Neue Rezensionen von rgk

Evil Nazis are trying to steal yet another esoteric artifact, and this will trigger our little adventure with not-Harrison Ford with a navy hat. Our adventurer is equipped with a rifle as he aims to leave a tropical island, and why not retrieve an artifact while saving a damsel in distress from being flirted with by the bad guy. There will be pitfalls with spikes, there will be snakes and spiders, and there will be swinging off ropes.


Deadfall Tropics tells its story through short cut-scenes in between levels. It’s nothing exceptional, but it greatly contributes to the overall atmosphere of the adventure. With the nice backgrounds, the cut-scenes, the animations and the movie score, everything is there to give a very cinematic feel to the adventure. The pixel art on display is very pretty. It helps with the cinematic feel; the graphics and animations help reinforce the immersion quite a lot.

I had nostalgia goosebumps sending me back to Flashback and Another World, other cinematic trial and error games. Although, in reality, Deadfall Tropics does not venture that far into interactive movie territory. It’s more like old-school platformers, a mix between Contra and Rick Dangerous or Pitfall.

What you should expect in Deadfall Tropics is an inhuman difficulty. In this game, you will die. A lot. I was even raging sometimes, once I managed to progress through a nightmarish area filled with hidden traps, just to get sucker punched by a small puny trap right before the finish line.


The game does not allow the player to progress by dumb luck, it is necessary to master a sequence to succeed. It implies trial and error, repeating a sequence over and over until you have learned it by heart and your muscle memory can perform the right dosage for each movement. Some areas can require half an hour to master. However, once you manage to do it, you can succeed in doing the same sequence within a few seconds. After a lot of practice, any tricky part becomes second nature.

Despite the extreme difficulty, I always enjoyed enduring what the game threw at me. Why, do you ask? I will explain with two main points.
Controls

First, contrary to many similar games, Deadfall Tropics has very smooth controls. The game even runs at 60 frames per second, and the controls react instantly. If you jump, the character jumps right away. There is a sprint bar that you can use mid-flight to jump farther, which becomes a very important gameplay mechanic to clear the infernal last levels.

On top of jumping, it’s possible to punch or use a rifle if you have found bullets for it. At the start of the adventure, every bullet counts and the first level is insane, but further down the line, the game becomes more generous. Just like in Contra, it’s possible to shoot in diagonals, but beware, enemies can too.

The only issue with the controls is that keys cannot be rebound due to the Fusion engine not allowing it. Thus, if you play with the keyboard, you are condemned to arrow keys and the D-Pad on a gamepad. At least the base controls work well even though they cannot be changed. Although, grabbing ledges on the rope bridge can still prove tricky to achieve.


I was talking about the pleasure to endure the game despite its difficulty, and my second point also something that many competitor games struggle with. More precisely, how the checkpoints are spaced in the levels.

Save points are not close enough to let players get through with sheer luck, while they are not so far away that the game is impossible or depressing. It’s a fine balancing tune that was done just right so that I was always struggling while never giving up due to the feeling that the challenge is impossible. The sequence to learn is never too long to perform. On top of that, respawning is immediate. Only the last levels start to deal with very long sequences, but it remains within the boundaries of what’s acceptable. And imagine the exhilaration when you finally succeed, while feeling that you did deserve it.

The game is never playing nasty tricks. When secrets are found, it’s validated without having to survive until the next checkpoint. It might seem like a detail, but the accumulation of these quality of life details show that the developer planned for the game to be brutal, but never unfair or using artificial measures to increase difficulty.

It’s difficult but it’s well done, and you won’t find yourself pestering against clunky controls or bad level design.

A big positive is that there is a lot of variety in the pacing and challenges that are faced. Sometimes you will find yourself climbing, sometimes fighting, sometimes swimming underwater… it was an atrocious underwater sequence. At least, there is no time limit or a limited number of lives like in Ninja Turtles!


I suffered for about 8 hours to finish the adventure. I have rarely played platformers this hard. If you have a low tolerance for frustration, this is absolutely not the game for you. However, if you want to prove that you have an iron will, this game is for you. And, of course, if you like traps and suffering. There is an achievement for finishing the game without dying, cheers to the sick people who will succeed. Actually, I find that the game lacks more achievement to reward progress without necessarily managing the 100%. That nearly impossible achievement alone is not enough.


