs that need to be considered while providing a uniquely thoughtful test of pathfinding there are numerous possibilities you'll have to think four steps ahead to guess right mirror's edge could never be built from slow small-scale exercises like these i fully acknowledge but is that the excuse for there being seven true tests of platforming in the game all of which are hidden behind innocuous icons well nine i can show you exceptions mission six runner's vision is turned off and the level invites a second look it's a weaker easier and shorter reflection of kate's tower climb but it is a reflection like the one in rebecca thane's side mission if you're among the 15 who did it and no that doesn't bring us on to the start of a new point it brings us to the end because there is nothing more to find mirror's edge catalyst is shallow that's the theme that threads everything we've seen since the shard together after the spectacle's dazzling effect grows faint you can wake up to find you've spent the last two minutes on autopilot what reaches through the screen and drags you out of a daydream perhaps about the way in a grim inversion of its predecessor catalyst weakens with time not as its flaws fade into view but as its virtues fade out there's only so long a pretty face stays bewitching [Music] i like mirror's edge catalyst that might seem hard to reconcile with the hydrogen bomb we just dropped and don't worry there's a few more shots to fire before we're through but it's true i like it it feels good it's pretty it's not cathartic to dismember it this way which is why i wish i knew like so many others what happened how could an open world so backwards in design ever have made it past the drawing board i've heard things some blame the players for pressuring dice into open world design but the interviews tell a story of inspiration the pitches were made and rejected for years until something truly revolutionary landed on patrick soderlin's desk we wanted open wild we wanted side missions reading these articles made me feel like i just wasn't in on the gag the next creative step for mirror's edge just happened to be an amalgamation of shorter cell features of course i'm not saying the beautiful frostbite engine has blood on its hands i'm just saying the frostbite engine's difficulty with continuous data streaming might cause problems that look like this and that the frostbite engine has been a significant factor in every ea-shaped cock-up for the past eight years assassin's creed witcher dying light they just keep running but mirror's edge needs to slow down and catch its breath sacrificing its heart for its skin it's harder to keep liking catalysts through this lens but what choice do we have it's not a coincidence that everything that screams checkbox feature feels like a checkbox feature so why don't we start with the features that most resemble a checkbox the side content we know there's depth for the few but what about the majority who aren't bitterly motivated by an online leaderboard what does catalyst have to offer them fragile deliveries are about not taking damage but damage slows you down so if you were going for speed you were already avoiding damage diversion simply split objectives into smaller chunks and covert deliveries would be about stealth had these actually finished development there's no punishment for being seen there's no practical way to stay unseen and every route is littered with enemies meaning covert deliveries are consistently the most fun i got it the most violent events in the game when you reach your destination it's as if nothing happened and everything shut up man and every time you pass a grid scanner on a route brimming with grid scanners you'll get to hear the same line of dynamic by the 300th time you'll welcome the firing squad covert deliveries were thrown in unfinished and have remained in pre-alpha for six years thanks [Music] this will make a difference yeah any time man embarrassing and doubly important for us because it means like the other race types these are functionally the same thing you will not consider anyone any differently from any other security hubs are a police chase where grid nodes and metal leaks add up to about an hour of gameplay in total story based side missions remain at their best you're climbing a tower with a wonderful view a decent pathfinding exercise an interesting dialogue providing narrative context at their worst you get a combat encounter in some completely random location and two lines of meaningless conversation with an npc leaving you baffled as to why there was a narrative context at all most are in between and by most i mean the other four simple snappy and better there than not which could be said for a particularly uninspired ubisoft game or an mmo far from industry standards far too little to justify its initial price tag but most of all far from enough for most to give catalyst a second wind following a generally underwhelming campaign who wants to go next [Music] how about the thing no review of mirror's edge catalyst can go without mentioning security chips control chips half the game's collectibles but more importantly junk food for neurotics porn for your hunter-gatherer brain that's why it's a war crime they stop you dead to play the same needless