YES DUDE! I looove Malice, it's a shame the game was stuck in development hell for years, to almost give us a whole remade experience with the energies of the early 2000s like adding Gwen Stefani's voice and songs from her old band No Doubt. And then it's just a short, cut version of what could've been. Going from Malice, to Malice: A Kat's Tale where she would transform into a cat and her name was changed to Kat, to having swearing and such. The bonus levels are parts or recycled assets from the cancelled version of the final release which there is a whole Walkthrough on RUclips. As silly as it sounds, this game left a big impact on me for some reason; out of a lot of games I once saw on a shelf this one caught my attention the most, making me delve into it's development story, old articles with Jez San, CEO of Argonaut at the time, talking about it, etc... To then making my own ideas for a remake or a trilogy where Malice ages and gains new powers, even a spiritual succesor and characters inspired by her design. I've gone long enough and I could also go for a longer while about this game, it's always cool seeing videos about it!
Seeing someone who speaks so positively about a title like Malice, if not for the game then for the ideas, is very rare-- but sweet to see. Not many look super fondly on it but the four words "What Could Have been" seem to be emblematic of Malice as a whole. Especially seeing someone go so far as trying to think of *up to three games* (or at least ideas for them) for Malice is unique, you're the first person i've found on the internet who mentions such a thing. Here's to hoping that games like Malice, Haven: Call of the King and Kya: Dark Lineage and more may one day get a second chance to live up to the potential they carry.
I actually own the PS2 version of this game, it always felt like a bizarre take on Alice in Wonderland. The fact that Malice was originally going to transform into a cat makes the Dog God's presence as the villain make more sense, it's a classic cats vs. dogs kind of deal.
If i'm not mistaken, in the PS1 build Dog God was originally a normal (if super big) dog that Alice as she was called back then took for a walk, but got possessed by a fire demon. The intended idea for the PS2/Xbox game was different too with more ambitious ideas. Though still with callbacks to the PS1 game like the Alice and Cat transformations for Malice.
fwoly huck, that logo transition at around 1:05 was *neat* editing! I've been looking forward to this video since the I-Ninja video, but you already knew that. You gave a very fair verdict on the "finished" product, and one that does pain me for all that it could have been or still could be. I'm glad for said fair and level-headed attitude and professional content in your videos and i'll continue keeping my eyes out for what else you may have on the horizon. Here's to hoping Kya: Dark Lineage, the Tak games, T'ai Fu: Wrath of the Tiger and other titles will come on your path and provide for interesting videos. And here's to also hoping for Malice to get a second chance someday to try and live up to all that it could be capable of. The art direction and music, not to mention the cut content that can be found around, are like you said testament to what it could have been and may still have on offer. Thank you for keeping on making videos, and wish you fun and good luck on whatever other things you're working on and require your attention!
Man, platformers like these always intrigue me on how obscure they are. Even if they are not that great, I'm always curious to see if there are any redeeming qualities to them
I've always been curious about Malice ever since I heard about it and it's development history. While I knew the game was a flop, I rarely heard anything about the game itself or why it was the case. Though after this review, I definitely understand why. Looking at the footage for both the game we got and the PS1 version that was scrapped, it looks like they just threw in a bunch of random ideas they thought seemed cool, both in terms of visuals and mechanics, without any thought on how they would mesh together and it shows. Maybe that was part of the problem with development, they had too many ideas and didn't bother to try and connect or expand on them.
