basard1
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Hollow Knight
2017
This review contains spoilers
A game has to be very special for me to return a third, fourth, fifth, sixth time. For me to restart it the same day my save was corrupted - and then again, when it was corrupted again. Only a select few could keep me so enthralled that I still come back over and over, years later.
There’s a magic surrounding Hollow Knight, permeating it, not unlike the infection that sits at its core. I’ve been burnt out on writing for months, games littering my Steam that I haven’t felt apt to review yet. So, instead, I booted up Hollow Knight, because it had been too long, and because I knew that it would revive my passion for discussion. There are millions of things - big and small - that I could discuss about Hollow Knight.
But my main reason for re-installing it was never to pump out a review. I simply felt the familiar urge to revisit Hallownest, like I have so many times before. After all, Hollow Knight is consistently one of the best video game experiences I’ve had; how could I NOT want to return again and again? The mechanics are smooth, challenging, and fun. The music and art direction are nearly unmatched. The story is complex and captivating.
Hollow Knight is, and always will be, a work of art.
Visuals: 5.5/5
Sound: 5.5/5
Story: 5.5/5
Gameplay: 5.5/5
Worldbuilding: 5.5/5
Overall game score: 5/5 [5.5/5]
Visuals:
Nestled in the far corner of a desolate, underground wasteland hides Hallownest. Once an impressive kingdom ruled by the divine Pale King, it served as a haven for all bugs; a place where they could gain true sentience. Now all that remains is a shallow grave of its glory days. Those same bugs wander the caverns aimlessly, mindlessly, their societies nearly all abandoned. The bright orange infection bursting from their bodies, from the walls, from the very air around you - it paints a grim picture.
Hollow Knight’s visual storytelling is immaculate. Each area you explore adds its own layer to the incredible overarching history of Hallownest and its people. The cast is made up of thousands. The victims are too great to count.
The vastly different environments allude to societies that grew and evolved totally independent of each other, of even the king or his city. All are made up of the same soil, yet each new village starkly contrasts the last. Yes, a handful of Hallownest’s tunnels once formed the Pale King’s land; but his tunnels, and many more, had been there long before.
From the pink, bubble-filled Fog Canyon to the dark, cramped, frightening Deepnest. The imprint of the King cuts straight through Hallownest, and his crown jewel - the City of Tears - sits at its heart. But the mantises, the bees, the moths, and the spiders had all been there lifetimes before he’d ever set foot in their caves.
The devil is in the details, the little things you may overlook. Giant carcasses left over from eons past. Overgrown green, long since abandoned, overtaking and bringing new life. Furniture, books, graves. Statues of those once revered with worship and remembrance. You can only really understand what Hollow Knight is about by observing The Knight’s surroundings, and by dissecting the sparse dialogue and writings littered throughout your journey.
The color palettes, environment, lighting, and art are huge factors in making each of these areas feel truly unique. Yet, despite how radically different each place is in presentation, what keeps consistent throughout the entire game is the atmosphere. Loneliness and emptiness pervade every nook and cranny. There are dozens upon dozens of artifacts telling the history of Hallownest; yet conscious, living beings are few and far between. What remains are ghosts, memories of a time when Hallownest was filled with the bustling of life. Its citizens walk now only as zombie-like victims, serving as a reminder to how great and diverse the world of Hallownest once was.
Flying, crawling, running. Big, small, smart, simple. Dedicated warriors who still carry themselves with dignity, despite forgetting all else. Siblings of the Knight, mirrors into a cruel, unlucky fate. Cushioned, cowardly rich bugs. Graceful and precise mantis traitors. All have fallen to the infection. All have reverted back to their natural instincts - which, for many, is violence. Fighting.
Fighting is a huge part of Hollow Knight. Nearly every cavern you’ll explore is blocked by a few undead husks. You won’t get anywhere without challenging a boss or two, either. And it’s difficult to argue against the bosses being the holy grail of Hollow Knight. They encapsulate everything exceptional about the game - the mechanics, the visual design, the music. And above everything else within its tunnels, the bosses represent Hallownest’s past poignantly. They stand as reminders of its ideals, its communities, and its customs.
But one of the most important elements to making fights FEEL good is the animation. Always smooth and easy to read, both The Knight and enemy animations are perfectly suited to split-second decision making. Before an aggressor ever does anything, you’re given a build-up window, and, consequently, the opportunity to predict and adapt. It is totally up to you to fully utilize it.
There are endless things to praise about Hollow Knight’s art. Without the solid visual foundation, its gameplay, story, and world might not be nearly as good. Because when I think of playing Hollow Knight, I think of perfectly timing attacks on dangerous enemies. I think of exploring Greenpath or the City of Tears. I think of my favorite character designs, or of the terrifying, hidden-away bosses. The art is far from the only good thing about Hollow Knight, but it’s one of the best, and possibly its most underrated attribute.
Oh, and I also think of the music, of course.
Overall, 5.5/5.
Audio:
For games I consider to be amongst the best, I find it’s always difficult to separate my writing into neat little sections about each of its moving parts. I’ll freely talk about the story in visuals, and the gameplay in music. To me, this is the mark of a truly fantastic experience. It means that each aspect works to support the others, and that they all play into one another. This is Hollow Knight, through and through. And nothing within it represents this idea more than the music.
Hollow Knight has one of the best soundtracks of all time, full stop. I don’t think many would disagree. It forfeits the typical 8-bit tunes or generic rock for a full synth orchestra - piano, violin, cello, bassoon. Its pieces range from powerful and punchy to subtle yet beautiful, each uniquely and completely different from the others. And it’s this elegant score that breathes new life into a dead and forgotten Hallownest.
There are a myriad of moments within Hollow Knight made so much more impactful by the music accompanying it. The Broken Vessel’s theme is one of my favorite examples; it expresses sadness and anger, with its deep, underlying bassline and sharp, short bursts of strings. Conversely, Nosk’s theme plays with volume, becoming unsettlingly quiet halfway through before exploding into a full panic; it is the closest thing to a horror movie monster in the game, and its theme reflects this from start to finish.
Perhaps the most powerful example of this idea is the Hollow Knight’s theme. The moment your void sibling is freed from their chains, they let out a deafening scream, the fight begins, and a full symphony kicks in.
It’s a strong, adrenaline-inducing theme, like many others in the game. But after dealing enough damage, things change. The Hollow Knight turns its nail on itself, repeatedly stabbing its own torso. The music quiets in response, the violin taking center stage; long wails and surrounding silence fill The Temple with sadness and loneliness. The previous anger is gone, at least temporarily. The Hollow Knight falls to its knees. Tired of fighting. Tired of suffering.
Killing the Hollow Knight has been your goal since the beginning, but its own desperation to die makes the task an emotional undertaking. None of the White Lady’s children ever had the chance at a real life. They were born only to fulfill a bleak role in a cruel, futile plot; whether they were the one chosen for the job, or the thousands that weren’t, their lives were only ever filled with suffering.
Of course, there’s more to Hollow Knight’s soundtrack than just the boss themes. The area themes are underappreciated gems, fulfilling their own important purpose in service of the game’s tone. These tend to be calmer and more understated, a stark contrast to the loud, bombastic fight music. Their sole focus is to set a distinct style and atmosphere for whichever location they’re accompanying. These pieces are possibly the most important part of the mood-dressing, no matter where you are.
Greenpath’s soft, whimsical plucking makes it feel magical to explore, like the woods behind your home when you’re a child. The City of Tears is the only track to prominently feature vocals, working in harmony with the music to create an air of mysticism within the city. Meanwhile, Deepnest entirely lacks its own track; instead, it uses a faltering violin as ambience to immediately put you on edge.
But it’s not just the music - even as a whole - that makes Hollow Knight’s sound so good. It’s not surprising, either; this was never the type of game to focus on only one design aspect. Instead, the devs have also given careful attention to the sound effects. The little sounds - the Knight’s nail slashing, bouncing off of a purple mushroom, equipping a charm - are forever burned into my memory, only because they’re so well-made.
But probably the most beloved part of the audio flavoring is the voice acting. Each character that you speak to has their own voice, inflection, and tone. Even more importantly, every single one speaks the same complex and unique bug language. This language has become iconic within the community. Many lines of complete nonsense have become well-remembered, solely because of their charm and delivery.
Overall, the audio design is just one of countless testaments to Hollow Knight’s quality. Despite already having possibly the best game soundtrack of all time, the devs still made sure to produce well-made sound in every other way, too. The music bolsters the atmosphere, the sound effects bolster the gameplay, and the voice acting bolsters the immersion. It’s simply more examples of how to use every single component to make the others better.
Overall, 5.5/5.
Story:
It’s unsurprising that Hollow Knight’s full story goes straight over the heads of most. The details are buried, layered, and - at times - difficult to comprehend. But a convoluted story is not always a flawed one. The mystifying air surrounding this lore, coupled with enthralling exploration and entertaining gameplay, will keep you coming back for more. The intricacies just mean that, if you love the game, you’ll have new things to learn every playthrough, every community discussion, and every YouTube video.
Still, I wish that the wholeness of this beautiful tale was fully appreciated by players. It deserves much more recognition for its sprawling lore and tragic narrative. Its world contains a bible-like history, with a flock of Gods dotting it. It encompasses hundreds of lives that have been forever altered - or, in many cases, stolen - by those Gods’ actions. There is no perfectly happy ending, and there is no real justice.
Sitting at the center of this spectacle is the tiniest, most unsuspecting creature in Hallownest. The Knight is a fierce bug born of void, a character that embodies a classic silent protagonist in the most literal sense. Devoid of personality, ambition, or emotion - yet impressively powerful. Hallownest immediately recognizes that power; stone tablets written in ancient languages decipher for them like a code, speaking of their godly status.
Sadly, The Knight was not given a choice between divine power or a fulfilling existence. Even before conception, their parents - the Pale King and White Lady - had made the decision for them. This holy union could have been something beautiful; instead, their thousands of children were nothing more than a desperate, sacrificial bid to save Hallownest.
To the King, this cruel act was justifiable. He’d pay whatever cost necessary to keep Hallownest thriving. It was a paradise unlike any other, after all. Not only did it provide bugs with a safe home from the harsh outside world, but it allowed them to reach a new level of consciousness.
So, when the infection began to creep in, and when nothing else proved effective, the King’s own lineage became a pawn. But even within those thousands of offspring, only one could be chosen to become The Hollow Knight. This voidborn would have to be exceptionally powerful, while completely lacking any worldly attachments (personality, ambition, or emotion.)
An unknown test was completed, and the seemingly perfect candidate was decided upon. As the King and this favored child left, the entrance to the voidborns’ little corner of Hallownest was sealed off. Their birthplace would now serve as an eternal prison; forced isolation by a father who’d rather forget about their shameful existence.
This is where the Knight spent their childhood, and where they eventually managed to escape from. They even traveled outside of Hallownest, but just as soon found themselves called back by its familiar gods.
This is where you come in. The moment the Knight returns to Hallownest, their journey is left in your hands. The kingdom and its residents are almost entirely dead, and The Hollow Knight can no longer contain the infection. It is now entirely up to one of their own siblings - our Knight, cast aside and forgotten - to break into the temple in which they’ve been locked up to solve the problem.
But for now, the sickness seeps out of its host, spreading through the tunnels, aiming to snuff out any free will left within the walls. Many powerful enemies stand in your way, some gods, some mortals. There are puzzles to piece together and a map to fill out. The entire world of Hallownest lay at your feet. It’s time to reclaim your father’s throne.
What I’ve just presented is only a small sliver of Hollow Knight’s narrative. This may be the basic setup for its premise, but between each of those lines are dozens of details and interpersonal stories to uncover - and hundreds more in the game’s present. A treasure trove of lore and worldbuilding, Hallownest’s history is as expansive as its massive caverns. You will learn its secrets one by one, soaking in the full picture of the devastation it has endured.
Along the way, you’ll learn about its inhabitants, too. Some have long since passed, while some still fight to live within Hallownest. New friends, shopkeeps, masters of combat willing to impart their wisdom; the amiable bugs who’ve stuck around will become invaluable, each supporting you through your expedition in their own way. Maybe, amongst them, you will find new reason to destroy the infection. Because it’s the characters - past or present, friend or foe - which act as the biggest catalysts in Hollow Knight.
But, among all of said characters, none prove to be more narratively important than Hallownest’s gods. They read like legend, too devastating and too carefully intertwined to be true; but they were very much real, and so was the immeasurable tragedy they caused. They once held the power to alter the course of countless lives with a single decision. And this, they did. We witness the large-scale destruction they’ve caused firsthand. It is now the Knight’s burden to bear.
This is the impressive story Hollow Knight sets out to tell. It’s not a simple one, or the easiest to follow, but it’s fascinating and beautiful - even strangely human, despite being entirely about bugs and their deities. It serves as a beautiful backdrop for meaningful combat encounters and equally meaningful exploration. It makes an abandoned land feel alive with its own rich history. It’s the kind of narrative that is rarely possible outside of games. Even then, few games achieve it. All-encompassing, mystical, emotionally captivating, and intelligent.
Overall, 5.5/5.
Gameplay:
Hollow Knight boasts one of the best gameplay experiences of the entire Metroidvania genre. Any genre, really. It’s the rare kind of game that should be played by everyone, regardless of familiarity or preference. Even players with no background in Metroidvanias will find a brand new love for them in this modern, unique, and beautifully-executed take.
The Knight begins their journey with nothing more than a nail. As you progress, though, they will obtain many new abilities, including weapon enhancements, powerful spells, and advanced movement techniques. It ranges from a simple dash to a cyclone slash; how you wield the power-ups in combat is almost entirely up to you, but using them to maneuver around the world and unlock new areas is an absolute necessity. In other words, they blend seamlessly into gameplay, but still challenge the player to get creative.
This idea isn’t a new one. It’s a staple of the Metroidvania genre, a concept as old as Metroid itself. Still, Hollow Knight executes it flawlessly, as it does many traditional aspects of games. Take, for example, boss fights.
While many enemies act as a hindrance for the Knight, what really steals the show are the bosses. These are the lynchpin of the gameplay; every single one of the 46 you may encounter are totally unique in moveset and aesthetic, making for a constantly-changing and fast-paced experience. It’s another testament to Hollow Knight’s rich design philosophy; each one perfectly blends into the worldbuilding, while still being special in every single way.
Another important aspect of Hollow Knight’s diverse combat system are the charms. These are found throughout the world, and although only a few can be equipped at a time, each one provides their own unique ability. Through them, you can create all kinds of builds - nail, spell, tank, or even companion. There are endless options for the player to explore (even combination synergies that give additional bonuses!) It allows each individual to find a build specialization, or to play around with the best builds for certain fights, bringing a new edge to combat.
