Really happy to have provided those free-cam shots! LOVE the idea how how Faith represents the old city, while her sister represents what the city has become, and how they contrast!
Fun fact, if you pull the left joystick on a controller back as soon as you jump from swinging on a pole, Faith will actually do a backflip off it. I have played this game in its entirety like 6 or times and I didn't find this out until my most recent playthrough, and I found it out by doing it completely on accident
i always go back to this game just to chill and do some parkour, explore the city and find some collectables, such vibe, one of my favorite games. I just dont know how you can play with that motion blur lol
I feel like Mirror's Edge has soooo much potential but the execution keeps falling flat. The gameplay itself between both game is fantastic, but plots and marketing could be better. Faith herself in the original game was also a great character and I missed that version of her on Catalyst.
Thanks Aqua, one of my most favourite games. The setting, the vibe, the fluid movement. It's all so brilliant. Shortcomings of course, the world could be more dynamic and engaging... but this game is still special and no one is able to replicate it 😌
Aqua you are killing it on the reviews, each video has a great story and all the improvements you are trying to make really are shining through. Your videos are the gold standard for how a video essay should be done, these are amazing
Plastic works fantastic for me cause she just straight up autistic. She's something I super relate and empathize with and I feel its done well. She's never announced as on the spectrum and none of the other characters treat her with disdain, she just makes me happy.
On PC with a mod ”Faith in the streets” you can remove some obnoxiously placed invisible walls and create even more exploration for yourself. I really love this game for that as the First game used Unreal Engine 3 which was notorious for having lots of non-collision buildings. Getting out of bounds was fun but also frustrating as you could suddenly fall through a solid looking floor. Catalyst in the other hand has so much out of bounds buildings with collision that it even makes you think that those areas were meant to be used at one point but cut due to time limit. Great video as always!
One of my favorite games ever. Love the lore of the world and the ability to run around everywhere. Could use some improvements if they want to do a sequel, but otherwise, pretty cool.
You nailed it. That's exactly how I feel too. From enjoyment perspective I love it and I go back to it at least twice a year. It sets the bar for first person perspective parkour so high, I couldn't even enjoy similar titles like dying light. They all felt clunky compared to Catalyst. But I know in order to enjoy this game, I need to shut down my brain and just enjoy the visuals, the atmosphere and the gameplay. No think, which at times I do need that to relax. Something that truly frustrates me though, is the score editing for this game. The soundtrack for this is one of my favorite albums ever. Solar fields are magic. I highly recommend you to listen to it. But at least 40-50% of it is nowhere to be heard in the game ??? They took 5-7 from each near 20 min tracks and they put on loop in the open world and some for story moments and they skipped the most incredible parts.
This is the first time I’ve actually seen one of your videos within a month or two of it coming out … I’m currently going through your back catalogue 😅
I, for one, love when a massive AAA publisher decides to turn a fun but flawed game into a live service RPG with skill trees, an open world and microtransactions. It truly makes you appreciate the video games that come from a place of passion as opposed to soulless cash grabs.
yeah what are you even talking about. this is just a random string of buzzwords disguised as some weird 'gotcha'. catalyst is uncharacteristically (for ea) faithful (ha!) to the first game - especially in terms of gameplay and aesthetics (not story), it's a genuine love letter as far as i can tell
i absolutely loved catalyst after 100% it on pc this week, the only issue i had with it is lack of side activities besides deliveries and dashes and also areas that looked like i could climb would have an invisible wall or would insta kill me, the map should've been bigger or the boundaries should've been more clearly marked
As someone who does parkour I gotta say that only the mirror's edge titles have been able to capture the natural movement of parkour. If you play other games like watch dogs, assassin creed or dying light they clearly doesn't capture natural movement, but rather offer some kind of hyperspace jump to wherever you wanna jump, as if you were propelled by a cannon xD but in both mirror's edge you can feel that the jump and distance is consistent with your velocity and jump range, as well as the force needed to jump there while running or doing vaults or other movements.
Fun fact. In the demo for need for speed 2015 the mirrors edge logo was a sticker you could put on your car but in the full release it was removed for some unknown reason
I'm only through the introduction of the video yet but I gotta say, I loved the OG mirror's edge and played it multiple times over the years as for catalyst, I think I haven't played more than 3 hours. Semi-linear highly polished levels >>>> open world.
I loved Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, but as you pointed out in this video there are a few problems with the game. My main concern is rebooting a game, with only one entry in it. That was a kind of a dumb move. Even though the story ended in somewhat of a “where do we go from here” perspective, I still have questions that a sequel could have answered. Questions like: Why was Faith’s sister framed for the murder of Pope? Was the framing of Faith’s sister revenge for the November riots? How deep did Faith’s parents go in the rabbit hole of that city, with all its corruption? Did Faith’s sister witness anything political that would push conspirators to frame Faith’s sister? Were there any policeman who disagreed with the corruption and would ultimately assist the runners? There are plenty of questions that could have kept the original storyline of Mirror’s Edge continuing.
I truly love this game its just perfect if you ask me and omg this game has such an amazing soundtrack I just can't describe how much I love this game its just so amazing to me
I don’t understand why everyone becomes a high nosed academy member when reviewing Catalyst. Its a great playing kinda long game. I honestly dont get what more people wanted (assuming they liked the original concept). Going from playing the original as a kid when you could never reach the ground, this is exactly what i wanted from the first game.
It could have been much better in terms of direction/level design and story, but what people don't understand is that a proper AAA Mirror's Edge release would cost way more money than EA would ever risk putting in such a small franchise. People don't get that we are extremely lucky that Catalyst even exists in the first place. And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they should buy a bad game because of these reasons, but Catalyst isn't a bad game at all anyway, it has the best parkour mechanics on the market. It was just a little bland in terms level design and the story was way too short and literally unfinished. But anyone who liked the 1st game should buy Catalyst at least on sale imo
Locking away moves from the first game was a terrible decision. It actually pissed me off to the extent that I stopped playing after just an hour and actually never gave it a chance beyond that.
