lego bionicle (gba)

2015-10-13 08:11:26 am

Yeah, I forgot I never told you you can get off of the elevator in Onu-Koro. That was the first thing I ever found. Not very useful as far as I can tell.

Man skipping the pick saves so much time. Not so much the skipping it part, but the ability to skip placing down the spikes. I wish I knew this a week ago so I could have finished my god speed run in that I forgot to pick up the pick.
And yeah now that you don't need the pick it's totally faster to go to the other platform.

Haha, love the sign and matoran teleport.

Yeah, I'll need to start practicing those, especially the second one. That looks amazing. What happens if you collide with an enemy though. Seems like it would be hard to recover.

That Ga-Koro 100% strat is really nice.

Cool, that bird can be annoying in Ta-Koro. Not tthe fastest, but could be a good safety strat.

TheMG2

2015-10-13 09:40:37 am

If you collide with an enemy it would be the same as any other launch. You would have to go back to where you teleported the enemy from to do the same launch again. However, for the second launch in particular, the only places I see you colliding with an enemy are the first island and the middle I shaped island, unless your setup was really bad. From the middle I shaped island I think you can just do old strats.

Vibex

2015-10-13 10:43:29 am

Yeah, for some reason I was thinking something else would happen. I'm dumb
The middle island was were I really thought it would occur. haven't given it a try yet though, still in class.

TheMG2

Edit history:

TheMG2: 2015-10-13 05:41:00 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-13 01:28:24 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-13 12:45:41 pm

2015-10-13 12:29:55 pm

I recorded the turtle glitch thing:

Note about the Ga-Koro Entrance 2 teleport launch, it is possible to bounce off of the boundary of the stage at the end of the launch. It seems your positioning is pretty important with this. The exact teleport coordinates probably also affect this but I did not do testing on this.

If this happens, you're probably not going to be able to make this exact launch again. The enemies down there will have moved into your way as you flew past them. The only enemies in Ga-Koro that move when you're far away form them are the grasshoppers (maybe the turtles but they're not going to get into your way). The other enemies will not be a problem unless you fail it once.

Here is a collection of launches:

EDIT: It seems that facing away from where you're heading before doing the launch entirely mitigates the problem of bouncing off the boundary. Also infected turtles do not appear to randomly move off-screen. However here is a backup anyways:

The important thing is your horizontal position for this at least with the teleport coordinates I was using, you may need to experiment. But the turtles will not move unless you get close enough to them.

EDIT2: Toa Stone Teleport Improved:

The coordinates are really important, just a little too much off and you're either stuck in a wall or you immediately get warped back to where the plant originally was.

EDIT 3:

Also found out you can teleport rock piles and pull out rocks from their new locations.

I recorded the turtle glitch thing:
[hidden]https://youtu.be/YNpTFsQ6HJk[/hidden]

Note about the Ga-Koro Entrance 2 teleport launch, it is possible to bounce off of the boundary of the stage at the end of the launch. It seems your positioning is pretty important with this. The exact teleport coordinates probably also affect this but I did not do testing on this.

If this happens, you're probably not going to be able to make this exact launch again. The enemies down there will have moved into your way as you flew past them. The only enemies in Ga-Koro that move when you're far away form them are the grasshoppers (maybe the turtles but they're not going to get into your way). The other enemies will not be a problem unless you fail it once.

Here is a collection of launches:
[hidden]https://youtu.be/Odniwp6mlWg[/hidden]
EDIT: It seems that facing away from where you're heading before doing the launch entirely mitigates the problem of bouncing off the boundary. Also infected turtles do not appear to randomly move off-screen. However here is a backup anyways:
[hidden]https://youtu.be/99TMMKUo_Ak[/hidden]
The important thing is your horizontal position for this at least with the teleport coordinates I was using, you may need to experiment. But the turtles will not move unless you get close enough to them.

EDIT2: Toa Stone Teleport Improved:
[hidden]https://youtu.be/-pO-BFTeMXc[/hidden]

The coordinates are really important, just a little too much off and you're either stuck in a wall or you immediately get warped back to where the plant originally was.

