Sine Mora

This is where you can deliberate anything relating to videogames - past, present and future
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JaySevenZero
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Sine Mora

Post by JaySevenZero »

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for Sine Mora for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.
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Magical_Isopod
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Re: 526: Sine Mora

Post by Magical_Isopod »

It's not often a SHMUP comes up on Cane and Rinse, but this one's number came up, so I gave 'er a go on PS4.

Ultimately, I didn't like this one enough to finish it. It's got some really great ideas - visually, and in terms of boss design, there's a lot to love here. But the way the game integrates story was very distracting to me. Gameplay is often interrupted with a flat shot of your plane flying, with no player control, while dialogue happens. And it's rarely clear when you're back in control.

Its biggest undoing, however, was the bullet hell game design. I've never been a fan of bullet hell SHMUPs - I find them to be overwhelming, and a bit of a chore to play. I was enjoying the game on easy, and the first few levels were pretty manageable. But as I continued on, the bullet spam became so intense my eyes just kind of glazed over and I got fed up with the game pretty quick.

My final take-away here is that I never felt particularly hooked to this one. I had a brief shot of endorphins when some of the hulking bosses dragged out memories of Einhander... But aside from that, I have a pretty easy time understanding why this game is so commonly found in $15 or less used game bargain bins. In my mind, its sole claim to notoriety is its origin - I can't say I've ever played another Hungarian game, nor one with a full Hungarian dialogue track. I wish more game devs included their native language - LOOKING AT YOU, BLOOBER TEAM. There are better SHMUPs out there, and better SHMUPs with time mechanics, and better SHMUPs with narrative elements.
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Seph
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Re: 526: Sine Mora

Post by Seph »

I can't say what compelled me to pick this up, but I think it was something to do with hearing about the story elements and how utilised the increasingly popular multi-playthrough to get the full story mechanic. So, I'll start there.

While Sine Mora attempts to tell an intriguing story that borrows heavily from other sci-fi properties (imposing empire, time travel, dark secret weapons), I felt the execution was lacking. I found the whole thing baffling from the off, but I guess this was the intention as every level jumps between characters and timelines with little exposition or scene setting. I'm not saying I needed hand-holding, I just wanted more done with the story than confusing dialogue sections during the levels and walls of text splitting up each chapter. I think I understand what was going on, but the reveal on the final level lacked impact for me because I felt like I barely knew these people.

The gameplay is great though, and the main reason why I kept chugging away to experience the final ending. The idea of time equaling health is something arcade fans completely understand, and it worked well with the theme of the game being based around time manipulation. I'm not an ardent fan of shoot 'em ups, but I know what I like; and, to me, this had just about the right balance of difficulty that stopped the game from flying into the realms of frustration. The only part I really struggled with was maneuvering through the giant circular sky fortress on the penultimate level during the second playthrough, but everything else felt pretty fair.

I think the game looks incredible and the overall presentation is one that would appeal to a lot of players if they actually saw it in action. Unfortunately, the cover art alone does nothing to draw your eye and I can say it's one of the reasons I ignored this game for many years as I thought it was going to be another generic army game. While I do have reservations about the story, I thought the voice acting was great throughout and really gave weight to the entire experience. I just wish they did more than just show a wall of text between levels and actually did something more interesting with the second playthrough than just give you some more text to read/listen to and change the ending.
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Toon Scottoon
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Re: 526: Sine Mora

Post by Toon Scottoon »

I bought Sine Mora on Switch this January explicitly to play along with the Cane and Rinse crew knowing I had very little Shmup experience and that Leon had described the game in the season preview as having what sounded like a pretty bonkers story. Bonkers is an understatement. The vibe of Sine Mora is Disney Afternoon's Tailspin written by edgelord graphic novelist and arch-conservative Frank Miller. It's not a flavoring I would have expected to enjoy, but in this case I find the cast of time traveling humanoid animal pilots interesting, even if the mechanics and motivations of their heist? military operation? assisination plot? seem impenetrable to me.

As to the moment to moment gameplay, there was something rewarding about avoiding the cascading nature of mistakes in this game, with ship integrity, mission time, and powerups all tied to skillful combat in a way that was both accessible and engaging. A great entry point into the genre if you are okay with a story that feels more about mood than details.

Three Word Review: Flying Furry Fury
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Toon Scottoon
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Re: Sine Mora

Post by Toon Scottoon »

Hi Cane and Rinse crew,

Finally had the chance to listen to this show, and I wanted to clarify my point on the inclusion of the phrase "arch-conservative" in writing about this game. I didn't mean to say that the game had a conservative bent, I just felt compelled to bring up Miller's politics when making the allusion to him. What I did not do when writing that statement was interrogate why I felt compelled to mention the author's politics, and I appreciate you eliciting that reflection. I think I included that phrase because I was self-conscious about being thought of as condoning Miller's political views merely by evoking him as a reference point for the game's story telling if I did not make mention that I understood his expressed worldview. That anxiety might have been unfounded, but I caved to it anyways.

As to the game's politics, when writing this piece I probably would have said that it had a conservative bent because it deals with a government insurrection led by a disenfranchised citizen, and that sort of behavior has been lionized by conservative politicians in the US recently, but the Cane and Rinse team, and specifically Michiel did a terrific job of expressing how insurrection is not a liberal or conservative act in and of itself, which is a very thoughtful point.

Anyways, just wanted to make sure I wasn't ignoring your well thought out questions on the show. Keep up the great work. Thanks for reading my writing on air, and I look forward to getting caught up on all the shows I missed over the summer holiday.
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Sine Mora

Post by ratsoalbion »

Ah, got it. Thanks for the clarification!
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