Noitu Love 2 is out!

By: Xander

On: April 18th, 2008

Oh yes, it’s finally here! Noitu Love 2 is the very long awaited sequel to the original side-scrolling mighty-morphing action game from Konjak. Hit up the site for both an extended demo version and to purchase the full version online. The forums do seem to list some problems with getting order emails through, which seems mainly to do with PayPal (although it worked for me), so if you can avoid using that then maybe a better plan as there are a number of payment options, but if not I’m sure it’ll probably work out fine anyway.

$20 may seem a little high (edit: according to the comments, this is apparently only the case if you’re a student… bugger…), but I swear on my reputation as the most ‘occasional’ contributor to TIGSource that if you at least give the demo a try you will not be disappointed. And if you have already, then you’re probably too busy clicking the above link to read this. I understand. Do what you must. As well as the main 7-level IGF finalist game, the full version also offers a wealth of unlockable content, including one extra that’s so awesome I swear I’m running my second-playthrough pantless.

Happy gaming TIG!

Posted in Action, Highly Recommended, IGF / GDC, Nerd Love, Platformers, Windows | Tags: JoakimSandberg

Mischief Maker

Oh… no. I was busy trying out the unlockable characters on normal mode. My fault for jumping to conclusion.

Speaking of unlockable characters, are you going to eventually add that one missing frame of animation character #3 so desperately needs?
Xander

I played through Hard mode with of the unlockable bonuses, but I had my ass handed to me on hardest with Xoda. I may run through hard with Xoda in my search for that missing picture in my credits book.
Nillo

Looks very interesting. I shall try the demo, and maybe buy it later if it’s good. 20 dollars is definitely an affordable price.
BreadCultist

Tried the demo. Didn’t expect the mouse interface. I was pleasantly surprised. I didn’t much like the first game. Looked and sounded great, but was too repetitive. Sequel seems jolly fine splendid. Throwing grunts is great. My right index finger got a bit tired during my first play. Discovering the special moves made it less tiring. Will probably buy the full version. Going to try the demo with my Xbox controller…
Lim-Dul

@OrR – no, in the NVIDIA control panel you should have a “change flat panel scaling” tab. You can choose between NVIDIA scaling, NVIDIA scaling with fixed aspect ratio, your display’s built-in scaling and no scaling at all. One of these options should do the trick for you.
King-n

Too bad I can’t afford it.
OrR

Flat panel scaling? I’m on a good old CRT… :P Can’t get it to work but then again my video drivers have been acting up anyway… Suddenly the dual view option is gone. :( This might be related I guess.
cactus

Great game. I had fun from start to finish. Gonna try to beat it with the two unlockable characters as well :)

Definitely worth $20 in my opinion.
BreadCultist

Reading about the other playable characters sealed the deal. Strange how they weren’t advertised, lol.
http://gamehaus.wordpress.com Michael

Clearly Noitu Love 2 is a huge step above the original. Joakim should have no problem in getting laid ever again.
bateleur

I reckon I got $20 of value out of the previous version of the demo, so this was an auto-buy for me.

Looking forward to the full game muchly, but no time to play it now because I neeed sleeep! :-(

Payment and download system worked flawlessly, though. :-)
http://www.sophiehoulden.com GirlFlash

I played the first demo and it prolly is worth $20, though I am a student right now, so I will always complain about the price of anything over $5 =p

bleh, tbh it has a fair bit in common with a game I’m planning now, so I’ll keep my eye on how people deal with the cost pretty closely >__>
http://www.casualexplosion.com Uesugi

Game looks great and fun, but it’s unplayable (for me at least) with these controls. Right hand on the arrow keys, left hand on the… mouse button?

Why not use “z” or the left ctrl for attack?
Melly

The way the game controls that wouldn’t work well Uesugi.

I personally have no problem with the mouse controls. I don’t think anybody should have as long as they have a decent mouse. Much like you have no problem in consoles if you have a decent controller.
Lim-Dul

*Game looks great and fun, but itâ€™s unplayable (for me at least) with these controls. Right hand on the arrow keys, left hand on theâ€¦ mouse button?*

Kinda like every first person shooter released in the past 10 years or so? =)

Although it’s WASD for me but you are apparently left handed. Still, I can’t see what’s wrong with the mouse controls. For me they’re the most brilliant thing about this game. =)
http://www.casualexplosion.com Uesugi

Nope, not left-handed. I almost always play games with my right hand on the arrow keys and left hand on the left side of the keyboard.