EDIT 3:
[hidden]https://youtu.be/CE8bCP3fm5g[/hidden]

Also found out you can teleport rock piles and pull out rocks from their new locations.

TheMG2

Edit history:

TheMG2: 2015-10-14 04:36:17 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-14 04:20:45 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-14 04:10:24 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-14 03:25:12 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-14 03:13:17 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-14 03:09:59 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-14 03:05:26 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-14 02:57:10 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-14 02:54:18 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-14 02:54:17 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-14 02:00:54 pm

2015-10-14 01:51:47 pm

Apparently you really do get a copper mask if you beat all the minigames, it appears on the inventory screen according to a faq. It probably should be included in 100% then.

Also there is one life increase that I don't know where it is. The faq doesn't include all the health upgrades, and on an old file of mine, I'm missing one health according to the inventory screen.

I legit can't tell if I just never found it or if they forgot to put it in the game.

EDIT: The boat rowing minigame isn't as bad as I thought it was, it helps if you hold the shoulder buttons you press for a little bit rather than quickly tapping them over and over.

EDIT2: I went back to le-koro's toa stone room after having collecting it and:

This doesn't happen when the toa stone drops down, I'll check other room states.

EDIT 3: I forgot that you could do this:

EDIT 4: this could be useful:

EDIT 5: so if you unlock the toa stone and leave the room, the thing just opens up and just drops down again. I think what happens is that it tries to push something down and it's happening to be you.

EDIT 6: Just confirmed that the copper mask can be obtained by beating all the minigames. The minigames aren't that bad.
EDIT 7: I still have yet to find the last health upgrade I am worried that it does not exist.

Alternatively, it may only be in the EU version which seems to be the version with 7 languages released two weeks later.

EDIT 8: Or the inventory screen could just be dumb, it shows only 10 slots for health at the beginning of the game, it might not be showing your max at the end of the game.

Apparently you really do get a copper mask if you beat all the minigames, it appears on the inventory screen according to a faq. It probably should be included in 100% then.

Also there is one life increase that I don't know where it is. The faq doesn't include all the health upgrades, and on an old file of mine, I'm missing one health according to the inventory screen.

I legit can't tell if I just never found it or if they forgot to put it in the game.

EDIT: The boat rowing minigame isn't as bad as I thought it was, it helps if you hold the shoulder buttons you press for a little bit rather than quickly tapping them over and over.

EDIT2: I went back to le-koro's toa stone room after having collecting it and:
[hidden]https://youtu.be/NmJ18qNziSs[/hidden]

This doesn't happen when the toa stone drops down, I'll check other room states.

EDIT 3: I forgot that you could do this:
[hidden]https://youtu.be/cRoB7MUw8sY[/hidden]
EDIT 4: this could be useful:
[hidden]https://youtu.be/LiTksjIM16Y[/hidden]

EDIT 5: so if you unlock the toa stone and leave the room, the thing just opens up and just drops down again. I think what happens is that it tries to push something down and it's happening to be you.

EDIT 6: Just confirmed that the copper mask can be obtained by beating all the minigames. The minigames aren't that bad.
EDIT 7: I still have yet to find the last health upgrade I am worried that it does not exist.

Alternatively, it may only be in the EU version which seems to be the version with 7 languages released two weeks later.

EDIT 8: Or the inventory screen could just be dumb, it shows only 10 slots for health at the beginning of the game, it might not be showing your max at the end of the game.

TheMG2

Edit history:

TheMG2: 2015-10-14 07:09:36 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-14 07:04:18 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-14 06:28:14 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-14 06:15:42 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-14 06:15:41 pm

2015-10-14 04:33:42 pm

Here is a checklist for 100% for all the items that I'm sure actually exist lol: http://pastebin.com/5RXj1r6u

EDIT: Onu-Koro minigame route:

Best I got was a 1:18. Not sure if letting go of the direction can stop you from getting stuck digging into nothing when digging in the same spot as someone else.
EDIT 2: Ga-Koro Minigame:

Not so bad if you don't mash.

EDIT 3: The key to optimizing the Po-Koro minigame would be to make sure as few stalactites are broken as possible. The game ends when there are no balls on screen, and the stalactites create more balls.