For healing and mana, Hollow Knight provides a special essence called SOUL. SOUL is gained whenever you hit an enemy with your nail, giving players an even greater incentive to attack during battle. At any point, you may consume SOUL to heal, but doing so restricts your movement and leaves you vulnerable to enemy fire. To utilize this mechanic properly, you must learn safe openings; otherwise, you’ll only end up taking more damage.
The alternative to healing is, fittingly, more damage. Spells you’ll find as you progress turn the essence you’ve collected into even more offense. This is especially useful because Vengeful Spirit, the first obtained, allows you to hit enemies that are far outside of your range - a rare commodity in Hollow Knight. Still, to make full use of this mechanic, you must once again learn the openings. If used properly, fights can end a lot more quickly; but if you don’t hit your spells at all, you’re wasting valuable resources. Just like healing, mastering this aspect of SOUL requires acute timing and awareness.
Now that I’ve discussed Hollow Knight’s combat at length, it’s time to switch the focus to the other side of its coin - exploration.
The world of Hallownest is massive and intricate; and, as per Metroidvania standard, it’s also divided up into distinct areas. These areas unlock as you gain more complex means of traversal (along with access to new sections of previously-visited maps.) This makes the size of the game much less overwhelming, along with giving it clearer direction and pacing.
There’s a myriad of different items and abilities to collect throughout Hallownest, but simply unlocking a new section of this setting already feels like its own reward. New environments are a wonder, with each one containing completely unique enemies, aesthetics, and mini-mechanics. It never becomes repetitive. There simply is no repetition.
Still, all of that side content filling out the world is what makes it truly fun. There are grubs to save, mask shards/vessel fragments to uncover (granting additional health/SOUL storage), and charms to collect. Most of these are hidden behind challenging environmental puzzles, putting your non-combat skills to the test.
There are plenty more examples of tucked away secrets to find, too. Journals and idols to sell, pale ore to upgrade your weapon, warriors to teach you nail arts. Even bosses act as a prize for keen players; many within the game are optional, and can only be found through thorough searching. The money they drop and loot they guard are useful, of course, but again, just finding new big encounters is its own reward.
Items and enemies aren’t the only things to discover in Hallownest. There are also sidequests, multiple of which serve as story arcs for NPCs you’ll encounter. Through these independent narratives, important layers of worldbuilding and interactivity are added to the game.
My personal favorite example is The Last Stag. The Stag is an NPC who provides the player with the ability to fast travel to stations they’ve unlocked throughout Hallownest. An old bug, the last of his kind, the Stag recounts the glory days of each area you visit - while also mourning the extinction of his own species during Hallownest’s fall from grace. This is just one of the many tragedies plaguing Hallownest, but unlike most, it can be given some closure (with the Knight’s help.)
If the story-based side quests aren’t your cup of tea, there are many which focus on gameplay instead. Take the imprisoned grubs you must free, so that they may return to their father.
Or take the Colosseum of Fools. Aptly named, this grand arena allows the Knight to take part in grueling combat trials. Winning provides significant rewards, but it won’t be easy. The player’s mastery of Hollow Knight’s mechanics up to that point will be fully tested.
That may sound overwhelming, but the truth is that Hollow Knight’s difficulty is an important part of its excellence. It’s what makes the game such a treat to not only fully explore, but to return to again and again. No matter how many times you play, defeating foes means putting in the effort. You must understand the mechanics, the timing, and the attack patterns.
The Knight never becomes an unstoppable force. They gain new abilities and significant power over time, but it’s still ultimately up to the player to properly execute basic attacks and dodges. And that, to me, is perfect “difficult game” design. Not only is overcoming these odds very fun, but it’s tremendously gratifying at every turn.
I’ll close out this section by discussing one of Hollow Knight’s most interesting, yet widely overlooked, mechanics. The Dream Nail is an item that you acquire fairly early on, which then acts as a requisite for certain stages of progression - yet it serves no traditional combat or traversal purpose. Its only functional use is to gain a large amount of SOUL in one hit, but this is often impractical during fights, given that it deals no damage and swings exceptionally slowly. Instead, its main purpose is to further build on content and lore.
Its most obvious function is allowing the Knight access to the Dream Realm, a mysterious plane where many important NPCs reside. It also provides us with a tangible connection to the moth tribe of Hallownest; charging the Nail with essence will uncover important details about their role in the kingdom’s downfall (as well as more rewards!) Most interestingly, though, is the ability it gives the player to read the mind of any NPC or enemy they may encounter.
From the lowest Crawlid to the Gods themselves, the Knight is allowed a peek into the innermost thoughts of any bug. This new form of interaction adds an unbelievable amount of depth to the characters, their relationships, and the world they reside in. It’s such a rich addition to Hollow Knight, and one that is criminally underappreciated. Not many games can boast this level of detail.
Here I go again. Getting distracted by lore and worldbuilding. It’s difficult not to, especially in Hollow Knight’s case. Everything within it is made so intentionally and lovingly. But, even if I can’t resist showing a good story the appreciation it deserves, I must reiterate that the mechanics play just as important of a role in making Hollow Knight what it is. Without the combat and exploration, there simply is no Hollow Knight. Never have I found a game’s mechanics to be so smooth, intelligent, responsive, and pure fun; never have I found a world to be so intricately and purposefully laid out. Those are the reasons I end up returning over and over again.
Overall, 5.5/5.
Worldbuilding:
Writing this review has been a strangely personal journey for me. I’ve loved video games since I was a little kid; playing the SNES with my cousins, Call of Duty at my dad’s, Fallout: New Vegas on my proudly owned 360. Games have always been a constant in my life, no matter what stage of it I’m at. And now, I’ve managed to finally put into words exactly why I think Hollow Knight may be the best one I’ve ever played. It has stuck with me since the moment I picked it up in 2018. It’s one I still feel the urge to return to - and I do, at least once a year.
During every section, I’ve argued why that particular aspect of Hollow Knight could very well be its most important, or its best. I’ve described - in excruciating detail, I might add - why each part, from the presentation to the mechanics, could be called perfect. There is no greater testament to quality; when everything just works too well together, when everything does its job too flawlessly, for you to pick one ‘best part’.
Still, I can’t help but feel that it all comes back to one thing - Hallownest itself.
It’s a world so miniscule from the perspective of a human, a kingdom hidden inside the caverns of a bug mound; yet it hosts immortal beings beyond our comprehension, entities that have wreaked pain and mass-suffering on their undeserving subjects. It now sits as nothing more than a faded memory. A bleak, permanent reminder of their god-king’s folly.
The world’s every corner is littered with the remnants of a dead society. Those that haven’t already died with it are now mindless and sick. That sickness is embedded in the walls.
The sheer magnitude of Hollow Knight’s lore is mind-boggling. We learn of, or personally encounter, literally hundreds of bugs that have had their very existences uprooted by Hallownest. These oft-interwoven personal tales are what make up the kingdom’s rich and storied culture - even if it’s long since been abandoned. Through them, we experience Hallownest’s past, present, and possible future.
But it’s not just the writing and characters that compose Hollow Knight’s worldbuilding. Just as important are the music, art, and gameplay. Visual details in the environment constantly reveal more of Hallownest’s history. The soundtrack brilliantly conveys each environment and enemy you encounter perfectly. And the gameplay, from the environmental puzzles to the boss fights, add the interactivity needed to bring it all to life. Through every single element, Hallownest is constantly revealing something new to the player. This is what makes Hollow Knight’s worldbuilding special. But I think I’ve demonstrated that throughout this entire review.
I truly do believe that the mark of a masterpiece is the work’s ability to tie every one of its elements together. Hollow Knight does so flawlessly. It does it in ways that no game had ever done before, and that none have done since.
This is why it’s a work of art. What more is there to say?
Overall, 5.5/5.
Overall game score: 5/5 [5.5/5].
There’s a magic surrounding Hollow Knight, permeating it, not unlike the infection that sits at its core. I’ve been burnt out on writing for months, games littering my Steam that I haven’t felt apt to review yet. So, instead, I booted up Hollow Knight, because it had been too long, and because I knew that it would revive my passion for discussion. There are millions of things - big and small - that I could discuss about Hollow Knight.
But my main reason for re-installing it was never to pump out a review. I simply felt the familiar urge to revisit Hallownest, like I have so many times before. After all, Hollow Knight is consistently one of the best video game experiences I’ve had; how could I NOT want to return again and again? The mechanics are smooth, challenging, and fun. The music and art direction are nearly unmatched. The story is complex and captivating.
Hollow Knight is, and always will be, a work of art.
Visuals: 5.5/5
Sound: 5.5/5
Story: 5.5/5
Gameplay: 5.5/5
Worldbuilding: 5.5/5
Overall game score: 5/5 [5.5/5]
Visuals:
Nestled in the far corner of a desolate, underground wasteland hides Hallownest. Once an impressive kingdom ruled by the divine Pale King, it served as a haven for all bugs; a place where they could gain true sentience. Now all that remains is a shallow grave of its glory days. Those same bugs wander the caverns aimlessly, mindlessly, their societies nearly all abandoned. The bright orange infection bursting from their bodies, from the walls, from the very air around you - it paints a grim picture.
Hollow Knight’s visual storytelling is immaculate. Each area you explore adds its own layer to the incredible overarching history of Hallownest and its people. The cast is made up of thousands. The victims are too great to count.
The vastly different environments allude to societies that grew and evolved totally independent of each other, of even the king or his city. All are made up of the same soil, yet each new village starkly contrasts the last. Yes, a handful of Hallownest’s tunnels once formed the Pale King’s land; but his tunnels, and many more, had been there long before.
From the pink, bubble-filled Fog Canyon to the dark, cramped, frightening Deepnest. The imprint of the King cuts straight through Hallownest, and his crown jewel - the City of Tears - sits at its heart. But the mantises, the bees, the moths, and the spiders had all been there lifetimes before he’d ever set foot in their caves.
The devil is in the details, the little things you may overlook. Giant carcasses left over from eons past. Overgrown green, long since abandoned, overtaking and bringing new life. Furniture, books, graves. Statues of those once revered with worship and remembrance. You can only really understand what Hollow Knight is about by observing The Knight’s surroundings, and by dissecting the sparse dialogue and writings littered throughout your journey.
The color palettes, environment, lighting, and art are huge factors in making each of these areas feel truly unique. Yet, despite how radically different each place is in presentation, what keeps consistent throughout the entire game is the atmosphere. Loneliness and emptiness pervade every nook and cranny. There are dozens upon dozens of artifacts telling the history of Hallownest; yet conscious, living beings are few and far between. What remains are ghosts, memories of a time when Hallownest was filled with the bustling of life. Its citizens walk now only as zombie-like victims, serving as a reminder to how great and diverse the world of Hallownest once was.
Flying, crawling, running. Big, small, smart, simple. Dedicated warriors who still carry themselves with dignity, despite forgetting all else. Siblings of the Knight, mirrors into a cruel, unlucky fate. Cushioned, cowardly rich bugs. Graceful and precise mantis traitors. All have fallen to the infection. All have reverted back to their natural instincts - which, for many, is violence. Fighting.
Fighting is a huge part of Hollow Knight. Nearly every cavern you’ll explore is blocked by a few undead husks. You won’t get anywhere without challenging a boss or two, either. And it’s difficult to argue against the bosses being the holy grail of Hollow Knight. They encapsulate everything exceptional about the game - the mechanics, the visual design, the music. And above everything else within its tunnels, the bosses represent Hallownest’s past poignantly. They stand as reminders of its ideals, its communities, and its customs.
But one of the most important elements to making fights FEEL good is the animation. Always smooth and easy to read, both The Knight and enemy animations are perfectly suited to split-second decision making. Before an aggressor ever does anything, you’re given a build-up window, and, consequently, the opportunity to predict and adapt. It is totally up to you to fully utilize it.
There are endless things to praise about Hollow Knight’s art. Without the solid visual foundation, its gameplay, story, and world might not be nearly as good. Because when I think of playing Hollow Knight, I think of perfectly timing attacks on dangerous enemies. I think of exploring Greenpath or the City of Tears. I think of my favorite character designs, or of the terrifying, hidden-away bosses. The art is far from the only good thing about Hollow Knight, but it’s one of the best, and possibly its most underrated attribute.
Oh, and I also think of the music, of course.
Overall, 5.5/5.
Audio:
For games I consider to be amongst the best, I find it’s always difficult to separate my writing into neat little sections about each of its moving parts. I’ll freely talk about the story in visuals, and the gameplay in music. To me, this is the mark of a truly fantastic experience. It means that each aspect works to support the others, and that they all play into one another. This is Hollow Knight, through and through. And nothing within it represents this idea more than the music.
Hollow Knight has one of the best soundtracks of all time, full stop. I don’t think many would disagree. It forfeits the typical 8-bit tunes or generic rock for a full synth orchestra - piano, violin, cello, bassoon. Its pieces range from powerful and punchy to subtle yet beautiful, each uniquely and completely different from the others. And it’s this elegant score that breathes new life into a dead and forgotten Hallownest.
There are a myriad of moments within Hollow Knight made so much more impactful by the music accompanying it. The Broken Vessel’s theme is one of my favorite examples; it expresses sadness and anger, with its deep, underlying bassline and sharp, short bursts of strings. Conversely, Nosk’s theme plays with volume, becoming unsettlingly quiet halfway through before exploding into a full panic; it is the closest thing to a horror movie monster in the game, and its theme reflects this from start to finish.
Perhaps the most powerful example of this idea is the Hollow Knight’s theme. The moment your void sibling is freed from their chains, they let out a deafening scream, the fight begins, and a full symphony kicks in.
It’s a strong, adrenaline-inducing theme, like many others in the game. But after dealing enough damage, things change. The Hollow Knight turns its nail on itself, repeatedly stabbing its own torso. The music quiets in response, the violin taking center stage; long wails and surrounding silence fill The Temple with sadness and loneliness. The previous anger is gone, at least temporarily. The Hollow Knight falls to its knees. Tired of fighting. Tired of suffering.
Killing the Hollow Knight has been your goal since the beginning, but its own desperation to die makes the task an emotional undertaking. None of the White Lady’s children ever had the chance at a real life. They were born only to fulfill a bleak role in a cruel, futile plot; whether they were the one chosen for the job, or the thousands that weren’t, their lives were only ever filled with suffering.
Of course, there’s more to Hollow Knight’s soundtrack than just the boss themes. The area themes are underappreciated gems, fulfilling their own important purpose in service of the game’s tone. These tend to be calmer and more understated, a stark contrast to the loud, bombastic fight music. Their sole focus is to set a distinct style and atmosphere for whichever location they’re accompanying. These pieces are possibly the most important part of the mood-dressing, no matter where you are.
