Decently fun 3D platformer, especially for a dev team that is new this specific genre. It's very mechanical and even complex to control at times, but it allows for a very high skill ceiling that you need to actually work to hit. I'll admit that I had trouble at the start of the game getting a handle on everything, but after a while I really got into a groove and keeping up my flow in each level felt a lot more doable. It's genuinely gratifying how the game intrinsically rewards you for getting better. I do wish there was actual camera support, as I found myself struggling at landing my moves with some of the provided camera angles. But other than that, the game's pretty solid... but I'd be lying if I said that it left a truly strong impression on me.
I believe that feeling comes mostly from the game’s rather unappealing presentation. Visually the game has a very bouncy and defined art direction that is charming its own right (any of the 2D art can attest to this); but whether it’s the fault of the graphical limitations of being a smaller/less experienced team or something else entirely, I found the candy-colored plastic look to be quite ugly more often than not.
But the visual presentation being poor doesn’t just affect the character designs and general atmosphere as I found the actual level theming to be seriously underwhelming. With every new world I entered there was a sense of wonder that gradually dwindled once I came to understand that every stage would look and play roughly the same. There’s not a whole lot of distinction between the different game worlds beyond an altered color palette, and even less so between individual levels. Any variation regarding the assets and architecture between each stage is incredibly thin; the trapdoors, gymnast poles, bungee cables, bounce pads, zip-lines, and rotating platforms are no different at the end of the game than at the beginning (I remember the pipes in the penultimate were instead trumpets, but that’s about it). The lackluster theming might’ve come from a greater desire for total visual cohesion—with how complex the moment-to-moment gameplay can get, the last thing you want for a player to be unsure of how to interact with any given mechanical asset—but there’s definitely a way to not compromise the art direction for that goal.
“Gameplay is king” is a sentiment that is echoed constantly within the realm of gaming critique. And while there’s obviously merit to that point, I often find it reductive to focus on gameplay as if it’s the only thing that truly matters. Presentation, writing, music, etc. are more supplementary elements yes; but they all still work in service of the gameplay. It’s all important one way or the other as you’re not just blasting through a catalogue of shapeless mechanics, you’re experiencing a greater world. Nothing about it is unimportant.
I believe that feeling comes mostly from the game’s rather unappealing presentation. Visually the game has a very bouncy and defined art direction that is charming its own right (any of the 2D art can attest to this); but whether it’s the fault of the graphical limitations of being a smaller/less experienced team or something else entirely, I found the candy-colored plastic look to be quite ugly more often than not.
But the visual presentation being poor doesn’t just affect the character designs and general atmosphere as I found the actual level theming to be seriously underwhelming. With every new world I entered there was a sense of wonder that gradually dwindled once I came to understand that every stage would look and play roughly the same. There’s not a whole lot of distinction between the different game worlds beyond an altered color palette, and even less so between individual levels. Any variation regarding the assets and architecture between each stage is incredibly thin; the trapdoors, gymnast poles, bungee cables, bounce pads, zip-lines, and rotating platforms are no different at the end of the game than at the beginning (I remember the pipes in the penultimate were instead trumpets, but that’s about it). The lackluster theming might’ve come from a greater desire for total visual cohesion—with how complex the moment-to-moment gameplay can get, the last thing you want for a player to be unsure of how to interact with any given mechanical asset—but there’s definitely a way to not compromise the art direction for that goal.
“Gameplay is king” is a sentiment that is echoed constantly within the realm of gaming critique. And while there’s obviously merit to that point, I often find it reductive to focus on gameplay as if it’s the only thing that truly matters. Presentation, writing, music, etc. are more supplementary elements yes; but they all still work in service of the gameplay. It’s all important one way or the other as you’re not just blasting through a catalogue of shapeless mechanics, you’re experiencing a greater world. Nothing about it is unimportant.