This is an extremely difficult game that should only fall into the hands of masochists, but if you like that particular genre then it’s one of the best. Actually, Deadfall Tropics is my new reference in hardcore platformers inspired by Indiana Jones. The adventure is neat, the controls are great, the pacing is perfect, level design is well mastered and shows variety, graphics are pretty, and despite the difficulty, the game can be finished with the right amount of tenacity. I hope that you are stocking up on controllers, just in case a few of them meet their untimely demise against a wall in your room.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJH_ZKhKJ8s

A very accessible speedrunning FPS game. It feels very smooth and I had a more relaxing time with it than other FPS games aimed at speedrunning - which might be detrimental if you are looking for a hardcore experience with new difficult obstacles at every corner. What is particularly good is that the design, lights and arrow help you anticipate your trajectory and the enemies ahead. Except for the first guns, the weapons were surprisingly beefy and great to use. Although, I would have preferred to bind them to custom keys (ie Q, E, mousewheel up/down) rather than 1 2 3 4 5 (can't afford to move my fingers that far from the movement keys) or the mousewheel (there are too many weapons so it takes too long to switch between the ones that are necessary for the action, I ended up sticking to one weapon for all purposes). Procedural generation is great and adds a lot of content and replayability, although I suppose many players are put off by the basic neon graphics (which I personally enjoyed, on top of that it made the game easy to read and anticipate) and repeating patterns. There are a ton of game mode modifiers, including god mode, infinite jumps and zen mode without enemies.

In conclusion, Icebox is not the most challenging nor skill-based speedrun game, but it is very relaxing and enjoyable. It manages to achieve a great sense of flow thanks to many design cues which help to anticipate what lies ahead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOIrA8ooWZs

While On Thin Ice was released without fanfare, the original flash game Icycle was at least a little bit known. The concept is attractive: the world has been frozen and a naked man on a bicycle is navigating through the beautiful and bleak environments. I don’t mean that this particular man is attractive, but the concept is. Problem was, the bicycle was not very interesting to use (it could only move towards the right) and the difficulty was brutal and considered unfair. It seems like the lone developer of Damp Gnat learned from this because On Thin Ice is completely free of these issues. By the way, the same person did the coding and the art, which is impressive. Additional help was given for the audio, and that part is good too. Upon starting a level, our naked bloke will sometimes send a high-pitched scream that will echo throughout the frozen landscape. Chilling. Literally, as the poor guy is shivering on his bicycle even in the menu. If that is not enough incentive for you to go through the levels and unlock gear, the secret levels requiring specific pieces of clothing will be an additional motive. Because in these games the levels are so gorgeous that you will not want to miss a single one.


I have been itching to tell you why I think that Icycle: On Thin Ice is an amazing game, and here it comes. Notwithstanding the gorgeous art design, the game level is actually moving as you go along so that the levels transform under your wheels as you progress through them, from platforms rising out of thin ice to trees growing. If you have ever played a game from Vectorpark like Windosill, now imagine actually navigating the thing rather than just prodding it. There are many beautiful themes that serve as background, not just ice. From Magritte’s The Son of Man to a frozen war laden with dangerous bombs, anything goes in this surrealist game. I absolutely loved the experience. I felt like a kid watching marvels with little stars in my eyes. I am a platforming veteran. If a game can make me feel like that, it must be really damn good.


Since I mentioned the platforming, the controls have been vastly improved since the original flash game (which can be unlocked in On Thin Ice). It is now possible to cycle backwards without penalties, and it feels more like Trials without being as technical as the games from this series. Icycle: On Thin Ice feels more like a floaty platformer with a bit of momentum and sliding on the ice. While I usually use “floaty” to disapprove bad platforming feelings, here there is a physicality to the character that works wonders without being realistic. I find it hard to describe, but believe me when I say that the controls are tight and smooth while feeling different enough from other platformers to justify playing this game besides the gorgeous art. I would argue that the “floaty” feeling also comes from the fact that the naked man can deploy his umbrella in mid-air and gently hover in the same vein as Rayman with his helicopter hair. While this is not a unique mechanic, it adds a welcome layer of air control rather than just being a game on wheels. And that control will be well needed, as the levels start to get difficult half-way through the game. Nothing too brutal that a few retries won’t solve, and on top of that each screen is a checkpoint thus the player never has to restart from very far except if all lives were expanded and the (short) level needs to be started over.