Greenpath’s soft, whimsical plucking makes it feel magical to explore, like the woods behind your home when you’re a child. The City of Tears is the only track to prominently feature vocals, working in harmony with the music to create an air of mysticism within the city. Meanwhile, Deepnest entirely lacks its own track; instead, it uses a faltering violin as ambience to immediately put you on edge.
But it’s not just the music - even as a whole - that makes Hollow Knight’s sound so good. It’s not surprising, either; this was never the type of game to focus on only one design aspect. Instead, the devs have also given careful attention to the sound effects. The little sounds - the Knight’s nail slashing, bouncing off of a purple mushroom, equipping a charm - are forever burned into my memory, only because they’re so well-made.
But probably the most beloved part of the audio flavoring is the voice acting. Each character that you speak to has their own voice, inflection, and tone. Even more importantly, every single one speaks the same complex and unique bug language. This language has become iconic within the community. Many lines of complete nonsense have become well-remembered, solely because of their charm and delivery.
Overall, the audio design is just one of countless testaments to Hollow Knight’s quality. Despite already having possibly the best game soundtrack of all time, the devs still made sure to produce well-made sound in every other way, too. The music bolsters the atmosphere, the sound effects bolster the gameplay, and the voice acting bolsters the immersion. It’s simply more examples of how to use every single component to make the others better.
Overall, 5.5/5.
Story:
It’s unsurprising that Hollow Knight’s full story goes straight over the heads of most. The details are buried, layered, and - at times - difficult to comprehend. But a convoluted story is not always a flawed one. The mystifying air surrounding this lore, coupled with enthralling exploration and entertaining gameplay, will keep you coming back for more. The intricacies just mean that, if you love the game, you’ll have new things to learn every playthrough, every community discussion, and every YouTube video.
Still, I wish that the wholeness of this beautiful tale was fully appreciated by players. It deserves much more recognition for its sprawling lore and tragic narrative. Its world contains a bible-like history, with a flock of Gods dotting it. It encompasses hundreds of lives that have been forever altered - or, in many cases, stolen - by those Gods’ actions. There is no perfectly happy ending, and there is no real justice.
Sitting at the center of this spectacle is the tiniest, most unsuspecting creature in Hallownest. The Knight is a fierce bug born of void, a character that embodies a classic silent protagonist in the most literal sense. Devoid of personality, ambition, or emotion - yet impressively powerful. Hallownest immediately recognizes that power; stone tablets written in ancient languages decipher for them like a code, speaking of their godly status.
Sadly, The Knight was not given a choice between divine power or a fulfilling existence. Even before conception, their parents - the Pale King and White Lady - had made the decision for them. This holy union could have been something beautiful; instead, their thousands of children were nothing more than a desperate, sacrificial bid to save Hallownest.
To the King, this cruel act was justifiable. He’d pay whatever cost necessary to keep Hallownest thriving. It was a paradise unlike any other, after all. Not only did it provide bugs with a safe home from the harsh outside world, but it allowed them to reach a new level of consciousness.
So, when the infection began to creep in, and when nothing else proved effective, the King’s own lineage became a pawn. But even within those thousands of offspring, only one could be chosen to become The Hollow Knight. This voidborn would have to be exceptionally powerful, while completely lacking any worldly attachments (personality, ambition, or emotion.)
An unknown test was completed, and the seemingly perfect candidate was decided upon. As the King and this favored child left, the entrance to the voidborns’ little corner of Hallownest was sealed off. Their birthplace would now serve as an eternal prison; forced isolation by a father who’d rather forget about their shameful existence.
This is where the Knight spent their childhood, and where they eventually managed to escape from. They even traveled outside of Hallownest, but just as soon found themselves called back by its familiar gods.
This is where you come in. The moment the Knight returns to Hallownest, their journey is left in your hands. The kingdom and its residents are almost entirely dead, and The Hollow Knight can no longer contain the infection. It is now entirely up to one of their own siblings - our Knight, cast aside and forgotten - to break into the temple in which they’ve been locked up to solve the problem.
But for now, the sickness seeps out of its host, spreading through the tunnels, aiming to snuff out any free will left within the walls. Many powerful enemies stand in your way, some gods, some mortals. There are puzzles to piece together and a map to fill out. The entire world of Hallownest lay at your feet. It’s time to reclaim your father’s throne.
What I’ve just presented is only a small sliver of Hollow Knight’s narrative. This may be the basic setup for its premise, but between each of those lines are dozens of details and interpersonal stories to uncover - and hundreds more in the game’s present. A treasure trove of lore and worldbuilding, Hallownest’s history is as expansive as its massive caverns. You will learn its secrets one by one, soaking in the full picture of the devastation it has endured.
Along the way, you’ll learn about its inhabitants, too. Some have long since passed, while some still fight to live within Hallownest. New friends, shopkeeps, masters of combat willing to impart their wisdom; the amiable bugs who’ve stuck around will become invaluable, each supporting you through your expedition in their own way. Maybe, amongst them, you will find new reason to destroy the infection. Because it’s the characters - past or present, friend or foe - which act as the biggest catalysts in Hollow Knight.
But, among all of said characters, none prove to be more narratively important than Hallownest’s gods. They read like legend, too devastating and too carefully intertwined to be true; but they were very much real, and so was the immeasurable tragedy they caused. They once held the power to alter the course of countless lives with a single decision. And this, they did. We witness the large-scale destruction they’ve caused firsthand. It is now the Knight’s burden to bear.
This is the impressive story Hollow Knight sets out to tell. It’s not a simple one, or the easiest to follow, but it’s fascinating and beautiful - even strangely human, despite being entirely about bugs and their deities. It serves as a beautiful backdrop for meaningful combat encounters and equally meaningful exploration. It makes an abandoned land feel alive with its own rich history. It’s the kind of narrative that is rarely possible outside of games. Even then, few games achieve it. All-encompassing, mystical, emotionally captivating, and intelligent.
Overall, 5.5/5.
Gameplay:
Hollow Knight boasts one of the best gameplay experiences of the entire Metroidvania genre. Any genre, really. It’s the rare kind of game that should be played by everyone, regardless of familiarity or preference. Even players with no background in Metroidvanias will find a brand new love for them in this modern, unique, and beautifully-executed take.
The Knight begins their journey with nothing more than a nail. As you progress, though, they will obtain many new abilities, including weapon enhancements, powerful spells, and advanced movement techniques. It ranges from a simple dash to a cyclone slash; how you wield the power-ups in combat is almost entirely up to you, but using them to maneuver around the world and unlock new areas is an absolute necessity. In other words, they blend seamlessly into gameplay, but still challenge the player to get creative.
This idea isn’t a new one. It’s a staple of the Metroidvania genre, a concept as old as Metroid itself. Still, Hollow Knight executes it flawlessly, as it does many traditional aspects of games. Take, for example, boss fights.
While many enemies act as a hindrance for the Knight, what really steals the show are the bosses. These are the lynchpin of the gameplay; every single one of the 46 you may encounter are totally unique in moveset and aesthetic, making for a constantly-changing and fast-paced experience. It’s another testament to Hollow Knight’s rich design philosophy; each one perfectly blends into the worldbuilding, while still being special in every single way.
Another important aspect of Hollow Knight’s diverse combat system are the charms. These are found throughout the world, and although only a few can be equipped at a time, each one provides their own unique ability. Through them, you can create all kinds of builds - nail, spell, tank, or even companion. There are endless options for the player to explore (even combination synergies that give additional bonuses!) It allows each individual to find a build specialization, or to play around with the best builds for certain fights, bringing a new edge to combat.
For healing and mana, Hollow Knight provides a special essence called SOUL. SOUL is gained whenever you hit an enemy with your nail, giving players an even greater incentive to attack during battle. At any point, you may consume SOUL to heal, but doing so restricts your movement and leaves you vulnerable to enemy fire. To utilize this mechanic properly, you must learn safe openings; otherwise, you’ll only end up taking more damage.
The alternative to healing is, fittingly, more damage. Spells you’ll find as you progress turn the essence you’ve collected into even more offense. This is especially useful because Vengeful Spirit, the first obtained, allows you to hit enemies that are far outside of your range - a rare commodity in Hollow Knight. Still, to make full use of this mechanic, you must once again learn the openings. If used properly, fights can end a lot more quickly; but if you don’t hit your spells at all, you’re wasting valuable resources. Just like healing, mastering this aspect of SOUL requires acute timing and awareness.
Now that I’ve discussed Hollow Knight’s combat at length, it’s time to switch the focus to the other side of its coin - exploration.
The world of Hallownest is massive and intricate; and, as per Metroidvania standard, it’s also divided up into distinct areas. These areas unlock as you gain more complex means of traversal (along with access to new sections of previously-visited maps.) This makes the size of the game much less overwhelming, along with giving it clearer direction and pacing.
There’s a myriad of different items and abilities to collect throughout Hallownest, but simply unlocking a new section of this setting already feels like its own reward. New environments are a wonder, with each one containing completely unique enemies, aesthetics, and mini-mechanics. It never becomes repetitive. There simply is no repetition.
Still, all of that side content filling out the world is what makes it truly fun. There are grubs to save, mask shards/vessel fragments to uncover (granting additional health/SOUL storage), and charms to collect. Most of these are hidden behind challenging environmental puzzles, putting your non-combat skills to the test.
There are plenty more examples of tucked away secrets to find, too. Journals and idols to sell, pale ore to upgrade your weapon, warriors to teach you nail arts. Even bosses act as a prize for keen players; many within the game are optional, and can only be found through thorough searching. The money they drop and loot they guard are useful, of course, but again, just finding new big encounters is its own reward.
Items and enemies aren’t the only things to discover in Hallownest. There are also sidequests, multiple of which serve as story arcs for NPCs you’ll encounter. Through these independent narratives, important layers of worldbuilding and interactivity are added to the game.
My personal favorite example is The Last Stag. The Stag is an NPC who provides the player with the ability to fast travel to stations they’ve unlocked throughout Hallownest. An old bug, the last of his kind, the Stag recounts the glory days of each area you visit - while also mourning the extinction of his own species during Hallownest’s fall from grace. This is just one of the many tragedies plaguing Hallownest, but unlike most, it can be given some closure (with the Knight’s help.)
If the story-based side quests aren’t your cup of tea, there are many which focus on gameplay instead. Take the imprisoned grubs you must free, so that they may return to their father.
Or take the Colosseum of Fools. Aptly named, this grand arena allows the Knight to take part in grueling combat trials. Winning provides significant rewards, but it won’t be easy. The player’s mastery of Hollow Knight’s mechanics up to that point will be fully tested.
That may sound overwhelming, but the truth is that Hollow Knight’s difficulty is an important part of its excellence. It’s what makes the game such a treat to not only fully explore, but to return to again and again. No matter how many times you play, defeating foes means putting in the effort. You must understand the mechanics, the timing, and the attack patterns.
The Knight never becomes an unstoppable force. They gain new abilities and significant power over time, but it’s still ultimately up to the player to properly execute basic attacks and dodges. And that, to me, is perfect “difficult game” design. Not only is overcoming these odds very fun, but it’s tremendously gratifying at every turn.
I’ll close out this section by discussing one of Hollow Knight’s most interesting, yet widely overlooked, mechanics. The Dream Nail is an item that you acquire fairly early on, which then acts as a requisite for certain stages of progression - yet it serves no traditional combat or traversal purpose. Its only functional use is to gain a large amount of SOUL in one hit, but this is often impractical during fights, given that it deals no damage and swings exceptionally slowly. Instead, its main purpose is to further build on content and lore.
Its most obvious function is allowing the Knight access to the Dream Realm, a mysterious plane where many important NPCs reside. It also provides us with a tangible connection to the moth tribe of Hallownest; charging the Nail with essence will uncover important details about their role in the kingdom’s downfall (as well as more rewards!) Most interestingly, though, is the ability it gives the player to read the mind of any NPC or enemy they may encounter.
From the lowest Crawlid to the Gods themselves, the Knight is allowed a peek into the innermost thoughts of any bug. This new form of interaction adds an unbelievable amount of depth to the characters, their relationships, and the world they reside in. It’s such a rich addition to Hollow Knight, and one that is criminally underappreciated. Not many games can boast this level of detail.
Here I go again. Getting distracted by lore and worldbuilding. It’s difficult not to, especially in Hollow Knight’s case. Everything within it is made so intentionally and lovingly. But, even if I can’t resist showing a good story the appreciation it deserves, I must reiterate that the mechanics play just as important of a role in making Hollow Knight what it is. Without the combat and exploration, there simply is no Hollow Knight. Never have I found a game’s mechanics to be so smooth, intelligent, responsive, and pure fun; never have I found a world to be so intricately and purposefully laid out. Those are the reasons I end up returning over and over again.
Overall, 5.5/5.
Worldbuilding:
Writing this review has been a strangely personal journey for me. I’ve loved video games since I was a little kid; playing the SNES with my cousins, Call of Duty at my dad’s, Fallout: New Vegas on my proudly owned 360. Games have always been a constant in my life, no matter what stage of it I’m at. And now, I’ve managed to finally put into words exactly why I think Hollow Knight may be the best one I’ve ever played. It has stuck with me since the moment I picked it up in 2018. It’s one I still feel the urge to return to - and I do, at least once a year.
During every section, I’ve argued why that particular aspect of Hollow Knight could very well be its most important, or its best. I’ve described - in excruciating detail, I might add - why each part, from the presentation to the mechanics, could be called perfect. There is no greater testament to quality; when everything just works too well together, when everything does its job too flawlessly, for you to pick one ‘best part’.
Still, I can’t help but feel that it all comes back to one thing - Hallownest itself.
It’s a world so miniscule from the perspective of a human, a kingdom hidden inside the caverns of a bug mound; yet it hosts immortal beings beyond our comprehension, entities that have wreaked pain and mass-suffering on their undeserving subjects. It now sits as nothing more than a faded memory. A bleak, permanent reminder of their god-king’s folly.
The world’s every corner is littered with the remnants of a dead society. Those that haven’t already died with it are now mindless and sick. That sickness is embedded in the walls.
The sheer magnitude of Hollow Knight’s lore is mind-boggling. We learn of, or personally encounter, literally hundreds of bugs that have had their very existences uprooted by Hallownest. These oft-interwoven personal tales are what make up the kingdom’s rich and storied culture - even if it’s long since been abandoned. Through them, we experience Hallownest’s past, present, and possible future.
But it’s not just the writing and characters that compose Hollow Knight’s worldbuilding. Just as important are the music, art, and gameplay. Visual details in the environment constantly reveal more of Hallownest’s history. The soundtrack brilliantly conveys each environment and enemy you encounter perfectly. And the gameplay, from the environmental puzzles to the boss fights, add the interactivity needed to bring it all to life. Through every single element, Hallownest is constantly revealing something new to the player. This is what makes Hollow Knight’s worldbuilding special. But I think I’ve demonstrated that throughout this entire review.