Mirror’s Edge is a series I don’t hear many people talking about these days. I mean, sure, it certainly has it’s cult following, a cult of which I am a part of but when telling some friends that I was making videos on both the first Mirrors Edge and Mirror's Edge Catalyst I was met with the response of “What’s that?”. Now I am by no means trying to say that I am uncovering a dusty classic or something because in the grand scheme of things this game is not very old however it’s important to remember that EA’s expectations for games were very skewed given that they publish a lot of the most popular sports games. They likely wanted Catalyst to be a major player in the next generation. Furthermore, Mirror's Edge Catalyst, the first entry in what I think is a planned reboot series, is just something fans don’t really talk about as much and I think it’s for good reason. There are some decisions that people will either like or not like about this game and I think the biggest factor in what they like is... Perspective. Now, I think perspective is something important to consider when trying to evaluate Mirror's Edge Catalyst. This is because I believe that someone's expectations for a game are directly tied to their perspective of the product going into it and I want to clarify that expectations and perspective are not the same as being biased. I was biased towards this game from the get go because I love games with solid movement systems and further because I loved the first Mirror's Edge. But my expectations for Mirror's Edge Catalyst were heavily influenced by the marketing and I think that is why I was generally pleased with the experience. - Chapters - The Best Part: 0:00 Introduction: 1:13 A Utopian Future: 6:26 Like A Bicycle: 11:05 Linear Freedom: 23:53 I Don't Like The Story Very Much: 38:54 Closing Thoughts: 55:40 Post Script: 58:32 Written and edited by That Boy Aqua. This is Mirror's Edge Catalyst in 2021. Mirror's Edge Catalyst in 2022 and any other year after will be the same. This Mirror's Edge Catalyst Critique and Mirror's Edge Catalyst Analysis was a lot of fun to work on and I enjoyed revisiting Mirror's Edge Catalyst years later. I also have an original Mirror's Edge Critique and Mirror's Edge Analysis. With those done I just couldn't wait to answer the question: Is Mirror's Edge Catalyst Good? is the Mirror's Edge Catalyst gameplay fun? Well, I answer that in this Mirror's Edge Catalyst Review which also functions as a Mirror's Edge Catalyst Story Explained video since the comic tie-in muddies the plot. What Happened to Mirror's Edge and the associated comic was terrible and I go into more detail in this video. This is not a Mirror's Edge Catalyst guide, but this is the best parkour game, - Dude, I just aked u if I should play Mirror´s Edge.
Bad opinion incoming! I never cared much for the soundtrack for either games. There is nothing wrong with it, I just don’t remember being blown away by it. I didn’t bother mentioning it because music is way too subjective and I don’t have any musical background to argue anything about it. If you like it though, more power to you!
@@ThatBoyAqua fair point. I brought it up because you mentioned that the game gives you a feeling of tranquility and it does for me too. I attribute that feeling more-so to music than just the gameplay + visuals
Hey, great video. I just wanted to say, I found your channel last night and I really like your content. I watched a few videos and found myself subscribing without thinking about it. Your channel feels like a breath of fresh air as you often have both an objective and subjective point ot view on these games. You criticize what's wrong, but you don't miss what was done right or you manage to find the fun in it. Sort of like your Infamous video, where you said 2 is the best game but your favorite is Second Son. I just wanted to say I appreciate the content. Have a good day.
At the end you said the comments made you sad so I love your channel and everything you do on it, though I may not always agree on specific games I love hearing other opinions and I have nothing but respect for you, I wish I had the courage and energy to make something half as good as you do, from the bottom of my heart, youre channel is awesome and as someone once said about haters “shake it off, shake it off, off” Das Taylor swift btw
Hey, so something I saw you missed that would answer one of your ending questions. At the end of the game it will boot you back into the world and there will be a news announcement saying that Isabel took over the company.
She does kongs. Every time you vault over an elongated obstacle, Faith performs a kong. She does a lazy vault when you don’t hit an obstacle beneath her waist. But she does do kongs.
I have more fun with Catalyst than I ever did with the OG. And yes I played the OG first a long time before Catalyst. And the music for Catalyst is SOOO much better than the OG
Really liked both games. Catalyst was very fun. Even stuck to my preorder even after playing the apparently very closed beta years ago. The look of it, feel of it felt like a way better upgrade to the original.
I don’t wanna cap but he said the game has “so many mixed reviews” but then showed two reviews, one that was a 7 and another that was a 6.8 which is almost identical ratings 😂
I have only really played the first game, but this critique seems to apply to both: I would not like an expansion to the combat system. Instead dynamic takedowns should be the only viable combat option. In my opinion, the static combat goes against not only the core gameplay but the narrative as well. Why is Faith so much more skilled at combat than police and soldiers? It should be the other way around. It makes sense that runners have ways to use speed to momentarily down opposition but getting into hand-to-hand or firefight with trained soldiers should be a losing prospect for them.
The question about the ending is: Intentional cliffhanger? Time pressure for the developers? Or intentional commitment to the “Grimbright” genre? If Faith could defeat KrugerSec for good, there’d be no point in here being a runner anymore. 🤔 Because there’d be nothing left to rebel against. Unless of course the “rebellion” (revolution) of Black November succeeded, and the revolution would end up devouring its children. Rebecca Thane, with all the talking points she delivers during one particular mission, basically comes out as a hardcore communist. And Noah explicitly warned Faith about Rebecca being just as dangerous as the Conglomerate. The midpoint also set everything up for Faith and Icarus to ultimately turn against or flee from Black November. Black November thus could have become the antagonists for the sequel - with KrugerSec being overthrown, but Black November ultimately using a lot of the established surveillance technology in order to eliminate those they perceive as “traitors”. This would have given Faith a reason to keep doing what she’s all about - running - even when the antagonistic force changes. Ultimately, I’m almost certain the writers at DICE had some of these ideas, too - but at some point, they had to meet a deadline (probably one set by EA).