The whole game is quite short, the main story can be completed in about two hours. Considering the price of the game and the enjoyment I had, I would say that it is fairly reasonable and worth the price. However, there is more to the game than this as there are bonus levels to unlock, lots of clothes and upgrades to unlock, and alternate objectives to complete in each level. These objectives range from completing a level without dying to finding a secret area. The economy of the game is based around ice cubes to collect in the levels. They are basically coins to pick up, but what is interesting about them is that they are very well integrated as part of the level design. They are either here for an extra little challenge to divert you from a route that is too easy, or they are here to signal where to jump so that you do not get surprised when an iceberg suddenly rises from below. These might seem like details, but it shows the mastery of the designer. For instance, the lums in Rayman are very well positioned and contribute to the pacing, while the gems in Black Forest Games (Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back and Gianna Sisters: Twisted Dreams) can be an awful distracting mess.


Enough praises, are there any shortcomings? I would say that a few levels towards the middle are not as exciting as the rest, and I feel that the environmental story-telling was occasionally brilliant (the first dream sequence) but then it was a bit too thin. I would have loved to see more of that. Finally, the options menu is essentially non-existent and the controls cannot be changed. WASD and arrows are both supported, however, this might be an issue for foreign keyboards with ZQSD and the likes.


If you have read the rest of this review the conclusion practically writes itself: Icycle: On Thin Ice is a brilliant game. The platforming on wheels feels fresh while being tight and an absolute pleasure to control, while the art design is magnificent. And then these moving levels that morph as you go along? I’m completely charmed. As a veteran platformer player, the game constantly put a big smile on my face and that’s rare enough to be mentioned. Well done! The game is cheap, I strongly recommend it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POWjdKLH3Uk

Well, what is Nidhogg 2? A fight to the death between two fighters? Yes and no. One strike can kill, but that is not the end of the round. To claim victory, one of the two fighters has to reach the far end of the level and be eaten by a giant flying worm, Nidhogg. The way the system works is that a player can only move forward if they had the last kill. Thus, there is one attacker and one defender, then it shifts and that’s what is absolutely brilliant in the dynamic of this game. Let’s imagine that the attacker has to jump to the next part of the level, and the defender is on the higher ground, waiting there patiently. The attacker will have to make the jump if he wants to push forward, but the other one can just stick their sword inside the attacker’s heart on the landing. And here you have growing tension, as the two are staring at each other, either conjuring up feints and plans or waiting for a moment of inattention… or LEEEROY JENKINS!

The most exhilarating moments of Nidhogg come from nerve-wrenching back-and-forths until someone takes the advantage. In the first Nidhogg, I regretted that the movements allowed to easily outpace the adversary and run past them one way or another. I played this game competitively in tournaments, and in the end, it looked more like a race than a duel. Nidhogg 2 remediates that with slightly slower movements, and little pauses after some actions that are not enough to break the pace of the game but admirably prevent it from using cowardly tactics. Furthermore, the counters work better and it is easier to savagely stomp a player trying to crouch-slide between the legs of their opponent. And if all else fails, it is still possible to throw your sword at their back and hit their spine!

So, basically, what I am saying is that the base gameplay is better than in the first Nidhogg. But then, they had to add new weapons. There is the good old rapier (épée), but also a knife, a two-handed claymore and a bow. Those weapons are changed upon respawn. The knife has less reach than the others, why would you want it? Then the bow sounds cool at first, you can attack from a longer distance. But then the adversary can just reflect back the arrow with a guard stance, so then it becomes even more dangerous for the archer… The only advantage I see with it is when the opponent has the claymore, since this one cannot guard in the middle, only high and low. But then the claymore is a weapon of mass destruction that can disarm the rapier or cut the other player to a thousand pieces mid-jump. An absolute joy.


Thankfully, it is possible to deactivate any weapon when creating a local game, so if there is one that you don’t like. you can just make it disappear and it won’t stop your fun anymore. Furthermore, there are very cool mutators such as low gravity to tailor the experience. You can even limit the options to only thrown weapons! This one is actually quite fun. You can also choose maps among a selection of 10. Ten! That’s nice. However… However… Well, the differences between them in terms of gameplay are very subtle. It’s mostly just a matter of more or less doors, and sometimes a few quirks like the high grass. It all seems a bit weak in comparison to the maps in EggNogg+ that incorporate a lot of environmental hazards. And also hilarious bouncing swords! Somehow I still enjoy EggNogg+ more, but I digress. My favorite map in Nidhogg 2 is the airship because it is visually amazing with ships in the sky and a gruesome butchery for worms. Non-content with the visual goodness, there are conveyor belts that end in meat crushers in which you can fall in. Ouchie. I wish all the maps had dangerous traps like this one. At least the “scenes” are larger than in the first game, allowing for more back-and-forth.