animation every time their net contribution is slowing faith down and making a full of catalyst design because right next door is something better in every way gridlinks which don't slow you down saints row web of shadows you've seen the idea before but perhaps not the execution thousands of orbs would drag you into a positive feedback loop of micro reward where the more you gather the more your movement ability improved mobile game addiction but they could play a better role on one condition present a challenge in these games that was a challenge of precision you have to touch them to get them and you don't want to waste any time so precision a tiny test alone but together a hundred a thousand the journey from a to b could be that much more compelling as your power grew your skill did too and catalyst can't improve your power because levels are designed for specific jump ranges and they don't improve your skill because precision isn't a thing in mirror's edge catalyst you'd have a point if you asked what's the point so here's my point checkbox feature yeah but don't think you'll be unrewarded you get xp to spend in the skill tree and no that doesn't change things because this is the second thing no review of catalyst goes without mentioning why does this game handcuff you by locking fundamental movement techniques behind a skill tree people often leave out you'll have enough points to match the first faith in little more than an hour but what justifies that hour mirror's edge is not and never has been mechanically abstract breaking your fall light running is inherently intuitive and a primitive version that saps momentum isn't held back from the player at all the timed recovery role is by 30 minutes minimum did a timing challenge so forgiving it's nearly impossible to fail risk overwhelming the player more than the instant momentum speed boost with no real human analog that you're given immediately tutorialization justifies nothing with later upgrades you can climb poles faster climb ladders faster and slide for longer it's a handicap to try for three stars or to beat player made time trials without them sound fair it sounds frustrating to know that i'll need to wait to get on a level playing field and as for the rest of the tree there's a lot to get through or so you'd think until you open it up fresh out of the title drop to see half of it filled in some justified as fundamental abilities like sliding some justified as having a hud or having a map they've harmed the competitive landscape harmed the first hour failed to make any of it interesting and failed to cover up the fact that this is an impostor ah dice you sassy backer they think having a skill tree in a thoroughly incompatible game is more important than you diagnosis they don't think that but they had to do it check box feature with the fall of the skill tree xp is a dead incentive which leaves the collectibles lacking both quality and motive salt in the wound because much of the side content speaks as if it does script in glass script is money that is what motivates runners to do their work faith included as you'll be told repeatedly money you'll never actually see and money you'll certainly never use but enjoy your xp though don't spend it all at once does the after image of scrip seem like the remnant of a system to you maybe but that's not the point i'm making the point is that it's stupid a apparently the futuristic conglomerate responsible for bringing you flying ships mind control freely moving holograms and impossible architecture can't figure out how to keep illegal runners out of the financial system b in case you didn't know or in case you hadn't suspected this game has a thing or two to say about capitalism so how about you let me spend my monopoly money on a tutu or a supreme hoodie instead of paying me an exposure one confused piece in the larger confused puzzle you want to see how deep the rabbit hole goes mirror's edge catalyst chose the standard dystopia capitalism run rampant a sexy skyline a subversive cabal of off-grid outlaws tick tick tick it's the skill tree of world building but that doesn't make it bad the graphics alone immerse when the geography resembles a city and not a nightmarish fractal maze dice put real thought into the fashion world creating sleek styles for the runners and extravagance for the rich they designed quirks of language both the naming schemes and the names a lowercase prefix is followed by a capitalized suffix gridlink low-cost shotgun they paid attention to the fictional brands it turns out the delivery stations are made by evadine the control chips by all com and i guess linus works for callahan impressive immersive not exactly subversive but most importantly surface level that's the thing about this world it reflects a perfect image but apply a little pressure to glass and it will shatter so i'm in a capitalist dystopia huh i may be dazzled into believing it does anyone down there look up and think of the stars the so-called employees no the skyline is their heaven the billboards are their bible promotion is their ascendance to cherub executive and seraphim director but only one man sits on the throne their lord and savior archangel gabriel kruger and isn't that just the problem kruger can't function as the