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30 people found this review helpful
Not Recommended
0.0 hrs last two weeks / 12.8 hrs on record
Posted: 10 Apr, 2015 @ 2:49am

As a local co-op game, this is definitely worth the money. There are too few games that have local co-op in campaign mode to be picky. I played 2 hours with a friend, and it was good fun.

But, as a single player game, Son of Nor just isn't worth the time when there are so many better single player games out there.

The gameplay is dull. There's only one tactic effective against each type of enemy, and only a few different types of enemies. Telekinesis, which doesn't require mana and is available from the start, is the easiest way to kill most enemies, so there's very little reason to use the spells that cost mana.

The story is not very interesting. I feel like a lot of it was lost in translation, because there just isn't much there. It alludes to there being a lot more lore that wasn't explained. Also, I have no idea what happened in the ending - did my character save his people, or cause the destruction of the world, or was it a cliffhanger? I have no idea. It just cut to credits.

As a better alternative to Son of Nor, I recommend the game "Tiny and Big: Grandpa's Leftovers". It has similar telekinesis-style mechanics, but is MUCH more fun and it has a coherent story.
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11 Comments
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Xaliber 4 May, 2015 @ 8:55pm 
Very elaborate review, thanks. I'd take Tiny & Big too if only they got a co-op.
dchizz66 4 May, 2015 @ 11:04am 
seen a few different people play this and it looks like a 10 year old game...and clunky...i will be steering clear ;)
Abandor  [developer] 12 Apr, 2015 @ 2:23am 
Thanks for your elaborate feedback, we really apppreciate it! We'll definitely discuss all the story related suggestions, and try to find a good way to make the telekinesis pickup of enemies weaker, without taking the fun out of it. If you have any suggestions please let me know ;-)
BinarySplit 11 Apr, 2015 @ 5:05pm 
NOTE: My following comments were meant to be read in the opposite order to the way they appear. Steam shows the most recent at the top, and limits comments to 1000 characters.
BinarySplit 11 Apr, 2015 @ 5:04pm 
Also, not all characters should leave the player. At the end of the game, I didn't really care what was happening to the world, because none of the characters I had previously met were around to see the consequences. This probably explains why I had no idea what was actually happening at the ending - most games would have one of the players companions explain what was happening and relate it back to the player, but at this point in Son of Nor, everybody had either been killed off or had just voluntarily decided to go away, so instead the exposition was coming from random Aitharii who didn't seem to care about the player and so didn't relate the events back to the player.
BinarySplit 11 Apr, 2015 @ 5:04pm 
To flesh out the story: I have a personal preference for BioShock-style spoken diaries being used to add missing details to the universe. Ideally each collectable would come with a voice clip that reveals some lore. My reasoning is that spoken diaries don't interrupt gameplay, and don't require additional effort from the player, but they still add something to the game.
BinarySplit 11 Apr, 2015 @ 5:03pm 
To simplify the story: I think there should be fewer named characters. E.g. Nordric didn't need a backstory when he was going to die so early in the game; he could have been "Generic Son of Nor lured to the dark side #1". And Vuushar shouldn't have made a reasoned decision to leave - he should have been forced to leave by factors outside of his control. Basically, you should reuse the standard storytelling tropes that other games have already taught player to recognize.

Some player actions seemed completely unnecessary, such as destroying the pillars of light on the 2nd mesa, or the statue on the 3rd mesa. I don't know what those actions did - having those options with no apparent purpose just adds unresolved questions that make the story less enjoyable.
BinarySplit 11 Apr, 2015 @ 5:03pm 
Kikitosaurio: I talked about the gameplay above because Abandor specifically asked questions about it, but I actually think that focusing on improving the storytelling is more important to get people like me to enjoy Son of Nor. I can easily forgive the gameplay if I find the story engaging, and it feels like there was a lot more story to Son of Nor that I wasn't seeing.

I'm really not much of a storyteller, so don't take my opinion too seriously here: I feel that either the story should be simplified so that it doesn't feel like I'm missing anything, or you should find ways to fit more of the story into the game. So basically, either don't allude to each character and race having a complex backstory, or make sure that most of the backstory is explained in the normal course of the game.
BinarySplit 11 Apr, 2015 @ 5:02pm 
Abandor: Actually, I just picked up Sarahul and threw them in the air so that they would die from falling damage. It took about 3 seconds per weak Sarahul, or 7-8 seconds for a Sarahul Warrior. I came to this conclusion because wind usually just moved enemies back without causing much damage, and fire didn't kill lizards quickly enough to stop them from damaging me. Also, telekinesis has much greater range than the early spells, and it doesn't require me to constantly find mana.

I think there are 4 issues here: The initial spells were too weak & short-ranged to make me want to use them. Mana was too scarce and unreliable a resource to make me want to base my strategy on it. Using TK directly on enemies was too easy and too powerful. And when I got stronger spells later in the game, nothing until the ghosts and the end boss prompted me to re-evaluate my strategy. Also, what can sand do? I honestly don't know how to hurt enemies with sand.
Abandor  [developer] 10 Apr, 2015 @ 6:25am 
Hey BinarySplit!
You mention picking up rocks and shooting them was the most effective way for you to fight. I am wondering what lets you come to this conclusion? Because we actually designed it to be the weakest way to fight ;-) [spells, elemental enhancements, SAND, weapon TK, spell combinations are all a lot stronger in terms of damage and effectiveness]