Many of the maps are a feast for the eyes, and sometimes a feast for the ears as well. Nidhogg 2 went away from the minimalist psychedelic art style of the first game and dived into a grotesque and bizarre world with odd shapes and colors. Many people complained about it when there were the first screenshots, but in movement, it’s really gorgeous to watch and absolutely unique.

I also find that this artstyle helps visualise the fighters on the background, is more funny to watch and laugh at the demise of someone, and most interestingly it allows for environmental story-telling letting us glimpse at the life and mythology of the worms.


However, on a technical side the lush backgrounds can sometimes lower the framerate a little, especially the flames at the end of the Castle – which is surprising considering that the game is upscaled from a low resolution. And there is also that annoying “FINAL SCREEN” disclaimer that covers up most of the screen. Since we are on a technical rant, the options menu to rebind keys is a bit messy to use at the moment, requiring the mouse to be used while the rest of the game is controlled with the keyboard or a gamepad. But hey, at least there are re-bindable keys and that’s great! And I kept it for the end, but there is a major issue with this game…

Online play should be renamed online unplayable. This is infuriating since this is the exact same mistake that the first Nidhogg did…. Being released with a broken netcode, as if both players had a very low framerate. That will not prompt me to tell you not to buy this game since local play is where the heart is, but you absolutely need to keep this in mind if you intended to play it online: wait until the issues are resolved. Although... For some people it seems to work just fine.


Finally, there is an arcade mode to battle increasingly strong AI opponents in all the maps and using different sets of weapons. There is a leaderboard to rank players according to how fast they beat it, and it can be done in between 10 minutes to 1 hour according to how good you are. Just be careful not to quit an ongoing match, because then the game will not save your progress and you are screwed. I also wish that you could just choose a map, weapons and AI difficulty rather than being locked to Arcade if you don’t have a non-imaginary friend available.


Nidhogg 2 is better than the first game. The game mechanics are more balanced to prevent players from running all over the place like killer bunnies, however, the new weapons bring their own imbalances to the fold. They add to the shifting dynamics of the game, but they are not all so pleasant and it is thankfully possible to disable each of them in local play. Sadly not in online play, but the netcode is so broken that you should definitely wait before buying the game if you wanted to play it online. There are a lot of beautiful maps, but most of them lack dangerous hazards to spice things up. If you are into local games and you have physical friends to play with, I definitively recommend Nidhogg 2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2f8VCxM0YM

I had so much to tell about this game that my review won't fit on Steam. You can find it here http://saveorquit.com/2017/05/14/review-the-signal-from-tolva/

tl;dr: A well-designed open world, and that's from someone that usually does not like open world games. Overall very well crafted, although the shooting bits could be less stiff. But hey, Robots. Actually, factions of Robots that can make the combats feel dynamic and epic.

https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=920247454

Dead Cells proposes to mix the Roguelite genre to Metroidvanias (the grand-children of Super Metroid and Castlevania Symphony of The Night). I have a deep affection for games in that vein, and I am very critical and I would pan a game on a single feature, such as the lack of directions or real-time map in Hollow Knight. If this was a criminal investigation, Dead Cells would be under insane scrutiny right now.

Hollow Knight bothered me with its lack of a real-time map? Dead Cells has an amazing mini-map in the corner of the screen. Alwa’s Awakening lacked teleporters? Dead Cells has several teleporters in a single dungeon, and their map displays the name of items the player has not picked up yet. The Binding of Isaac obfuscated too much information? Dead Cells shows what every single item does without evening needing to pick it up. Most Roguelites and Metroidvanias have a draggy beginning before you can pick up movement upgrades? Dead Cells lets you start with the roll, the double jump and the dive. Rogue Legacy had a neat permanent progression but its combat was terrible and was closer to a bullet hell? Dead Cells has typical Castlevania combat, with extra features and a feel closer to Dark Souls. Hell, the game seduced me with this paragraph alone. Give a medal to the game designer of Motion Twin.

And then also give a medal to the graphic artists, because the game is gorgeous. Those animations… That pseudo-pixel art… The particle effects… Only the blood could be done better. Graphically, this is a feast. We still have a few medals to give, let’s distribute it to the rest of the team because everything is great. Rebindable keys. Moody music. Nothing can be too perfect. I just had some frame drops until I deactivate Vsync, but these issues will be ironed out during Early Access.
The combat. Another medal. There is a main attack that can be upgraded to different playstyles according to the weapon (best whip I have ever seen – critical damage at the optimal distance, less damage than other weapons if too close). There is a real weight to the attacks, very satisfying to use. There is a shield to block attacks and arrows with perfect timing, with different types of shields (charge, stun and so on). The dive allows to take enemies by surprise. Rolls allow to dodge in style. Bows or throwing knives can replace the aforementioned slots, and they reload fast enough. Even better, there are two additional slots for grenades and other sorts of elliptic spells such as bear traps or freeze bombs. No limited ammo, just a short reload time. Health potions that can be refilled in between levels. Equipping all of this happens very quickly, and it’s a pure joy.

