(total playtime: roughly 25 hours)

I've wanted to play this game for a long, long time. And now that I have, this game is so, so close to being a 5 star for me. It has amazing almost EVERYTHING: The music slams, the art and character designs are super sick, the core gameplay is super satisfying, the fucking SOUND DESIGN is PEAK KINO. So, what's the problem?

It's the same problem Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass has, where the endgame has this super fucking degenerate difficulty spike for no reason. There is a super hard level followed by a straight DPS check, and if you can't do the DPS check then you have to spend hours more grinding materials (which I do not fuck with in the slightest, menial grinding is the worst shit in the world) to level up your patapons to even have a shot at beating it.

I ended up just swapping to easy mode for the DPS check and the final boss, as I did not want to have to do a bunch of bullshit for what was basically the final stretch of the game. It kind of soured the overall experience, especially when one of the LAST bosses (2nd to last) was legitimately just pressing the same command song for 10 minutes straight.

I can say the best parts of this game easily outshine the bad parts, but it still leaves a stain on the game in it's entirety. I fucking love this game, it just has this one tiny part that stops it short of being perfect.

Was in the middle of logging all the games i've played (and will play) on this site, and this game came back into my memory.

However, it's hard to write an ACTUAL review of this game, because I don't know what to say about this game. It's not even one at that: I classify it more as an "experience", where the gameplay kind of takes a backseat to showcase everything else off.

But good lord, does it showcase everything else off EXTREMELY well.

I can't say much without spoiling, but just know that the message at the end, given the context from the entire rest of the game, hit so fucking hard as a creative. If you are struggling with it in some way; maybe you can't get started or you can't keep motivation, I would say give this game a play. It will NOT make you instantly go full-stop into creative mode, draw ten thousand things mode. Instead, you'll be given something to think about.

Why do YOU do what you like doing? Does it come from yourself, or is it from others? What keeps that creativity going?

I haven't done some graphic design in a minute. As I write this, I'm realizing I should probably get going on that. It's something I enjoyed doing, but I realize now that it feels like I do it mainly for others. I very rarely did some graphic design just for fun, or to challenge myself, instead they were for other things or people. Maybe that's why I do it so rarely nowadays, because I very rarely had that feeling to just go out and do that shit on my own terms. It always was for some project or for some tournament and so on.

I should try some new shit.

In my opinion, this is a pretty fun platformer that does most of what it does well. It ticks all the boxes: a movement system that feels super good to move around in, a kick ass soundtrack, pretty nice art, the works.

Should you buy it at full price though?
Fuck no.
While I do think pretty highly of the game as someone who hasn't really looked too much into the older games (I was more into Electric Man), I can instantly tell that this game is NOT worth 10 dollars. There is simply not enough content in this game to warrant that. I beat this game in around an hour and a half, given I only did maybe 60% of the optional challenge doors. I don't think a game this short, unless REALLY good like The Beginner's Guide, is worthy of 10 bucks.

TL;DR: Wait for a seasonal sale to buy. Good game all around though.

(Played, in this case, is that I beat Love and Kuso on Unlimited)

It's a shame I didn't click with this game, because this game quite literally has EVERYTHING that makes a good platformer. A little guy that controls super, SUPER well. Amazing music and visuals that are simple, yet pretty to look at. Level design that's (as the game would say) challenging but fair and is BUILT for speedrunning. It has everything.

I just didn't click with it. This game is one of those where your mileage WILL vary: Maybe you play it through once and drop it, or spend countless hours honing your movement until you can beat Kuso + LOVE flawlessly at an inhuman pace.

I'd say give it a shot: it's not the worst thing you can buy for 5 bucks. It's definitely not a waste, at the very least. Everything about the game makes up for what could be a very, very short experience.

This game goes pretty foolish.

It's what it says on the tin: a brutally hard platformer with lots of weird and funny levels. It's pretty adjacent to IWBTG fangames, at least to me. Short and sweet, along the lines of roughly 5 hours.

It's good in a LOT of aspects: The game controls very well and you can pick it up basically instantly. Music and visuals? Top notch, despite how simple they are. There's lots of variety in the level design to stop you from getting bored (there's an entire section that's just DOOM) and I don't think there's a lot of lowlights, save for a select few levels that were WAY harder than the ones around them. The story has the plot cohesion of a Regular Show episode, but it works to it's benefit.

I think my one problem is that I wasn't a big fan of the bullet hell levels. My favorite levels ended up being the ones where there was WAY more focus on the actual platforming itself instead of dodging projectiles. I was hoping for I Wanna Be The Guy needle levels, but eh, different game.

I don't think this game is perfect, but it is definitely very, very good. Give it a shot if you have an afternoon or evening off, you might enjoy it!

generational. if you have never played a platformer ever or you are a needle demon, you should play the FUCK out of this game.

the game feels buttery smooth and insanely responsive. the level making is easy to pick up but has insane potential. campaign is so insanely well designed it's probably one of my favorite things ever.

you gotta play this game .

i got into this game again semi-recently because of a video and oh my god this is genuinely one of, if not the best roguelikes/lites out there. this game excels in basically every aspect i want.

builds have millions of ways they can plan out depending on both arcanas and relics, meaning it's basically infinitely replayable.

the combat is super fluid, letting you be a combo beast OR a projectile throwing sharpshooter. it is basically entirely up to player skill, and while some builds make combat much much easier you can excel with nearly anything depending on how good you are.

everything art-related is REALLY good. sound design is crisp and you can FEEL some of these gotdamn attacks. art is pretty to look at and there are some sick arcanas visuals-wise. music (i main piano solo) is good and never gets old. there's also a very low-stakes story, which is nice. no big overarching plot, you just a guy trying to make it big in the chaos trials.

and the best part? RNG is almost a non-factor in this game, it is nearly ENTIRELY up to the player to get good. like i said before: while some builds are DEFINITELY better than others in combat, you can get to Sura with just about anything. it's very different from something like The Binding of Isaac, where RNG is basically THE element deciding whether your run is either fucking awesome or an instant reset. in this game, RNG never feels like it hoes you out of a good build, rather it gives you access to something a little better.

amazing game, i still don't have all the arcanas and relics, but I can play this shit forever