So I’ve never played Sly Cooper, and Melissa has played first game. I was hyped to get going with this marathon, but halfway through, we realized that a mistake had been made. But we couldn’t turn back, we just had to keep pressing forward into the cell shaded abyss that is Sly Cooper.
The first game is awesome. Kind of a new take on Crash Bandicoot character action. It’s a modest little game with small replay value, but it’s entertaining and pretty to look at. The second installment introduced some new gameplay elements, and didn’t grow tired like the first one did- the main difference is a more “open world” map that kept progression interesting. After this game, they started tripping over themselves by repeating the story, leveling systems, dialogue, and annoying tropes. For instance, we’d get into a pattern of shooting the thing to open the door, but before that can happen, we gotta let Bentley develop some crazy plan to get into the perfect shooting angle. Then you’ll do some computer virus mission to turn off the cameras so you can sneak through the vent and deactivate some sensor, before Carmalita and her weird fox boobs show up to help you fight a boss that drops a key to some safe.
Yeah, rinse and repeat that for a couple more games, and you’ve got the Sly Cooper series. It’s not as epic as the packaging may present. I think they suffered a fate that’s pretty common. You become popular and you keep making the games while the IP is hot. Just look at Crash Bandicoot games after 2002. Unfortunately, I spent more time playing through the trophies on the remastered versions while Melissa slept on the couch. I envied her just a bit. But hey, we always have the original, and I actually wouldn’t mind running through that one again in a couple years.
The DM Adventure 