I guess it is finally time to mention what I liked less. Enemies can shoot through walls, which can sometimes become unmanageable. Especially when encountering Elite version of the enemies, which attack with much more strength and have way too much health. Those are quite a shame, and they are just the same enemies as the rest but stronger. And already, most enemies are the same from one level to the next, but stronger. I don’t really like this, since the brain associates a certain strength with each enemy and it’s not good to mess with the learning. Better to use new skins at least. Thankfully there are also a lot of enemies unique to each level. Since I mentioned the levels, each one has two different exits to two wholly different levels which allows to avoid the fatigue of seeing the same environments over and over again that a lot of Roguelites are guilty of.

Finally, so far there is a slight level of obfuscation with the progression system. For instance, in between levels I could spend enemy souls (cells here) in health potions, gold retention or weapons, but those weapons were not yet available at the start, I had to unlock something else to allow my pool of unlockables to be picked. And yet, I could see those weapons in glass jars that I wanted to smash, which was confusing. There are hidden passages that I encountered and wasted time trying to activate, I just could not know that what I needed was an ability not unlocked yet in my progression. The criticism in this last paragraph disappears as the player understands the game better, so it’s only a small issue in teaching rather than a problem in game design.

In conclusion, my biggest issues with this game are quite trivial and very likely to be ironed out during Early Access. Dead Cells has an incredible potential, and it avoids all the pitfalls that plague other Roguelites and other Metroidvanias with quality of life improvements and smart design decisions that I am glad to see. From its fantastic atmosphere to its superb combat, Dead Cells is on a good way to become a resounding success. I definitely want to see more of it, so far I am quite enthused. Verdict: Dead Cells might be charged with being a great game, but the investigation is still pending for the duration of the Early Access.

Here is a video if you want to see it in action:
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=911158565

I did not have a history with Top-Down Shooters (also known as Twin Stick Shooters) until Hotline Miami. Since then I have started to enjoy them more, especially with Nuclear Throne. I usually saw them as cheap little games that had very little to offer, but those aforementioned games and a few others (Enter The Gungeon) have put them back on the map. However, those heavy-hitters are already so good that one might find it difficult to break some new ground. And yet, Mr. Shifty comes and seduces with a mechanic that just feels perfectly at home with this viewpoint: a “blink” or “teleport” ability, that you might know from Dishonored’s Corvo, X-Men’s Nightcrawler or a few MOBAs that borrow it from WarCraft III’s Warden hero.

Empowering and beautiful; blinking from one bad guy to the other and punching them to death is exhilarating, thus Mr. Shifty is completely acing it in the gameplay department. There is a teleportation bar that empties upon each blink to prevent the player from abusing it, but it recharges fast enough to get in a quick rhythm without needing to ever stop. The necessity to abide to a rhythm pushes to enter the game’s flow, while leaving some room for extra quick manoeuvers. Marvelous. The enemies react immediately, but teleporting confuses them just long enough to get behind them.

Unlike all the other Top-Down Shooters, Mr. Shifty is actually not a shooter. It is possible to throw some (lethal) items, however our protagonist only resorts to melee items (broom, staff, keyboards) and never picks up a firearm. The genre might thus drift closer to a Beat ‘em up, except that enemies thankfully die quickly. Without any item, the punches are powerful and give an excellent feedback to the player. So while Hotline Miami was an obvious comparison as it is a leviathan of the genre, both games play extremely different. And that might be where Mr. Shifty starts to break down a little bit: while Hotline Miami offered a variety of weapons that changed the approach to the game, Mr. Shifty’s formula of move-punch-move-punch eventually becomes repetitive.

Variety comes from the enemies and their little quirks: some can dash, some will blow up after dying, some have spread weapons, some can throw explosive, and so on. Furthermore, while Hotline Miami was focusing on the combat, Mr. Shifty makes use of its protagonist’s ability to manoeuver at high speed by throwing tons of traps at the player: lasers and homing rockets will offer different sort of challenges. And talking about challenge, while the beginning of the game is fairly easy, it gradually ramps up and the later levels will require quick thinking and quick reflexes to surmount the odds.

