Recent reviews by Heartview

Ahhh the N series... A hardcore simple-concept platformer that brings back many memories from playing n v1.2 during class, racing against some old friends to be the first to beat all the levels without ragequitting and destroying more keyboards than our allowences would allow for replacements. For anyone who did play the first version of n and are looking to reminice, good news! N++ is very much more of that plus some shiny new features to go along with it. If not, read one, but first, Pros vs Cons

Simple platforming controls
Simple and clean graphics
Huge number of levels (2300+)
Built in level editor + built in userlevel browsing
Leaderboards
Fantastic music

UI is slightly messy, difficult to navigate with mouse

N++ is another, and apparantly the last entry in a momentum based platformer series that predates a lot of the other 'hardcore-hard' platformer games out there and it hasn't lost a bit of what makes the game good over the past 12 years. The premise of the game is that you are a ninja, ninjas like gold, and ninjas only live for 90 seconds in the absense of said gold. The narrative, like most of the rest of the game, is simple, and non-distracting.

The gameplay revolves around playing through a series of episodes, each containing 5 levels while only having 90 seconds to complete each episode. However, scattered around most of the levels in each episode are gold pieces that when collected add 2 seconds to your available pool of time to complete the episode. In most cases the gold is optional, but if you want any hope of competing on leaderboards you will need to collect as many if not all pieces along side of nearly perfect executing.

And on the topic of execution, this game executes its simple gameplay masterfully. The movement is all momentum based, from running, jumping, and jumping off of walls/objects. Beating a level without keeping your momentum is possible for the most part, but the game really shines well when you try hold momentum for the entire level, while collecting as much gold as possible and not getting pommeled by any of the enemies (or slamming into any mines). Reaching max running speed takes a bit of time, mistiming jumps off of walls will reduce momentum, and most of your air control happens before you ever leave the ground. A very fine tuned system that offers a very high skill ceiling for people willing to shave milliseconds off of their level complete times.

A system that is complimented well by it's level design. Every level takes place in spererate rooms that are all the same size, though the total playable area in each of these rooms can be much smaller. While not really offering anything amazing to the 2d platforming arena in regards to level mechanics, the wealth of available levels along with the difficulty of many of the later levels make up for it. Most of the levels follow a simple, less is better approach in that there is rarely a situation where you can not see how to complete a level before ever even starting it. With the exception of hidden mines and trap doors all the levels come down not to blindly attempting doors or jumps and instead urge you to focus purely on how you choose to execute it. That said, players will sometimes be rewarded if they can exectue perfectly timed jumps and high momentum moves with shortcuts or extra gold.

Graphically the game is consistent in keeping with its simple themeing, but with that said, a lot of the themes seem too bright and or have too many clashing colors, but this is of course coming from someone who is used to playing the standard dark gray on light gray theme from the first game. No fancy textures, no crazy lighting effects, just simple, minimalist, and clean cut colors to comprise the floors and walls of each room you will find yourself in.

Musically the game is fantastic as well, featuring a pounding drum-n-bass soundtrack that goes well with its gameplay. I actually wish there was an option to buy the soundtrack as well.

The built in level editor offeres for even more playability after completing the 2300+ levels including in the base game, though the editor is still a bit wonky, espeically compared to the one from the original game, though all the tools are there and it is still possible to make all kinds of brutal levels to punish the rest of the players with.

To summarize, N++ is another solid entry to the n series, offering way more levels than previous games, but still retaining that clear, simple-yet-hard gameplay approach that made this series what it is today. And the developer support for the game is strong to boot.

I have a few things to say about the game so I'll do a Pros vs Cons list first.