My expectations for the story got hyped up around the midpoint, when I was seeing several characters developing into interesting directions. Suddenly, my own mind was spinning with all of this potential for these characters (the very same potential which ended up remaining unused). I already feared that getting my hopes up high at this point, specifically in the story department, was bound to lead to a somewhat disappointing ending.
This series needs another soft reboot, but I feel it would only be successful nowadays is if the IP was sold to another studio. DICE has shown nowadays that they just can’t be trusted with such a beloved series. It’s just too bad that’s likely never going to happen…
i beat this game years ago and the only thing i remember is the gameplay and there's a character with my name literally everything you mention in this story i don't remember
To propose a different skill tree idea, what about either clothes changes that only affect stats do all skill points are ability based or a kh boss level up mechanic where everytime you beat a boss you unlock more health and magic slots
i always used to think of catalyst as a prequel. cause at the end she gets the tatto that faith starts with in the first mirrors edge. although in the 2008 game, the technology is far less evolved
Having recently watched your AC and Mirrors Edge videos, be interested to see your thoughts on Dying Light. I picked it up on this Steam sale and I can't believe it took me 6 years to finally play it. It was some issues that are very frustrating at times but the core gameplay/movement is quite satisfying
I think you might have missed a pretty significant amount of both Noah and Faith's characterization if you would call them both 'rebellious', Noah's whole point was that he took a cowardly, centrist, non-interventionist strategy, against anything that rocked the boat, particularly in regards to Kruger. Of course, the plot utterly repudiates this naïve centrism considering what Kruger had planned. Faith, similarly isn't looking for much in the way of true rebellion, systemic change. It's only in the very end of the game that Faith recognizes the need for any kind of revolution. The game ends with some sad nod to revolution while not stating any meaningful goals or process. Quite the coda for the vacuousness of modern politics. And yes, Faith has the aesthetics of rebellion, but none of the material.
I agree but I'd also say that the plot doesn't really, say a whole lot at all. The revolutionaries are just shown as bloodthirsty terrorists with a "with us or against us" mindset and no goals, at one point hinted to be wanting to bring another corporation (Omni) into power instead of the ones currently ruling - but this was dropped quickly as well and never brought up again. Once the violence starts in the game it's always shown as a last resort, Faith is unwilling to do anything actually revolutionary until the very end when she's more or less forced to and emotinally dragged into it by the loss of her father figure. I'd very much say the game is a centrist view on leftist groups, portraying the "good" Faith who doesn't want to do anything other than cause inconveniences for the ruling class and the "Bad" black November who are nothing but terrorists who just want to destroy things and hurt those above them - neither having any actual plan. Even in the beginning of the game it shows this lack of substance. When first meeting Noah and discussing their groups ideals, the talk isn't about rebellion, it isn't about freedom, a criticism of the ruling class or anything else. It's a short rant about how the "employs" live in the system. Offering no goals, no true ideology, it's just some teenagers playing at a "mercenary lifestyle" to not work "in the system" until the very end when Faith was basically forced into joining some revolution of some kind - what kind of course is entirely unknown.
Catalyst's world needed to be bigger and more varied, while the story needed to be longer and have more depth to build the characters, relationships, and world. The skill tree should've been just one big tree. They seem to have been torn between recreating Mirror's Edge and making a new game and they didn't give it half the time and love that it really needed
The first mirrors edge was a masterpiece of its time. New. So fun. And replayable. Catalyst was a downgrade in some ways. But still fun. The first one caught lightning in s bottle
Regarding the open world, if you ask anyone what their favourite part of this game is, they'll almost definitely tell you a certain mission. Turns out what makes a game actually good is good level design and direction that takes you through a certain path the way the writers intended. When you design something to be approached from any angle, it invariably makes it worse. Needing to take the same route hundreds of times to get somewhere gets old. I don't condemn them for trying the open world style, but when everybody prefers the closed off story missions, they might as well have just made the whole game like that, and saved a bunch of time and resources on trying to reinvent the formula and just made a more linear game. Nobody would've been mad. It was a cool idea, but half baked. This isn't a triple-A title. They should've leaned way harder into it or not at all.
Wish I had something to add about this video. But it seems up everything I loved and disliked of this game, and I applaud you for all the work you put into this video.
I know I'm probably alone on this one.. but I wish they would add upgradable Guns to the next one but it should be implemented within the movement so it's not like COD but more like splinter cell while being completely its own thing
Catalyst was everything the first game was (including a not great story, but part of that is because they refused elements of the original's story in this so it became predictable at times to fans of the series) plus some extra stuff. I didn't like any of the extra stuff, I felt it padded out the game unnecessarily and gated content behind unlockable abilities, but all I was looking for was more of the same striking visuals, ethereal soundtrack, and brilliant flow and Catalyst delivered on all counts. I enjoyed it just as much as I enjoyed the first game.
The original Mirror's Edge absolutely had room for a sequel...did you not pay attention to the ending? Jacknife's death did not mean the end of the corruption to the city. So much could have been done after Faith and Kate were on the run.
I just played dying light 2 cause i heard people say the parkour in that was good. After finishing it, i immedietly installed both Mirrors Edge games. There's no comparison. The speed and power you feel when running is breathtaking in Mirrors Edge. I don't think another franchise will ever capture it, and I hope Dice make another run with it. It's the kind of series that doesn't need a game every few years, but ones a generation would be great. Unfortunately, I don't think you can do a direct sequel to Catalyst anymore. It would need another soft reboot. But i think the story is ultimately unimportant. It's just a excuse to run, get from a to z and set off a set piece.
