2020
A neat experiment on the turn based space that mechanically contrasts attack and defense — the first wil test your strategy and the latter your reflexes — giving more variety to the challenge.
2020
Neat twist on Peggle, nothing groundbreaking.
2020
Fairly standard sokoban with some great art and charming writing. The choice at the end of the level should've been reworked, as it is now it's just a nuisance.
Throwing a whole extra half star at it just because of the final level, could use a lot more of that.
Throwing a whole extra half star at it just because of the final level, could use a lot more of that.
2020
Surprisingly good game feel for a bootleg Splatoon. But it needs a lot more maps and better maps, the ones here (on the free version) are either too simple to present any interesting choices or too sparse that it breaks the rhythm of the combat.
2020
It only has one trick, but it's a fun trick.
2020
A simple and short, but competent, fast paced platformer. Nothing new, but nothing wrong with it either.
2020
A neat enough way of conveying the idea of mixing ingredients trough gameplay by putting a match type game in a looser state. It is definitely carried more by the cute pokemon art (except for pikachu, that looks like some weird big headed puppet monstrosity) than anything else, because it never asks too much of you, even after introducing three or four new types of "puzzles", so it can get real boring really fast.
2020
A spiritual remake of a NES soccer game. Simple fun.
2020
Cute love story about unassuming choices leading to life changing events. Very short and simple, but a lot of heart.
2020
Tiny tiny tiny platformer with really tight controls, nice visuals and good — but quite standard — challenges.
2020
ya basic
2019
Feels like a game inspired by a Playdead from ten years ago. The clunky controls and flat visuals didn't hold me for very long. Fun VA tho.
2017
There's definitely some Yoko Taro here, in the dark but comedic tone and the questions around the relation between author and creation, but that's not enough to push me through overwhelming piled up systems and the oh so tired idea of the twisted dark and grim version of fairy tales we usually associate with purity.
Ok, three big things and one weird tangent.
Big Thing 1. I’m yet to find something in a video game that I get more pleasure from than moving quickly and precisely in 2D platformers, and my god does this game do traversal like a dream. Despite its somewhat overwhelming controls you never feel outside of the character, it's floaty when you expect and sharp when you want, always flowing beautifully between the many traversal options it presents throughout the game that consistently complements the previous ones.
It's obviously very similar to Blind Forest, and doesn't introduce anything as groundbreaking as the Bash, but honestly I could just do this forever and never get tired of it.
(also other games should totally just steal Bash, what are you waiting for)
Big Thing 2. So, I have this long standing silly debate with some folks I know about whether Ori is a metroidvania or not. The crux of my argument against it is that the game has no real interest in exploration, it is very linear, guided and progression always comes from story. But Moon Studios clearly loved Hollow Knight, and while I appreciate the added complexity to combat and the quirky characters with charming voices populating the world, it still isn't a game about exploring. And that becomes very clear when you look at how the map guy works. While in HK he is basically just selling you paper so you can draw your routes, making it so you can only see where you’ve already been through, here it's like he’s the one playing a metroidvania and just selling you the results of his work after he’s done.
I really do love these games as platformers, but they got nothing on really good metroidvanias, and trying to double down on that without really committing to it just seems like a waste.
Big Thing 3. It’s wild how they’re just straight up repeating the same tricks from the first game with the story here. Kinda feels like they can’t do anything other than ‘first five minutes of Up’ type of storytelling.
Weird Tangent. Is this the best Spider-Man game ever made!? I really think the only way we’ll ever come close to replicating the acrobatic, fast paced and precise mobility of that character in a video game is by limiting the movement to two axis. The 3D games always reduce the more extravagant traversal scenes to cheap QTEs because it would be impossible to control a character in situations like that, but we do it with Ori all the time! And he crawls on walls! And has this glowy rope thing he shots at stuff to get closer and he fights animal-like beings and… you get the idea.
Big Thing 1. I’m yet to find something in a video game that I get more pleasure from than moving quickly and precisely in 2D platformers, and my god does this game do traversal like a dream. Despite its somewhat overwhelming controls you never feel outside of the character, it's floaty when you expect and sharp when you want, always flowing beautifully between the many traversal options it presents throughout the game that consistently complements the previous ones.
It's obviously very similar to Blind Forest, and doesn't introduce anything as groundbreaking as the Bash, but honestly I could just do this forever and never get tired of it.
(also other games should totally just steal Bash, what are you waiting for)
Big Thing 2. So, I have this long standing silly debate with some folks I know about whether Ori is a metroidvania or not. The crux of my argument against it is that the game has no real interest in exploration, it is very linear, guided and progression always comes from story. But Moon Studios clearly loved Hollow Knight, and while I appreciate the added complexity to combat and the quirky characters with charming voices populating the world, it still isn't a game about exploring. And that becomes very clear when you look at how the map guy works. While in HK he is basically just selling you paper so you can draw your routes, making it so you can only see where you’ve already been through, here it's like he’s the one playing a metroidvania and just selling you the results of his work after he’s done.
I really do love these games as platformers, but they got nothing on really good metroidvanias, and trying to double down on that without really committing to it just seems like a waste.
Big Thing 3. It’s wild how they’re just straight up repeating the same tricks from the first game with the story here. Kinda feels like they can’t do anything other than ‘first five minutes of Up’ type of storytelling.
Weird Tangent. Is this the best Spider-Man game ever made!? I really think the only way we’ll ever come close to replicating the acrobatic, fast paced and precise mobility of that character in a video game is by limiting the movement to two axis. The 3D games always reduce the more extravagant traversal scenes to cheap QTEs because it would be impossible to control a character in situations like that, but we do it with Ori all the time! And he crawls on walls! And has this glowy rope thing he shots at stuff to get closer and he fights animal-like beings and… you get the idea.
2020
A neat creation born out of the hellscape that is 2020 in an earnest attempt to make us move a little while stuck at home.