For first person shooters with mouse look, I map the left mouse button to forward and the right mouse button to back, and left ctrl to fire. (A configuration which I admit is odd ;) but when it comes to 2D arcade games I always thought the right hand arrow keys and left hand z/ctrl was normal…
Lim-Dul

Well – look at any console controller and see the error of your ways. ^^
BreadCultist

@Uesugi
T-That control configuration! I’ve seen it before. You post on the Edge boards, right?

You’re meant to the WASD keys if you’re right-handed, dood. And you neeed to use the mouse, for clicking on stuff, for aiming. This game is not like other games. Deal with it >:O
Liquixcat

$20!? Maybe I’m not as optimistic as others or I just value my dollar more. Not only presumptuous of you to conclude your worth at such a price, but demeaning to a large amount of developers who release their software for free.

I suppose you are all just being horribly nice to alert more attention to the Indie scene but accepting $20 for an Indie-game wouldn’t be the attention I’d encourage.

There are a great amount of games that are freeware/open-source and the lot of those far outweighs the benefits of a single game for $20. They also don’t ask for money but donations which is what makes the Indie scene so enjoyable to me.

The fact that someone else can decide the worth of your creation and reward you accordingly is the concept I’d rather encourage.
Pyregel

I really enjoyed playing the Demos for the game! I plan on buying it soon.
Lim-Dul

Liquixcat – I think you’re mixing up the “indie scene” with the “freeware scene”. It is for the author to decide what he does with his creation and remember that he invested quite some time in it. Many indie devs are trying to live off their games and it’s possible because the “scene” is developing – the more polished and awesome indie games will be getting (like Noitu Love 2 which is almost indistinguishable from good NintendoDS titles), the more of them will have to be paid for. And that’s OK.

Be glad that the money you’re paying for the games goes to the developers in a more direct way and that they don’t charge you a ton of money like the big publishers.

Last time I checked 20$ was around two tickets to the cinema IN POLAND – a not-so-rich country, mind you…
ZeppMan217

oh my…i cant buy the game =( not even cause of price but because of my geographical situation =(((
Nu

$20 is just right for high quality indie games like this.
shinygerbil

A high-quality game, definitely worth the price, if not more. :D
hueg

YEEEEEEEEEEH FUCK YEEEEEEEEHHHH

Also, I’m getting a bug on the final boss, where the hooks dont appear after you smash the earring orb things. This only happens after I continue.
Lambchops

20 dollars, or just over 10 quid in real money, is a perfectly reasonably price to pay for an indie game. The price point is always the developers choice; based on how much they think is sensible to charge and how much effort they put into creating the game. In general I’m willing to pay around 10 to 20 dollars for a good quality platform or puzzle game (the likes of Noitu Love 2, Gish, World of Goo and so on) and a little bit more for more lengthy experiences (the 30 dollars for Aquaria was a bargain considering how much play time I got out of it).

I’d have felt Noitu Love should have been cheaper as it is a relatively short game, however the extras giving added replay value means I have no complaints.

That said the best value for money indie game I’ve played recently has to be Audiosurf. Only about 5 pounds and I’ve poured hours into it.

If I was providing a service like these games I’d certainly want some sort of monetary gain for my efforts to reward me on a job well done and pay the bills. Donations aren’t the way to go unless you know you’ve not polished the game or you don’t need the cash. After all how many times have you pressed a donate button. I know that I haven’t, nor would I be inclined to – no matter what the quality of the game.
Mischief Maker

What is going on here?

Indie/Shareware games have cost $20 since time immemorial. If anything, recent games like Immortal Defense, Aquaria, and Armageddon Empires have had me worried that that average price point would climb to $30. I was relieved that this game is only $20.

Seriously, where are all these $5 and $10 games you people are judging NL2’s price on? Fren-Ze? Bullet Candy? Is there anything else?
Xander

Audiosurf! I think that was a fine price for what it was though since it required the player to fill in the missing pieces. That and most things on XBLA are probably pitched cheaper… which is maybe where this kind of pricing confusion happens.

It’s really up to the author; if he thinks it’s worth $20 (Like we do) then he can charge that price. If he just wants to see what’d happen if he made it free for the day as a GGOTD like Immortal Defense then that’s fine too! Just as long as he makes more games afterwards he can charge what he likes!
hmm

Might put money down for this but the demo was over in a few minutes. I’m not happy putting money down for a game that I’ll beat in an hour. Especially when there are $10 games like Audiosurf which shits out replayability.