If I was given creative control and convinced them to make a new game I would try to demand two things as well 1 integrate the comic as an optional bonus chapter portrayed as a nightmare 2 add an extra chapter after the story finishes called future(mostly winds down the plot and sets up that cat and faith are now in somewhat regular contact with each other but still disagree on a lot of opinions (my goal with this is to establish a build up towards the original mirrors edge for a remake of the original mirrors edge that had been updated from scratch in the new engine and with the setting and story rewritten to fit in the new setting (the injury is going to be the end of the sequel I have in mind) and a extra mission on top of the chapter which serves as one final run throughout the entire city (note that both would only be available via a next gen(Xbox series/Ps5) updated edition (unless I was allowed an update similar to the nier replicant updated version than that would be it) The sequel I have a plan that effectively sets the removal of ksec as Isabel at the start of the game is holding a press conference (the rest of the families of the conglomerate know that this is to formally dispand ksec to announce something (in spite of a of our effort to stop reflection we only end up making everything worst(the reaction to the catalyst of mirrors edge catalysts ending) the first level is an optional tutorial where they have a nightmare remembering the last game and before (serving to anchor the player) but the option is offered to skip it launching into the first mission where they run through the updated world introducing the new pathways and the layer system (the world is broken up into several levels each with there own routes like the ground floor which is most usable for running out of enemy pursuit or between impossible jumps halfway through the mission you run into icurus triggering a cutscene conversation and ending with him challenging you to a race after faith convinces him to help make sure the announcement goes through as the families are sure to interfere but he agrees on the condition of you beating him in a race (he takes the pure runners vision route with several obvious faster ways to go (if you win he helps if you lost he helps after a joking insult that the break faith took from running to relax after everything that happened and sort out what faith and cat's relationship is (ultimately agreeing to both work for the greater good in spite of differing opinions with faith supporting her decision to dissolve ksec) upon arrival it switches to pre rendered cutscene of them talking and the preparation of the speech which is being broadcast to Basically everyone but as the announcement begins a smoke grenades is tossed in and a group of 13(If the scope increases this number also has to) who faith and icurus try to fight as the smoke triggers cats asthma but all three of them and the security team cat brought with them under her order are incapacitated but faith is able to grab a unique object off of one of the attackers (this serves as the lead)by the time faith regains consciousness cat is gone kidnapped by the mystery figures (if I were to add to the old game pre release there would be an added dialogue line to plastic if her seeing a project in the files that will be revealed as the name of the project this task force uses) faith then runs as ksec swarms the place (it is revealed ksec is in the middle of an attempted hostile takeover by the rest of the conglomerate because of cats plan to dissolve it revealed later in the game) by the end of chapter 1/opening (I prefer calling it chapter 0) faith goes to plastic to get her to analyse the object she ripped off of one of the attackers(the asthetic style is similar to that of a mix of Deus ex mankind devideds masked figure and the glass asthetic of mirrors edge (it is revealed that they are agents who each serve directly under each the the conglomerates board members (in between chapters they is a cutscene of them talking about the recent events of problems (the goal becomes collecting there authorisation keys that when used together are equivalent to a good half the board of conglomerates as individuals gridprints but even more secure but plastic able to override there Deadman switch (if one dies there auth device fails (a key to almost any door in Cascadia if it's linked to the grind they can probably access it) and under normal circumstances a new one is built or the old one is recovered and resigned to a new chosen individual of whom the conglomerate council member suggests and the entire council approves of (only a gridprint of one of the three major families or the council in a majority vote (the majorities gridprints used simultaneously to authorise the reactivation and only another member of the same family can disable another family member can revoke ones privileges unless they are the family head which makes them untouchable (and because plastic still has Gabes print things with new clearance she can't touch (without her hacking)but anything old or not updated and with her abilities
![ARGENTINA vs. CHILE [3-0] | RESUMEN | ELIMINATORIAS SUDAMERICANAS | FECHA 7](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/De3AWmXzhuA/mqdefault.jpg)
The first 1,000 people to use this link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/thatboyaqua08211
you should try to dissect the uncharted series or mass effect trilogy i feel those hold there on in gaming as a whole
Did you know if you swing on a bar while pressing backwards, Faith will do a backflip? Neat
Faith’s footsteps when she runs is my ASMR. That’s how awesome Mirror’s Edge is.
I wanna immagine a mirror’s edge ASMR playlist
L
Really happy to have provided those free-cam shots!
LOVE the idea how how Faith represents the old city, while her sister represents what the city has become, and how they contrast!
Fun fact, if you pull the left joystick on a controller back as soon as you jump from swinging on a pole, Faith will actually do a backflip off it. I have played this game in its entirety like 6 or times and I didn't find this out until my most recent playthrough, and I found it out by doing it completely on accident
i always go back to this game just to chill and do some parkour, explore the city and find some collectables, such vibe, one of my favorite games.
I just dont know how you can play with that motion blur lol
I feel like Mirror's Edge has soooo much potential but the execution keeps falling flat. The gameplay itself between both game is fantastic, but plots and marketing could be better. Faith herself in the original game was also a great character and I missed that version of her on Catalyst.
I don't see where see less good in catalyst
do you think she's different and why ?
I bought this game for 5 bucks on a holiday in France, and wow this is a great game, the story is a bit simple, but the running is amazing
Thanks Aqua, one of my most favourite games.
The setting, the vibe, the fluid movement. It's all so brilliant.
Shortcomings of course, the world could be more dynamic and engaging... but this game is still special and no one is able to replicate it 😌
Aqua you are killing it on the reviews, each video has a great story and all the improvements you are trying to make really are shining through. Your videos are the gold standard for how a video essay should be done, these are amazing
EA did this game so dirty it deserved so much more
Plastic works fantastic for me cause she just straight up autistic. She's something I super relate and empathize with and I feel its done well. She's never announced as on the spectrum and none of the other characters treat her with disdain, she just makes me happy.
You can kong vault in MEC. Jump at an object and press down action and you'll do either a kong pass or dash vault.