Pros
Fast paced
Pretty tight controls
Easy to pick up, difficult to master
CHALLENGING
Simple (read effective) graphics
Good sound design

Cons
Short
A bit pricey (related directly to above con)
Maybe lacking a few features

Now I consider myself to be a veteran when it comes to platforming games like this. I have completed n, Meat Boy, Super Meat Boy, I wanna Be The Guy/Boshy all in their entirety, as well as a slew of other action platformer games. And I easily consider 10 Second Ninja to be up there as one of my favorites. It's a game with a realtively simple concept: Kill all robots on the map using either a close range sword or long range shuriken projectiles, all without dieing in as little time as possible. Easy enough to understand, but the level the game is played at makes it a deceptively difficult. The timing for a lot of the levels requires near perfect jumps and accuracy to get 3 star ratings on, and posting higher leaderboard scores requires near pixel perfect accuracy and timing. There is a real challenge here hidden behind the easy to understand controls and mechanics. If you enjoy a good challenge in your platformers, don't skip this game. While not masochistic by any means, any self-respecting action platformer fan needs this game under their belt.

Now the controls for this game are also pretty good, with great response time. My only gripe with some of the controls comes from slight issues like corner bumping. Landing too far off the edge on the corner will not let you stand on the ledge, however a second mid-air jump can still be performed after falling off even if both jumps were used prior to landing, meaning the game registers that you have hit the ground already. In a game where pixel perfect accuracy comes into play, this might get a tad annoying on some levels, though it is a bit difficult to notice. It can also be difficult to gauge throwing shurikens along the ground as the hitbox for it is a bit strange. This is really a non issue, but sometimes a shuriken will hit the wall at a corner, and other times it will slide across the ground as you wanted it to. I say it is a non issue because honestly, it comes down to how precise you are when throwing it in the first place, so it becomes more of an issue of when you throw it rather than the game registering the hitbox badly. So in reality, its just a small visual gripe rather than an actual game issue. Otherwise, the controls are incredibly responsive and tight. A real pleasure to play as the game feels like its actually listening to what you tell it to do.

The sound design, while not much to note, is effective and aestheticly pleasing. No over the top speaker destroying sound bytes, just simple, effective sound design. Love it.

Now I listed 3 cons, however this boils down to really just one, and perhaps more of a reccomendation for future development. My only real con with this game is the current $10 price tag, for a pretty short game that can be completed in one sitting. No end game content, no unlockables, which means the only thing keeping you playing the game after beating the final level is getting better personal times, and ranking up on leaderboards. And with the few levels provided, should be quite a bit of replayability, though I would still say the game lacks girth. However, this issue would be remedied entirely by a user level repository, and obviously the ability to make your own levels. Now do I think the price tag is too steep? Not at all. I have payed more for less before, and given how awesome this game is, it is well worth it. More of a passing thought rather than a real issue to be fair.

As for any lacking features, it really boils down to adding in a level builder for users (Steam workshop integration would be awesome, a la Battleblock Theatre) and possibly adding in individual level leaderboards, though I could see how that would just be more confusing given that times come down to differences in 100th of a second resulting in long lists of the exact same time on down the leaderboard.

So in conclusion to my lengthy review of a rather short and simple game, I would absolutely reccomend the game to anyone, completley ignoring any small cons I might have found. Action platformer fans, if you don't already have it, get it. The games length and price is no excuse to not take part in the robo-nazi slaughterfest by the hands of a twitchy ninja. You are the only hope little man, save us from those Evil mecha-nazis. I heard they hate kittens!

Pros:
Incredible art direction/aesthetics
Imersive enviroment
Fluid combat
Memorable characters
Refreshing gameplay mechanics

Cons:
Buggy
Repetetive combat/gameplay
Confusing/bad keymapping
Oddly unresponsive menus and at times in game input
Extremely on rails/linear game

The game itself is a ton of fun to play ignoring a few cons that should have been fixed during development (bugs/ wonky aiming and lagging menus). At its core it's a hack and slash action platformer. In fact, most of the game is either slashing away at enemies, or jumping from platform to platform. This may get repetetive to some, but that's what the game is. And it's a damn fine looking platformer at that. The aesthetics of the game are fantastic, from boring dreary London (?) to the vibrant and morbidly twisted wonderland. Voice acting is also spot on.

Overall, if you can overlook a few bugs that will require a quick restart from checkpoint, and don't mind gameplay getting repetetive after a while playing, Alice: Madness Returns is a really fun game to anyone looking for a arcadey hack'n'slash platformer. Psychonauts comes to mind when playing this so if you enjoyed that game at all, this one is very much worthing looking in to.