Is there an online high score? Can it be modded or have DLC updates?
card

Great game, but I’m having trouble with the shieldy guys on level 4. I kill them, but I don’t know how I’m doing it, then I die on the guitar miniboss. I don’t really get what the arrows mean.
Xander

The way that laser weapon works is that you connect a line between targets to attack. So, with that shield enemy you attack the weird things that show up with the arrows and then hold the attack moving over onto the shield guy so the beam attacks through connection from above without needing to go through the shield.
konjak

Pausing reminds you of controls!
bateleur

card – The arrows give you clues throughout the game in different ways. In that particular scene they’re hinting that you need to strike from that direction. How you achieve this is fairly obvious if you read the instructions at the start of the level (or hit Enter to look at the controls), but note that you can’t always kill things as soon as they appear. Sometimes you need to wait for the right moment!
card

OK, I got it :) Thanks!
I don’t really know why I didn’t realize that, mental block I guess.
OrR

Reporting back to say that my Nvidia driver fixed itself and also fixed the full screen issue I had. Works great now. Awesome game! :)
Lambchops

I love the playing style of the third unlockable character; it’s fun times indeed when my main tactic is to throw the character in the air out of the way of attacks so I can reload, quickly catching him again if he’s going to hit anything on his descent!

While I’m going to struggle completing it on hard (I suck at platformers and level 3 is a bitch when you’re inept at dodging axes!) I’ll give it a go. All I’m missing at the moment is finding that darned user designed boss – I’ll find hime yet!
Scottedont

Hey, that patch seemed to do the trick for the most part. I’m not shifting through ceilings anymore but I found a problem with Almond. It seems that if he is in midair at the end of one level, the beginning of the next level will not initialize properly. All you see when the level starts is the far background of the level and maybe some flying enemies depending on the level.
Nillo

There are so many fields to fill in before paying, and I’m a lazy bastard like that. Why can’t I just press one of those nifty paypal buttons and get on with it?
Moose

Gaah. Why the silly rule that if you quit a game in the middle, you have to start from the beginning of the entire game next time?
Lim-Dul

You save between levels. =)

Joakim already said that it’s supposed to increase the challenge. I mean – obviously he has mastered saving more than certain other devs since his game even manages to create backup saves when it crashes!
machrider

Is the full game as repetitive as the demo?

I mean despite everyone being wowed by the cool effects and nice graphics, they honestly did nothing for me as I played the demo. I saw right through it and all I saw was the gameplay in all its boring repetitive glory.

People flamed me for this and said the full game was going to be the next coming of Christ. So how is the full game? I wasn’t expecting it to be actually sold. Klik games for the most part never go commercial.

Is it any better? Does the gameplay feel less repetitive and less like a game of hungry hungry hippos (i.e. button mashing galore)?

I mean, I can’t tell unless I buy it. Yes, there is the demo, but I didn’t like the demo due to how boring the gameplay got by the second level.

Maybe an updated demo with any changes made in the full version will be nice. Otherwise I think I’ll pass on this one.
machrider

That is, if there are any changes or differences in the full game. Otherwise, nevermind. I’ll just pass on it if its exactly the same.
konjak

In that second comment you just repeated something you said in the first. You should just learn to summarize.

Just don’t buy the game, okay?
slang

Lovely pixelart and great game BUT imo level 4 is no fun at all, just confusing and annoying. Though I know that you have to connect targets I don’t have a freaking clue how to drain energy from the (last?) boss (telescopic arm). Also, I don’t find the explanation at the beginning of level 4 very useful because they read more like a vague hint.
Xander

Not the last boss of that level, but telescopic eye guy you need to use the ball that appears in the centre of his arm to connect the electric fence things above and below him so that it forces him to dine on hot electric death.
xerus

Christ, Machrider, just dont buy the game and move on with your life.
PaperHeart

i paid already but I didn’t get the program ):
machrider

How about if someone would actually answer the damn question?
Derek

I don’t think anyone can answer you because they disagree with the implication of your question (namely, that the demo is “boring”).

But no, you probably wouldn’t enjoy the full game if you didn’t like the demo. ;)
machrider

That was not the question. That was my opinion of the demo. I am asking if the game is still repetitive (or in other words, is the full version like the demo and does it consist of endless button mashing over and over)?