On PC with a mod ”Faith in the streets” you can remove some obnoxiously placed invisible walls and create even more exploration for yourself. I really love this game for that as the First game used Unreal Engine 3 which was notorious for having lots of non-collision buildings. Getting out of bounds was fun but also frustrating as you could suddenly fall through a solid looking floor. Catalyst in the other hand has so much out of bounds buildings with collision that it even makes you think that those areas were meant to be used at one point but cut due to time limit. Great video as always!
I love the music and title cards, definitely puts a break in and shows a shift in the conversation. I hope you continue to use this!
Aqua, your editing is absolutely amazing and I love the way you construct your videos. Really looking forward to the next one
One of my favorite games ever. Love the lore of the world and the ability to run around everywhere. Could use some improvements if they want to do a sequel, but otherwise, pretty cool.
Great as always chum! Pretty pog seeing you get sponsors nowadays, absolutely wild to me
2015-2016 were the years of grappling hooks in games. Just Cause 3, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Uncharted 4, and this.
You nailed it. That's exactly how I feel too. From enjoyment perspective I love it and I go back to it at least twice a year. It sets the bar for first person perspective parkour so high, I couldn't even enjoy similar titles like dying light. They all felt clunky compared to Catalyst. But I know in order to enjoy this game, I need to shut down my brain and just enjoy the visuals, the atmosphere and the gameplay. No think, which at times I do need that to relax.
Something that truly frustrates me though, is the score editing for this game. The soundtrack for this is one of my favorite albums ever. Solar fields are magic. I highly recommend you to listen to it. But at least 40-50% of it is nowhere to be heard in the game ??? They took 5-7 from each near 20 min tracks and they put on loop in the open world and some for story moments and they skipped the most incredible parts.
In the loading screen it told me to check out the comic to learn about why faith was locked up. I just ignored it thinking It wouldn't be important
Yesss finally! I absolutely love this game despite its flaws and graphically it holds up to this day
This is the first time I’ve actually seen one of your videos within a month or two of it coming out …
I’m currently going through your back catalogue 😅
When a developer team failed to understand what made the predecessor so special and unique: The game!
I played this game so much. I just loved being able to just go around the city forever, it made me feel cool.
I, for one, love when a massive AAA publisher decides to turn a fun but flawed game into a live service RPG with skill trees, an open world and microtransactions. It truly makes you appreciate the video games that come from a place of passion as opposed to soulless cash grabs.
there are no microtransactions in Catalyst
yeah what are you even talking about. this is just a random string of buzzwords disguised as some weird 'gotcha'. catalyst is uncharacteristically (for ea) faithful (ha!) to the first game - especially in terms of gameplay and aesthetics (not story), it's a genuine love letter as far as i can tell
@@shamyself123 EA has deposited .10 cents into your bank account.
i absolutely loved catalyst after 100% it on pc this week, the only issue i had with it is lack of side activities besides deliveries and dashes and also areas that looked like i could climb would have an invisible wall or would insta kill me, the map should've been bigger or the boundaries should've been more clearly marked
As someone who does parkour I gotta say that only the mirror's edge titles have been able to capture the natural movement of parkour. If you play other games like watch dogs, assassin creed or dying light they clearly doesn't capture natural movement, but rather offer some kind of hyperspace jump to wherever you wanna jump, as if you were propelled by a cannon xD but in both mirror's edge you can feel that the jump and distance is consistent with your velocity and jump range, as well as the force needed to jump there while running or doing vaults or other movements.
Your transitions are sooo smooth
Fun fact.
In the demo for need for speed 2015 the mirrors edge logo was a sticker you could put on your car but in the full release it was removed for some unknown reason
I'm only through the introduction of the video yet but I gotta say, I loved the OG mirror's edge and played it multiple times over the years as for catalyst, I think I haven't played more than 3 hours. Semi-linear highly polished levels >>>> open world.
I loved Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, but as you pointed out in this video there are a few problems with the game.
My main concern is rebooting a game, with only one entry in it. That was a kind of a dumb move. Even though the story ended in somewhat of a “where do we go from here” perspective, I still have questions that a sequel could have answered.
Questions like:
Why was Faith’s sister framed for the murder of Pope?
Was the framing of Faith’s sister revenge for the November riots?
How deep did Faith’s parents go in the rabbit hole of that city, with all its corruption?
Did Faith’s sister witness anything political that would push conspirators to frame Faith’s sister?
Were there any policeman who disagreed with the corruption and would ultimately assist the runners?
There are plenty of questions that could have kept the original storyline of Mirror’s Edge continuing.
Loved catalyst, stoll need to play the first one
No idea how the hell you crank out these videos so quick man you’re insanely hard working keep it up
I like this game a lot and am exited to see your review! I like the transitions between gameplay clips and the music in the title sequence.
This video might be one of the highest quality videos I've seen from you, Aqua. Good job!
that roll transition was cleannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
Still love this game and play it when I need to relax
I truly love this game its just perfect if you ask me and omg this game has such an amazing soundtrack I just can't describe how much I love this game its just so amazing to me
I don’t understand why everyone becomes a high nosed academy member when reviewing Catalyst. Its a great playing kinda long game. I honestly dont get what more people wanted (assuming they liked the original concept). Going from playing the original as a kid when you could never reach the ground, this is exactly what i wanted from the first game.
It could have been much better in terms of direction/level design and story, but what people don't understand is that a proper AAA Mirror's Edge release would cost way more money than EA would ever risk putting in such a small franchise. People don't get that we are extremely lucky that Catalyst even exists in the first place. And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they should buy a bad game because of these reasons, but Catalyst isn't a bad game at all anyway, it has the best parkour mechanics on the market. It was just a little bland in terms level design and the story was way too short and literally unfinished. But anyone who liked the 1st game should buy Catalyst at least on sale imo
Locking away moves from the first game was a terrible decision. It actually pissed me off to the extent that I stopped playing after just an hour and actually never gave it a chance beyond that.