I truly do believe that the mark of a masterpiece is the work’s ability to tie every one of its elements together. Hollow Knight does so flawlessly. It does it in ways that no game had ever done before, and that none have done since.
This is why it’s a work of art. What more is there to say?
Overall, 5.5/5.
Overall game score: 5/5 [5.5/5].
Going into VA-11 HALL-A, I'd set my expectations decently high. I wasn't looking for a new top 10, but it's so well-loved that I had to give it a shot before it left Gamepass.
Unfortunately, I did not leave the podunk bar with the same sense of wonder as its clients and players alike. There's enough to the experience that I understand the admiration - it has exceptional music, many of the characters are charming, and there's some interesting worldbuilding - but in the end, the muddied political takes and anime-esque humor about boobs left a bad taste in my mouth. I rarely found it 'comfy' or inviting, as many others have described it. In the end, it felt like more of a chore to play.
I know that this is a downer way to start a review for something that I gave a positive score - but I feel it's important to hone in on the exact reasons I dislike VA-11 HALL-A, especially because of its overwhelmingly positive praise. Of course, I don't aim to belittle anyone who loves the game. Rather, I simply aim to approach it from a perspective that we haven't heard as much, at least on Backloggd.
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 4.5/5
Sound: 5/5
Story: 2.5/5
Gameplay: 3/5
Worldbuilding: 3.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5 [3.7/5]
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
The setup of VA-11 HALL-A is definitely one of its most notable features. Instead of the typical first-person perspective, a large part of your POV is a bartending interface. Within it are specific windows for everything - character sprites, dialogue, the jukebox, and preparing drinks. Conversely, when you're in the protagonist Jill's apartment, half of the screen is her phone. Here you can read through news and forums, listen to songs, and save your game. Everything you need to play is always readily available, with no convoluted menus made to confuse you.
Those aforementioned sprites are just lovely, too. VA-11 HALL-A's detailed pixel art allows for some beautiful shading, lighting, and facial expressions. More importantly, though, it allows the very nice character design to shine.
Each of the patrons and employees stand out from one another easily - something I often find to be a fault in anime works. Each one have their own unique facial features, body types, and style. There's not many, if any at all, that you could confuse for someone else.
I'll throw a few examples out. The bar owner Dana's confidence shines through in her posture and expression, and her masculine outfit makes her stand out from the other women. Jamie, a regular patron, comes across as quite intimidating because of his bodybuilder physique and cyborg parts - but his crossed arms and inability to look you in the eye communicate that he's actually quite calm and shy.
Something else I find really impressive about Va-11 HALL-A is its avoidance of usual anime/gaming trappings in regards to female sex appeal. Almost none of the women are stereotypically attractive - in fact, the one woman who DOES fit the 'anime girl with big boobs' archetype stands out so much that others often comment on how stunning she is for it. Everyone else is much more realistic in their looks; Jill, Dana, Sei, Stella, Betty, Kimberly, and even Dorothy all have designs focusing on their individual personalities, rather than trying to market to middle-aged men.
Really, the only disappointing aspect of VA11 HALL-A's art direction is its lack of variety. There are very few locations. There's limited animations. Worst of all, though, is that you hear about many interesting things happening within your world, but you rarely see them yourself.
In some ways, its understandable. After all, you are merely a bystander in this cyberpunk dystopia, trying to live a normal life. You're not a powerful heroine. But I can't say I wouldn't have liked to witness some of the excellent worldbuilding and story aspects for myself in some small way.
Overall, 4.5/5.
Sound:
VA11 HALL-A's best quality is, without a doubt, its beautiful and expansive soundtrack. These electronic cyberpunk tunes accompany you through each step of your bartending adventure; its wide range of instruments - from electric guitar, to saxophone - provide variety and distinctiveness. There are 59 songs, and nearly each one of them are spectacular.
I honestly believe that the music is a large part of why so many cling to VA11 HALL-A. The mood and atmosphere it so effortlessly sets is THE main reason for the game's staying power. I thoroughly believe that the experience as a whole would not be half as good without it.
The fact that you can choose which music to play through the jukebox adds its own layer, too. You can pick between your favorite tracks, find ones that set a specific mood, create a playlist that mixes energetic jams with slower ones... the possibilities are pretty much endless. It makes each playthrough, and each day, feel a little more unique.
As a personal example, I ended up preferring the slower, more calming tracks (such as my favorite, Snowfall (acoustic).) This made the game as close to cozy as it could be for me. Everything became very relaxing, as it helped me get into the groove of creating drinks.
Even if you don't play VA11 HALL-A, I highly recommend giving the music a listen. I may remember nothing else about it down the line, but I will always have some of these tunes in the back of my mind.
Overall, 5/5.
Story:
Unfortunately, underneath VA11 HALL-A's lovely surface is a messy, problematic underbelly. For each positive I can name in regards to the writing, there are two negatives. I'm genuinely surprised that more people don't talk about its issues.
As far as said positives go, though, the character portrayals are incredibly good. Each person you come across is entirely unique, even the ones that you only see once or twice. They speak differently. They have their own opinions and thought processes. They cultivate their own special relationship with Jill. While I don't personally like all of the characters (Dorothy, Donovan, Anna, STREAMING-CHAN), I can't deny that they all stand out and remain consistent.
Some of the dialogue is really good, too. There's a handful of funny jokes, heartwarming moments, and thought-provoking conversations. But these diamonds are buried under some rough, ROUGH coal.
Thus, my many issues with VA11 HALL-A immerge.
The first glaring problem is its humor. Now, I'm not one to immediately dismiss all jokes about dark topics as unfunny; the problem is that VA11 HALL-A makes light of such things so often that it becomes uncomfortable, overwhelming, and obnoxious. Everything from rape and sexual harassment, to bestiality, to lots and lots of pedophilia - nothing is too much for this game. I'm sorry, but a woman joking about sharing her tits and ass with another adult and a middle schooler is just disturbing, not amusing.
That's not even mentioning the purely immature side of its humor. If the game's not presenting the physically 12 sex worker as comic relief, it's talking about boobs or dicks. I swear that some of these lines were written by middle schoolers - to the point where I'm surprised there's not a single fart punchline in here (though, to be fair, there IS a poop one!)
Here's just a few examples. A very serious, personal conversation is immediately swerved into talking about boob size. A character is consistently referred to as 'Titty Hacker'. The game tries to convince me that the phrase 'stupid meat rods' is funny. Without exaggeration, these sorts of moments made me physically cringe while playing.
But all of this embarrassing "comedy" is nothing compared to the politics. The genre of cyberpunk is built on deconstructing and criticizing capitalism, corporations, and society as a whole; yet, VA11 HALL-A takes a neutral approach to not only dubious topics, but some that are undeniably wrong. It brings these things up freely in conversation, but refuses to make a statement or explore them beyond a surface level.
The most glaring example is Dorothy, a lilim (AI) sex worker designed to look 10-13. She openly talks about how much pedophilic roleplay her work consists of, yet no one has a problem with this. In fact, she is often praised for loving her work.
Of course, my problem isn't with a sex worker being proud of her job. It's that Dorothy - and everyone around her - is completely okay with her success relying on her clients pretending she's a child. The only distress this causes is that Dorothy wants to be hired for being herself, rather than someone to roleplay with - she feels like no one likes her as a person. That's it. There's never a second thought given to the moral implications of her career. Her name is literally inspired by Lolita (she says so herself!), and yet, not even the overarching game bothers to say that pedophilia is a bad thing. I can't make this shit up.
Then, there's the weird stance on political correctness. A few patrons complain about it in one way or another, lamenting both people who become offended and those who try not to offend. And - again - these conversations remain one-sided. There's nothing said to really challenge this perspective; it's simply presented as the relatively correct viewpoint to have.
And all of this is just scratching the surface. I haven't even gotten into the sentiments shared about capitalism and corporations. A character plainly states that corporations aren't evil, just greedy. She insists that they provide a lot of good, such as jobs, so we should be grateful for them. And although this idea IS challenged by another patron, the former is lauded as being the correct one, while her opposition is presented as a sore loser.
[SPOILERS] But one of the biggest plot points - the White Knights' downfall - is where things get really hairy. We're told multiple times that this group of enforcers is evil and untrustworthy; they harass and beat citizens, they're filled with traffickers and mobs, and they're used as a way to keep citizens in line.
[SPOILERS STILL] Yet, we only ever meet one member of the WK, Sei, who is completely likeable and friendly. She's a first responder, aiding people involved in accidents and natural disasters. Sei is an outlier, a rare kind soul amongst her people; so why is it that she's the only White Knight we talk to? I suppose it's a way to keep the game from becoming too stressful in its atmosphere. After all, the typical WK isn't afraid to beat innocent people senseless. But it leaves a bad taste in my mouth all the same - it wouldn't have been impossible to include a more antagonistic WK character.
[SPOILERS STILL] Not only that, but after the WK are brought down by leaks detailing their evil ways, it's made sure that the civilians are presented as equally bad, too. The guy who leaked the information killed many innocent people in the process; civilians attack and murder former WK members after the group has already disbanded.
[SPOILERS STILL] Thus, our perception is warped in such a way that we are made to sympathize with the White Knights, at least slightly. It's pretty typical centrist ideals - 'there are some good cops, protestors are just as bad' - wrapped up in an unfittingly cyberpunk blanket. Behind its progressive mask, VA11 HALL-A is determined to remain centrist on nearly every topic it brings up. It comes across as an attempt to appeal to anyone and everyone, from Redditors to 4channers to Tumblr users. [SPOILER END]
Finally, let's discuss pacing problems - because even if you stripped away all of my criticisms about the humor, politics, and ideals, there'd still be weird story beats underneath. [SPOILERS] The main example of this is Anna. A sort of ghost-like entity, she visits you a few times throughout the game. She's the first face to greet you when you boot up a new save, and she's presented as pretty important in those opening moments. It seems like she'll be a main plot point, or at least someone you'll see semi-regularly.
[SPOILERS STILL] But she doesn't show up again until the last quarter of the game, and she provides absolutely nothing to the story. All she does is make snarky, sexually-charged remarks, cause you to embarrass yourself, and leave. Although you do get an explanation for who she is if you do things right, her existence just seems like an unfinished thread. [SPOILER END]
Generally, there are a LOT of things brought up that have no resolution - Gillian's mysterious past, Jamie's apparent connection, Dana's missing arm, Rad Shiba's disappearance, the assassins Art is hunting. Of course, I don't expect all of this to have a concrete explanation, especially in a piece of media with as large a cast as this one. But there's a lot of interesting ideas presented that are just there.
Now, with all of that out of the way, I will say this - the moment-to-moment conversations are often quite engaging. If you can look past the eye-rolling jokes and politics, the game's excellent character portrayals and their interesting backstories will keep you engaged until the end.
Although I found my problems with VA11 HALL-A to be too enumerated to keep my interest from waning, there was still a lot of nice dialogue and fascinating stories. It may be different for others; maybe none of the things I critiqued here will bother you, and you'll be able to focus solely on all the positives.
Overall, 2.5/5.
GAMEPLAY
"Time to mix drinks and change lives."
VA11 HALL-A's gameplay serves exclusively as a vehicle for its characters and writing. This 'gateway' type of game is such an interesting concept; it's something I wish would be explored more often. Amid exchanges with friends and patrons, you mix drinks to fulfill their orders and keep the dialogue flowing. It's very difficult to get drinks wrong, so there's little pressure on you to do much else but enjoy the process. This is a huge factor in the game's relaxing nature, making it a great way to spend an afternoon.
Still, I do have my issues here, too. I found myself getting tired of dragging and dropping every individual ingredient into the mixer. You often have to do so ten or more times for a single drink. That repetitive action gets old eventually, even if the process of making the drinks is spread out far enough to make it bearable. I think simply clicking to add the ingredient would have been a better solution - dragging adds unneeded steps.
I also personally wish that there were more complex problems to solve. While I understand VA11 HALL-A's goal is to be a 'chill' experience first and foremost, I found the orders where you have to figure out exactly what the patron wants to be the most fun. This type of puzzle-solving adds a challenge to otherwise repetitive gameplay; and I don't think it would take away from the vibe too much, as long as the consequences were minimal.
Besides mixing drinks, you must save up the money from your job to pay bills - while also providing Jill with fun purchases to keep her from getting distracted at work. Like many others, I failed to pay my final bill on time. Consequently, I knew a bad ending was imminent. And while that 'bad ending' isn't actually bad at all, there's no way to know that while you're playing. Knowing that you're going to get evicted distracts a lot from the conversations and characters. It brought down my enjoyment of the last act quite a bit. I'm sure a lower goal for the final bill would have been better, to keep this problem from happening.
Otherwise, there's not much to the gameplay. I understand the lack of dialogue options, since Jill is her own fully-developed character; still, I think a few choices would have benefited the game in the long run, even if it was simply who to serve or what to do in your free time. The lack of player agency makes it pretty standard in many capacities. But, I don't know, maybe I'm just not a visual novel person.
Overall, 3/5.
Wordbuilding:
There's so much to ponder about VA11 HALL-A's world. An endless supply of fascinating information - provided to you by your customers - sets the stage for a technologically advanced society that is held down by capitalistic greed. You'll find yourself wondering what its cities and countries are like, what you're missing out on while stuck in the four walls of the bar. Lilim, brain-robots, talking vending machines, a place called 'Kanyevania', assassins-for-hire - it's an incredibly rich setting. Unfortunately, you view it through a very restricted lens.
Of course, there's something to be said for a game where you take the role of an average person, someone who has no control over what goes on around them. It's an insane change of pace from playing the average overpowered, world-saving hero/heroine. You simply WITNESS the downfall of the White Knights, the closing of the bars, the search for missing people and assassins. You're a backseat passenger - and while that is an engrossing, relatable adventure in its own right, I can't help but wish for a larger, more personal view of VA11 HALL-A's society.
Overall, 3.5/5.
Overall game score: 3.5/5. VA11 HALL-A is a personal, touching game for many like me - its presentation, characters, and world make it a memorable experience, one that is 'warm' and nostalgic for those people. Unfortunately, its flaws are too enumerated for me to be left with the same impression. The problems with its plot, the tasteless and vulgar jokes, the tiring politics, the confined world-view (figuratively and literally), and the lacking gameplay made my time with it quite uncomfortable. It's not something I imagine I'll be revisiting in the future.
Unfortunately, I did not leave the podunk bar with the same sense of wonder as its clients and players alike. There's enough to the experience that I understand the admiration - it has exceptional music, many of the characters are charming, and there's some interesting worldbuilding - but in the end, the muddied political takes and anime-esque humor about boobs left a bad taste in my mouth. I rarely found it 'comfy' or inviting, as many others have described it. In the end, it felt like more of a chore to play.
