Just finished the game. I'll try to keep my game comments as spoiler-free as possible.
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It took me 5 days to complete (obviously, I wasn't playing for 5 straight days, but you know.) There were lots of things I liked about the game. But there were also some things that disappointed me, as well as a few major issues that I feel most other people would agree with.
First, the pressing and detracting issue - the one major flaw with this adventure: the camera. I found myself at times to be fighting the camera as much as I was fighting the Blot's minions. Even the 3-D Sonic the Hedgehog games, which are notorious for their camera issues, were not as irksome with their camera issues.
The second issue is the copious amount of fetch quests in the game. Normally fetch quests in video games do not bother me so much, but when you have to talk to person A to get an item B to give to person C - travel through cartoon - who gives you an item D that you have to give to person A - who gives you an item E that you need four more of to advance to the next level, so you talk to person F who needs something from person A's neighbor... and so on. The quests end up dragging out because they require you to play through the same 2-D cartoon bridge levels again and again. Now, don't get me wrong, I love those levels - and it was nice to see bridge levels later on that aren't just based on Mickey and Oswald cartoons - when you have to travel through one 4 times for one quest, it can get tiring.
But those are the only real problems I had with the game. Just about everything else was great. The design of the different worlds was fantastic, though I would have liked a little more time in Tomorrow City. My favorite of the worlds was Ventureland; everything there was just so lush and colorful.
My final point is not necessarily a problem with the game, it is just a personal disappointment I had with the game. I understand that the design team was basing everything off of
Disneyland, but I think there were some missed opportunities as far as character interactions and levels. There was an overuse of the townsfolk design - most of the men looked like safari Goofys and the women were shawl-and-dress cows. I was thankful for the little bit of variety that the pirates and ghosts gave.
If I could meet Warren Spector and his creative team, I would instantly start overflowing with concepts for a sequel for Epic Mickey based off of Walt Disney World. I mean, there's the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter, (the alien would make a great boss,) Journey into Imagination (the Dreamfinder would make an excellent guide character -the new Gus- and the Dreamport with all the related world would make a fantastic level of its own,) and even Animal Kingdom has its own discarded project (there was originally going to be a section of the park for imaginary animals - this opens up level and boss opportunities as well.) If there were a sequel based off of Walt Disney World, I'd probably buy it instantly.
Overall, a solid and enjoyable game. Aside from a few problems, this game has been one I am glad I invested my time into. Everybody who worked on it worked hard, and that shows in the game itself.
CaptainHypersock out.