A note about the Le-Koro minigame, I believe the number is based on hits dealt. So if you deal a lot of hits and still die relatively early, there is still a shot of you winning. However, the minigame will likely take longer so you really want to avoid this.

EDIT 4: the le-koro minigame ends when there are no other tohunga remaining and when the tohunga falling and the birds are off screen.

Here is a checklist for 100% for all the items that I'm sure actually exist lol: [url]http://pastebin.com/5RXj1r6u[/url]

EDIT: Onu-Koro minigame route:
[hidden]https://youtu.be/FhaxMCY5KYA[/hidden]

Best I got was a 1:18. Not sure if letting go of the direction can stop you from getting stuck digging into nothing when digging in the same spot as someone else.
EDIT 2: Ga-Koro Minigame:
[hidden]https://youtu.be/79xZylkYv1E[/hidden]
Not so bad if you don't mash.

EDIT 3: The key to optimizing the Po-Koro minigame would be to make sure as few stalactites are broken as possible. The game ends when there are no balls on screen, and the stalactites create more balls.

A note about the Le-Koro minigame, I believe the number is based on hits dealt. So if you deal a lot of hits and still die relatively early, there is still a shot of you winning. However, the minigame will likely take longer so you really want to avoid this.

EDIT 4: the le-koro minigame ends when there are no other tohunga remaining and when the tohunga falling and the birds are off screen.

Vibex

2015-10-14 08:15:59 pm

Alright, good to know on the copper mask, also that le-koro glitch is just weird.
Also if Minigames are part of 100% I probably won't run it (not saying that they shouldn't be part of 100%, just that I probably wont do it). It's really just that Ga-Koro and Le-koro minigames though that I hate, so I'll see if I can do those better.

Thats the route I use when I do the Onu-Koro mingame too.
I'll try not mashing.

TheMG2

2015-10-14 08:40:11 pm

The Ga-Koro minigame is really easy. Le-Koro isn't that bad either. If you spam the fruit early on I feel you're more likely to get through that minigame winning.

Vibex

2015-10-14 08:42:06 pm

I mean If I put the effort in I could probably get good at them, I've just always skipped them, so they are a new skill to learn.

TheMG2

Edit history:

TheMG2: 2015-10-14 09:00:26 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-14 08:57:18 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-14 08:57:17 pm

2015-10-14 08:54:09 pm

Actually I think the key might be to kill the specific birds that can actually get a place quickly. There are more birds than places and I think the ones that actually can win should be the target.

EDIT: Doing some testing I'm pretty sure this is the key.

EDIT2: You want to kill the yellow bird, the dark green bird, and the dark blue bird with the blue tohunga quickly to guarantee a win.

TheMG2

Edit history:

TheMG2: 2015-10-15 08:01:28 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-15 07:45:14 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-15 07:34:20 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-15 07:26:39 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-15 07:14:20 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-15 07:10:36 pm

2015-10-15 06:29:13 pm

Welp I just found new tech that isn't really doable by humans without buffering. It's nothing flashy, but it is useful nonetheless.

EDIT: Curve Jumping:

New technique that I call curve jumping: You must hold the direction that you want to curve the long jump, then when you let go of that direction, you must immediately hit the direction you want to jump in without hitting the diagonal direction between. Then hit jump.

I believe the directions on the dpad need to be perpendicular, but I am not sure if it works with diagonals at all.

For TAS this is a simple task. Humans must press start (or select) while holding the direction you want to curve the long jump. While paused, hold the direction you want to jump in and hit start to unpause. Immediately press b after hitting start the second time. You get stronger curves the sooner you press b.

The reason you need to buffer is because if you hit the in between direction at all while switching directions, you will just short hop in the between direction instead.

This can also be done buffering with select, but select buffering is a lot slower.

First jump in the video was done with frame advance, the second jump was not.

This can probably be done a lot faster with practice.

EDIT 2: you can double tap b to unpause and jump if you're fast enough.

EDIT 3: wouldn't recommend it though, it's easier to hit start then b

EDIT 4: ta-koro skip with curve jump:

EDIT 5: doubt it'd be useful cause you'd have to enter the minigame and stuff but here is an alt ga-koro skip:

EDIT 6: Le-Koro Entrance:

Welp I just found new tech that isn't really doable by humans without buffering. It's nothing flashy, but it is useful nonetheless.