archetype of bezos because his power doesn't relate to his wealth he doesn't own the market he owns the city he and his conglomerate own the country he writes the law his name is on the police force he owns the ideology and he owns its adherence with a change to the contract every citizen is bound to any form of dissent is a breach of policy punishable by deportation to the grey lands an acrid bomb beaten far beyond glass where low-carb slave and mines and food domes there is no simple way to leave the country and the two remaining alternative nations are worse he can't be deposed unelected or bankrupted so script may be power for some but not for the man with a crown there is an incoherence between catalysts target capitalism and the world we actually see that prevents it from meeting its mark vast utopian skins stretched over towering capitalist power bases implies a depth that doesn't exist what is being made here what is sold and bought we're told of a city choking on consumerism but the only products advertised on their towering billboards are inconspicuous jackets a fragrance and a headset can you see how this links back to what we said about catalysts while being divorced from its mind and heart would a capitalist dystopia allow half their advertising space to display pretty images de callaghan just make ladders and tarpaulin i'm not asking for an economic report i'm asking for more to your portrayal of capitalism and words in the existence of large screens because whatever role it plays in glass the engine of oppression from what is plain to see is an overwhelming technological power differential as the suit of armor was to the peasant and nowhere else for the populace to go that allows kruger to play the role of dictator king it's difficult to place blame on kruger's use of a narco-capitalist ideology to zombify the populace when you've told me he has a gun to their heads proving it unnecessary and in its political epilepsy the only thing catalyst remains able to critique even vaguely is the industrial revolution and its consequences don't believe me then let me show you this game's villain kruger may own their world beliefs their heaven and their hell but cattle is central plot device and so what you might assume is a symbol of its message is the patent to their souls reflection a nanite software patch for the human base code become the grid and with the emotional control function they forgot to mention in the press brief the grid will become you when you're two steps from mind control ideology means nothing because thought is a non-factor when a person has a gun to your head you don't debate the politics of gun violence you take the gun so and cap scripture may be religion for the masses but while the most radical the center in glass tells you as much catalyst is silently pointing the finger at whatever it is that crushes rebellion and enforces obedience no options and no technological power and as funny as it would be if it successfully sent a message it wasn't trying to send there is nowhere catalyst is not confused this is a world where breach of policy is punishable by enslavement and free thought has a few days of life left so why a complete random does it seem easier to rebel in glass than it is in our world today cyberpunk is no different you have a melting pot of mobs outlaws and highwaymen like an image of the 1930s and 1800s projected onto the future but the justification is typically that capitalism and its carelessness for the underclass has enabled and ignores this reversion catalyst forgets its own fiction it's no 2077. it's a dictatorial conglomerate fervently opposed to any spark of descent with overwhelming power so when you have a mob boss dogen who inexplicably has these companies by their balls and highly illegal runners who krueger wants found at all costs by the end but fails to you could say some questions are raised like how a man capable of mind control hasn't figured out how to use a cctv network or a public bounty for reporting people seen running on rooftops or a speed camera gridlink scanners will report your presence to kasich if you stand still too long but like blasters in star wars tech from 50 years ago would be 50 times more effective is this nitpicking because i see it as the foundation of the fiction justification for the primary characters to exist in the way they do and for the themes to be what they are but all of it collapses under a featherweight of scrutiny if it's perfect in any way it's as proof of my point capitalist dystopia with a glowing sci-fi city and misfit dissenters has been done to the point of cliche because it sells but like every other checkbox featuring catalyst it's as thoughtless as it is passionless let me ask you this why is this game called catalyst really why the word is rarely used accurately because people want to use it as much as they can because it sounds cool but dumb subtitles revenge extraction genesis there's some relevance to the subject matter catalyst what because something happens in the game no it's called catalyst because catalyst is a cool word because this game has no shame so here's another abrupt question remember mirror's edge's soul those two words still alive that was a beacon of creative freedom breaking barriers and going against the