Feedback

[tehske]

Hi

I wanted to give some feedback on Mark of the Ninja (Steam version on windows 7, played with xbox controller). It'll be a lot of random thoughts, but it might be helpful.

I'm almost through with New Game Plus now. After NG+, I'm not sure what else there is to do. I might look at improving scores, but not even local leaderboard is shown. I wish it was. But even more so, I wished it kept track of more stats, like least kills or least distracted guards or, most importantly, time for completion. I really wish it were more speedrun friendly. Perhaps even split into "best time", "best no kills time", "best no alarms time" and "best no kills + no alarms time". Maybe that's overdoing it.

I also wonder why distracted guards are just as many points as guards who are oblivious to your existence. I figured it might be because some missions can't be completed without using distractions (pretty sure this is accurate, though the teleport mark sure is an all purpose tool). It doesn't feel very ninja like to not lose points in any way if you hide in a vent and throw a barrel of darts at a guard. I even think that should alarm or terrorise him eventually. In fact, since some distractions like lamps and items are worth points, it's better to be a loud ninja.

Speaking of points, I would like for the most profitable play style to be the no kills, no alarms one (ghost achievement style). However, I'm quite certain there's a lot more points in the all kills, no alarms style. Not killing a guard gives 400 points plus (no kill bonus)/(#guards in mission). Killing a guard is at least 400 for a stealth kill (up to 800 for bloody whisper kill) and 250 for hiding, not counting the potential oblivious (400), terrorise (400) and disabled (250) bonuses. However, it's a lot of fun killing people, so that's alright.

Regarding the interface. It's annoying that I can't easily get out of the upgrades menu. When I start a level I get to choose upgrades first, but by this point, I can't get back to the main menu without pressing ok until the level has started. This is especially annoying if you open an equipment menu stash in a level. I rarely use those deliberately and it takes so many presses to get out of it. Also, (Y) for details on the upgrades menu doesn't work for me; at least not after getting the upgrade.

I also wish the achievements menu didn't open the Steam interface. I can't exit that with my controller, so I have to get up and use the keyboard. I doubt you can do much about that though.

Often when I press (B) to exit the map screen, the button press is carried over to the level, causing me to open doors, exit urns or open equipment stashes (this is the worst one). I tested it for a bit, and it happened maybe half the times I did it. It might just be my controller.

I would like to know my #kills and #alarms halfway through a level. Sometimes I botch part of a level and restart from checkpoint, only to find that it counted a checkpoint at the point where I messed up, so I don't know if it did that before or after I triggered the alarm. This gives me the idea of hardcore mode with no checkpoints. Add this to my list of timers above: "best hardcore time".

In the level with the "wait 100 seconds until the door opens; oh, the room will flood with gas" part, the alarm is triggered randomly, even without my intervention. I assume it's the dogs dying and the guards finding them. Or maybe some of the guards forgot gas masks. It feels unfair though.

Initially the game reminded me of Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw's Trilby: The Art of Theft. Quite different though, but it's certainly part of the stealth genre.

Truly an awesome game. I hope there'll be a reason for me to play it more at some point, other than showing my friends why I am a better Ninja than them.

[tehske]

During "Sneak past the stalkers", one of the green eyed girls kills herself if you don't intervene. She triggers some spikes and walks into them. I suppose that means 'no kills' is impossible in that level.

[tehske]

Oh, indirect kills don't ruin the no-kills bonus. Never mind that last one then.

[superfranky]

For next game i hope there will be time attack mode, this game is made for speed runs

[tehske]

I claimed (Y) for details didn't work in the equipment menu, but I had the game muted. Didn't realise the details were voiced.I would like an option to turn off my upgrades again. I'm trying to Ghost (no alarm/kill) my way through NG+, but it feels cheaty that I have all the upgraded stats.

[Corey]

Just wanted to say that even if we don't respond to every piece of feedback directly, we do read them all! We also really appreciate player input and feedback. Many of these points have been discussed in other suggestion threads and on individual posts. As they keep rolling in we'll probably build an FAQ to address the most common ones.