EDIT: Curve Jumping:
https://youtu.be/7arSxsZiq5E
New technique that I call curve jumping: You must hold the direction that you want to curve the long jump, then when you let go of that direction, you must immediately hit the direction you want to jump in without hitting the diagonal direction between. Then hit jump.

I believe the directions on the dpad need to be perpendicular, but I am not sure if it works with diagonals at all.

For TAS this is a simple task. Humans must press start (or select) while holding the direction you want to curve the long jump. While paused, hold the direction you want to jump in and hit start to unpause. Immediately press b after hitting start the second time. You get stronger curves the sooner you press b.

The reason you need to buffer is because if you hit the in between direction at all while switching directions, you will just short hop in the between direction instead.

This can also be done buffering with select, but select buffering is a lot slower.

First jump in the video was done with frame advance, the second jump was not.

This can probably be done a lot faster with practice.

EDIT 2: you can double tap b to unpause and jump if you're fast enough.

EDIT 3: wouldn't recommend it though, it's easier to hit start then b

EDIT 4: ta-koro skip with curve jump:
[hidden]https://youtu.be/AmuvMTcxLLo[/hidden]

EDIT 5: doubt it'd be useful cause you'd have to enter the minigame and stuff but here is an alt ga-koro skip:
[hidden]https://youtu.be/eDkfAYKfQmw[/hidden]

EDIT 6: Le-Koro Entrance:
[hidden]https://youtu.be/pAjr9RBA0gQ[/hidden]

TheMG2

Edit history:

TheMG2: 2015-10-16 05:35:09 am

TheMG2: 2015-10-16 12:36:55 am

TheMG2: 2015-10-16 12:04:46 am

2015-10-16 12:00:31 am

Made a tas wip:

Will probably post future updates in a tasvideos thread that I plan on making tomorrow.

Also didn't realize that the first NPC's movement was RNG, otherwise I could have maybe jumped up and to the right on the first frame possible as opposed to the jump to the right that I did. But I really don't feel like worrying about RNG manipulation at this point.

EDIT: The jump around the first bend with the rock wall and the rock was a curve jump, and there are a bunch of other curve jumps throughout the tas, so this exact jumping pattern isn't possible for humans (unless you buffer them, but that would probably be slower at that point).

EDIT2: tas videos thread

Vibex

Edit history:

Vibex: 2015-10-16 07:31:31 am

Vibex: 2015-10-16 07:24:33 am

2015-10-16 07:23:03 am

Awesome dude. Sucks that the curve jump can't be done by humans, because I would love to skip those turtles. How does it work?

Edit: Never mind, just saw in the tas thread.
Edit2: So curve jumps are totally possible. Just pulled it of unbuffered on my second try, and have gotten it a few times since. If you mess up, you do lose some time, but with some practice I would tottaly be able to do these consistently.

TheMG2

Edit history:

TheMG2: 2015-10-16 08:58:42 am

TheMG2: 2015-10-16 08:46:07 am

TheMG2: 2015-10-16 08:44:50 am

TheMG2: 2015-10-16 08:40:48 am

2015-10-16 08:37:07 am

Oh wow I thought the dpad made it impossible. I guess I was wrong. I'm assuming you did it on console?
EDIT: I found that whenever I went in a diagonal direction when tasing, there is a period of time where if you attempt to long jump in a cardinal direction, you will instead just short hop in the diagonal direction you were going in. This includes both walking diagonally and long jumping diagonally. If you long jump diagonally and want to long jump in a cardinal direction next, delay it a bit more than you would otherwise.
EDIT2: I thought about it some more, and with a little playing around, I can definitely see you doing it.
EDIT3: I always had a vague memory of skipping the first turtles, I'm guessing that was how I did it
EDIT4: Just got a curve jump on GBA SP myself, so yeah they're doable.

BTW do you know what controls the first NPC on the beach? Is it RNG? Or does he always block the way if you hold diagonal up right at the start?

