Really fun game that embodies the aesthetic of the Dreamcast/PS2 while having gameplay that very authentically feels like the sort of thing you'd find on the original Playstation. Despite it's simple, repetitive nature, I found myself getting drawn really into everything this cute arcade puzzler was doing, definitely helped along by the fantastic character designs that I fell in love with instantly. The entire loop of this revolving around filling in all the squares of these increasingly complex, 3D labyrinths is really compelling, being thrown into all of these seemingly incomprehensible messes and slowly piecing together how everything works until it suddenly feels extraordinarily straightforward, only confusing at a glance. It's fun to imagine this being on the PSX just because you know it'd be the sort of game who's existence would largely have been justified as "look at the power of the 3D space for gaming, the possibilities are endless".

Adding to this is the fact that the game feels very authentically arcadey in a way I really appreciate, having just the right amount of unreasonable design to make it feel right at home without become frustrating, just, occasionally being overwhelmed by enemies or being forced to react to something absurdly fast. The number of lives you get per stage is what stops this from coming off as particularly annoying, as while you may suffer an occasional cheap feeling death or a difficult scenario, you're given enough to be able to take it without being a major hindrance, still maintaining that arcade feel without becoming irritating. My one real complaint with the game is that I feel like the other variations on the tile clearing were not really utilised in an engaging way too often. Normally, you need to step on a tile only once to get it marked, but the stages where you have to step on each tile twice rarely feel as if they warrant this, usually just dragging things out and making things feel tedious, with only a couple of levels effectively utilising the player being forced to stay in one location for longer in a meaningful way. Levels that would reset a tile if you stepped on it again after filling it in were also rather unpleasant most of the time due to them often forcing the player to take really awkward paths that felt more annoying than anything else, especially since proper optimal pathing is kinda impossible sometimes due to the enemies that roam around everywhere.

This isn't to take away from how much fun I had for the most part though, an absolute triumph in taking a simple idea and running with it as far as you possibly can. I probably will end up playing through as the other 2 characters at some point, but need to give this a little break since I played it so, so much across only a couple of days. One final note is that the world 9 music made me ascend a little, Vividvastness is just one of those absolutely magical game tracks.

8/10

One of the best Arcade games I've played and it's not even close. This game is "vibes" and "gas" incarnate. You start playing and you just don't stop.

Pros:
+ Strong visual aesthetic permeates everything. Simple shape enemies that are instantly recognizable, Levels with fun geometric shapes and cute characters!
+ Sound design and game feel are deeply intertwined. Everything you can do right and wrong in Vividlope has a memorable associated sound. Painting tiles, smacking enemies with items, jumping, breaking your combo, getting a bonus fruit, etc. It's all unique.
+ The music is very late 90's / early 2000's jungle and breakcore, which works very well. You could play this in a DJ set and nobody would bat an eye. Definitely recommend the OST by Baycun and ViRiX Dreamcore.
+ It's addicting and has a lot of levels for your value. $10 gets you a lot, and is absolutely worth full price.

Possibly my only con is that it's a little too similar to Q*Bert, but if you're itching for a game like that anyway, you came to the right place.

10/10, I hope this dev keeps making spectacular games.