My feelings on The Demon Rush
Game Page: http://speeddemosarchive.com/Jak2.html
Single-segment Hero mode run with major skips
Decision: Reject
Reason: Too many deaths.
The run will be available for download for a month. PM me if you want a copy.
Single-segment Hero mode run with major skips
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Let me start of by stating that this was a very impressive run, being able to skip nearly three hours in 10 minutes is unbelieveable, although I did have concern about Mar's temple... I compared it with the other speed run, and MKT2015's run and there were parts that he moved by much faster, such as the colorful blocks, since and a few water crossing segments... however, there were other water crossing seqments that went by much faster due to the spin jump manuver used... I also noticed the part of the musical stones took a while to complete... I can understand that the memory game is a bit difficult, but there doesn't seem to be any difference from the other run with the stone positions... That said though, this run was still much quicker during that part so I suppose it balances out, especially during the boss fight that was about 30 seconds faster than the segmented run...
The two consecutive deaths are pretty hard to overlook, but considering the hero mode and that only a minute was lost, I can understand and the part for collecting ammo only cost a few seconds, which I don't believe should be too much trouble... In the race, the runner was behind MKT2015 by four seconds, don't know if hero mode is harder to race in, but a simple fact to state, but it doesn't hurt the runner too much... The part of escorting the men through the sewers went by much faster than MKT's run and is also noticed in a few other areas, but there were still areas that are questionable, such as what happens after the 2nd race with the delay of death and having difficulty trying to cruise through the streets and hitting just about every wall and car he passed... Then there is the palace area... one unintenional death and the slip up on the board... I mean, wow, I don't remember the board being more difficult to control under hero mode, but that is very hard to overlook... From there it looked good for the most part, but then the final boss fight again becomes questionable... it was a good plan for the runner to retreat back out of range to attack, but it could be considered "cowardly" if compared to MKT2015's run, but at to the runner's credit, he did technically beat him much faster...
This run pretty much destorys the old run thanks to the game breaking glitch, but at the same time, I question some of the actions that the runner performed, and with all the deaths that happens in the run especially the ones that weren't intensional has me questioning if this should be passed or not... It started off strong, but as the run got into the 2nd half going into the end, it started to get hard to watch, and not because I was watching this in one go... Again, its hard to say...
I can see this run being redone and the time saved if some of the mistakes were cleared up, and I wish the runner the best of luck in the future... I hope as you read this, you do not take offense to anything I have said...
Overall: Sorry, but I have to reject...
The two consecutive deaths are pretty hard to overlook, but considering the hero mode and that only a minute was lost, I can understand and the part for collecting ammo only cost a few seconds, which I don't believe should be too much trouble... In the race, the runner was behind MKT2015 by four seconds, don't know if hero mode is harder to race in, but a simple fact to state, but it doesn't hurt the runner too much... The part of escorting the men through the sewers went by much faster than MKT's run and is also noticed in a few other areas, but there were still areas that are questionable, such as what happens after the 2nd race with the delay of death and having difficulty trying to cruise through the streets and hitting just about every wall and car he passed... Then there is the palace area... one unintenional death and the slip up on the board... I mean, wow, I don't remember the board being more difficult to control under hero mode, but that is very hard to overlook... From there it looked good for the most part, but then the final boss fight again becomes questionable... it was a good plan for the runner to retreat back out of range to attack, but it could be considered "cowardly" if compared to MKT2015's run, but at to the runner's credit, he did technically beat him much faster...
This run pretty much destorys the old run thanks to the game breaking glitch, but at the same time, I question some of the actions that the runner performed, and with all the deaths that happens in the run especially the ones that weren't intensional has me questioning if this should be passed or not... It started off strong, but as the run got into the 2nd half going into the end, it started to get hard to watch, and not because I was watching this in one go... Again, its hard to say...
I can see this run being redone and the time saved if some of the mistakes were cleared up, and I wish the runner the best of luck in the future... I hope as you read this, you do not take offense to anything I have said...
Overall: Sorry, but I have to reject...
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Okay, here's my verification review.
First, good audio quality, good video quality, no cheating, so everything's fine at this point.
Run starts at 33 seconds in, ends at 1:53:37 (so 1:53:04).
Well, the half-game skip is really impressive (so separate category of course). Some glitches are really great throughout the run, however, if he doesn't get lost, if he knows what he's doing, he dies really too much in my opinion, and loses too much time. Even if it's single segmented, he lost around 6 to 8 minutes overall, and some deaths could have been avoided with more practice. Also, some decisions are a bit weird for me: he could have used the Vulcan Fury more, and also, he didn't used Dark Jak a single time which could have been helpful in some situations. Same thing about Jet Board but I will be less harsh about it, since it can be hard to master, with all the pedestrians.