Vibex

2015-10-16 10:26:36 am

No, it's definitely possible, hard though. I think I just got really lucky my first few tries. I'm on an Original DS with a built in capture card.
I've noticed this two, but I thought it was an input error on my part. Good to know there is a way to avoid it.
It seems to be RNG. When I first started running the game I tried to figure out how he worked, but was never able to figure it out.

TheMG2

2015-10-16 02:12:53 pm

It's pretty hard, you cannot hit the diagonal nor have a neutral dpad at all when doing it. The timing window on hitting b for the turtle skip was around 10 frames or so which isn't too bad, but the dpad inputs are what make this tricky.

Vibex

Edit history:

Vibex: 2015-10-16 03:42:01 pm

2015-10-16 03:41:33 pm

Yeah the Dpad is what I'm having most trouble with. Most of the time when using a dpad you roll between the directions, at least thats what I've always done. Because of this I keep diagonal jumping instead. I'll get used to it though. 10 frames is pretty nice. What framerate does it run at?

TheMG2

Edit history:

TheMG2: 2015-10-16 04:09:47 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-16 03:53:51 pm

2015-10-16 03:47:28 pm

I just checked, it's 9 frames, and it seems to be 60FPS according to the emulator. I don't know of any GBA games that aren't 60, though wouldn't surprise me if pokemon or something wasn't.
EDIT: You might want to use both your thumb and your pointer on the dpad when doing it.
EDIT2: also buffering isn't that slow if you're able to do it fast enough

Vibex

2015-10-16 06:24:19 pm

Ahhh, I didn't know that. Cool.
I'll try that and see if thats better. It will be weird to shift into and out of quickly though.
I actually haven't gotten it at all buffered. I think I'm doing something wrong. Or I'm dumb. Thats always an option.

TheMG2

Edit history:

TheMG2: 2015-10-17 12:43:26 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-17 12:43:13 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-17 12:43:08 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-17 12:43:00 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-17 09:29:42 am

TheMG2: 2015-10-17 08:54:52 am

2015-10-17 08:14:25 am

To get it buffered, you need to hit start while you're holding the direction you want to curve, then switch to the direction you want to jump in, then hit start again, then immediately hit B.

How I think curve jumps work is similar to how I think launcher orbits work in that your prior momentum affects your jump.

Something pointed out to me is that this may be easier on gameboy player with a gc as a controller. You could hold both dpad and control stick at the same time. It's not worth switching over for though.

Decided against updating on a tasvideos thread unless interest over there is shown. You'll just have to check youtube periodically for updates on that.

TheMG2

Edit history:

TheMG2: 2015-10-17 06:37:08 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-17 06:08:02 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-17 05:39:59 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-17 05:35:38 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-17 05:34:50 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-17 05:25:56 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-17 05:25:55 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-17 05:17:15 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-17 03:10:34 pm

TheMG2: 2015-10-17 02:45:00 pm

2015-10-17 02:33:52 pm

When grabbing a large boulder, you are able to pull it into you by pressing a for one frame, then the next frame press a and the opposite direction of where you are facing for one frame, let go, face the center of the boulder, and repeat. Completely useless because your position cannot change while inside the boulders collision.

This makes me think that any sort of clip found will be useless unless the collision is super thin. I think if the game detects you as moving into collision, it won't let your position change. This would explain why I have managed to get completely stuck while using the launcher before in Po-Koro, I must have actually managed to clip into the collision by moving too fast.

EDIT: Either that or I must have entered a hole in the collision that can only be entered from certain angles that only through launcher movement you can move in that direction.

EDIT2: example of that:

EDIT3: YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Pointless, but this means I get to mess around in the intro with stuff you aren't supposed to.

EDIT4:

EDIT5: I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY ACTUALLY DID THIS:

EDIT 6:

EDIT 7: I wish trees didn't completely disappear after Le-Koro, would be fun to create tree bridges through more walls
EDIT 8: I found out what the trident does!

It pushes away small enemies and boulders and projectiles and the small fruit and the villagers in the throwing tutorial.

Problem is: there are no small enemies where you get the trident.

Epic.