There are dozens of goons to fight, and yet Mr. Shifty dies from a single bullet. Hitting many enemies in a short span of time will fill up a slow-motion bar, however it is sadly not delivered to the control of the player. A bullet close to the protagonist will activate the slow-mo, and while this can sometimes allow for a last-second save, it can often be triggered by a grazing bullet that would have never have hit the player, and thus waste the precious ability that would have seen a better use in the next difficult room. The save system is fair, but sometimes stretches the number of fights to survive before the next checkpoint. Repeating fights can become tiresome, since you mostly have the same approach each time. Each green door loading a new area is a checkpoint, and each elevator is the beginning of the levels. Sadly, even though the levels can be quite long, quitting the game and coming back brings back to the latest elevator rather than door. There are about 15 levels, and the game can be finished in 5-7h with no incentive to come back. While I mentioned the slow-motion, I will add that semi-destructible environments (cool physics overall) and a big sequence of levels taking place in a single building reminded me of another game: F.E.A.R. The same criticism can be aimed at both games, seeing the same thing over and over becomes dull despite the amazing core gameplay. Only the last level managed to excite me again with the chaotic redesign of the levels.

Finally, while Hotline Miami had a well-paced mysterious and hypnotizing story enhanced with ground-breaking music, Mr. Shifty does not deliver on both accounts. A more memorable music with a strong identity would have also helped set the levels apart. Moving on to the technical aspect, the controls can be rebound and work perfectly fine both with controllers and keyboard & mouse. The clean style of the graphics easily conveys all the necessary information (and destructible walls and items give a lot more punch to the punches!), however the framerate can sometimes tank really hard when a lot of explosion are taking place with many enemies on screen as well. It happened rarely enough not to be an issue, but the game does not succeed to maintain a high framerate all throughout its length.

In conclusion, Mr. Shifty suffers from the comparison to Hotline Miami. The envelope is far less attractive, and the restriction to not use firearms but only punches and thrown items ends up becoming more repetitive in the long run. Traps and many types of enemies manage to keep the interest up, however there is not enough variation in the visuals as most floors of the building to scale look the same. So while Mr. Shifty is a good game, it clearly lacks a lot to be considered a masterpiece. Still, the essential is that the core gameplay is a brilliant success, and definitely worth a recommendation. Quick successions of fast-paced high-skill manoeuvers to punch, teleport, then punch again feel amazing.

Here is a video if you want to see it in action:
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=904805161

Alwa’s Awakening is a metroidvania game in structure, but it is more specifically a puzzle platformer. Fighting and action are there, but quite simple and without the main character getting to become very powerful in that department. The powers acquired are not even boosting the movement array of the character (no wall-jump and no double-jump), at least not directly. The powers are tied to the wand, and allow to create boxes and bubbles. In other words, dynamic platforms to jump on!

And there you have it, Alwa is a game that will test your brain rather than your sword. The movements are not exactly very fast, so there is ample time to reflect on what you are doing. Only later on timing and quick execution will become important. Despite the low emphasis on combat, the controls are very tight with perfect air control, and the hitboxes are more than fair. The platforming part of the game is absolutely fantastic, supported by an exceptional level design. Almost each room is a treat with its small challenge to overcome, and lots of variety can be found despite the very basic tools at hand. Those tools are basic but amazingly used.

I generally tend not to like puzzle platformers based around moving a box, but there is no problem here since the box can be summoned. For higher elevation, summoning bubbles is necessary, and the flickering before they disappear leaves just enough time for the player to react and jump. This small detail is one of many little things that show that the developers understood what is a good design. Other such details are some specific obstacles obtained after getting a new power that force the player to use and learn the power if they want to go back to the main path. There are lots of hidden passages with clever hints. A box on your way that you won’t resist pushing? It falls through a hidden hole, informing you that the next area is going to feature lots of those. You have your own box so you can safely prod those holes. One of my fondest memories was discovering a secret by pushing an enemy off a ledge and witnessing it go through a hidden wall. The level of care that went into the level design and the puzzles reminded me of the great Zelda games and their dungeons, and I will not shy away from saying that Alwa’s design is THAT great.

