IceNinja
Bio
My greatest love in life is games. I'm constantly playing, writing about and making them.
My greatest love in life is games. I'm constantly playing, writing about and making them.
Badges
GOTY '23
Participated in the 2023 Game of the Year Event
Gamer
Played 250+ games
Liked
Gained 10+ total review likes
2 Years of Service
Being part of the Backloggd community for 2 years
GOTY '22
Participated in the 2022 Game of the Year Event
Popular
Gained 15+ followers
Best Friends
Become mutual friends with at least 3 others
Noticed
Gained 3+ followers
GOTY '21
Participated in the 2021 Game of the Year Event
N00b
Played 100+ games
Favorite Games
297
Total Games Played
012
Played in 2024
000
Games Backloggd
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This review contains spoilers
This game is quite pretty! The highlight is the gorgeous environments, shoutout especially to the clocktower, void, labyrinth, and of course the final vista.
and that's the only nice thing I have to say about this game! Wait, i like how you have to do a cute little dance animation to gather collectibles. Ok, that really is all I'm positive on.
The gameplay is mindless, the characters are uninteresting, there's no meaning for me to find in story... there's so little personality in everything except the visuals. I found myself wondering what the team member composition of this studio was right until i rolled the credits. Did the artists outnumber all the other roles 7:1???? Were any game designers thrown in a dungeon for speaking of the forbidden concept of fun?
I always hate seeing games make things like healing and bombs limited consumables (and worse you use freely from a menu that pauses gameplay). It's not like that matters here though, my rant about these mechanics is a waste of time in a world where enemies are this easy.
Combat is almost entirely spamming attack and skills as they go off cooldown, with the occasional need for the legendary "move out of the way" maneuver. Why did they even add the shield and stamina bar lol?
The game is short (which is something i always enjoy), but it's still padded through it's quest design. Don't worry, it doesn't get to the point where you are ever like "let me play the game agaain"... especially since the combat itself feels like padding anyway.
This game makes me appreciate the way levels in other games feel like places. Seeing the hedge maze in the background at the beginning made me quite excited to explore there. Jokes on me, it's actually just 3 rooms.
The other locations are pretty much like this too. This game has no sense of navigation or traversal. I'd be happy to see some games get away with that, here it just feels like a shame.
The more i think about it, the more i realize the non-visual components of the game are bad not because they are flawed or annoying, but because they are so utterly uninteresting. Bleh that's enough of writing this review, i'm not built to be negative on games
and that's the only nice thing I have to say about this game! Wait, i like how you have to do a cute little dance animation to gather collectibles. Ok, that really is all I'm positive on.
The gameplay is mindless, the characters are uninteresting, there's no meaning for me to find in story... there's so little personality in everything except the visuals. I found myself wondering what the team member composition of this studio was right until i rolled the credits. Did the artists outnumber all the other roles 7:1???? Were any game designers thrown in a dungeon for speaking of the forbidden concept of fun?
I always hate seeing games make things like healing and bombs limited consumables (and worse you use freely from a menu that pauses gameplay). It's not like that matters here though, my rant about these mechanics is a waste of time in a world where enemies are this easy.
Combat is almost entirely spamming attack and skills as they go off cooldown, with the occasional need for the legendary "move out of the way" maneuver. Why did they even add the shield and stamina bar lol?
The game is short (which is something i always enjoy), but it's still padded through it's quest design. Don't worry, it doesn't get to the point where you are ever like "let me play the game agaain"... especially since the combat itself feels like padding anyway.
This game makes me appreciate the way levels in other games feel like places. Seeing the hedge maze in the background at the beginning made me quite excited to explore there. Jokes on me, it's actually just 3 rooms.
The other locations are pretty much like this too. This game has no sense of navigation or traversal. I'd be happy to see some games get away with that, here it just feels like a shame.
The more i think about it, the more i realize the non-visual components of the game are bad not because they are flawed or annoying, but because they are so utterly uninteresting. Bleh that's enough of writing this review, i'm not built to be negative on games
The core tail-waggling movement is quite interesting. It was satisfying to spend a brief period of time getting comfortable with this novel propulsion, and there's just enough environment design here to give a proper context for learning the nuances of movement.
I like the inclusion of the predators (I would have gotten bored even faster given just a peaceful pond to vibe in). There's a part of myself that desires their threat to be more present, but I think the natural flow between danger and safety probably works better for what this game is going for. I especially like the mechanic where eating each piece of food broadcasts your location to the predators.
The primary joy is getting into the rhythm that allows you to zoom across the water. I suspect the game is intended to be about oscillating between swift and relaxed movement, but I almost exclusively lived in the former world. The small field of view and rock obstacles are suggestions that you shouldn't exist as a being of pure motion, although not in an overtly punishing way. I tried experimenting with hiding in the lili pads, but that never came close to rivaling the utility of a non-stop nomadic life style
I got bored after about 20 minutes, yet still found playing this worthwhile. Also shoutout to the using water color to depict water, i'm going to pretend this game exists just for that artistic pun.
Also read this cool devlog from the developer
https://ninjadodo.itch.io/guppy/devlog/47496/guppy-designing-unconventional-input-for-natural-movement
I like the inclusion of the predators (I would have gotten bored even faster given just a peaceful pond to vibe in). There's a part of myself that desires their threat to be more present, but I think the natural flow between danger and safety probably works better for what this game is going for. I especially like the mechanic where eating each piece of food broadcasts your location to the predators.
The primary joy is getting into the rhythm that allows you to zoom across the water. I suspect the game is intended to be about oscillating between swift and relaxed movement, but I almost exclusively lived in the former world. The small field of view and rock obstacles are suggestions that you shouldn't exist as a being of pure motion, although not in an overtly punishing way. I tried experimenting with hiding in the lili pads, but that never came close to rivaling the utility of a non-stop nomadic life style
I got bored after about 20 minutes, yet still found playing this worthwhile. Also shoutout to the using water color to depict water, i'm going to pretend this game exists just for that artistic pun.
Also read this cool devlog from the developer
https://ninjadodo.itch.io/guppy/devlog/47496/guppy-designing-unconventional-input-for-natural-movement
This review contains spoilers
[My thoughts on hempuli's covemount-like saga are from watching a friend playthrough not an experience of playing myself]
I adore the mechanic of this one. it's fascinating to wrap your head around it.
The early setup of tricking you into thinking you need portals to warp is hilarious.
The idea of changing warp pathing by pushing sokoban boxes is so cool. I like a lot of the puzzles that arise from it.
This game has an interesting progression where your sense of mechanical freedom advances as you beat levels and understand the nuance of warping. Then it finishes by trapping you into a limited world where you can barely warp.
The more intuitive arc would be the other-way around, but I'm pretty fond of the way this game does this.
I adore the mechanic of this one. it's fascinating to wrap your head around it.
The early setup of tricking you into thinking you need portals to warp is hilarious.
The idea of changing warp pathing by pushing sokoban boxes is so cool. I like a lot of the puzzles that arise from it.
This game has an interesting progression where your sense of mechanical freedom advances as you beat levels and understand the nuance of warping. Then it finishes by trapping you into a limited world where you can barely warp.
The more intuitive arc would be the other-way around, but I'm pretty fond of the way this game does this.