When grabbing a large boulder, you are able to pull it into you by pressing a for one frame, then the next frame press a and the opposite direction of where you are facing for one frame, let go, face the center of the boulder, and repeat. Completely useless because your position cannot change while inside the boulders collision.

This makes me think that any sort of clip found will be useless unless the collision is super thin. I think if the game detects you as moving into collision, it won't let your position change. This would explain why I have managed to get completely stuck while using the launcher before in Po-Koro, I must have actually managed to clip into the collision by moving too fast.

EDIT: Either that or I must have entered a hole in the collision that can only be entered from certain angles that only through launcher movement you can move in that direction.

EDIT2: example of that:
[hidden]https://youtu.be/3UynPKIBRxM[/hidden]

EDIT3: YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
[hidden]https://youtu.be/r7ClPLk7SeE[/hidden]
Pointless, but this means I get to mess around in the intro with stuff you aren't supposed to.

EDIT4: 
[hidden]https://youtu.be/h-jsWi58h3c[/hidden]

EDIT5: I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY ACTUALLY DID THIS:
[hidden]https://youtu.be/XBPeMx_9bPE[/hidden]

EDIT 6:
[hidden]https://youtu.be/yTiUkt30AXE[/hidden]

EDIT 7: I wish trees didn't completely disappear after Le-Koro, would be fun to create tree bridges through more walls
EDIT 8: I found out what the trident does!

It pushes away small enemies and boulders and projectiles and the small fruit and the villagers in the throwing tutorial.

Problem is: there are no small enemies where you get the trident.

Epic.

Vibex

2015-10-18 10:39:12 am

Yeah, not worth it to switch consoles.
Alright, I'll check out your youtube channel every once in awhile, because I'm super interested in the TAS.
Yeah I've clipped into things before too, though was never able to recreate them.
I tried getting past that gate opnce before, but could never find a way past it. Glad we can now with teleportation.
Holy shit, what the hell were they thinking with the trident. Thats so dumb.

TheMG2

2015-10-18 10:44:44 am

They probably intended to have some more small enemies later in the game, but they probably ran out of time and or budget and was lower on their list of priorities. The game does demonstrate some ambition, but they just couldn't execute it.

Vibex

2015-10-18 11:14:59 am

But why not just move it earlier, they could have given it to you in Ga-Koro. Ga-Koro doesn't have an item anyway.

TheMG2

Edit history:

TheMG2: 2015-10-18 12:01:04 pm

2015-10-18 12:00:08 pm

Why not? Time and money.

They probably put the trident in Ko-Koro for the time being and forgot to do anything with it. Why? Relative lack of playtesting and having more pressing priorities. After a certain point you gotta have the game be released. What matters more: A certain item being useless, or having a "completed" game. They probably couldn't afford to delay the game either, because of how BIONICLE had a different story arch every year. The game was released in october, which is relatively late in 2001. Too much later, and it would have been released during the bohrok story arch. Timing was very key.

I gotta give credit to the game for one thing though. It has a bunch of pretty great ideas.

You could make an entire game based around the launcher and it would be an incredibly fun game given you expand on the idea correctly. And for the launcher in this game is VERY fun. A lot of the items end up being useless after 1 area or so. If they just had the time to expand on these ideas, the game would have been decent.

EDIT: The game doesn't seem to lack identity, nor does it seem soulless. It just seems badly executed.

Why not? Time and money.

They probably put the trident in Ko-Koro for the time being and forgot to do anything with it. Why? Relative lack of playtesting and having more pressing priorities. After a certain point you gotta have the game be released. What matters more: A certain item being useless, or having a "completed" game. They probably couldn't afford to delay the game either, because of how BIONICLE had a different story arch every year. The game was released in october, which is relatively late in 2001. Too much later, and it would have been released during the bohrok story arch. Timing was very key.

I gotta give credit to the game for one thing though. It has a bunch of pretty great ideas.

You could make an entire game based around the launcher and it would be an incredibly fun game given you expand on the idea correctly. And for the launcher in this game is VERY fun. A lot of the items end up being useless after 1 area or so. If they just had the time to expand on these ideas, the game would have been decent.

EDIT: The game doesn't seem to lack identity, nor does it seem soulless. It just seems badly executed.