Mirror’s Edge is a series I don’t hear many people talking about these days. I mean, sure, it certainly has it’s cult following, a cult of which I am a part of but when telling some friends that I was making videos on both the first Mirrors Edge and Mirror's Edge Catalyst I was met with the response of “What’s that?”. Now I am by no means trying to say that I am uncovering a dusty classic or something because in the grand scheme of things this game is not very old however it’s important to remember that EA’s expectations for games were very skewed given that they publish a lot of the most popular sports games. They likely wanted Catalyst to be a major player in the next generation.
Furthermore, Mirror's Edge Catalyst, the first entry in what I think is a planned reboot series, is just something fans don’t really talk about as much and I think it’s for good reason. There are some decisions that people will either like or not like about this game and I think the biggest factor in what they like is... Perspective.
Now, I think perspective is something important to consider when trying to evaluate Mirror's Edge Catalyst. This is because I believe that someone's expectations for a game are directly tied to their perspective of the product going into it and I want to clarify that expectations and perspective are not the same as being biased. I was biased towards this game from the get go because I love games with solid movement systems and further because I loved the first Mirror's Edge. But my expectations for Mirror's Edge Catalyst were heavily influenced by the marketing and I think that is why I was generally pleased with the experience.
- Chapters -
The Best Part: 0:00
Introduction: 1:13
A Utopian Future: 6:26
Like A Bicycle: 11:05
Linear Freedom: 23:53
I Don't Like The Story Very Much: 38:54
Closing Thoughts: 55:40
Post Script: 58:32
Written and edited by That Boy Aqua.
This is Mirror's Edge Catalyst in 2021. Mirror's Edge Catalyst in 2022 and any other year after will be the same. This Mirror's Edge Catalyst Critique and Mirror's Edge Catalyst Analysis was a lot of fun to work on and I enjoyed revisiting Mirror's Edge Catalyst years later. I also have an original Mirror's Edge Critique and Mirror's Edge Analysis. With those done I just couldn't wait to answer the question: Is Mirror's Edge Catalyst Good? is the Mirror's Edge Catalyst gameplay fun? Well, I answer that in this Mirror's Edge Catalyst Review which also functions as a Mirror's Edge Catalyst Story Explained video since the comic tie-in muddies the plot. What Happened to Mirror's Edge and the associated comic was terrible and I go into more detail in this video. This is not a Mirror's Edge Catalyst guide, but this is the best parkour game,
- Dude, I just aked u if I should play Mirror´s Edge.
You barely mentioned the soundtrack. One of the highlights of this game
Bad opinion incoming!
I never cared much for the soundtrack for either games. There is nothing wrong with it, I just don’t remember being blown away by it. I didn’t bother mentioning it because music is way too subjective and I don’t have any musical background to argue anything about it. If you like it though, more power to you!
@@ThatBoyAqua fair point. I brought it up because you mentioned that the game gives you a feeling of tranquility and it does for me too. I attribute that feeling more-so to music than just the gameplay + visuals
A 1 hour video on one of my favourite games? This’ll be good
Did you watch the short bonus cutscene after the end credits? It clears up one of the questions you asked near the end of this review.
It was great. The developments to combat were impressive. I wish they came out with a third title that expanded on it.
The comic is actually marketed in-game as a loading tip tip but it's so rare to see, I think I only saw it twice in my 1000 hours in this game.
You think this game has long ladders? Metal Gear Solid 3's ladder is the stuff of legend
Hey, great video. I just wanted to say, I found your channel last night and I really like your content. I watched a few videos and found myself subscribing without thinking about it. Your channel feels like a breath of fresh air as you often have both an objective and subjective point ot view on these games. You criticize what's wrong, but you don't miss what was done right or you manage to find the fun in it. Sort of like your Infamous video, where you said 2 is the best game but your favorite is Second Son. I just wanted to say I appreciate the content. Have a good day.
Thank you for your kind words, it made my day! I’ll try to keep delivering ❤️
"we had started something, something we intended to finish"
and thats it finished
Awesome vid man, keep going strong king!
45:57 thank you for mentioning KUMA. the only good robot in the game
another great video man! real nice editing
It feels like I’m the only one who enjoys the combat in this game
I liked the combat too, even if I did criticize it!
Mirror's Edge Catalyst has the best soundtrack ever made for a videogame. This game will always inspire me when playing it.
i have been waiting for you do this game for a long ass time. i have so many good memories with mirrors edge, including catalyst. i loved it
Yes. Been waiting for this since your first mirrors edge video
I’ve been waiting for this since the first mirrors edge video
At the end you said the comments made you sad so
I love your channel and everything you do on it, though I may not always agree on specific games I love hearing other opinions and I have nothing but respect for you, I wish I had the courage and energy to make something half as good as you do, from the bottom of my heart, youre channel is awesome and as someone once said about haters “shake it off, shake it off, off”
Das Taylor swift btw
Man, this comment made my day! Thank you so much ❤️
No problem 😁
It just scares me to think about what they would be able to do with the graphics and movement with today's technology
8:08 that's sounds like a city I like!
I’m in the same boat. Had same expectations and loved the game
Hey, so something I saw you missed that would answer one of your ending questions. At the end of the game it will boot you back into the world and there will be a news announcement saying that Isabel took over the company.
Mirror's edge catalyst is way better than the original
She does kongs. Every time you vault over an elongated obstacle, Faith performs a kong. She does a lazy vault when you don’t hit an obstacle beneath her waist. But she does do kongs.
I have more fun with Catalyst than I ever did with the OG. And yes I played the OG first a long time before Catalyst. And the music for Catalyst is SOOO much better than the OG
The one thing I dislike about catalyst is the wall run. It’s easily the least natural-feeling move in the game. First one did it much better.
Really liked both games. Catalyst was very fun. Even stuck to my preorder even after playing the apparently very closed beta years ago. The look of it, feel of it felt like a way better upgrade to the original.
