Finding Xavier

Finding Xavier

released on Jan 20, 2023

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Finding Xavier

released on Jan 20, 2023

A short adventure in which you will have to use precise platforming in order to find your cat, Xavier.


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For a game this short I think the fairest way to rate it is based on game-feel and how tight the design is, given what little is even in the game. In this way I found Finding Xavier to be pretty disappointing actually.

The speed of the movement exaggerates the small scale of the puzzles and heavily reduces the sense of control that you want with this type of game. That crucial period between dying and regaining control just feels really awkward. It takes too long to regain control, death doesn't look or sound crunchy enough and you will have stored jumps after death so often that you're best off simply pausing for a bit before trying to input anything. I also strongly dislike the way that the walljump launches you perpendicular to the wall with no control.

I do like the gimmick where you have to select a limited amount of your abilities at one time. It's hard to appreciate in such a short game, but I had a moment at the end where I was enjoying thinking through my options. The game doesn't tutorialise this aspect well, however. I assumed you had to be at the farm to change your loadout (otherwise what's the purpose of making the player go back there every time they gain an ability?), but you can just change it whenever on the fly.