Grapple Dog is an exhilarating 2D pixel-art platformer. Use your awesome grappling hook to clear tricky challenges as Pablo, the Grapple Dog! Sail across 6 colourful worlds with a crew of fearless adventurers to stop the robotic overlord Nul from destroying the world!
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Fine enough game, not a whole lot interesting or unique going on. I was hoping the grapple mechanics would play a bigger role, but I didn't even get that far into the game so who knows.
The issue that broke this game for me was the aerial control. For whatever reason, unlike most games where taking your thumb off the control stick stops the character, in this game he keeps moving despite that. This makes precise jumps incredibly frustrating for me, and ultimately caused me to quit the game.
Others may find it not as annoying, but it really hampered my experience. Decent enough game, brought down drastically by poor control.
The issue that broke this game for me was the aerial control. For whatever reason, unlike most games where taking your thumb off the control stick stops the character, in this game he keeps moving despite that. This makes precise jumps incredibly frustrating for me, and ultimately caused me to quit the game.
Others may find it not as annoying, but it really hampered my experience. Decent enough game, brought down drastically by poor control.
Completé este juego menos el último nivel (debido a una barrera de gemas bastante estúpida para poder jugarlo) hace 2 meses, por lo que mi opinión se basa un poco en el final y el game feel, que ambos son buenos. El gameplay está chulo si bien en algunos momentos me parece demasiado complicado para conseguir las dichosas gemas necesarias para avanzar. El boss final es decente, aunque tiene algunas cosas chorras que solo se usan en este boss en vez de construir en mecánicas del pasado. En resumen, juego simpático con gameplay bueno que se complica bastante en los mundos finales. Vale la pena probarlo si os molan los plataformas de este tipo. Jugado íntegramente en Steam Deck.
By no means a bad game; it's got a charming artstyle, a fun story, and a great idea behind it. However, I'm not a fan of how it feels to move around. It feels like you're constantly fighting with the controls for more accuracy as the player character feels surprisingly heavy, and the grapple and movement, in general, feel just a little too rigid. I would've loved a more free-flowing game feel similar to something like Sanabi.
do not get the wrong impression : Grapple Dog is extremely charming, cuz of its presentation and gameplay. I love the artstyle, the writing is really cute and the game just is a mood I find myself really vibing with (the soundtrack is really, just wish the tracks were a bit longer).
I like how the grapple is exploited as a main mechanic cause you can clearly see all the thought and process that went into making up so many scenarios and gimmicks for the movement to feel fun and fluid. but I sadly can't say everything enthralled me gameplay wise : some levels were a bit unfair in their difficulty in my opinion (that fucking bird boss was annoying as heck) and, as I kept playing, I think I never fully adjusted to the game's physics, notably Pablo's jump. I found myself to feel like I was fighting with the game to control Pablo the way I wanted to and it kinda lasted throughout the whole thing. where as it could have potentially created a good difficulty curve overall keeping on my toes, it just came off as annoying and frustrating.
but I gotta reiterate : THIS IS A COOL CUTE GAME, if you like 2D platformers I'd definitely suggest you to give it a try!! (and honestly I'm prettyyyy hyped about the sequel)
I like how the grapple is exploited as a main mechanic cause you can clearly see all the thought and process that went into making up so many scenarios and gimmicks for the movement to feel fun and fluid. but I sadly can't say everything enthralled me gameplay wise : some levels were a bit unfair in their difficulty in my opinion (that fucking bird boss was annoying as heck) and, as I kept playing, I think I never fully adjusted to the game's physics, notably Pablo's jump. I found myself to feel like I was fighting with the game to control Pablo the way I wanted to and it kinda lasted throughout the whole thing. where as it could have potentially created a good difficulty curve overall keeping on my toes, it just came off as annoying and frustrating.
but I gotta reiterate : THIS IS A COOL CUTE GAME, if you like 2D platformers I'd definitely suggest you to give it a try!! (and honestly I'm prettyyyy hyped about the sequel)
Attention! I have stopped playing this game solely because I'm having weird slowdown issues when I move too fast or are in certain areas in the game. I'm totally sure it's not my PC, and I cannot find ways to monkey with the .exe of this to make it run in a more efficient way. If this has happened to anyone else & you fixed it let me know how, I generally really really enjoy this game but at this point the slowdowns are too much of a hinderance to ignore.
Other than that issue, what a charming & addictive little game. The art style is stellar; with this bouncy pixel look that's just detailed enough to have more style but still keeps every graphical element readable & easy to comprehend quickly on a scan. While I think at some points the movement is a little too slippery for precision platforming, I do like the grapple mechanics a lot & the bouncing mechanics brought in later give you this great sense of momentum. The music is boppin', the dialogue is funny without being overly quirked up; just generally this has a really appealing vibe & gamefeel. If I can ever get this issue resolved (or get it on another platform), I'd love to see it through. Hopefully the sequel addresses all the issues!
Other than that issue, what a charming & addictive little game. The art style is stellar; with this bouncy pixel look that's just detailed enough to have more style but still keeps every graphical element readable & easy to comprehend quickly on a scan. While I think at some points the movement is a little too slippery for precision platforming, I do like the grapple mechanics a lot & the bouncing mechanics brought in later give you this great sense of momentum. The music is boppin', the dialogue is funny without being overly quirked up; just generally this has a really appealing vibe & gamefeel. If I can ever get this issue resolved (or get it on another platform), I'd love to see it through. Hopefully the sequel addresses all the issues!
Grapple Dog é feito com muito capricho em diversos aspectos, seja visualmente com sua arte estilosa e suas cutscenes dramáticas, ou com sua trilha sonora surpreendentemente boa, na sua história simples e cativante e mais importante no seu level design, já a jogabilidade deixa um pouco a desejar.
A clara inspiração do criador Joseph Gribbin em clássicos como Donkey Kong Country e seu histórico de trabalho na Nitrome com certeza o ajudaram no desenvolvimento de um jogo de plataforma sólido, desafiador e cheio de conteúdo. Porém a mecânica principal de movimentação (o gancho) e a física do jogo podem te fazer cometer erros que você não esperava, causando um pouco de frustração.
Ainda assim, Grapple Dog é bem único, cheio de personalidade e divertido de jogar.
A clara inspiração do criador Joseph Gribbin em clássicos como Donkey Kong Country e seu histórico de trabalho na Nitrome com certeza o ajudaram no desenvolvimento de um jogo de plataforma sólido, desafiador e cheio de conteúdo. Porém a mecânica principal de movimentação (o gancho) e a física do jogo podem te fazer cometer erros que você não esperava, causando um pouco de frustração.
Ainda assim, Grapple Dog é bem único, cheio de personalidade e divertido de jogar.