Yes...
Have a good day ! 🙂
I don’t wanna cap but he said the game has “so many mixed reviews” but then showed two reviews, one that was a 7 and another that was a 6.8 which is almost identical ratings 😂
I have only really played the first game, but this critique seems to apply to both: I would not like an expansion to the combat system. Instead dynamic takedowns should be the only viable combat option. In my opinion, the static combat goes against not only the core gameplay but the narrative as well. Why is Faith so much more skilled at combat than police and soldiers? It should be the other way around. It makes sense that runners have ways to use speed to momentarily down opposition but getting into hand-to-hand or firefight with trained soldiers should be a losing prospect for them.
Yo where my in defence of fortnite video lmao, good job dude I enjoyed this video
I've been working on it for years, currently critiquing tomato town as we speak ;)
The question about the ending is: Intentional cliffhanger? Time pressure for the developers? Or intentional commitment to the “Grimbright” genre? If Faith could defeat KrugerSec for good, there’d be no point in here being a runner anymore. 🤔 Because there’d be nothing left to rebel against.
Unless of course the “rebellion” (revolution) of Black November succeeded, and the revolution would end up devouring its children. Rebecca Thane, with all the talking points she delivers during one particular mission, basically comes out as a hardcore communist. And Noah explicitly warned Faith about Rebecca being just as dangerous as the Conglomerate. The midpoint also set everything up for Faith and Icarus to ultimately turn against or flee from Black November.
Black November thus could have become the antagonists for the sequel - with KrugerSec being overthrown, but Black November ultimately using a lot of the established surveillance technology in order to eliminate those they perceive as “traitors”. This would have given Faith a reason to keep doing what she’s all about - running - even when the antagonistic force changes.
Ultimately, I’m almost certain the writers at DICE had some of these ideas, too - but at some point, they had to meet a deadline (probably one set by EA).
Great vid my dude
And bro, mirror's edge fov feels so small compared to catalyst lol
My expectations for the story got hyped up around the midpoint, when I was seeing several characters developing into interesting directions. Suddenly, my own mind was spinning with all of this potential for these characters (the very same potential which ended up remaining unused). I already feared that getting my hopes up high at this point, specifically in the story department, was bound to lead to a somewhat disappointing ending.
Yoo was looking forward to this one, let's go
This series needs another soft reboot, but I feel it would only be successful nowadays is if the IP was sold to another studio. DICE has shown nowadays that they just can’t be trusted with such a beloved series.
It’s just too bad that’s likely never going to happen…
Glass is super pretty, especially the bay area
i beat this game years ago and the only thing i remember is the gameplay and there's a character with my name
literally everything you mention in this story i don't remember
To propose a different skill tree idea, what about either clothes changes that only affect stats do all skill points are ability based or a kh boss level up mechanic where everytime you beat a boss you unlock more health and magic slots
Wait, I thought it was a Prequel..
i always used to think of catalyst as a prequel. cause at the end she gets the tatto that faith starts with in the first mirrors edge. although in the 2008 game, the technology is far less evolved
Having recently watched your AC and Mirrors Edge videos, be interested to see your thoughts on Dying Light.
I picked it up on this Steam sale and I can't believe it took me 6 years to finally play it. It was some issues that are very frustrating at times but the core gameplay/movement is quite satisfying
I think you might have missed a pretty significant amount of both Noah and Faith's characterization if you would call them both 'rebellious', Noah's whole point was that he took a cowardly, centrist, non-interventionist strategy, against anything that rocked the boat, particularly in regards to Kruger. Of course, the plot utterly repudiates this naïve centrism considering what Kruger had planned. Faith, similarly isn't looking for much in the way of true rebellion, systemic change. It's only in the very end of the game that Faith recognizes the need for any kind of revolution. The game ends with some sad nod to revolution while not stating any meaningful goals or process. Quite the coda for the vacuousness of modern politics.
And yes, Faith has the aesthetics of rebellion, but none of the material.
I agree but I'd also say that the plot doesn't really, say a whole lot at all. The revolutionaries are just shown as bloodthirsty terrorists with a "with us or against us" mindset and no goals, at one point hinted to be wanting to bring another corporation (Omni) into power instead of the ones currently ruling - but this was dropped quickly as well and never brought up again.
Once the violence starts in the game it's always shown as a last resort, Faith is unwilling to do anything actually revolutionary until the very end when she's more or less forced to and emotinally dragged into it by the loss of her father figure.
I'd very much say the game is a centrist view on leftist groups, portraying the "good" Faith who doesn't want to do anything other than cause inconveniences for the ruling class and the "Bad" black November who are nothing but terrorists who just want to destroy things and hurt those above them - neither having any actual plan.
Even in the beginning of the game it shows this lack of substance. When first meeting Noah and discussing their groups ideals, the talk isn't about rebellion, it isn't about freedom, a criticism of the ruling class or anything else. It's a short rant about how the "employs" live in the system. Offering no goals, no true ideology, it's just some teenagers playing at a "mercenary lifestyle" to not work "in the system" until the very end when Faith was basically forced into joining some revolution of some kind - what kind of course is entirely unknown.
Loved the video hoping you could do a game from the dishonored serious?
I think I saw this from you already but rewatched. What an amazing review
Catalyst's world needed to be bigger and more varied, while the story needed to be longer and have more depth to build the characters, relationships, and world. The skill tree should've been just one big tree. They seem to have been torn between recreating Mirror's Edge and making a new game and they didn't give it half the time and love that it really needed
This is hands down one of the prettiest ganes to exist
It's crazy how Mirrors Edge and Catalyst remind me of Cyberpunk.