(Warning, nerding out by someone who knows a lot about this game. Hope you'll find it interesting if you take the time to read through it all.) n the original PS1 idea, the story was that a girl named Alice was walking her dog through the forest when it ran away and got possessed by a fire demon-- so from there she had to find a way to save her dog. That could go pretty much anywhere. In the intended version for Xbox and PS2, the story was *much* grander and a piece of lore tied into the game's mechanics. You can see fragments of this in the 11-part video series by Playstation Museum. You see, there was this idea of an elemental magic system based on the Five Elements of Chinese mythology: Wood, Fire, Water, Earth and Iron. Every element would be strong against two specific ones, and weak against two others. For example, Wood would be strong against Earth and Water because it feeds on both those elements, and weak against Fire and Metal because they both destroy wood. From the looks of it, there would also have been five deities corresponding with each element. The Metal Guardian in the Hubroom speaks for itself, and the Siren Tree that you can see was wood. Dog God is fire and in aforementioned 11-part video series there was a scrapped segment with a giant mermaid monster. And Malice herself is referred to as "mother" in both the release and scrapped build. Mother Earth. There was also time-traveling within the intended game. Dog God had made an army of crows, with which he had razed the Future with and killed the Siren Tree. Only a small militia of Blackbirds keeps resisting, and tasks Malice with bringing their eggs -their unborn children- to the Siren Tree in the past so that they can grow up in a protected space, until the safety of the future has been guaranteed. She does this utilizing a techno-magical watch that brings her back a specific amount of years in the past. (so for example if she travels at 10:37 to the past, she ends up at 10:37. If she goes to the future again at 10:46, and a few minutes later around 10:51 returns to the past again, she would arrive back there at 10:51 as well. That kinda principle, from what i understand.) And while she's at it, she is to warn the Siren Tree of his death in the future, so that he may be capable of organizing countermeasures that will aid in preventing the future. At some point in the story, Crow Soldiers can be found running around the Siren Tree trying to kidnap the recently-hatched infants. That's where Malice has to try and protect them all as Dog God's forces reach ever closer. Outside of the Siren Tree, the Metal Guardian was also killed-- which already happened, even before the point in the past where she could travel back to. So the Metal Guardian left behind hidden recorded messages in the giant clock structure he calls home, tasking Malice with finding scrap and parts so that he could be repaired and provide further aid alongside the Siren Tree. And after that, Malice would get tasked with finding the parts of that giant steampunk/dieselpunk robot in her own image to use as armor against Dog God, that you can see in the video. And the Logic Keys in question were also collectables to further open up the home of the Metal Guardian, rather than a Next Level coupon. what seemed to mess things up was that even though in that video series Malice frees the mermaid creature, afterwards she would have to engage it in a boss fight-- so one of the elements strongest against the Fire of Dog God is unwilling to actually help. And there's also this recurring character by name of Juju Man, who seems to be a right-hand-man of Dog God of sorts. There was a lot more going on with what the studio wanted with Malice and more cohesive, if weird, than the final product ended up being. In the end, the released game called Malice is more of a compilation of finished assets pushed out just to get it done with, before the studio would go bankrupt. Honestly very sad, all in all.
I'm fully here with you. Some cool stuff about it, like a weird messed-up fairytale world with cool and goofy art direction, and also an OST that has really nice tracks here and there! Just look up the Malice OST - Main Menu or Bone Henge tracks for example. But there's even more that never made it into the released product, but it could be cool to look into for those interested. Such as a magic system based on the Chinese Five elements, which tied into the grander lore of the world, a theme of time travel to bring the unborn children of the failing, dying resistance of the Future to a safe spot in the Past until the future's safety has been fixed- and like Cal said, a level where you turn into a cat, which was a carryover from the PS1 build. As not-worth-seeking-out as the released build of Malice is, there is still potential amongst all the ideas, be it for a second chance to live up to said potential (which i hope for), or as some inspiration for other people to create and share their own stories with.
From some demos I saw I always assumed Malice had interesting puzzles around the functions of the clockwork hammer, like ratchet and clanks wrench at least. Apparently that got cut. Great review on game and the fall of Argonaut.
It's a released product, but not really a finished game. Functional, has some interesting things about it like art direction and a lot of cut content, but not really worth seeking out to play. And that's coming from probably one of the biggest Malice apologists out there. To give an idea of some of the cut content: There were plans for an elemental magic system for Malice's weapons, based on the Chinese five elements (Wood, Fire, Water, Earth and Metal) where an element would be strong against two, and weaker against two others. And there also were signs of there being like gods or deities associated with each element. The Metal Guardian who forms the hubroom speaks for itself, and Dog God is obviously fire. The weird tree with the face, the Siren Tree, is most definitely wood, and there was also a giant imprisoned mermaid creature in footage of an earlier build where Gwen Stefani's voice was still used for Malice, who represented Water. And Malice herself would be referred to by a militia of blackbirds, both in the released and earlier builds, as "mother"-- most likely Mother Earth. Aside from that, in the original build the exploration was much more free. You could almost fully freely travel between locations once they were unlocked, and the Metal Guardian's room wasn't even intended as a hub. Instead, he was dead--killed by Dog God-- and left behind messages for Malice to recollect scrap throughout the game, so that he could be rebuilt and offer rewards to help Malice on her quest. Apologies for the nerding out here, but if you read through it all-- thank you for doing so. I'm hoping for Malice, amongst other games, to get a second chance someday so it could live up to the potential it carried.