Of course, not everything is perfect. The hidden walls are not updated on the map, which misleads the player returning to a previous area that they have to take a certain path in order to reach a certain area, while a secret passage has already been found but forgotten. Similarly, the map is not informative enough on the location of the different artifacts that can be found, which makes backtracking a sometimes tedious affair. At least the map updates in real time, unlike the horrendous map of Hollow Knight. Since I breached the topic of Hollow Knight, in that game the player was poorly guided and would explore areas without finding anything of worth for lack of a relevant ability. On the contrary, Alwa is exemplary. Upon starting the game, the world quickly reveals itself to have many locations that the player cannot access yet, hinting at a bigger world while successfully guiding the player into the one necessary direction. Any dungeon that can be accessed will systematically yield a useful item, treating the player in a much better way than Hollow Knight. Similarly, all the NPCs are actually helpful and telling what to look for. This good guidance eventually fans out as in the second half of the game it becomes less clear where to go next, and I wish the developers had been as involved there in guiding the player as they were in the beginning. What was also lacking was the number of teleporters, a few more would have saved some time.

In terms of save points, the game is adequately generous, and there is no penalty to death (everything acquired or revealed will remain so). Still, I need to put emphasis on the fact that the game can eventually become quite difficult towards the second half of the game. Coupled with a lack of guidance and an over-usage of hidden walls, a lot of players will be left in the cold. To be honest I don’t see why not all these games have adopted the system of VVVVV/You Have To Win The Game, with lots of checkpoints that allow for really difficult sections to shine. When there are lots of tricky rooms between two checkpoints, it can become annoying to have to go through the motions again and again and waste time before finally reaching the tricky part once more. Thankfully, the smart use of increasingly powerful spells can allow to subsequently bypass many rooms and let the player feel the progress of the character.

In terms of story, there is not much to say as it is clearly not the main draw of the game. Same for the graphics, even though they are competent I have never been too fond of the 8-bit style. If you want a more immersive world, go get Hollow Knight. If you want a better gameplay and a much stronger level design, get Alwa. The music of Alwa is in the chiptune style, and actually quite good. I loved many of the themes, and the dying tune is great. Finally, all the controls can be rebound, except sadly for the spell which has to be on UP + Attack. Not always practical when used during a jump, I would have appreciated the possibility to choose having a dedicated button for that action.

In conclusion, Alwa’s Awakening is one of the superior Metroidvania games. Not all that much focused on combat, Alwa shines with its tight and smart puzzle platforming, and its masterful level design (at least as good as Shovel Knight, perhaps even on the level of Zelda). At least in the first half of the game, because the second half is a bit more confusing with a map that is not informative enough and a disappointing lack of guidance. Should you get it? I will simply put it this way: I consistently had pleasure moving around in Alwa’s Awakening, and my brain was very satisfied to be involved at each step of the adventure. This was a lot of fun and I heartily recommend it, with the caveat that the increasing difficulty and the over reliance on hidden walls can put off many players despite all the subtle hints that are the mark of a good design.


Here is a video if you want to see it in action:
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=901114651

There are a few staples of the 4-player versus multi-player that consistently surface when playing with my friends, among them Samurai Gunn and Duck Game. Whether or not they want it, I will make GoatPunks one of the new pillars of our multi-player sessions.

Climbing to the top is the aim of our Goat Punks. Whether they are Hipster Punk, Steam Punk or Candy Punk, they battle across several beautiful and varied vertical levels. Whoever reaches the top of the mountain has to stay there for a specific amount of time (classic King of The Hill game mode, but with an actual hill to climb) while raining down bombs on the Punks below that are not behaving. Puny goats that have been stomped over or exploded will fall down with a cute scream that remins me of Worms, and while sometimes they are ejected back to the beginning sometimes it is possible to press a button with a good timing to grip a platform and go back to the fight. Being ejected back to the beginning several times in a row and scaling the mountain over and over can be frustrating.

Each level has its own quirks in terms of shortcuts. The mill has birds that you can ride, the factory has steam geysers that can propel you. Some shortcuts require good timing to be used correctly and climb faster. Visually, they are all a treat, very different and yet all cute with a good sense of colors.

Moving is a bit weird but it works just fine. I will attempt to describe the system… because unlike any other game, you don’t actually move and jump on the touch of your buttons. Here you just point in the general direction in which you want to go, and your tiny goat will automatically move towards there if there is a platform to jump on. While this seems counter-intuitive at first, in practice you don’t think about it. I believe that this is done to make the climb more fun and accessible to anyone rather than centering the game on basic movement skills. Thus, everyone can focus on the real meat of the game. My only gripe with this movement system is that if there are no platforms in the direction you want to move, the cursor switches to red and your goat stops moving. I would have liked to see maybe some basic automatic path-finding to avoid these moments when your brain just goes “uh?” and you lose a few precious seconds. It’s not always obvious when a platform is too far for your cute goat to reach.