grain catalysts spat in the face of still alive and i still like it but there's a reason catalyst's memory isn't still alive anymore this game has one last thing to show us and maybe another chance the story catalyst do you still have faith why don't we cut to the chase plastic the quirky hacker girl noah the wise mentor who preaches non-violence against more radical mentor rebecca who doesn't evil big bad krueger wants to control everyone obnoxious rival icarus who eventually warms up to you and dogen calculating dangerous man who has sudden bursts of violence catalyst is made from shallow painfully unoriginal interpretations of various archetypal roles it's the difference between building upon a template and just using the template stock characters don't develop they don't make tough choices they don't fall to their flaws their relationships are rarely explored and their motivations and desires are either as basic as they can be or empty plastic is purely the archetype of her character she is nothing but quirky hakka girl as kruger is the villain icarus the rival and noah the mentor the exception to this rule is dogen the mob boss who somehow manages to beat back the tidal wave of conglomerate strength by chopping carrots in a kitchen but he doesn't like people asking questions and we're only here for one thing dogan's relationship with faith it's perhaps the most interesting character beat in the game his cold pragmatism conflicts with a caring side he doesn't like to show forcing tough choices and certainly revealing a deeper element to his archetype subtly catalyst doesn't tell you who he is so there's also a thin but compelling layer of mystery to his motivations and choices this encounter happens well into the game when faith's deaths to dogan have piled up but she has no one left to turn to take a look get out of my sight before i cut you up for stew faith i'm not in the mood do you have the blueprint no and i need a favor and a new home from what i hear do you also find it mystifying that i keep on giving and get nothing in return please i need to find a facility called kingdom noah's being held there kingdom the conglomerate's dirty little secret do you know where it is i'll run for you five years no questions asked 10 years 20. you won't live that long that direction is shockingly good for a game so otherwise not the reminder of faith's debts is pushed back by her desperation he's silent not showing weakness allowing her to beg allowing that power balance to shift in his favor and squaring the conflict of self-interest and care until finally reaching this [Music] you won't live that long [Music] could be a threat but from his hesitation facial expression and lack of force in his voice we understand it isn't it's foresight it's dejection the choice to help is made go to rezoning and dig your way down that's where you'll find kingdom and the scene is all the stronger for having made such strong use of non-verbal communication the show instead of the tell that is so difficult to artificially create both in the moment which is why we perceive it as more honest than words and for writers which is why i have nothing but praise for catalyst direction its mastery of unpredictable life-like naturalisms was actually stunning noah double taking to get the voice wreck software to work is the dialogue equivalent of metro offsetting its hud to diegetic information sources this game has no damn logic you'll get used to it faith used to be me all the time still could you had a run for me i do on on parts of this are so natural they almost feel improvised and it's a great example that acting voice and body is remarkably strong while the dialogue they have to sell is remarkable in its own way what about the employees here just what i thought i'm getting them out the fire alarm should do it whatever if you ask them nicely i'm sure they'll leave obediently for a video game it's not half bad characters speak with a specific style their personalities clash believably and they refer back to their histories too it's not great but it's certainly not bad which combined with acting and a lifelike presence to these characters means though archetypal they play their hollow roles well plastic should be obnoxious i think she's quite endearing and it probably goes without saying that frostbite's gorgeous renders contribute a fair deal but there's more to this than meets the eye like where the eye is third person not first catalyst is under no delusion it'll make the player one with faith this time round we're on the outside looking in it's a complexified world and faith is no longer a vessel or a symbolic character she's meant to have a depth to her a realness the first one never had conflicts in the meantime i believe a show of good faith is in order pardon the pun what he stole my joke well we'll begin anyway see if i care catalysts faith has the personality of a slightly rebellious 16 year old girl thought you were taking a nap you know what old people do the once hyper pure blend of elegance and confidence has been complexified into the character equivalent of catalysts campaign something remarkably unremarkable faith isn't funny she isn't ass she lacks any admirable quality or frankly any distinct quality at all dullness isn't a death sentence