4 reviews liked by Link_Z
The Messenger
2018
Went to play this when I heard it was worth playing before Sea of Stars and absolutely loved the game. Controls are extremely tight and the game is super satisfying to play. I felt a bit lost at first in the second half of the game and I think it could have been a bit smother with less cryptic messages but even so I enjoyed it greatly.
Rebel Transmute
2024
tl;dr - It's a consistently good-not-great experience that may have stood out in 2016 or so, but in 2024 feels a bit run of the mill. Like most indie Metroidvanias these days, Rebel Transmute often just feels like Hollow Knight, but not as good.
This one just never feels like it stands out. There's a story here, but it's just kind of there. Never really enthralling.
The game feels fine to play, but it doesn't have that one thing that elevates it to being a great like Ori's sublime movement, Axiom Verge's creativity, or Hollow Knight's writing and art direction.
There are some creative ideas here. The swim powerup feels like Metroid's shinespark crossed with Ecco the Dolphin in the best way, and leads to some very unique puzzles... when you actually have water to interact with. For the most part, though, it feels kind of bog standard, with several powerups feeling as though they were ripped wholesale from Hollow Knight.
That said, I never disliked the game. It is fun to play. The controls are tight and smooth, the combat is tense and fast paced, and the pixel art, while not stellar, is nonetheless well made. It just never felt like the sort of standout experience that I couldn't put down.
This one just never feels like it stands out. There's a story here, but it's just kind of there. Never really enthralling.
The game feels fine to play, but it doesn't have that one thing that elevates it to being a great like Ori's sublime movement, Axiom Verge's creativity, or Hollow Knight's writing and art direction.
There are some creative ideas here. The swim powerup feels like Metroid's shinespark crossed with Ecco the Dolphin in the best way, and leads to some very unique puzzles... when you actually have water to interact with. For the most part, though, it feels kind of bog standard, with several powerups feeling as though they were ripped wholesale from Hollow Knight.
That said, I never disliked the game. It is fun to play. The controls are tight and smooth, the combat is tense and fast paced, and the pixel art, while not stellar, is nonetheless well made. It just never felt like the sort of standout experience that I couldn't put down.
This game is balanced around co-op. Attempting to beat it on the highest difficulties while solo will most often result upon frustration and death. Only two ships are helpful while attempting this: Gunner and Treason. The latter being DLC-exclusive, and also the singlehandedly most OP ship the game has.
This is the only ship you will be able to use to beat the game's infamous achievements that are definitely untested.
Play Jamestown+ instead. It doesn't solve everything but it's the most polished version, and it does have Treason.
The thumbnail on this video is my reaction upon earning the final achievement.
This is the only ship you will be able to use to beat the game's infamous achievements that are definitely untested.
Play Jamestown+ instead. It doesn't solve everything but it's the most polished version, and it does have Treason.
The thumbnail on this video is my reaction upon earning the final achievement.
Great game. While the first one focused more on the self (free will, what it means to be human) the second one focuses more on civilization, the universe and their relation.
You can even see this in the design: the first one is more contained, more simple and yet complex problems (specially the stars), the second one focuses in open maps, exploration and new gimmicks.
I also adore how this game managed to make every discussion, every audiolog and even most of the texts a treat. I specially enjoyed Lifthrasir's ones.
While in general it is easier than the first, it's also kinda of uneven. Maybe it was fatigue after solving the other puzzles but the last 3 golden door puzzles really stumped me. I did manage to pull through in the end but I'm left with the sensation that it's more uneven in terms of difficulty than what people around the internet say. I also have to say that this one forced me to restart a whole lot more than the first one, so it's not as forgiving either.
Overall I think it's a worthy successor of the original and it's worth completing in its totality, hopefully the DLC will offer something closer to the original so that the experience can be even rounder.
You can even see this in the design: the first one is more contained, more simple and yet complex problems (specially the stars), the second one focuses in open maps, exploration and new gimmicks.
I also adore how this game managed to make every discussion, every audiolog and even most of the texts a treat. I specially enjoyed Lifthrasir's ones.
While in general it is easier than the first, it's also kinda of uneven. Maybe it was fatigue after solving the other puzzles but the last 3 golden door puzzles really stumped me. I did manage to pull through in the end but I'm left with the sensation that it's more uneven in terms of difficulty than what people around the internet say. I also have to say that this one forced me to restart a whole lot more than the first one, so it's not as forgiving either.
Overall I think it's a worthy successor of the original and it's worth completing in its totality, hopefully the DLC will offer something closer to the original so that the experience can be even rounder.