I know that this is a downer way to start a review for something that I gave a positive score - but I feel it's important to hone in on the exact reasons I dislike VA-11 HALL-A, especially because of its overwhelmingly positive praise. Of course, I don't aim to belittle anyone who loves the game. Rather, I simply aim to approach it from a perspective that we haven't heard as much, at least on Backloggd.
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 4.5/5
Sound: 5/5
Story: 2.5/5
Gameplay: 3/5
Worldbuilding: 3.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5 [3.7/5]
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
The setup of VA-11 HALL-A is definitely one of its most notable features. Instead of the typical first-person perspective, a large part of your POV is a bartending interface. Within it are specific windows for everything - character sprites, dialogue, the jukebox, and preparing drinks. Conversely, when you're in the protagonist Jill's apartment, half of the screen is her phone. Here you can read through news and forums, listen to songs, and save your game. Everything you need to play is always readily available, with no convoluted menus made to confuse you.
Those aforementioned sprites are just lovely, too. VA-11 HALL-A's detailed pixel art allows for some beautiful shading, lighting, and facial expressions. More importantly, though, it allows the very nice character design to shine.
Each of the patrons and employees stand out from one another easily - something I often find to be a fault in anime works. Each one have their own unique facial features, body types, and style. There's not many, if any at all, that you could confuse for someone else.
I'll throw a few examples out. The bar owner Dana's confidence shines through in her posture and expression, and her masculine outfit makes her stand out from the other women. Jamie, a regular patron, comes across as quite intimidating because of his bodybuilder physique and cyborg parts - but his crossed arms and inability to look you in the eye communicate that he's actually quite calm and shy.
Something else I find really impressive about Va-11 HALL-A is its avoidance of usual anime/gaming trappings in regards to female sex appeal. Almost none of the women are stereotypically attractive - in fact, the one woman who DOES fit the 'anime girl with big boobs' archetype stands out so much that others often comment on how stunning she is for it. Everyone else is much more realistic in their looks; Jill, Dana, Sei, Stella, Betty, Kimberly, and even Dorothy all have designs focusing on their individual personalities, rather than trying to market to middle-aged men.
Really, the only disappointing aspect of VA11 HALL-A's art direction is its lack of variety. There are very few locations. There's limited animations. Worst of all, though, is that you hear about many interesting things happening within your world, but you rarely see them yourself.
In some ways, its understandable. After all, you are merely a bystander in this cyberpunk dystopia, trying to live a normal life. You're not a powerful heroine. But I can't say I wouldn't have liked to witness some of the excellent worldbuilding and story aspects for myself in some small way.
Overall, 4.5/5.
Sound:
VA11 HALL-A's best quality is, without a doubt, its beautiful and expansive soundtrack. These electronic cyberpunk tunes accompany you through each step of your bartending adventure; its wide range of instruments - from electric guitar, to saxophone - provide variety and distinctiveness. There are 59 songs, and nearly each one of them are spectacular.
I honestly believe that the music is a large part of why so many cling to VA11 HALL-A. The mood and atmosphere it so effortlessly sets is THE main reason for the game's staying power. I thoroughly believe that the experience as a whole would not be half as good without it.
The fact that you can choose which music to play through the jukebox adds its own layer, too. You can pick between your favorite tracks, find ones that set a specific mood, create a playlist that mixes energetic jams with slower ones... the possibilities are pretty much endless. It makes each playthrough, and each day, feel a little more unique.
As a personal example, I ended up preferring the slower, more calming tracks (such as my favorite, Snowfall (acoustic).) This made the game as close to cozy as it could be for me. Everything became very relaxing, as it helped me get into the groove of creating drinks.
Even if you don't play VA11 HALL-A, I highly recommend giving the music a listen. I may remember nothing else about it down the line, but I will always have some of these tunes in the back of my mind.
Overall, 5/5.
Story:
Unfortunately, underneath VA11 HALL-A's lovely surface is a messy, problematic underbelly. For each positive I can name in regards to the writing, there are two negatives. I'm genuinely surprised that more people don't talk about its issues.
As far as said positives go, though, the character portrayals are incredibly good. Each person you come across is entirely unique, even the ones that you only see once or twice. They speak differently. They have their own opinions and thought processes. They cultivate their own special relationship with Jill. While I don't personally like all of the characters (Dorothy, Donovan, Anna, STREAMING-CHAN), I can't deny that they all stand out and remain consistent.
Some of the dialogue is really good, too. There's a handful of funny jokes, heartwarming moments, and thought-provoking conversations. But these diamonds are buried under some rough, ROUGH coal.
Thus, my many issues with VA11 HALL-A immerge.
The first glaring problem is its humor. Now, I'm not one to immediately dismiss all jokes about dark topics as unfunny; the problem is that VA11 HALL-A makes light of such things so often that it becomes uncomfortable, overwhelming, and obnoxious. Everything from rape and sexual harassment, to bestiality, to lots and lots of pedophilia - nothing is too much for this game. I'm sorry, but a woman joking about sharing her tits and ass with another adult and a middle schooler is just disturbing, not amusing.
That's not even mentioning the purely immature side of its humor. If the game's not presenting the physically 12 sex worker as comic relief, it's talking about boobs or dicks. I swear that some of these lines were written by middle schoolers - to the point where I'm surprised there's not a single fart punchline in here (though, to be fair, there IS a poop one!)
Here's just a few examples. A very serious, personal conversation is immediately swerved into talking about boob size. A character is consistently referred to as 'Titty Hacker'. The game tries to convince me that the phrase 'stupid meat rods' is funny. Without exaggeration, these sorts of moments made me physically cringe while playing.
But all of this embarrassing "comedy" is nothing compared to the politics. The genre of cyberpunk is built on deconstructing and criticizing capitalism, corporations, and society as a whole; yet, VA11 HALL-A takes a neutral approach to not only dubious topics, but some that are undeniably wrong. It brings these things up freely in conversation, but refuses to make a statement or explore them beyond a surface level.
The most glaring example is Dorothy, a lilim (AI) sex worker designed to look 10-13. She openly talks about how much pedophilic roleplay her work consists of, yet no one has a problem with this. In fact, she is often praised for loving her work.
Of course, my problem isn't with a sex worker being proud of her job. It's that Dorothy - and everyone around her - is completely okay with her success relying on her clients pretending she's a child. The only distress this causes is that Dorothy wants to be hired for being herself, rather than someone to roleplay with - she feels like no one likes her as a person. That's it. There's never a second thought given to the moral implications of her career. Her name is literally inspired by Lolita (she says so herself!), and yet, not even the overarching game bothers to say that pedophilia is a bad thing. I can't make this shit up.
Then, there's the weird stance on political correctness. A few patrons complain about it in one way or another, lamenting both people who become offended and those who try not to offend. And - again - these conversations remain one-sided. There's nothing said to really challenge this perspective; it's simply presented as the relatively correct viewpoint to have.
And all of this is just scratching the surface. I haven't even gotten into the sentiments shared about capitalism and corporations. A character plainly states that corporations aren't evil, just greedy. She insists that they provide a lot of good, such as jobs, so we should be grateful for them. And although this idea IS challenged by another patron, the former is lauded as being the correct one, while her opposition is presented as a sore loser.
[SPOILERS] But one of the biggest plot points - the White Knights' downfall - is where things get really hairy. We're told multiple times that this group of enforcers is evil and untrustworthy; they harass and beat citizens, they're filled with traffickers and mobs, and they're used as a way to keep citizens in line.
[SPOILERS STILL] Yet, we only ever meet one member of the WK, Sei, who is completely likeable and friendly. She's a first responder, aiding people involved in accidents and natural disasters. Sei is an outlier, a rare kind soul amongst her people; so why is it that she's the only White Knight we talk to? I suppose it's a way to keep the game from becoming too stressful in its atmosphere. After all, the typical WK isn't afraid to beat innocent people senseless. But it leaves a bad taste in my mouth all the same - it wouldn't have been impossible to include a more antagonistic WK character.
[SPOILERS STILL] Not only that, but after the WK are brought down by leaks detailing their evil ways, it's made sure that the civilians are presented as equally bad, too. The guy who leaked the information killed many innocent people in the process; civilians attack and murder former WK members after the group has already disbanded.
[SPOILERS STILL] Thus, our perception is warped in such a way that we are made to sympathize with the White Knights, at least slightly. It's pretty typical centrist ideals - 'there are some good cops, protestors are just as bad' - wrapped up in an unfittingly cyberpunk blanket. Behind its progressive mask, VA11 HALL-A is determined to remain centrist on nearly every topic it brings up. It comes across as an attempt to appeal to anyone and everyone, from Redditors to 4channers to Tumblr users. [SPOILER END]
Finally, let's discuss pacing problems - because even if you stripped away all of my criticisms about the humor, politics, and ideals, there'd still be weird story beats underneath. [SPOILERS] The main example of this is Anna. A sort of ghost-like entity, she visits you a few times throughout the game. She's the first face to greet you when you boot up a new save, and she's presented as pretty important in those opening moments. It seems like she'll be a main plot point, or at least someone you'll see semi-regularly.
[SPOILERS STILL] But she doesn't show up again until the last quarter of the game, and she provides absolutely nothing to the story. All she does is make snarky, sexually-charged remarks, cause you to embarrass yourself, and leave. Although you do get an explanation for who she is if you do things right, her existence just seems like an unfinished thread. [SPOILER END]
Generally, there are a LOT of things brought up that have no resolution - Gillian's mysterious past, Jamie's apparent connection, Dana's missing arm, Rad Shiba's disappearance, the assassins Art is hunting. Of course, I don't expect all of this to have a concrete explanation, especially in a piece of media with as large a cast as this one. But there's a lot of interesting ideas presented that are just there.
Now, with all of that out of the way, I will say this - the moment-to-moment conversations are often quite engaging. If you can look past the eye-rolling jokes and politics, the game's excellent character portrayals and their interesting backstories will keep you engaged until the end.
Although I found my problems with VA11 HALL-A to be too enumerated to keep my interest from waning, there was still a lot of nice dialogue and fascinating stories. It may be different for others; maybe none of the things I critiqued here will bother you, and you'll be able to focus solely on all the positives.
Overall, 2.5/5.
GAMEPLAY
"Time to mix drinks and change lives."
VA11 HALL-A's gameplay serves exclusively as a vehicle for its characters and writing. This 'gateway' type of game is such an interesting concept; it's something I wish would be explored more often. Amid exchanges with friends and patrons, you mix drinks to fulfill their orders and keep the dialogue flowing. It's very difficult to get drinks wrong, so there's little pressure on you to do much else but enjoy the process. This is a huge factor in the game's relaxing nature, making it a great way to spend an afternoon.
Still, I do have my issues here, too. I found myself getting tired of dragging and dropping every individual ingredient into the mixer. You often have to do so ten or more times for a single drink. That repetitive action gets old eventually, even if the process of making the drinks is spread out far enough to make it bearable. I think simply clicking to add the ingredient would have been a better solution - dragging adds unneeded steps.
I also personally wish that there were more complex problems to solve. While I understand VA11 HALL-A's goal is to be a 'chill' experience first and foremost, I found the orders where you have to figure out exactly what the patron wants to be the most fun. This type of puzzle-solving adds a challenge to otherwise repetitive gameplay; and I don't think it would take away from the vibe too much, as long as the consequences were minimal.
Besides mixing drinks, you must save up the money from your job to pay bills - while also providing Jill with fun purchases to keep her from getting distracted at work. Like many others, I failed to pay my final bill on time. Consequently, I knew a bad ending was imminent. And while that 'bad ending' isn't actually bad at all, there's no way to know that while you're playing. Knowing that you're going to get evicted distracts a lot from the conversations and characters. It brought down my enjoyment of the last act quite a bit. I'm sure a lower goal for the final bill would have been better, to keep this problem from happening.
Otherwise, there's not much to the gameplay. I understand the lack of dialogue options, since Jill is her own fully-developed character; still, I think a few choices would have benefited the game in the long run, even if it was simply who to serve or what to do in your free time. The lack of player agency makes it pretty standard in many capacities. But, I don't know, maybe I'm just not a visual novel person.
Overall, 3/5.
Wordbuilding:
There's so much to ponder about VA11 HALL-A's world. An endless supply of fascinating information - provided to you by your customers - sets the stage for a technologically advanced society that is held down by capitalistic greed. You'll find yourself wondering what its cities and countries are like, what you're missing out on while stuck in the four walls of the bar. Lilim, brain-robots, talking vending machines, a place called 'Kanyevania', assassins-for-hire - it's an incredibly rich setting. Unfortunately, you view it through a very restricted lens.
Of course, there's something to be said for a game where you take the role of an average person, someone who has no control over what goes on around them. It's an insane change of pace from playing the average overpowered, world-saving hero/heroine. You simply WITNESS the downfall of the White Knights, the closing of the bars, the search for missing people and assassins. You're a backseat passenger - and while that is an engrossing, relatable adventure in its own right, I can't help but wish for a larger, more personal view of VA11 HALL-A's society.
Overall, 3.5/5.
Overall game score: 3.5/5. VA11 HALL-A is a personal, touching game for many like me - its presentation, characters, and world make it a memorable experience, one that is 'warm' and nostalgic for those people. Unfortunately, its flaws are too enumerated for me to be left with the same impression. The problems with its plot, the tasteless and vulgar jokes, the tiring politics, the confined world-view (figuratively and literally), and the lacking gameplay made my time with it quite uncomfortable. It's not something I imagine I'll be revisiting in the future.
Florence
2018
There is a stigma within the gaming community that 'long' is synonymous with 'good'. Triple A studios pad runtimes to ridiculous lengths with meaningless exposition and repetitive quests to earn the 'good' reputation. But Florence is living proof that sometimes less is more - and that the heart you put into your product goes much further than appealing to the masses.
In 35 minutes, I was taken on a journey that spoke to me personally (and that would just about anyone.) It connected with me in such a way that I felt the urge to go into my bedroom and hug my partner, to hold him and tell him how much I love him. I found myself moved to tears over characters I'd only just met, all because of the game's genius interactivity, delightful music, and accessible narrative.
Maybe I'm just an emotional loser that cries over stories like this. Maybe it connects with me a little more deeply because of my personal issues. But maybe that makes Florence even more powerful - because, really, more games like that should exist. Ones that tell simple, human stories that we can individually relate to. After all, that's what art is about, isn't it?
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 5/5
Audio: 5/5
Story: 4.5/5
Gameplay: 4/5
Worldbuilding: 4.5/5
Overall game score: 4.5/5 [4.6/5]
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
The art style is simple - but that same simplicity lends to its inviting and endearing nature. It reminds me of the old children's cartoon Madeline, with its round shapes, dot eyes, and focus on the color yellow. It's not a style you see often in this medium, which makes it all the more lovely here.
