You know what the mark of a great game is? When you beat the final boss and there's an enemy roll call. Regular guy? Regular guy but with a hat on? Guy you didn't even fight? All present and accounted for.
And let it be known that Mabel Syrup is not to be fucked with. That witch will rip her eye out and send it to kill you without a second thought.
That's the plot, not that it matters much. Wizard sends a knight to rob the witch, witch gives them what's coming. Why an eyeball? Because it's gesture controls. Mouse or analogs, or finger if you're on your phone. Swipe to move, tap to stop. And it works! Quite well, in fact, all while avoiding the (potential) pitfall of requiring ever-escalating precision.
Instead the game just absolutely never stops throwing new enemies at you. I think there was a fresh face for every single level in the final zone, perhaps each of the penultimate as well, and plenty of one-off enemies besides. Tons of minibosses and arena challenges, because why not? And everything requires a different approach, different swipes, different timing.There's collectibles too, which the game will cheerfully taunt you over if you reach the end without all of them. It's fun, engaging, super easy to get drawn into the loop of seeing what the next level wants to do and where it's hiding the blue gem.
So it does this, and does it well, and then brings in the finisher that is its just incredibly charming art and music. Big, chunky GBA-style graphics, vivid colors, bouncy animations, shockingly great music. Everything is so expressive, enemies are easily readable, sights and sounds their own reward as you advance. Top notch.
I do wish the analogs would indicate the direction you were moving them in. I also wish the mouse, which I switched to, was captured by the window because the number of times I hit my second screen in a boss fight was infuriating. Some sort of indicator of which collectable you missed in a level (think the natural order of the KONG letters in Donkey Kong Country or Celeste's blank strawberries) is sorely lacking as well. Small qualms, though, and nothing that really marred the fun I had.
And let it be known that Mabel Syrup is not to be fucked with. That witch will rip her eye out and send it to kill you without a second thought.
That's the plot, not that it matters much. Wizard sends a knight to rob the witch, witch gives them what's coming. Why an eyeball? Because it's gesture controls. Mouse or analogs, or finger if you're on your phone. Swipe to move, tap to stop. And it works! Quite well, in fact, all while avoiding the (potential) pitfall of requiring ever-escalating precision.
Instead the game just absolutely never stops throwing new enemies at you. I think there was a fresh face for every single level in the final zone, perhaps each of the penultimate as well, and plenty of one-off enemies besides. Tons of minibosses and arena challenges, because why not? And everything requires a different approach, different swipes, different timing.There's collectibles too, which the game will cheerfully taunt you over if you reach the end without all of them. It's fun, engaging, super easy to get drawn into the loop of seeing what the next level wants to do and where it's hiding the blue gem.
So it does this, and does it well, and then brings in the finisher that is its just incredibly charming art and music. Big, chunky GBA-style graphics, vivid colors, bouncy animations, shockingly great music. Everything is so expressive, enemies are easily readable, sights and sounds their own reward as you advance. Top notch.
I do wish the analogs would indicate the direction you were moving them in. I also wish the mouse, which I switched to, was captured by the window because the number of times I hit my second screen in a boss fight was infuriating. Some sort of indicator of which collectable you missed in a level (think the natural order of the KONG letters in Donkey Kong Country or Celeste's blank strawberries) is sorely lacking as well. Small qualms, though, and nothing that really marred the fun I had.