@jurtheorc8117 As someone that owns one of the Gwen Stefani builds, it is a night and day difference. From the playstation museum 11 part series probably only covered maybe 65% of the material that was intended. Two examples: There was literally music from Gwen Stefani's Rock Steady album as Easter eggs. Another was that the quantum tuning fork was intended to be used to gather the dead magpies ghosts in the past to bring them back to life in the present. There were a couple of moves Malice could use that were not used in the final and so on. It is really sad to see Malice to be released in such a shallow state.
I think i might be the only one who had absolute blast with this game and seeing this makes me wish we could've gotten the full version. I'm not gonna lie the PS1 version looked better than the xbox beta even though they were very different games I probably would love to visit the alternate timeline where the ps1 version was released
Nice Video :) Even as someone who looked up a lot of stuff about this game I learned some new things about it. I always liked Malice for the world and character design and then years later when I found the stuff that was planned originally, I felt like it could have been so much better if it hadn't gone through development hell like it did. Btw may I ask how you recorded the footage for the video? As a german guy, I only own the PAL version of the PS2 and I tried running it with an emulator, but there were always some graphical issues with it that I couldn't get rid of. I also looked up whether or not it runs on an XBox Emulator, but the website said it doesn't work properly either. Sadly I don't own an original XBox and this game would be the only reason for me to buy one since most original XBox Games are also playable on newer consoles. So right now my only option is to record from the original PS2 and capture that, but then it doesn't look as good as your footage as far as I can tell.
Ouch! That ending. Damn dude. Alright, so we know you definitely did not like the game XD Great review though. Very objective and thorough. You deserve more likes.
Malice is definitely an odd game and one that I wish came out a lot better. Looking up footage of the prototype reveals a lot of interesting stuff, like how there was going to be a time traveling plot and how the hub area with the Metal Guardian was going to have multiple portals as opposed to just one (which is likely why there are many revisits to other levels). As someone who did struggle a bit with this game, I'm going to say that the "Land of the Dead" mechanic was AWFUL. I hated that I had to do some boring walking and cutscene watching every time I wanted to go back to actually playing the game. I also would like to comment the fact that the Spanish translation of the game was super rushed. The first cutscene is the only part of the game that has voice acting in Spanish (while the rest of the game is in English with subtitles), there are multiple translation errors (like Malice's club being refered to as a "laberinto" as opposed to a "maza", because of the confusion between the words maze and mace), and also the ending cutscene straight up isn't in the Spanish version, you just get booted back to the title screen.
Would it kill these RUclipsrs to just say whether they liked the game or not? 15minutes later and you're still not sure if he really likes the game. I'd actually want to see someone go through entire libraries and have 2-3 word reviews. "It sucked, it's really good, it's mediocre. I don't need a long video to tell the difference between shit and Shinola.
Mom get the camera, new Calcom just dropped!
Do the pandemonium 1 review on ps1
YES DUDE! I looove Malice, it's a shame the game was stuck in development hell for years, to almost give us a whole remade experience with the energies of the early 2000s like adding Gwen Stefani's voice and songs from her old band No Doubt. And then it's just a short, cut version of what could've been.
Going from Malice, to Malice: A Kat's Tale where she would transform into a cat and her name was changed to Kat, to having swearing and such. The bonus levels are parts or recycled assets from the cancelled version of the final release which there is a whole Walkthrough on RUclips.
