It’s funny the game is called Ugly because it’s such a beauty, it’s close to perfection when you see a footage of the game. The graphics have so much detail, attention and personal touch put into the environments. I love to zoom in often just to see the cupboards, the kid drawings made and toys scattered for instance. You also have many situations where you move past objects and they animate in delightful ways. It’s not just the graphics, the soundtrack is also fantastic and the same holds true for the sound effects. This game is just incredibly polished and the story it’s trying to tell is beautifully presented. The achievements (either collectibles or story progression) are used to explain the story slowly in simple words and art. It’s another great example of using achievements to enhance your enjoyment of the game instead of work against it.
Now what about the gameplay you ask? It’s brilliant but it needs some explaining. Depending on what you’re looking for it might be a turn off or the opposite. The game took me around 15 hours to 100% and it’s mainly divided in 2 parts. Now the game is a platform puzzler in a general sense. Part 1 relies mostly on the thinking aspect. Almost every room can be executed with ease as long as you figure out what you’re supposed to do. The second part while still a puzzler at heart, it focuses heavily on the platforming, timing and execution. Often times it’s easier to figure out what you’re supposed to do but being able to is a different matter. Then we have the 5 bosses (in part one) in every main area. Those are a mix of both styles. The game is incredibly difficult as a whole. Normally this is a red flag for me but I was so intrigued that it didn’t stop me. I wanted to advance further and didn’t want to let go. You’re often put in situations (especially part 2) where you look at a room and think it’s impossible to clear. Then you clear one and you can’t believe it. The game keeps pushing the limits, showing you the possibilities of using your skills in unexpected ways and it honestly feels amazing. I don’t remember the last time a game ever did that to me. I had more issues with part 1 (glass area mainly) but there is a hint system in-game and it’s easy to look up solutions online if that’s not enough.
Flaws:
-Boss 5. Honestly the obstacles in between were too frequent, too quickly and mostly not fun. This should seriously be rebalanced and improved
-Glass area (part 1). It feels like the mechanics introduced were not introduced properly and you were suddenly getting some rooms with highly complex puzzles. The areas after were much better at gradually introducing mechanics and the puzzle complexity being appropriate
-There is minor backtracking in part 2 every time you clear a room, I’d have liked a quicker way of getting to where I need to be from the starting area
-The story being unclear. Even though I enjoyed the story and was dying for more, I didn’t fully understand the ending and what it meant
This game is very close to perfection despite the few flaws mentioned. Ugly should seriously be played by many more people. It should not be passed on even if you dislike challenge. Now challenge is subjective and I don’t want people to hate themselves for games being too frustrating. But if you consider yourself at least an average player, often going for normal difficulty and like the genre, then give this a shot and push yourself more than usual because the pay off will be worth it most likely. I paid around €14,50 for Ugly and I think it’s worth it.
Now what about the gameplay you ask? It’s brilliant but it needs some explaining. Depending on what you’re looking for it might be a turn off or the opposite. The game took me around 15 hours to 100% and it’s mainly divided in 2 parts. Now the game is a platform puzzler in a general sense. Part 1 relies mostly on the thinking aspect. Almost every room can be executed with ease as long as you figure out what you’re supposed to do. The second part while still a puzzler at heart, it focuses heavily on the platforming, timing and execution. Often times it’s easier to figure out what you’re supposed to do but being able to is a different matter. Then we have the 5 bosses (in part one) in every main area. Those are a mix of both styles. The game is incredibly difficult as a whole. Normally this is a red flag for me but I was so intrigued that it didn’t stop me. I wanted to advance further and didn’t want to let go. You’re often put in situations (especially part 2) where you look at a room and think it’s impossible to clear. Then you clear one and you can’t believe it. The game keeps pushing the limits, showing you the possibilities of using your skills in unexpected ways and it honestly feels amazing. I don’t remember the last time a game ever did that to me. I had more issues with part 1 (glass area mainly) but there is a hint system in-game and it’s easy to look up solutions online if that’s not enough.
Flaws:
-Boss 5. Honestly the obstacles in between were too frequent, too quickly and mostly not fun. This should seriously be rebalanced and improved
-Glass area (part 1). It feels like the mechanics introduced were not introduced properly and you were suddenly getting some rooms with highly complex puzzles. The areas after were much better at gradually introducing mechanics and the puzzle complexity being appropriate
-There is minor backtracking in part 2 every time you clear a room, I’d have liked a quicker way of getting to where I need to be from the starting area
-The story being unclear. Even though I enjoyed the story and was dying for more, I didn’t fully understand the ending and what it meant
This game is very close to perfection despite the few flaws mentioned. Ugly should seriously be played by many more people. It should not be passed on even if you dislike challenge. Now challenge is subjective and I don’t want people to hate themselves for games being too frustrating. But if you consider yourself at least an average player, often going for normal difficulty and like the genre, then give this a shot and push yourself more than usual because the pay off will be worth it most likely. I paid around €14,50 for Ugly and I think it’s worth it.