if she acts as a receptacle for the audience but catalyst does not take this path it isn't a death sentence if there's an underlying depth an effective intrigue to her inner world something for instance that would explain why she does what she does is there action reveals character and faith's action speaks loudly she says she's confident ready to sacrifice her life without fear question or hesitation so what's in her head mental illness heroism belief thrill seeking revenge conglomerate killed her family she's got a reason to hate them but you wouldn't know it without being told hatred or trauma isn't an active part of her character leaving the dullness just dull and her doe-eyed teenage personality inexplicable fearless obsession is contrasted against a personality written and voiced like she doesn't even want to be there i do take sides our site see ya this character was once the embodiment of human life she is now so lifeless it's actually jarring i once knew a young woman who would defy anyone and anything even me in order to do what she felt was right but you're clearly not her couldn't have said it better myself and despite the fact that dice write themselves every opportunity to expand on faith's character they trip over their shoelaces not to take them this is complex so let me take you to the inciting incident of mirror's edge catalyst if complexity means flaws then faiths are exhibited inside elysium it's a simple data grab while icarus supervises you from outside he's been giving you nothing but for having a reputation being dangerous sloppy we get the data but then faith entirely disregards noah's commands investigates something she has no reason to believe is valuable but every reason to believe is dangerous steals a phone from gabriel krueger her full figure in full view and runs back to the lair with it in tow why could be worth enough to solve things with dogen yeah or enough to see us dead two hours later you very chris now in most stories this physical consequence would have a profound mental one both would occur because the story is trying to deal with the flaw that caused it catalysts got a different technique pretend like it never happened it's weird enough that the same faith who has a well-performed but ultimately meaningless breakdown later in the game for something that wasn't technically her fault doesn't even register the fucktacular hypenover she let off right here but you want to know what's even weirder icarus doesn't either the rival who has wanted nothing but for noah to see faith for the up she is after having watched his cabal die because of a moment of arrogance that he specifically complained about doesn't even acknowledge it inexplicably he warms up to faith instead her motives aren't explored and basic consequences are forgotten about it's as if they're actively forsaking their own opportunities to expand faith's character man imagine if they did it again me cat no not that cat but she's still cute the character arc isn't it turns out faith sister never died with her parents krueger took in and raised her as his daughter perhaps she's a representative of the false identities created by ideology and the enslavement that enables that might actually work if you heard it from the game dice go above and beyond to leave their characters static and shallow in the world's first script diagnosable with dementia it's an incoherent mess where plot is a logical theme is confused and character forgets itself it's a story where excellent acting sells emotionless writing and overall i'd say it was a pleasant surprise oh it was crap but it wasn't painful it was short pretty mildly entertaining and unobtrusive how perfect mirror's edge catalyst quick pretty mildly entertaining and unobtrusive which is why i still like it even though its name is as symbolic as still alive a symbol to its betrayal catalyst is worthy of your time the devs are worthy of respect not so sure about their product maybe one day like deus ex they'll be given another chance will they probably not but that's not the point of faith special thanks go out to bishop nelson chase baker chino diseased dr pavel duncan austin effectfully g series i know lucky it's not v jd john lemley caleb doss khan rahatake lex williams l hudson mt the poet newts sauron66 the wayfinder 12 william vasila warthol abby adam abuela andrei baltuta attila bloth blue eyes white idiot bogdan frasca brandon harris brendan mcdonald caleb finnemore kale quinn calvin black carlos skibber chance tucker christy chris p christopher richardson colby the ranch man combat wombat cyril benzemann dan walker darren chambers deluxo devonte williams dj dominic jaworski drop z dubstep gutter fan 92 enzo eric mahul gloria sexy beast gwyneth gerald hypocrite holy shift i joined tier 3 because i wanted to hear white light say this out loud yep very very smooth i pay my cam girl so why not you jake dunnigan jake and tipton jd soul joe simmons jonathan and milo joshua w shriner justin casper schmidt leon curtindahl liam duffy lorenzo vecchio liubermeer mitkov malone patron nathan navy husky nines norman royce rockin sad cabbage shade shrub tax one cab that's for the birds the last great opium den trending tech virtuous vladimir obikov and zed-zed-zed-zed-zed-zed 2468 [Music] you