4 small areas connected by cramped tunnels can hardly be called "open world"
The first mirrors edge was a masterpiece of its time. New. So fun. And replayable. Catalyst was a downgrade in some ways. But still fun. The first one caught lightning in s bottle
Wait what the Old running vision was there god damn it man I need to read the option menu more
Regarding the open world, if you ask anyone what their favourite part of this game is, they'll almost definitely tell you a certain mission. Turns out what makes a game actually good is good level design and direction that takes you through a certain path the way the writers intended. When you design something to be approached from any angle, it invariably makes it worse. Needing to take the same route hundreds of times to get somewhere gets old. I don't condemn them for trying the open world style, but when everybody prefers the closed off story missions, they might as well have just made the whole game like that, and saved a bunch of time and resources on trying to reinvent the formula and just made a more linear game. Nobody would've been mad.
It was a cool idea, but half baked. This isn't a triple-A title. They should've leaned way harder into it or not at all.
banger of a video
Wish I had something to add about this video. But it seems up everything I loved and disliked of this game, and I applaud you for all the work you put into this video.
My daily dose of serotonin
I know I'm probably alone on this one.. but I wish they would add upgradable Guns to the next one but it should be implemented within the movement so it's not like COD but more like splinter cell while being completely its own thing
Catalyst was everything the first game was (including a not great story, but part of that is because they refused elements of the original's story in this so it became predictable at times to fans of the series) plus some extra stuff. I didn't like any of the extra stuff, I felt it padded out the game unnecessarily and gated content behind unlockable abilities, but all I was looking for was more of the same striking visuals, ethereal soundtrack, and brilliant flow and Catalyst delivered on all counts. I enjoyed it just as much as I enjoyed the first game.
The original Mirror's Edge absolutely had room for a sequel...did you not pay attention to the ending? Jacknife's death did not mean the end of the corruption to the city. So much could have been done after Faith and Kate were on the run.
I just played dying light 2 cause i heard people say the parkour in that was good. After finishing it, i immedietly installed both Mirrors Edge games. There's no comparison. The speed and power you feel when running is breathtaking in Mirrors Edge. I don't think another franchise will ever capture it, and I hope Dice make another run with it. It's the kind of series that doesn't need a game every few years, but ones a generation would be great.
Unfortunately, I don't think you can do a direct sequel to Catalyst anymore. It would need another soft reboot. But i think the story is ultimately unimportant. It's just a excuse to run, get from a to z and set off a set piece.
If I was given creative control and convinced them to make a new game I would try to demand two things as well
1 integrate the comic as an optional bonus chapter portrayed as a nightmare
2 add an extra chapter after the story finishes called future(mostly winds down the plot and sets up that cat and faith are now in somewhat regular contact with each other but still disagree on a lot of opinions (my goal with this is to establish a build up towards the original mirrors edge for a remake of the original mirrors edge that had been updated from scratch in the new engine and with the setting and story rewritten to fit in the new setting (the injury is going to be the end of the sequel I have in mind) and a extra mission on top of the chapter which serves as one final run throughout the entire city (note that both would only be available via a next gen(Xbox series/Ps5) updated edition (unless I was allowed an update similar to the nier replicant updated version than that would be it)
The sequel I have a plan that effectively sets the removal of ksec as Isabel at the start of the game is holding a press conference (the rest of the families of the conglomerate know that this is to formally dispand ksec to announce something (in spite of a of our effort to stop reflection we only end up making everything worst(the reaction to the catalyst of mirrors edge catalysts ending) the first level is an optional tutorial where they have a nightmare remembering the last game and before (serving to anchor the player) but the option is offered to skip it launching into the first mission where they run through the updated world introducing the new pathways and the layer system (the world is broken up into several levels each with there own routes like the ground floor which is most usable for running out of enemy pursuit or between impossible jumps halfway through the mission you run into icurus triggering a cutscene conversation and ending with him challenging you to a race after faith convinces him to help make sure the announcement goes through as the families are sure to interfere but he agrees on the condition of you beating him in a race (he takes the pure runners vision route with several obvious faster ways to go (if you win he helps if you lost he helps after a joking insult that the break faith took from running to relax after everything that happened and sort out what faith and cat's relationship is (ultimately agreeing to both work for the greater good in spite of differing opinions with faith supporting her decision to dissolve ksec) upon arrival it switches to pre rendered cutscene of them talking and the preparation of the speech which is being broadcast to Basically everyone but as the announcement begins a smoke grenades is tossed in and a group of 13(If the scope increases this number also has to) who faith and icurus try to fight as the smoke triggers cats asthma but all three of them and the security team cat brought with them under her order are incapacitated but faith is able to grab a unique object off of one of the attackers (this serves as the lead)by the time faith regains consciousness cat is gone kidnapped by the mystery figures (if I were to add to the old game pre release there would be an added dialogue line to plastic if her seeing a project in the files that will be revealed as the name of the project this task force uses) faith then runs as ksec swarms the place (it is revealed ksec is in the middle of an attempted hostile takeover by the rest of the conglomerate because of cats plan to dissolve it revealed later in the game) by the end of chapter 1/opening (I prefer calling it chapter 0) faith goes to plastic to get her to analyse the object she ripped off of one of the attackers(the asthetic style is similar to that of a mix of Deus ex mankind devideds masked figure and the glass asthetic of mirrors edge (it is revealed that they are agents who each serve directly under each the the conglomerates board members (in between chapters they is a cutscene of them talking about the recent events of problems (the goal becomes collecting there authorisation keys that when used together are equivalent to a good half the board of conglomerates as individuals gridprints but even more secure but plastic able to override there Deadman switch (if one dies there auth device fails (a key to almost any door in Cascadia if it's linked to the grind they can probably access it) and under normal circumstances a new one is built or the old one is recovered and resigned to a new chosen individual of whom the conglomerate council member suggests and the entire council approves of (only a gridprint of one of the three major families or the council in a majority vote (the majorities gridprints used simultaneously to authorise the reactivation and only another member of the same family can disable another family member can revoke ones privileges unless they are the family head which makes them untouchable (and because plastic still has Gabes print things with new clearance she can't touch (without her hacking)but anything old or not updated and with her abilities