Death abuse is really well used, however his unintentional deaths costs him tons of time.
But Jak II is a pretty hard game, controls can be a bit choppy, some missions doesn't have checkpoints and doing it single-segment is a real challenge, especially in Hero mode. It's a good run overall, but with more practice he can go below 1:50, even 1:45.
Final decision: Reject
I actually enjoyed the run. However, even in single-segment, some errors are unforgivable. But I'm pretty sure he can do better, all he needs is more practice. 1:53 is a very good time but all these unintentional deaths doesn't put it to SDA standards. And in Jak II, a death costs much time. Maybe 1:53 without all these deaths but with more carefulness could have been accepted, and I guess topping the sub-1:50 bar is doable. Doing under two hours is awesome, but there's still room for improvement.
Just to add, the comparison with the Mkt2015's full-game 4:42 run. From segment 34 (where the glitched run would start) to segment 56, he does 1:47. Doing 1:53 single-segmented with many deaths prove that there was some work, and show the old run mistakes. If this single-segment run gets polished to reach (even beat) an old segmented time, I'm sure it will be a definitive accept and must.
First, good audio quality, good video quality, no cheating, so everything's fine at this point.
Run starts at 33 seconds in, ends at 1:53:37 (so 1:53:04).
Well, the half-game skip is really impressive (so separate category of course). Some glitches are really great throughout the run, however, if he doesn't get lost, if he knows what he's doing, he dies really too much in my opinion, and loses too much time. Even if it's single segmented, he lost around 6 to 8 minutes overall, and some deaths could have been avoided with more practice. Also, some decisions are a bit weird for me: he could have used the Vulcan Fury more, and also, he didn't used Dark Jak a single time which could have been helpful in some situations. Same thing about Jet Board but I will be less harsh about it, since it can be hard to master, with all the pedestrians.
Death abuse is really well used, however his unintentional deaths costs him tons of time.
But Jak II is a pretty hard game, controls can be a bit choppy, some missions doesn't have checkpoints and doing it single-segment is a real challenge, especially in Hero mode. It's a good run overall, but with more practice he can go below 1:50, even 1:45.
Final decision: Reject
I actually enjoyed the run. However, even in single-segment, some errors are unforgivable. But I'm pretty sure he can do better, all he needs is more practice. 1:53 is a very good time but all these unintentional deaths doesn't put it to SDA standards. And in Jak II, a death costs much time. Maybe 1:53 without all these deaths but with more carefulness could have been accepted, and I guess topping the sub-1:50 bar is doable. Doing under two hours is awesome, but there's still room for improvement.
Just to add, the comparison with the Mkt2015's full-game 4:42 run. From segment 34 (where the glitched run would start) to segment 56, he does 1:47. Doing 1:53 single-segmented with many deaths prove that there was some work, and show the old run mistakes. If this single-segment run gets polished to reach (even beat) an old segmented time, I'm sure it will be a definitive accept and must.
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no a/v problems except for some shakiness at the start, no cheating. abuses death to save time and sometimes restarts missions to farm ammo or regain health. this is almost definitely needed -- jak ii is a hard fucking game.
mission by mission rundown:
fortress escape to barrier skips: the runner gets stuck on some walls a few times, no big deal really. gets both skips on the first try, looks great.
skip mar's tomb: has to retry a small jump, again no big deal in a ss.
first mar's tomb test: gets hit by a bug on the way to the bars, but i'm not sure if any time is lost since i think he would have to wait for the bars to line up anyway. impressive bar jumping, the timing is harder than it looks. nice daxter spider escape -- that part's a pain in the ass.
second mar's tomb test: uses punches to speed up when roll jumps aren't possible, something the runner continues to do throughout the run. small slip-up grabbing the ledge and could have done the falling blocks a bit faster; iirc you can keep jumping continously and line up your landings in mid air. maybe a few seconds lost in all, no big deal. nice job on the bug killing "minigame". the tombstone part has the first larger mistake of the game -- the runner has to repeat some of the sounds several times, wasting several seconds. memory shit like this isn't easy, but it looks pretty sloppy. overall not a huge problem though. it's single-segment, after all.
baron battle: death abuse is definitely warranted in this run. battle is about as optimal as possible.