As silly as it sounds, this game left a big impact on me for some reason; out of a lot of games I once saw on a shelf this one caught my attention the most, making me delve into it's development story, old articles with Jez San, CEO of Argonaut at the time, talking about it, etc... To then making my own ideas for a remake or a trilogy where Malice ages and gains new powers, even a spiritual succesor and characters inspired by her design.
I've gone long enough and I could also go for a longer while about this game, it's always cool seeing videos about it!
Seeing someone who speaks so positively about a title like Malice, if not for the game then for the ideas, is very rare-- but sweet to see. Not many look super fondly on it but the four words "What Could Have been" seem to be emblematic of Malice as a whole.
Especially seeing someone go so far as trying to think of *up to three games* (or at least ideas for them) for Malice is unique, you're the first person i've found on the internet who mentions such a thing.
Here's to hoping that games like Malice, Haven: Call of the King and Kya: Dark Lineage and more may one day get a second chance to live up to the potential they carry.
I actually own the PS2 version of this game, it always felt like a bizarre take on Alice in Wonderland. The fact that Malice was originally going to transform into a cat makes the Dog God's presence as the villain make more sense, it's a classic cats vs. dogs kind of deal.
If i'm not mistaken, in the PS1 build Dog God was originally a normal (if super big) dog that Alice as she was called back then took for a walk, but got possessed by a fire demon.
The intended idea for the PS2/Xbox game was different too with more ambitious ideas. Though still with callbacks to the PS1 game like the Alice and Cat transformations for Malice.
fwoly huck, that logo transition at around 1:05 was *neat* editing!
I've been looking forward to this video since the I-Ninja video, but you already knew that. You gave a very fair verdict on the "finished" product, and one that does pain me for all that it could have been or still could be. I'm glad for said fair and level-headed attitude and professional content in your videos and i'll continue keeping my eyes out for what else you may have on the horizon. Here's to hoping Kya: Dark Lineage, the Tak games, T'ai Fu: Wrath of the Tiger and other titles will come on your path and provide for interesting videos.
And here's to also hoping for Malice to get a second chance someday to try and live up to all that it could be capable of. The art direction and music, not to mention the cut content that can be found around, are like you said testament to what it could have been and may still have on offer.
Thank you for keeping on making videos, and wish you fun and good luck on whatever other things you're working on and require your attention!
Man, platformers like these always intrigue me on how obscure they are. Even if they are not that great, I'm always curious to see if there are any redeeming qualities to them
The original ps1 looks really fun. Kinda wonder if it would've been like Banjo.
Banjo kazooie came out in 1998 before Malice in 2004
I've always been curious about Malice ever since I heard about it and it's development history. While I knew the game was a flop, I rarely heard anything about the game itself or why it was the case. Though after this review, I definitely understand why.
Looking at the footage for both the game we got and the PS1 version that was scrapped, it looks like they just threw in a bunch of random ideas they thought seemed cool, both in terms of visuals and mechanics, without any thought on how they would mesh together and it shows. Maybe that was part of the problem with development, they had too many ideas and didn't bother to try and connect or expand on them.
(Warning, nerding out by someone who knows a lot about this game. Hope you'll find it interesting if you take the time to read through it all.)
n the original PS1 idea, the story was that a girl named Alice was walking her dog through the forest when it ran away and got possessed by a fire demon-- so from there she had to find a way to save her dog. That could go pretty much anywhere.
In the intended version for Xbox and PS2, the story was *much* grander and a piece of lore tied into the game's mechanics. You can see fragments of this in the 11-part video series by Playstation Museum.
You see, there was this idea of an elemental magic system based on the Five Elements of Chinese mythology: Wood, Fire, Water, Earth and Iron. Every element would be strong against two specific ones, and weak against two others.
For example, Wood would be strong against Earth and Water because it feeds on both those elements, and weak against Fire and Metal because they both destroy wood.
From the looks of it, there would also have been five deities corresponding with each element. The Metal Guardian in the Hubroom speaks for itself, and the Siren Tree that you can see was wood. Dog God is fire and in aforementioned 11-part video series there was a scrapped segment with a giant mermaid monster.
And Malice herself is referred to as "mother" in both the release and scrapped build. Mother Earth.
There was also time-traveling within the intended game. Dog God had made an army of crows, with which he had razed the Future with and killed the Siren Tree.