Channel: Whitelight

Views: 326,173

Keywords: mirror's edge, catalyst, mirror's edge catalyst, mirrors edge, mirrors edge catalyst, mirror edge, parkour, parkour runner, mirror's edge catalyst review, mirror's edge catalyst gameplay, mirror's edge catalyst pc, mirror's edge catalyst ps4, mirror's edge catalyst glass, mirror's edge 2, faith connors, free running, mirror's edge game, mirror's edge catalyst game review, mirror's edge catalyst game, parkour game, whitelight, mirror's edge catalyst 5 years later

Id: P7yb1Dv6jtE

Length: 69min 18sec (4158 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 15 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Grammaton485]

Mirror's Edge was such a unique breath of fresh air. They seemed to get everything just about right in the first game, then got everything just a little wrong in Catalyst. Dying Light shows that you can do an open-ended parkour game just fine, except Catalyst forgot to populate the rest of the game with stuff to do.

The one thing they got right both times though was having Solar Fields do the soundtracks.

[u/Randomheim]

This dude really loves the sound of his own voice a bit too much. Couple that with the very forced attempt at poetic writing, and what you have is a retrospective that feels more like someone's assignment for their introductory writing class.

[u/thattoneman]

Here's a complaint I've got that applies to a couple parkour games: can falling into a roll please stop being an unlockable skill? I recall it being a skill in AC Unity, Mirror's Edge Catalyst, and Dying Light. Wouldn't surprise me if there's more games where it applies. It is, quite literally, the very first thing anyone should learn when getting into parkour. You should understand how to do a proper roll (and yes, there's a proper way so that you don't fuck up your back) before you ever start hopping around on anything. Of all upgrades you can unlock, that shouldn't be one of them. It should be a default part of the moveset.

On paper this isn't a big deal, I know. But it's the first sign to me that the game is going to gate incredibly basic stuff behind grinds for no reason. The game isn't improved by making me wait to unlock it, it makes me groan in contempt every time the parkour expert takes a hard fall that even newbies would have rolled out of.

[u/spiderpuzzle]

Idk why they tried to pursue a different visual style - after bright sexy in your face colours in ME1, Catalyst's design just felt super flat. I replayed some maps of the first dozens of times, it felt so real and cozy (hell, even the sewers were cozy), contrary to their attempt at a dystopian story - but it wasn't needed to enjoy the mood. Catalyst just felt like nothing.

[u/WtfWhereAreMyClothes]

I think the parkour of Mirrors Edge catalyst was very fun, but just about everything else was mediocre. The story, dialogue and voice acting were all terrible, and the open world was incredibly unnecessary at best and a distracting waste of time at worst.

I'd love to see what a developer like Respawn could make out of Mirrors Edge if given the chance. DICE really just tried to cross off a checklist for uninspired action adventure open world game.

[u/Spudtron98]

I'm gonna be bluntly honest: I like this game more than the first one. The controls are better, the worldbuilding's great if you can be bothered to find it, and it is very pretty. Plus, you actually get opportunities to stop and take in the view because you're not constantly getting harried by cops. And anyway, the missions are linear like the original, so you get the best of both worlds.

Story's a bit naff, yeah, but the original wasn't exactly genius either.

[u/PapstJL4U]

The momentum button was a terrible choice in my opinion. It eliminated the enjoyment of "getting gud". Getting the perfect slide, jump or climb was less cool, because the difference between perfect timing and bad timing was pressing 'momentum'. :/

I have to agree with many of the arguments in the video, but the video is definitely something. You have to enjoy prose to keep watching.

[u/Pumpz_]

I only recently played mirrors edge catalyst because of the bad reception it got. But I really enjoyed the game and I'm not sure what else I would have wanted it to be other than a bit longer.

[u/Gobblignash]

Is this a joke video? Like a parody? Otherwise it's the most embarassing narration of the most banal script I've ever heard.