fortress rescue: second big mistake here. like the runner says, about a minute is lost on the two deaths. this mission is tough, but i think the deaths could have been avoided by going just a bit slower. the rest of the mission went surprisingly well considering how difficult the platforming is due to finnicky controls and bad camera angles. he goes more slowly here, but it's warranted. if only they were more careful at the beginning.
protecting the hideout: gets hit once, no big deal in a ss.
class 2 race: unless i'm forgetting something or hero mode is somehow different, i disagree with the runner that using the shortcuts is "the best way to lose this mission". it's not a hard race and afaik the shortcuts make it faster, though probably only by a few seconds. in some spots it looked like he could have boosted more too, but the race was fine overall. hits a pedestrian heading to the next mission, no big deal.
escort through sewers: nothing noteworthy.
erol's race: this is a tough mission that was well-executed. bumps into a hovercar en route to the next mission, no big deal in a ss.
getting the life seed, protecting samos, and rescuing lurkers: nothing of note, execution is fine.
destroying eggs in the strip mine: looks like the runner messed up a few times on the halfpipes, overall not really a problem.
destroying the drill platform tower: nothing noteworthy.
class 1 race: next big mistake here. the run restart wastes almost half a minute. as this is a long ss run of a difficult game, i don't think it's as big a deal as it seems, but it's a big mistake nonetheless. second attempt was good, though again it looked like they could have boosted more often. several tiny hovercar mistakes on the way to the next mission -- wonder if the runner's getting tired.
exploring the palace: two huge deaths here that waste a ton of time -- almost two minutes. deaths during the first shootout part aren't too tough to avoid if you're more careful, but that definitely slows you down … so it's a tradeoff. i can forgive that one. the second death however is totally inexcusable as far as i can tell. the runner should not be messing up that hoverboard part after playing it even a few times (jak goes flying off the rail over the landing into the abyss). i know this game's controls are shit on a stick, but at least it's consistent shit, not goopy and messy like tdk's into.
getting the heart of mar: on the other hand, this went great. it's a tougher mission than it looks.
krew fight: i'm wondering if the hit and wait system the runner uses for the third round is actually faster (as opposed to just easier), but at the most it would waste a few seconds or less, so no big deal at all. certainly not worth it to risk another death this late in the run.
whack-a-metal-head: most fun mission in the game by far. nothing else to say.
finding sig: some minor mistakes that are no problem in a ss.
escorting sig, defending the stadium, breaking the barrier, metal kor fight: nothing noteworthy.
this was a tough decision due to the amount of minor mistakes and unintentional deaths but jak ii is brutal, especially on hero mode. much of the minor stuff is fairly forgivable in a ss -- just try controlling the hovercars in this game.
the deaths do look pretty bad and a few of them could probably have been avoided by being a bit more careful, but considering it's single-segment, i think the quality of the rest of the run makes up for them. there were plenty of tough tricks/glitches that were perfectly executed on the first go.
by my rough estimate, the mistakes add up to about four minutes overall, so while there's definitely room for improvement i think this is a solid enough run for sda.
accept.
mission by mission rundown:
fortress escape to barrier skips: the runner gets stuck on some walls a few times, no big deal really. gets both skips on the first try, looks great.
skip mar's tomb: has to retry a small jump, again no big deal in a ss.
first mar's tomb test: gets hit by a bug on the way to the bars, but i'm not sure if any time is lost since i think he would have to wait for the bars to line up anyway. impressive bar jumping, the timing is harder than it looks. nice daxter spider escape -- that part's a pain in the ass.
second mar's tomb test: uses punches to speed up when roll jumps aren't possible, something the runner continues to do throughout the run. small slip-up grabbing the ledge and could have done the falling blocks a bit faster; iirc you can keep jumping continously and line up your landings in mid air. maybe a few seconds lost in all, no big deal. nice job on the bug killing "minigame". the tombstone part has the first larger mistake of the game -- the runner has to repeat some of the sounds several times, wasting several seconds. memory shit like this isn't easy, but it looks pretty sloppy. overall not a huge problem though. it's single-segment, after all.
baron battle: death abuse is definitely warranted in this run. battle is about as optimal as possible.
fortress rescue: second big mistake here. like the runner says, about a minute is lost on the two deaths. this mission is tough, but i think the deaths could have been avoided by going just a bit slower. the rest of the mission went surprisingly well considering how difficult the platforming is due to finnicky controls and bad camera angles. he goes more slowly here, but it's warranted. if only they were more careful at the beginning.
protecting the hideout: gets hit once, no big deal in a ss.
