Unfathomably terrible. Every decision made here feels wrong. Jumping physics are off, hitboxes are super janky, power-ups don't add a whole lot, enemy AI is rudimentary at best, there is little mechanical intrigue behind gathering collectables, buttons and switches don't always do what they're supposed to do...
Of particular highlight are the character models, which are nothing short of HIDEOUS. I actually think there are a lot of solid character designs that just did not translate well into 3D, or at least this game's version of 3D. Or maybe it's just down to seeing how they animate - I guess I get how you'd stumble upon the idea of Frogger flying around by inflating his vocal sac, but boy does that look gross.
Shrek feels like an obvious point of comparison, as another conventionally ugly 3D edgy Fractured Fairy Tales take on kitchen sink fantasy referencing whatever pop culture it wants that released in 2001. But Shrek had heart and complexity, and this game does not. Actually, I wouldn't think Shrek would be a point of reference during this game's development, since that'd be a roughly 6-month turnaround time between initial releases, and dev cycles usually take longer than that. But I'm not sure what the dev cycle looked like for this. Would love to read or watch a post-mortem, if one exists.
Having said all that, this is a very fun game to think about. None of the intended ideas come together, but it's a breezy playthrough, and it's fascinating seeing how everything it's going for abjectly fails to come together. I don't claim to love it or anything, but this is far from my least-favorite game.
Of particular highlight are the character models, which are nothing short of HIDEOUS. I actually think there are a lot of solid character designs that just did not translate well into 3D, or at least this game's version of 3D. Or maybe it's just down to seeing how they animate - I guess I get how you'd stumble upon the idea of Frogger flying around by inflating his vocal sac, but boy does that look gross.
Shrek feels like an obvious point of comparison, as another conventionally ugly 3D edgy Fractured Fairy Tales take on kitchen sink fantasy referencing whatever pop culture it wants that released in 2001. But Shrek had heart and complexity, and this game does not. Actually, I wouldn't think Shrek would be a point of reference during this game's development, since that'd be a roughly 6-month turnaround time between initial releases, and dev cycles usually take longer than that. But I'm not sure what the dev cycle looked like for this. Would love to read or watch a post-mortem, if one exists.
Having said all that, this is a very fun game to think about. None of the intended ideas come together, but it's a breezy playthrough, and it's fascinating seeing how everything it's going for abjectly fails to come together. I don't claim to love it or anything, but this is far from my least-favorite game.