Only a small militia of Blackbirds keeps resisting, and tasks Malice with bringing their eggs -their unborn children- to the Siren Tree in the past so that they can grow up in a protected space, until the safety of the future has been guaranteed. She does this utilizing a techno-magical watch that brings her back a specific amount of years in the past.
(so for example if she travels at 10:37 to the past, she ends up at 10:37. If she goes to the future again at 10:46, and a few minutes later around 10:51 returns to the past again, she would arrive back there at 10:51 as well.
That kinda principle, from what i understand.)
And while she's at it, she is to warn the Siren Tree of his death in the future, so that he may be capable of organizing countermeasures that will aid in preventing the future.
At some point in the story, Crow Soldiers can be found running around the Siren Tree trying to kidnap the recently-hatched infants. That's where Malice has to try and protect them all as Dog God's forces reach ever closer.
Outside of the Siren Tree, the Metal Guardian was also killed-- which already happened, even before the point in the past where she could travel back to. So the Metal Guardian left behind hidden recorded messages in the giant clock structure he calls home, tasking Malice with finding scrap and parts so that he could be repaired and provide further aid alongside the Siren Tree.
And after that, Malice would get tasked with finding the parts of that giant steampunk/dieselpunk robot in her own image to use as armor against Dog God, that you can see in the video.
And the Logic Keys in question were also collectables to further open up the home of the Metal Guardian, rather than a Next Level coupon.
what seemed to mess things up was that even though in that video series Malice frees the mermaid creature, afterwards she would have to engage it in a boss fight-- so one of the elements strongest against the Fire of Dog God is unwilling to actually help.
And there's also this recurring character by name of Juju Man, who seems to be a right-hand-man of Dog God of sorts.
There was a lot more going on with what the studio wanted with Malice and more cohesive, if weird, than the final product ended up being. In the end, the released game called Malice is more of a compilation of finished assets pushed out just to get it done with, before the studio would go bankrupt.
Honestly very sad, all in all.
I remember seeing this for rent all the time in Movie Gallery/Video Warehouse as a kid. Totally forgot about it until now.
She Is truly a underrated gem of a gal!
This game is unfortunate. Damn. I dig her design, but it sucks that the game turned out the way it did. Never heard of this till now.
I'm fully here with you. Some cool stuff about it, like a weird messed-up fairytale world with cool and goofy art direction, and also an OST that has really nice tracks here and there! Just look up the Malice OST - Main Menu or Bone Henge tracks for example.
But there's even more that never made it into the released product, but it could be cool to look into for those interested. Such as a magic system based on the Chinese Five elements, which tied into the grander lore of the world, a theme of time travel to bring the unborn children of the failing, dying resistance of the Future to a safe spot in the Past until the future's safety has been fixed- and like Cal said, a level where you turn into a cat, which was a carryover from the PS1 build.
As not-worth-seeking-out as the released build of Malice is, there is still potential amongst all the ideas, be it for a second chance to live up to said potential (which i hope for), or as some inspiration for other people to create and share their own stories with.
your video thumbnails are awasome
"Too many Bump maps" Don't threaten me with a good time.
From some demos I saw I always assumed Malice had interesting puzzles around the functions of the clockwork hammer, like ratchet and clanks wrench at least.
Apparently that got cut. Great review on game and the fall of Argonaut.
Great video man! Oddly enough I have very vague memories of this on the Xbox until you reminded me of it, sad to hear the history of it tho
So the game’s a bit underwhelming?
It's a released product, but not really a finished game. Functional, has some interesting things about it like art direction and a lot of cut content, but not really worth seeking out to play. And that's coming from probably one of the biggest Malice apologists out there.
To give an idea of some of the cut content: There were plans for an elemental magic system for Malice's weapons, based on the Chinese five elements (Wood, Fire, Water, Earth and Metal) where an element would be strong against two, and weaker against two others.
And there also were signs of there being like gods or deities associated with each element. The Metal Guardian who forms the hubroom speaks for itself, and Dog God is obviously fire. The weird tree with the face, the Siren Tree, is most definitely wood, and there was also a giant imprisoned mermaid creature in footage of an earlier build where Gwen Stefani's voice was still used for Malice, who represented Water.