class 2 race: unless i'm forgetting something or hero mode is somehow different, i disagree with the runner that using the shortcuts is "the best way to lose this mission". it's not a hard race and afaik the shortcuts make it faster, though probably only by a few seconds. in some spots it looked like he could have boosted more too, but the race was fine overall. hits a pedestrian heading to the next mission, no big deal.
escort through sewers: nothing noteworthy.
erol's race: this is a tough mission that was well-executed. bumps into a hovercar en route to the next mission, no big deal in a ss.
getting the life seed, protecting samos, and rescuing lurkers: nothing of note, execution is fine.
destroying eggs in the strip mine: looks like the runner messed up a few times on the halfpipes, overall not really a problem.
destroying the drill platform tower: nothing noteworthy.
class 1 race: next big mistake here. the run restart wastes almost half a minute. as this is a long ss run of a difficult game, i don't think it's as big a deal as it seems, but it's a big mistake nonetheless. second attempt was good, though again it looked like they could have boosted more often. several tiny hovercar mistakes on the way to the next mission -- wonder if the runner's getting tired.
exploring the palace: two huge deaths here that waste a ton of time -- almost two minutes. deaths during the first shootout part aren't too tough to avoid if you're more careful, but that definitely slows you down … so it's a tradeoff. i can forgive that one. the second death however is totally inexcusable as far as i can tell. the runner should not be messing up that hoverboard part after playing it even a few times (jak goes flying off the rail over the landing into the abyss). i know this game's controls are shit on a stick, but at least it's consistent shit, not goopy and messy like tdk's into.
getting the heart of mar: on the other hand, this went great. it's a tougher mission than it looks.
krew fight: i'm wondering if the hit and wait system the runner uses for the third round is actually faster (as opposed to just easier), but at the most it would waste a few seconds or less, so no big deal at all. certainly not worth it to risk another death this late in the run.
whack-a-metal-head: most fun mission in the game by far. nothing else to say.
finding sig: some minor mistakes that are no problem in a ss.
escorting sig, defending the stadium, breaking the barrier, metal kor fight: nothing noteworthy.
this was a tough decision due to the amount of minor mistakes and unintentional deaths but jak ii is brutal, especially on hero mode. much of the minor stuff is fairly forgivable in a ss -- just try controlling the hovercars in this game.
the deaths do look pretty bad and a few of them could probably have been avoided by being a bit more careful, but considering it's single-segment, i think the quality of the rest of the run makes up for them. there were plenty of tough tricks/glitches that were perfectly executed on the first go.
by my rough estimate, the mistakes add up to about four minutes overall, so while there's definitely room for improvement i think this is a solid enough run for sda.
accept.
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Audio fine, video fine, no cheating.
The barrier skips are great. Use of the hoverboard spin is very good. Death abuse is used efficiently. Overall control is impressive, major props to the runner.
The music puzzle is hard to watch with the amount of time it takes. Two deaths on the same mission, only costs the player a minute. Another two deaths on a mission, one being the hoverboard death.
The game is hard, especially on Hero mode, and while the time lost from mistakes only adds up to around 5 minutes, some of the mistakes are hard to watch.
This is a great run, but with the significant mistakes made, I'm going to reject. I hope the runner does continue to improve and submit another run, seeing this game being so heavily broken is a joy to all the frustation it has given.
(((7:02 the max ammo gets doubled from 50 to 100 and at 9:47 has the hoverboard. Can anyone confirm these are a result of the sequence break and then the button being pressed? I can't find any discussion of these results, and cannot confirm them myself as I have no access to the game currently)))
The barrier skips are great. Use of the hoverboard spin is very good. Death abuse is used efficiently. Overall control is impressive, major props to the runner.
The music puzzle is hard to watch with the amount of time it takes. Two deaths on the same mission, only costs the player a minute. Another two deaths on a mission, one being the hoverboard death.
The game is hard, especially on Hero mode, and while the time lost from mistakes only adds up to around 5 minutes, some of the mistakes are hard to watch.
This is a great run, but with the significant mistakes made, I'm going to reject. I hope the runner does continue to improve and submit another run, seeing this game being so heavily broken is a joy to all the frustation it has given.
(((7:02 the max ammo gets doubled from 50 to 100 and at 9:47 has the hoverboard. Can anyone confirm these are a result of the sequence break and then the button being pressed? I can't find any discussion of these results, and cannot confirm them myself as I have no access to the game currently)))
Decision: Reject
Reason: Too many deaths.
The run will be available for download for a month. PM me if you want a copy.
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