One of the most notable aspects of the game's design is its general usage of color. As Florence goes through the ups and downs of her life, the palettes reflect how she feels. Whenever she's stuck in a routine, her surroundings are dull and boring. Whenever she has something to be happy about, they're bright and lively.
I hope that more developers will take the approach Florence's has. They were unafraid to step outside of what is the 'norm' for video games, instead focusing on what can make them unique.
Overall, 5/5.
Audio:
Florence's soundtrack is utterly beautiful; in fact, it's quickly become one of my favorites in the medium, despite its short length. That's not a compliment I give lightly either, because there is some truly substantial competition.
The piano and violin just culminate into magnificent pieces, ones that resonate deeply with me. It feels like being wrapped in a warm blanket. Even more impressive is how each piece stands out from the others, despite their similarities in style and instrument choice.
The best part of the music, though, is how it plays into the story. It swells at just the right moments, sets just the right mood. Each track fits perfectly to the moment it's encapsulating. The game as a whole would not be nearly as impactful without it.
Overall, 5/5.
Story:
[Spoiler warning for this whole section.]
Florence follows the titular young woman as she meets, and eventually loses, the man of her dreams. We follow each stage of their relationship, and the consequential aftermath. The game speaks on how former relationships leave a lasting impact on our life, even long after they've gone.
Most beautifully, it tells us that we shouldn't look back on these relationships with contempt. Even though these people are no longer in our lives, we can appreciate them for the happiness they brought us at the time. The past is not something to live in, OR shun; it's something to appreciate, and leave behind.
Yes, it's treaded ground. It's a story you've probably seen a hundred times in movies, shows, and books. But these are topics that have not been addressed much in gaming - as is the case with the vast majority of normal, human experiences. It's a real a shame, because the level of interactivity that the medium allows makes these kinds of narratives all the more powerful.
Like I've said, the fact that it resonates with me on a very personal level doesn't hurt. I'm someone that has a lot of difficulty letting go of people. When my previous boyfriend broke up with me, I cried myself to sleep for months, even though I hadn't even been happy in the relationship. If I'd played this game at that time, I've no doubt that it would have helped me a lot.
Yes, it's a simple story. But it's one that I needed to hear, and one that others may need to hear, too. That makes it worth telling over and over again.
Overall, 4.5/5.
Gameplay:
I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people found Florence's gameplay to be lackluster. After all, it's as simple as the story. There's no real barrier or challenge. You just complete straightforward actions to move the narrative along. But if you approach Florence as an interactive comic instead of a traditional game, I think you'll avoid the expectation that it should have puzzles or a fail-state.
Because, in the end, that's the exclusive goal of its mechanics - to cleverly portray its narrative. The little activities you complete give you a direct role in the story, making it all the more impactful. As Florence becomes more comfortable around Krish with each date, the speech bubbles becomes easier for you to piece together. When they fight, those pieces become jagged. You cook together, eat together, brush your teeth together. It's all painlessly uncomplicated, but that integration is what makes it genius.
Overall, 4/5.
Worldbuilding:
Florence opens by showing you the routine the titular character has found herself stuck in. Her days are tiresome, boring, and repetitive. She works a dead-end job. She has no friends. She isn't happy.
But, when she meets Krish, her world is suddenly filled with life and color. She is pushed to explore her childhood passions. [SPOILERS] She grows as a person, and continues to do so even after the relationship ends. Krish has a permanent effect on her life, one that we see firsthand. [SPOILER END]
The worldbuilding is basic, but you see just enough of Florence's history. Her strained relationship with her mom, her unhappiness with her career, her loneliness. The game tactfully avoids bloating itself with unneeded details, instead focusing on what matters to make Florence a well-rounded protagonist. Everything you need is here.
Overall, 4.5/5.
Overall game score. 4.5/5. Florence is just lovely. The art and music are brilliant. The story is touching. The mechanics, while rudimentary, are perfect for this type of game. I really hope I can find more little gems like this in the future - indie titles that don't get enough praise. This one definitely deserves more.
In 35 minutes, I was taken on a journey that spoke to me personally (and that would just about anyone.) It connected with me in such a way that I felt the urge to go into my bedroom and hug my partner, to hold him and tell him how much I love him. I found myself moved to tears over characters I'd only just met, all because of the game's genius interactivity, delightful music, and accessible narrative.
Maybe I'm just an emotional loser that cries over stories like this. Maybe it connects with me a little more deeply because of my personal issues. But maybe that makes Florence even more powerful - because, really, more games like that should exist. Ones that tell simple, human stories that we can individually relate to. After all, that's what art is about, isn't it?
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 5/5
Audio: 5/5
Story: 4.5/5
Gameplay: 4/5
Worldbuilding: 4.5/5
Overall game score: 4.5/5 [4.6/5]
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
The art style is simple - but that same simplicity lends to its inviting and endearing nature. It reminds me of the old children's cartoon Madeline, with its round shapes, dot eyes, and focus on the color yellow. It's not a style you see often in this medium, which makes it all the more lovely here.
One of the most notable aspects of the game's design is its general usage of color. As Florence goes through the ups and downs of her life, the palettes reflect how she feels. Whenever she's stuck in a routine, her surroundings are dull and boring. Whenever she has something to be happy about, they're bright and lively.
I hope that more developers will take the approach Florence's has. They were unafraid to step outside of what is the 'norm' for video games, instead focusing on what can make them unique.
Overall, 5/5.
Audio:
Florence's soundtrack is utterly beautiful; in fact, it's quickly become one of my favorites in the medium, despite its short length. That's not a compliment I give lightly either, because there is some truly substantial competition.
The piano and violin just culminate into magnificent pieces, ones that resonate deeply with me. It feels like being wrapped in a warm blanket. Even more impressive is how each piece stands out from the others, despite their similarities in style and instrument choice.
The best part of the music, though, is how it plays into the story. It swells at just the right moments, sets just the right mood. Each track fits perfectly to the moment it's encapsulating. The game as a whole would not be nearly as impactful without it.
Overall, 5/5.
Story:
[Spoiler warning for this whole section.]
Florence follows the titular young woman as she meets, and eventually loses, the man of her dreams. We follow each stage of their relationship, and the consequential aftermath. The game speaks on how former relationships leave a lasting impact on our life, even long after they've gone.
Most beautifully, it tells us that we shouldn't look back on these relationships with contempt. Even though these people are no longer in our lives, we can appreciate them for the happiness they brought us at the time. The past is not something to live in, OR shun; it's something to appreciate, and leave behind.
Yes, it's treaded ground. It's a story you've probably seen a hundred times in movies, shows, and books. But these are topics that have not been addressed much in gaming - as is the case with the vast majority of normal, human experiences. It's a real a shame, because the level of interactivity that the medium allows makes these kinds of narratives all the more powerful.
Like I've said, the fact that it resonates with me on a very personal level doesn't hurt. I'm someone that has a lot of difficulty letting go of people. When my previous boyfriend broke up with me, I cried myself to sleep for months, even though I hadn't even been happy in the relationship. If I'd played this game at that time, I've no doubt that it would have helped me a lot.
Yes, it's a simple story. But it's one that I needed to hear, and one that others may need to hear, too. That makes it worth telling over and over again.
Overall, 4.5/5.
Gameplay:
I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people found Florence's gameplay to be lackluster. After all, it's as simple as the story. There's no real barrier or challenge. You just complete straightforward actions to move the narrative along. But if you approach Florence as an interactive comic instead of a traditional game, I think you'll avoid the expectation that it should have puzzles or a fail-state.
Because, in the end, that's the exclusive goal of its mechanics - to cleverly portray its narrative. The little activities you complete give you a direct role in the story, making it all the more impactful. As Florence becomes more comfortable around Krish with each date, the speech bubbles becomes easier for you to piece together. When they fight, those pieces become jagged. You cook together, eat together, brush your teeth together. It's all painlessly uncomplicated, but that integration is what makes it genius.
Overall, 4/5.
Worldbuilding:
Florence opens by showing you the routine the titular character has found herself stuck in. Her days are tiresome, boring, and repetitive. She works a dead-end job. She has no friends. She isn't happy.
But, when she meets Krish, her world is suddenly filled with life and color. She is pushed to explore her childhood passions. [SPOILERS] She grows as a person, and continues to do so even after the relationship ends. Krish has a permanent effect on her life, one that we see firsthand. [SPOILER END]
The worldbuilding is basic, but you see just enough of Florence's history. Her strained relationship with her mom, her unhappiness with her career, her loneliness. The game tactfully avoids bloating itself with unneeded details, instead focusing on what matters to make Florence a well-rounded protagonist. Everything you need is here.
Overall, 4.5/5.
Overall game score. 4.5/5. Florence is just lovely. The art and music are brilliant. The story is touching. The mechanics, while rudimentary, are perfect for this type of game. I really hope I can find more little gems like this in the future - indie titles that don't get enough praise. This one definitely deserves more.
Portal
2007
PORTAL 1 REVIEW
Note: I give spoiler warnings for spoilers.
Portal is a testament to the benefits of rewarding creativity and taking risks in media. It’s not something we often see AAA studios do anymore, especially not in the fashion that Valve did here. A neat little project created by indie students became a wildly successful, full-fledged title released by one of the most recognizable companies in the industry - all because Valve was willing to bet on something they saw potential in. It gave us a game that left a lasting cultural impact on our community, and that still holds up nearly 14 years later.
On its own, Portal is already a 4-5 star experience - but it also led to a sequel that improved upon the original in nearly every way. Portal 2 is undoubtedly one of the GOATs, spearheading the series from 'great' to 'untouchable'. I doubt we’ll ever see such a unique and impressive duology again, at least not for a very long time, and not on the scale of something like Portal.
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 4.5/5
Sound: 5.5/5
Story: 4.5/5
Gameplay: 4.5/5
Worldbuilding: 3.5/5
Achievements (Does not count toward overall score.): 4/5
Overall game score: 4.5/5
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
The visual design here is simple, but that simplicity is memorable in its own way. The white walls and largely empty rooms make the puzzles slicker; everything is clearly and concisely communicated. The blue/orange portals pop, too, leaving you with a VERY memorable visual. There’s a reason this color scheme is one of the most popular parts of the game.
[SPOILERS FOR THE REST OF THIS SECTION]
That initial plainness also makes the last act of the story stand out more; everything you’ve gotten used to is turned on its head when you’re shown the inner workings of Aperture. When Chell leaps from the artificially bright, hospital-like rooms that the scientists have created, into the deep, dark underbelly of Aperture, it is perfectly reflected in the visual shift. The messy, dark corridors are in stark contrast to everything before it. You feel like you’re not supposed to be there, because you’re not. There’s grime, rust, wires, and pipes. There’s unused test chambers and secret observation rooms. It gives you a newfound sense of freedom - freedom which is matched in the gameplay, too, as the training wheels come off and you must figure out puzzles with little direction. You have escaped a rat’s maze, and you’re running under the furniture towards freedom.
Yet you find yourself trapped once again, this time in GLADoS’ chamber. This area is unique in its own right, with its impossibly tall ceiling and rounded, gray walls. It is the complete opposite of the cramped, square, white chambers.
Most stunning in design, though, is GLADoS herself. A giant mess of metal and parts hanging from the ceiling, she is totally unlike anything else in the game - while also reflecting both sides of it perfectly. Her sleek, stark white casing matches the ‘shell’ of the lab, or what is supposed to be seen. The black structure connecting her to the ceiling, coupled with the messy, dangling wires, are reminiscent of what lay underneath. Like the test chambers she runs, GLADoS is an Aperture creation… and just like them, there’s something going on with her that is not what it is made to look like. [SPOILER ENDING]
Overall, 4.5/5.
Sound:
Similarly to the visuals, the sound design in Portal is left rather simplistic. There’s not much of a soundtrack; instead, you spend most of your time accompanied only by GLADoS’ voice, as well as the sounds of the chambers (which, like the visuals, contribute to the clarity of the puzzles.) It makes for a perfect atmosphere, and allows GLADoS' character to stand out even more. This is a rare exception where I actually prefer a game having little music - I think any more of it would have taken away from these things.
And, of course, it goes without saying that GLADoS’ delivery is always perfect. Sometimes she's robotic. Sometimes she's eerily human. Sometimes, she's both at once.
[SPOILERS FOR THE REST OF THIS SECTION]
There is just a fantastic progression for her character that only exists because of the perfect VA work. At the beginning of the game and throughout the experiment, she simply comes off like part of Aperture's setup. She seems to only be there to guide you and provide machine-like encouragement, while delivering hilarious quips in an oft-monotone voice to keep you entertained. But this, too, is turned on its head when you escape. It's as if she rapidly gains emotion. Distress and anger ooze from her as she searches for you. The robotic monotony of before now seems like it was that of a bored employee, rather than a machine lacking autonomy of its own.
And this emotionally-charged version of GLADoS evolves once again when you destroy her morality core. She loses that personality she so quickly began to show, replacing it with a much more sinister, sadistic, and calm version instead. That moment is forever ingrained in my mind because of the delivery , from the ‘whoa’s, to the evil laugh, to the ‘good news.’
To this day, it's incredibly impressive how Ellen McLain managed to capture three different versions of a non-human character, all while maintaining perfect comedic delivery. That's not to mention that she brings to life one of the best and most memorable songs from a video game ever. I severely doubt that Portal would have been as widely praised and beloved if it weren't for Ellen's contributions.
Overall, 5.5/5.
Story:
While the core plot is pretty basic, what it evolves into - and what is going on underneath - keep it interesting. [SPOILERS] You are bound to run into at least one Rattmann room naturally, and just that one will make it apparent that Aperture is more than it presents itself as. [SPOILER ENDING] A lot of the exact details are left vague or unexplained, and anything you DO learn is either shown visually or given through GLADoS’ superb dialogue. I think that this simplicity works really well for such a short experience. There's no clunky exposition or an overload of needless information; you are given the basics, and the aforementioned visual storytelling and dialogue deliver the rest.
[SPOILERS] As an example, I just adore the setup of the escape. It's the easiest kind of plotline to grasp - you're trapped somewhere, and you need to get out. But in Portal, it feels like you're pushing the boundaries of the game itself. The visuals, the voice acting, the writing, and the pacing really push this idea that you're doing something you're not supposed to once you’re out of GLADoS’ reach. It's like a less on-the-nose Stanley Parable. [SPOILER ENDING]
And the writing itself is just amazing. Portal still holds up 14 years later; it’s an amazing feat, especially since it has been meme’d into oblivion. GLADoS throws quippy, deadpan one-liners at you constantly. It ends up helping the pacing a lot, as it keeps you engaged throughout the entirety of the playtime. She’s entertaining enough to carry the game all on her own - but thankfully, she doesn’t have to, because the gameplay delivers as well.