Alright, let’s finally talk about the core game mechanic. Each adorable goat has a few actions at its disposition. There is a charge that takes a little bit of time (without moving) before launching a deadly dash. There is a shield that can counter a bomb or another delinquent goat trying to get the jump on you. And finally, there is a specific skill unique to each character that boils down to a stun or a mine. Oh wait, we are not done yet. You can also pick up power-ups, including a chainsaw or a hammer. Add to this the (different kind of) bombs when you reach the top that require to anticipate trajectories, and the battle for the highest point becomes particularly fierce. Will my opponent try to jump on me or bomb me? Should I prepare a mine in case they jump? Should I shield or should I attack? Should I run in this direction or the other? Should I surprise with a shortcut or not take the risk and climb normally? And so on. What this amounts to is a brilliant mind game. GoatPunks is a fast-paced mind game in which there are so many ways to tackle a problem that you are constantly having fun and putting your brain to contribution once you have mastered the basic game mechanics.

So far, there is only one game mode which is King of The Hill, but in the menu it is clear that there are more to come such as 2v2, Treasure Hunt, Survival and Capture The Flag. This can all just add to the core experience, because as it is there is already plenty enough to have fun. Oh and if you are out of friends, there is an online ranked mode with weekly leaderboards. To be honest these indie games never get populated enough for the multi-player to garner enough momentum, but it’s there. I have encountered minor lags, but it can be forgiven easily as the multi-player is still in beta. You’re better off playing with friends, but there is still a more than decent single-player mode to keep you busy. Basically, playing against the AI while sometimes an extra AI starts at the top as the “boss”. Some specific requests (shoot 10 goats, charge 4 goats and so on) give some flavour to the matches and allow you to unlock new stuff.

Despite everything, the game is not perfect. My main scapegoat is the options menu. You can’t rebind the keyboard controls, and they are awful. You should really play this with a controller. The default layout for the controllers is good, if you are not satisfied you can rebind it however I did not exactly understand how because that menu is not very easy to use.

As a conclusion, I love GoatPunks. This will easily remain in my selection of fun multi-player games to play with friends. There is nothing quite like it! Very original and unique, with a brilliant focus on the mind game. A bit like playing Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock with split second decisions. Even though it freshly appeared on Early Access, the game is already worth it’s price and quite complete. Anything that will be added can only make the game more varied and replayable. Heartfelt recommendation on this one.

Here is a video if you want to see it in action:
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=873002917

One Night Stand is technically a Visual Novel, however not of the narrative variety. Do not expect a full storyline full of events and characters. On the contrary, it is a very short experience (about 15 minutes) to be played over and over. Perhaps you are familiar with Save The Date, albeit both play very differently.

There is a specific structure that the game follows: investigation – the girl comes back, talk with her – investigation – the girl comes back, talk with her, for a few cycles. Several things can be found in the girl’s room, from an opened condom package to various items related to her hobbies. A few play-throughs are required to find the time to investigate everything. The player can choose whether to snoop around to find out her name, or to be respectful and keep prodding to a minimum while asking her opinion on things. Or steal her panties and make a run for the exit! They are frilly and comfortable, who could possibly resist?

Several efforts have been made to portray “the girl” as a believable character rather than a cardboard trophy. First, the art style with drawn animations is very warm and lively, making One Night Stand stand out relative to other visual novels. Secondly, she is her own person, she is opinionated and she will not hesitate to throw “the guy” out if he misbehaves. The course of the interaction will lead to several turns of events and endings, and an objective might be to find out as many endings as possible (do not expect any real sexual content).

Trying to unlock the endings introduces the very few negative criticisms I have towards the game. As is thankfully often the case in Visual Novels, there is a fast-forward button. However, the fast-forward speed might still be slightly too slow. And then, reaching the different endings sometimes seems to rely on a few hidden parameters that are related to what the character thinks rather than directly the interaction with the girl, which makes the search for the last endings a rather repetitive trial and error process. I cannot be 100% sure about those hidden parameters, but that is how it came across to me. Some others criticize that there are a few loose threads that are not completely explained (well, one thing in particular related to her identity). Keep in mind that these are really minor criticisms, I was impressed by how cohesive everything was despite the amount of potential interactions and ways to lead the story.

In conclusion, One Night Stand is a very polished little game that is all about curiosity. Curiosity towards investigating items in the room, the potential endings, elements as to what happened the previous evening and finally a very simple yet believable character at the center of the interaction. The game avoids surprisingly well being patronizing or being pretentious, there is no lack of subtlety despite the suggestive premises. Very cheap, get it if you are curious and looking for an interesting slice of life. However if you are looking for a full fledged story, give this game a miss.

Here is the video review:
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=811261670