And Malice herself would be referred to by a militia of blackbirds, both in the released and earlier builds, as "mother"-- most likely Mother Earth.
Aside from that, in the original build the exploration was much more free. You could almost fully freely travel between locations once they were unlocked, and the Metal Guardian's room wasn't even intended as a hub. Instead, he was dead--killed by Dog God-- and left behind messages for Malice to recollect scrap throughout the game, so that he could be rebuilt and offer rewards to help Malice on her quest.
Apologies for the nerding out here, but if you read through it all-- thank you for doing so. I'm hoping for Malice, amongst other games, to get a second chance someday so it could live up to the potential it carried.
@jurtheorc8117 As someone that owns one of the Gwen Stefani builds, it is a night and day difference. From the playstation museum 11 part series probably only covered maybe 65% of the material that was intended. Two examples: There was literally music from Gwen Stefani's Rock Steady album as Easter eggs. Another was that the quantum tuning fork was intended to be used to gather the dead magpies ghosts in the past to bring them back to life in the present. There were a couple of moves Malice could use that were not used in the final and so on. It is really sad to see Malice to be released in such a shallow state.
I think i might be the only one who had absolute blast with this game and seeing this makes me wish we could've gotten the full version. I'm not gonna lie the PS1 version looked better than the xbox beta even though they were very different games I probably would love to visit the alternate timeline where the ps1 version was released
Another good one!
Nice Video :) Even as someone who looked up a lot of stuff about this game I learned some new things about it. I always liked Malice for the world and character design and then years later when I found the stuff that was planned originally, I felt like it could have been so much better if it hadn't gone through development hell like it did. Btw may I ask how you recorded the footage for the video? As a german guy, I only own the PAL version of the PS2 and I tried running it with an emulator, but there were always some graphical issues with it that I couldn't get rid of. I also looked up whether or not it runs on an XBox Emulator, but the website said it doesn't work properly either. Sadly I don't own an original XBox and this game would be the only reason for me to buy one since most original XBox Games are also playable on newer consoles. So right now my only option is to record from the original PS2 and capture that, but then it doesn't look as good as your footage as far as I can tell.
Ouch! That ending. Damn dude. Alright, so we know you definitely did not like the game XD
Great review though. Very objective and thorough. You deserve more likes.
Malice is cut content : the game.
I miss you 😣😭
I'm still here. A new video should be out some time soon.
@@CalcomYT 😍Awesome!
That thumbnail style makes me click on the video immediately lol
I was hyped for this game and was underwhelmed when it finally came out.
Its so sad to me how the Ps1 cancelled version look more enjoyable and solid than the final xbox/ps2 version 😢
Malice is definitely an odd game and one that I wish came out a lot better. Looking up footage of the prototype reveals a lot of interesting stuff, like how there was going to be a time traveling plot and how the hub area with the Metal Guardian was going to have multiple portals as opposed to just one (which is likely why there are many revisits to other levels). As someone who did struggle a bit with this game, I'm going to say that the "Land of the Dead" mechanic was AWFUL. I hated that I had to do some boring walking and cutscene watching every time I wanted to go back to actually playing the game.
I also would like to comment the fact that the Spanish translation of the game was super rushed. The first cutscene is the only part of the game that has voice acting in Spanish (while the rest of the game is in English with subtitles), there are multiple translation errors (like Malice's club being refered to as a "laberinto" as opposed to a "maza", because of the confusion between the words maze and mace), and also the ending cutscene straight up isn't in the Spanish version, you just get booted back to the title screen.
LITERAL WHO?
Would you be open to discuss the possibility of hiring you for a guest spot on my new youtube channel?
Sure. Do you have an email or a Discord I could contact you at?
Would it kill these RUclipsrs to just say whether they liked the game or not? 15minutes later and you're still not sure if he really likes the game. I'd actually want to see someone go through entire libraries and have 2-3 word reviews. "It sucked, it's really good, it's mediocre. I don't need a long video to tell the difference between shit and Shinola.
Yeah. It's actually written in a contract that I'll die if I'm ever too direct.