Overall, 4.5/5.
Gameplay:
There aren’t many puzzle games I’ve played that I feel manage to be as engaging as Portal. The core idea of the gameplay - and its execution - are not only completely unique, but also insanely impressive and fun. The premise may SEEM complicated on paper, but the levels almost always stay fair; a few of the later ones do have a pretty sharp difficulty curve, but the strong sense of accomplishment at the end of each chamber makes it worth it.
More importantly than that, though, is that the devs did a fantastic job of meticulously constructing the progression to teach players each new mechanic in memorable and fun ways. Everything here is purposeful, down to the skips they’ve allowed to be left in. Nothing is ever rushed in design, and YOU never feel too rushed either. You are given time to fully grasp each new mechanic that’s thrown at you - which makes those last few ridiculously difficult levels feel all the more satisfying.
[SPOILERS] And then the training wheels come off during the escape. You’re left to your own devices, navigating through completely different environments with very little guidance. It really showcases how much the game has taught you in just a few hours, as it trusts the player to get through this part without hand-holding. [SPOILER ENDING]
I really gained a deeper understanding of the effort put into the gameplay from replaying with the dev commentary. I highly recommend everyone do so, because I walked away with a new appreciation for not only Portal itself, but game development in general. For example, they do a great job of discussing how they utilize ‘timed puzzles’ (the auto-closing doors.) Puzzles without any sort of timed aspect have room to be more complex, because there isn’t any pressure. As a result, they tend to be much more dramatic in scope. But the timed ones give a sense of urgency - while they may be easier on you mentally, they challenge your ability to actually execute the solution. I love that they included both approaches.
In the end, I do think some of the puzzles in Portal are weaker than others, but I can’t help but appreciate each of them for the effort; there’s a fantastic amount of care to make the gameplay clear and concise. There’s thought and love put into each level. And the mechanics themselves are so ridiculously fun and satisfying - especially the momentum puzzles - that I can’t help but adore the gameplay, even if it’s not always perfect.
Overall, 4.5/5.
Worldbuilding:
The worldbuilding is the weakest aspect of Portal, but it's still good in it's own way. I feel the game slightly suffers in this aspect because of the simple, clean settings that are built around the gameplay - but, to be fair, I also think this was the right choice to make. Still, a bit more could have been done to flesh out the lore. But the eerie emptiness of the lab, and the mystery surrounding your situation, do add a thick atmosphere that helps a lot.
[SPOILERS] Generally, the main pieces of worldbuilding we do see are the Rattmann dens. These break the usual visual style of the test chambers to show you the cluttered, messy guts of the lab, even before you escape; it gives a clear sense early on that something is terribly wrong (if you find them.) All the dens are pretty similar, but there are little details in them that make them interesting the first one or two times. [SPOILER ENDING]
There's not much else to be said here, honestly. It's not spectacular, but the vagueness can be gotten away with when nearly everything else in the game is perfect. The mysteriousness of Aperture carries it well enough.
Overall, 3.5/5.
Extra Category - Achievements:
There are a few cool achievements that make replays interesting by limiting what you are allowed to do with the mechanics. I think this is a really, really great thing for achievements to do. I had fun 100%ing it.
Overall, 4/5.
Overall game score: 4.5/5. There’s so much to love and appreciate about Portal. It feels like a ‘handmade’ experience - while it’s not the most CONVENTIONALLY impressive in some ways, it makes up for it with its endless charm and unique approaches to every aspect of game design. It’s amazing that we got this game at all; it’s one that undoubtedly deserves the praise it gets, even all these years later. An experience that’s only a few hours long and keeps you hooked the entire way through, Portal is worth coming back to again and again. If you still haven’t played it by now, I highly recommend giving it your time.
Note: I give spoiler warnings for spoilers.
Portal is a testament to the benefits of rewarding creativity and taking risks in media. It’s not something we often see AAA studios do anymore, especially not in the fashion that Valve did here. A neat little project created by indie students became a wildly successful, full-fledged title released by one of the most recognizable companies in the industry - all because Valve was willing to bet on something they saw potential in. It gave us a game that left a lasting cultural impact on our community, and that still holds up nearly 14 years later.
On its own, Portal is already a 4-5 star experience - but it also led to a sequel that improved upon the original in nearly every way. Portal 2 is undoubtedly one of the GOATs, spearheading the series from 'great' to 'untouchable'. I doubt we’ll ever see such a unique and impressive duology again, at least not for a very long time, and not on the scale of something like Portal.
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 4.5/5
Sound: 5.5/5
Story: 4.5/5
Gameplay: 4.5/5
Worldbuilding: 3.5/5
Achievements (Does not count toward overall score.): 4/5
Overall game score: 4.5/5
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
The visual design here is simple, but that simplicity is memorable in its own way. The white walls and largely empty rooms make the puzzles slicker; everything is clearly and concisely communicated. The blue/orange portals pop, too, leaving you with a VERY memorable visual. There’s a reason this color scheme is one of the most popular parts of the game.
[SPOILERS FOR THE REST OF THIS SECTION]
That initial plainness also makes the last act of the story stand out more; everything you’ve gotten used to is turned on its head when you’re shown the inner workings of Aperture. When Chell leaps from the artificially bright, hospital-like rooms that the scientists have created, into the deep, dark underbelly of Aperture, it is perfectly reflected in the visual shift. The messy, dark corridors are in stark contrast to everything before it. You feel like you’re not supposed to be there, because you’re not. There’s grime, rust, wires, and pipes. There’s unused test chambers and secret observation rooms. It gives you a newfound sense of freedom - freedom which is matched in the gameplay, too, as the training wheels come off and you must figure out puzzles with little direction. You have escaped a rat’s maze, and you’re running under the furniture towards freedom.
Yet you find yourself trapped once again, this time in GLADoS’ chamber. This area is unique in its own right, with its impossibly tall ceiling and rounded, gray walls. It is the complete opposite of the cramped, square, white chambers.
Most stunning in design, though, is GLADoS herself. A giant mess of metal and parts hanging from the ceiling, she is totally unlike anything else in the game - while also reflecting both sides of it perfectly. Her sleek, stark white casing matches the ‘shell’ of the lab, or what is supposed to be seen. The black structure connecting her to the ceiling, coupled with the messy, dangling wires, are reminiscent of what lay underneath. Like the test chambers she runs, GLADoS is an Aperture creation… and just like them, there’s something going on with her that is not what it is made to look like. [SPOILER ENDING]
Overall, 4.5/5.
Sound:
Similarly to the visuals, the sound design in Portal is left rather simplistic. There’s not much of a soundtrack; instead, you spend most of your time accompanied only by GLADoS’ voice, as well as the sounds of the chambers (which, like the visuals, contribute to the clarity of the puzzles.) It makes for a perfect atmosphere, and allows GLADoS' character to stand out even more. This is a rare exception where I actually prefer a game having little music - I think any more of it would have taken away from these things.
And, of course, it goes without saying that GLADoS’ delivery is always perfect. Sometimes she's robotic. Sometimes she's eerily human. Sometimes, she's both at once.
[SPOILERS FOR THE REST OF THIS SECTION]
There is just a fantastic progression for her character that only exists because of the perfect VA work. At the beginning of the game and throughout the experiment, she simply comes off like part of Aperture's setup. She seems to only be there to guide you and provide machine-like encouragement, while delivering hilarious quips in an oft-monotone voice to keep you entertained. But this, too, is turned on its head when you escape. It's as if she rapidly gains emotion. Distress and anger ooze from her as she searches for you. The robotic monotony of before now seems like it was that of a bored employee, rather than a machine lacking autonomy of its own.
And this emotionally-charged version of GLADoS evolves once again when you destroy her morality core. She loses that personality she so quickly began to show, replacing it with a much more sinister, sadistic, and calm version instead. That moment is forever ingrained in my mind because of the delivery , from the ‘whoa’s, to the evil laugh, to the ‘good news.’
To this day, it's incredibly impressive how Ellen McLain managed to capture three different versions of a non-human character, all while maintaining perfect comedic delivery. That's not to mention that she brings to life one of the best and most memorable songs from a video game ever. I severely doubt that Portal would have been as widely praised and beloved if it weren't for Ellen's contributions.
Overall, 5.5/5.
Story:
While the core plot is pretty basic, what it evolves into - and what is going on underneath - keep it interesting. [SPOILERS] You are bound to run into at least one Rattmann room naturally, and just that one will make it apparent that Aperture is more than it presents itself as. [SPOILER ENDING] A lot of the exact details are left vague or unexplained, and anything you DO learn is either shown visually or given through GLADoS’ superb dialogue. I think that this simplicity works really well for such a short experience. There's no clunky exposition or an overload of needless information; you are given the basics, and the aforementioned visual storytelling and dialogue deliver the rest.
[SPOILERS] As an example, I just adore the setup of the escape. It's the easiest kind of plotline to grasp - you're trapped somewhere, and you need to get out. But in Portal, it feels like you're pushing the boundaries of the game itself. The visuals, the voice acting, the writing, and the pacing really push this idea that you're doing something you're not supposed to once you’re out of GLADoS’ reach. It's like a less on-the-nose Stanley Parable. [SPOILER ENDING]
And the writing itself is just amazing. Portal still holds up 14 years later; it’s an amazing feat, especially since it has been meme’d into oblivion. GLADoS throws quippy, deadpan one-liners at you constantly. It ends up helping the pacing a lot, as it keeps you engaged throughout the entirety of the playtime. She’s entertaining enough to carry the game all on her own - but thankfully, she doesn’t have to, because the gameplay delivers as well.
Overall, 4.5/5.
Gameplay:
There aren’t many puzzle games I’ve played that I feel manage to be as engaging as Portal. The core idea of the gameplay - and its execution - are not only completely unique, but also insanely impressive and fun. The premise may SEEM complicated on paper, but the levels almost always stay fair; a few of the later ones do have a pretty sharp difficulty curve, but the strong sense of accomplishment at the end of each chamber makes it worth it.
More importantly than that, though, is that the devs did a fantastic job of meticulously constructing the progression to teach players each new mechanic in memorable and fun ways. Everything here is purposeful, down to the skips they’ve allowed to be left in. Nothing is ever rushed in design, and YOU never feel too rushed either. You are given time to fully grasp each new mechanic that’s thrown at you - which makes those last few ridiculously difficult levels feel all the more satisfying.
[SPOILERS] And then the training wheels come off during the escape. You’re left to your own devices, navigating through completely different environments with very little guidance. It really showcases how much the game has taught you in just a few hours, as it trusts the player to get through this part without hand-holding. [SPOILER ENDING]
I really gained a deeper understanding of the effort put into the gameplay from replaying with the dev commentary. I highly recommend everyone do so, because I walked away with a new appreciation for not only Portal itself, but game development in general. For example, they do a great job of discussing how they utilize ‘timed puzzles’ (the auto-closing doors.) Puzzles without any sort of timed aspect have room to be more complex, because there isn’t any pressure. As a result, they tend to be much more dramatic in scope. But the timed ones give a sense of urgency - while they may be easier on you mentally, they challenge your ability to actually execute the solution. I love that they included both approaches.
In the end, I do think some of the puzzles in Portal are weaker than others, but I can’t help but appreciate each of them for the effort; there’s a fantastic amount of care to make the gameplay clear and concise. There’s thought and love put into each level. And the mechanics themselves are so ridiculously fun and satisfying - especially the momentum puzzles - that I can’t help but adore the gameplay, even if it’s not always perfect.
Overall, 4.5/5.
Worldbuilding:
The worldbuilding is the weakest aspect of Portal, but it's still good in it's own way. I feel the game slightly suffers in this aspect because of the simple, clean settings that are built around the gameplay - but, to be fair, I also think this was the right choice to make. Still, a bit more could have been done to flesh out the lore. But the eerie emptiness of the lab, and the mystery surrounding your situation, do add a thick atmosphere that helps a lot.
[SPOILERS] Generally, the main pieces of worldbuilding we do see are the Rattmann dens. These break the usual visual style of the test chambers to show you the cluttered, messy guts of the lab, even before you escape; it gives a clear sense early on that something is terribly wrong (if you find them.) All the dens are pretty similar, but there are little details in them that make them interesting the first one or two times. [SPOILER ENDING]
There's not much else to be said here, honestly. It's not spectacular, but the vagueness can be gotten away with when nearly everything else in the game is perfect. The mysteriousness of Aperture carries it well enough.
Overall, 3.5/5.
Extra Category - Achievements:
There are a few cool achievements that make replays interesting by limiting what you are allowed to do with the mechanics. I think this is a really, really great thing for achievements to do. I had fun 100%ing it.
Overall, 4/5.
Overall game score: 4.5/5. There’s so much to love and appreciate about Portal. It feels like a ‘handmade’ experience - while it’s not the most CONVENTIONALLY impressive in some ways, it makes up for it with its endless charm and unique approaches to every aspect of game design. It’s amazing that we got this game at all; it’s one that undoubtedly deserves the praise it gets, even all these years later. An experience that’s only a few hours long and keeps you hooked the entire way through, Portal is worth coming back to again and again. If you still haven’t played it by now, I highly recommend giving it your time.
Gato Roboto
2019
GATO ROBOTO REVIEW
If Gato Roboto was specifically created for anyone in the world, it was me. I’m an avid cat fan, I love metroidvanias (though I’ve only played a few), and I devour short indie games. So, as you can imagine, I was VERY excited to dip into this - what is essentially a standard, 4 hour metroidvania, but with the novelty of getting to play as a cat in a mech suit. Is that feline MC biasing me a little bit here? Maybe. But, come on, there’s a dedicated meow button.
In all seriousness, I think that GR has a very solid game going underneath the gimmick. While it certainly isn’t anything groundbreaking, it’s a good way to spend a few hours. I even had fun speedrunning it.
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 4/5
Sound: 3.5/5
Story: 2.5/5
Gameplay: 3.5/5
Worldbuilding: 3/5
Achievements (Does not count toward overall score.): 3.5/5
Overall game score: 3.5/5
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
Gato Roboto boasts simple, charming pixel art that fits the metroidvania genre well - but what really makes its visuals stand out is the two-tone color palette. It’s a unique, remarkably executed style that I enjoyed a lot. In fact, my favorite part of the game might be the collectible cassettes, which unlock other palettes beyond the default black and white. On top of just being a cool idea, it helps keep things fresh for the short playtime. They all look nice, too, though some are less usable than others due to the clashing colors.
The enemies and environments aren’t very memorable, but they get the job done. While it would’ve been nice to see this stuff fleshed out more, I understand that the lack of any color theory makes that more difficult. It certainly isn’t bad, at least.
The menu setup is easy to understand and appealing. I thought it was cute how the cat was the center of the power-up screen. I found the map very helpful, too, as a room isn’t added until you’ve actually entered it. This might be standard for the genre, I’m not sure, but I still appreciated it.
The cat is extremely cute. Best purrtagonist in history, maybe.
Overall, 4/5.
Sound:
While the music here is really cool. It provides amazing ambience. However, it’s also loopy and short. Like, ‘a lot of the tracks are only around a minute and a half’ short. I think it’s a great style, but that repetitiveness is definitely noticeable for me.
I feel like focusing on this area more would’ve really benefited the overall game. Distinct, longer pieces for different levels/boss fights would’ve helped set things apart in a way the visuals lack.
The sound effects are satisfying and distinct.
The cat's meow is very cute.
Overall, 3.5/5.
Story:
The story isn’t anything too special, but it’s enough to move everything along. I’m not a fan of these plots driven entirely by going from one place to the next, but I can’t say I expected much more here.
The writing and childlike humor actually made me chuckle a few times. I’m used to indie stuff like this having awful comedy, and while this one still isn’t AMAZING, it’s decent.
Overall, 2.5/5.
Gameplay:
Others have pointed out that Gato Roboto borrows heavily from the original Metroid. I personally can’t compare the two, but I would agree that GR’s mechanics are pretty typical for the genre. That doesn’t mean it’s not fun, though!
While I wasn’t a big fan of its platforming initially, the ball jump and dash upgrades made it a lot more enjoyable to get around the world. There were still a few times where room/enemy setups annoyed me, but it was never egregiously bad.
I wish that the shooting felt more powerful early on. It seems obsolete for a large chunk of the game, since the missile launcher is just a lot stronger. Still, the limits put on the missile launcher incentivize shooting every once and a while, and it does become much more useful once you finally get to upgrade it.
The boss fights were fun! I only wish they’d been more diverse in visual design. They’re still entertaining, though, and most of them have a unique enough gameplay gimmick where it doesn’t get repetitive while playing. I especially enjoyed them while speedrunning, where the challenge became to beat them as quickly as possible.
Overall, 3.5/5.
Worldbuilding:
As I’ve mentioned, a lot of the environments are hurt by the lack of color. They don’t really stand out from each other, despite being drastically different settings. It’s just a sacrifice made for the two-tone style, unfortunately. That’s why I think more music would’ve helped to pick up the slack.
I really like the collectibles/hidden upgrades, though. They’re not often difficult to get, but they’re rewarding. It makes the world feel a lot larger and worth paying attention to. What Gato Roboto lacks in ‘lore’ or environmental design, it makes up for with the exploration aspect of the gameplay.
There are some ‘audio’ logs, too. It’s a nice touch that adds to the plot a bit.
Overall, 3/5.
Extra Category - Achievements:
A good chunk of the achievements are progression-based, but there are a few that require additional playthroughs. To my surprise, I actually really enjoyed replaying to get those. While it was frustrating at times, it wasn’t unmanageable.
One of them is for beating the game in under an hour. This took me a few attempts, but I eventually got it while streaming for my friends. It was a very satisfying moment, and it’s probably one of my favorite achievements I’ve earned as a result.
Overall, 4/5.
Overall game score: 3.5/5. Gato Roboto is an imperfect, but fun and precise little metroidvania with a lot of heart. While I wish there was a bigger soundtrack, and the story and environmental design are lacking, the unique visual presentation, good gameplay, and great exploration make up for it. It managed to keep me entertained for multiple playthroughs. Worth a try if you’re a fan of the genre.
If Gato Roboto was specifically created for anyone in the world, it was me. I’m an avid cat fan, I love metroidvanias (though I’ve only played a few), and I devour short indie games. So, as you can imagine, I was VERY excited to dip into this - what is essentially a standard, 4 hour metroidvania, but with the novelty of getting to play as a cat in a mech suit. Is that feline MC biasing me a little bit here? Maybe. But, come on, there’s a dedicated meow button.
In all seriousness, I think that GR has a very solid game going underneath the gimmick. While it certainly isn’t anything groundbreaking, it’s a good way to spend a few hours. I even had fun speedrunning it.
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 4/5
Sound: 3.5/5
Story: 2.5/5
Gameplay: 3.5/5
Worldbuilding: 3/5
Achievements (Does not count toward overall score.): 3.5/5
Overall game score: 3.5/5
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
Gato Roboto boasts simple, charming pixel art that fits the metroidvania genre well - but what really makes its visuals stand out is the two-tone color palette. It’s a unique, remarkably executed style that I enjoyed a lot. In fact, my favorite part of the game might be the collectible cassettes, which unlock other palettes beyond the default black and white. On top of just being a cool idea, it helps keep things fresh for the short playtime. They all look nice, too, though some are less usable than others due to the clashing colors.
The enemies and environments aren’t very memorable, but they get the job done. While it would’ve been nice to see this stuff fleshed out more, I understand that the lack of any color theory makes that more difficult. It certainly isn’t bad, at least.
The menu setup is easy to understand and appealing. I thought it was cute how the cat was the center of the power-up screen. I found the map very helpful, too, as a room isn’t added until you’ve actually entered it. This might be standard for the genre, I’m not sure, but I still appreciated it.
The cat is extremely cute. Best purrtagonist in history, maybe.
Overall, 4/5.
Sound:
While the music here is really cool. It provides amazing ambience. However, it’s also loopy and short. Like, ‘a lot of the tracks are only around a minute and a half’ short. I think it’s a great style, but that repetitiveness is definitely noticeable for me.
I feel like focusing on this area more would’ve really benefited the overall game. Distinct, longer pieces for different levels/boss fights would’ve helped set things apart in a way the visuals lack.
The sound effects are satisfying and distinct.
The cat's meow is very cute.
Overall, 3.5/5.
Story:
The story isn’t anything too special, but it’s enough to move everything along. I’m not a fan of these plots driven entirely by going from one place to the next, but I can’t say I expected much more here.
The writing and childlike humor actually made me chuckle a few times. I’m used to indie stuff like this having awful comedy, and while this one still isn’t AMAZING, it’s decent.
Overall, 2.5/5.
Gameplay:
Others have pointed out that Gato Roboto borrows heavily from the original Metroid. I personally can’t compare the two, but I would agree that GR’s mechanics are pretty typical for the genre. That doesn’t mean it’s not fun, though!
While I wasn’t a big fan of its platforming initially, the ball jump and dash upgrades made it a lot more enjoyable to get around the world. There were still a few times where room/enemy setups annoyed me, but it was never egregiously bad.
I wish that the shooting felt more powerful early on. It seems obsolete for a large chunk of the game, since the missile launcher is just a lot stronger. Still, the limits put on the missile launcher incentivize shooting every once and a while, and it does become much more useful once you finally get to upgrade it.
The boss fights were fun! I only wish they’d been more diverse in visual design. They’re still entertaining, though, and most of them have a unique enough gameplay gimmick where it doesn’t get repetitive while playing. I especially enjoyed them while speedrunning, where the challenge became to beat them as quickly as possible.
Overall, 3.5/5.
Worldbuilding:
As I’ve mentioned, a lot of the environments are hurt by the lack of color. They don’t really stand out from each other, despite being drastically different settings. It’s just a sacrifice made for the two-tone style, unfortunately. That’s why I think more music would’ve helped to pick up the slack.
I really like the collectibles/hidden upgrades, though. They’re not often difficult to get, but they’re rewarding. It makes the world feel a lot larger and worth paying attention to. What Gato Roboto lacks in ‘lore’ or environmental design, it makes up for with the exploration aspect of the gameplay.
There are some ‘audio’ logs, too. It’s a nice touch that adds to the plot a bit.
Overall, 3/5.
Extra Category - Achievements:
A good chunk of the achievements are progression-based, but there are a few that require additional playthroughs. To my surprise, I actually really enjoyed replaying to get those. While it was frustrating at times, it wasn’t unmanageable.
One of them is for beating the game in under an hour. This took me a few attempts, but I eventually got it while streaming for my friends. It was a very satisfying moment, and it’s probably one of my favorite achievements I’ve earned as a result.
Overall, 4/5.
Overall game score: 3.5/5. Gato Roboto is an imperfect, but fun and precise little metroidvania with a lot of heart. While I wish there was a bigger soundtrack, and the story and environmental design are lacking, the unique visual presentation, good gameplay, and great exploration make up for it. It managed to keep me entertained for multiple playthroughs. Worth a try if you’re a fan of the genre.
Kona
2017
KONA REVIEW
Note: I give spoiler warnings for spoilers.
While looking through stuff leaving Game Pass in March, I found myself intrigued by Kona's pitch as "an episodic and narrative-driven interactive tale". That sort of thing definitely appeals to me - not to mention the reportedly short length - so I decided to give it a shot.
Unfortunately, I was left unimpressed.
The game just feels half-baked. Most of it is, at best, mediocre and boring. Even that basic stuff it sells itself on isn't executed well. The plot is dull and disjointed. The narration is unnecessary. There's very little interactivity. And it's not even episodic!
But I believe answers as to WHY Kona feels unfinished - and downright bad at times - lay in its development history.
While researching for this review, I found myself skimming its Kickstarter page from 2014 - and interestingly enough, it WAS originally supposed to be divided into four episodes... but there's no indication of that still being the case within the final product. In fact, each of those were supposed to be 1-2 hours long, and the finished game is around 5. And while I do think Kona feels half-done, it does still have a distinct beginning and end; I don't see it being returned to in the future.
Now, keep in mind that it was released in 2017. And if you look in the comments of the last Kickstarter update (posted in June of 2018), they mention they're going to e-mail backers about episodes and rewards. Then, in August of 2018, all of their social media goes completely silent. The Kickstarter, the blog, the Facebook page, the Twitter - none of them are updated anymore.
That is, until September of 2020, when they responded to a tweet by saying that they're currently working on their next project.
My guess is that the team realized the scope of what they were promising, created what they could, and then bowed out. It was kind of a doomed project from the beginning, honestly - they hadn't even made enough money from the Kickstarter itself. About half of their budget came from the 'Canada Media Fund'. And with the team now moving on to something new, I think it's safe to say we'll never see any of the other supposed episodes.
In the end, it's unsurprising that Kona isn't all that impressive, given that it seems to be only 1/4 of what the developers had in mind. And it's sad to say, but I don't have much faith that their future projects will be better. I'd love to be proven wrong, though.
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 2/5
Sound: 2/5
Story: 1/5
Gameplay: 0.5/5
Worldbuilding: 1/5
Achievements (Does not count toward overall game score.): 1/5
Overall game score: 1.5/5
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
The heavy snowstorm makes for an intriguing setting... for the first 20 minutes or so. After that, the largely unchanging landscape becomes pretty tiresome. The only thing that really shakes it up are the houses you visit, and even then, those are all spread too far apart. I think the game would've benefitted a lot from either downsizing the map, or implementing a fast travel system. That way you spend less time getting through the samey stuff, and more time exploring the places that are actually sort of interesting to see.
The graphics are okay. I like the interior of the shop/houses; they feel realistically lived-in. Once again, I wish they weren't buried under minutes of tedious traversal.
[SPOILERS] I also thought the design for the creature you encounter during the climax was neat. It unsettled me for a minute. I liked the ice wolves, too, as well as the frozen people. I wish this supernatural stuff had been utilized more. It provided some cool visuals. [SPOILER ENDING]
On a much more sour note, one of the things that REALLY brought the experience down for me was the UI. All of your items are displayed on god-awful, unintuitive wheel menus. This is particularly annoying when looking through the documents, especially if you collect a lot of them. You have to carefully hover over the tiny slivers to read their names (which are usually useless anyways.) I think this is especially egregious in the detective genre, where evidence like notes and files can play a big role in piecing things together. They could've just had a menu with the documents alphabetized, or sorted by the location you found them at.
The map is unhelpful, too. Its small icons were a problem for me; you have to zoom in to see the names of them, but doing so gets you way TOO close. On top of that, there's no easy way of knowing where you've already been. I wish icons were either automatically marked, or able to be marked, to keep track of their statuses (like if you're done there, need to return, or still have to visit.)
For the most part, Kona is not a bad-looking game. There's a solid foundation here that could've been turned into a cool setting. Unfortunately, it's mostly just boring; there's very little to keep you engaged while you travel from one place to the next. Plus, the poor UI brings down my opinion a lot more.
Overall, 2/5.
Sound:
There's not a lot of music to be found. The main audio accompanying you on your journey is the narrator, whom I was not a big fan of. He wasn't BAD, but his delivery was often unimpactful. His repeated cues annoyed me after a while, too; having to hear the same line over and over whenever my warmth meter was low became very grating.
I feel like the storybook narration was unneeded. Again, it's not awful, but it ended up ruining my immersion a bit. I understand that this type of story needs some exposition, but I just don't think this was the best solution. The game could've benefitted a lot from going a more traditional route, and letting the portagonist be the one to provide it. It would've created a much stronger connection to both him as a character, and the plot itself, because it would have put you in his shoes more. Add onto that a real soundtrack, and the entire experience would've been more enjoyable.
Overall, 2/5.
Story:
There ARE some interesting ideas here - an interactive detective game with supernatural elements sounds cool on paper. Unfortunately, I just don't think any of it is actually done well.
First of all, it's weird to me how much of an emphasis Kona puts on indigenous culture, and specifically how white people have affected natives... but it seems like it's just there to be a plot device. Their mistreatment is only ever really brought up to further the narrative. There are no named native characters, and there are only a few documents written by them. They're strangely absent in general, with no indication of where they might be. It sort of feels like these aspects were included solely so the game could borrow a legend from the culture.
Furthermore, it seems like the Cree were originally supposed to be a red herring for Hamilton's murder (according to the Kickstarter) - but that's never mentioned within the finished product. Given that information, I think the indigenous people were initially supposed to have a bigger, possibly more direct role within the story... and I think this is one of the things that was cut. It's just strange to me that this is what they decided to leave out, given that a large part of the plot is based around indigenous culture and mistreatment.
I'm also iffy on the way Hamilton is framed. He's a greedy rich guy destroying Cree land and abusing miners, but it never feels like Kona takes a hard stance against him. The townspeople who are attempting to stand up to him are shown as being unfit to do so - which would be fine, if the game took other steps to say definitively that what he's doing is wrong.
I believe a big part of it is that the main character, as well as the narrator, never really sympathize with the Cree or the workers. Of course, that's not to say that your protagonist has to be a perfect human being, or that narrators have to have distinct thoughts... but since they're nearly the only personalities actually present, it sets the entire tone as a little too centrist for my liking.
And as for Hamilton's actual murderer, the entire plot thread is pretty predictable and quite boring. There's no attempt to throw you for a loop. You're just pointed in the right direction pretty quickly. It's way too linear for a detective game.
The murderer's motive is at least somewhat interesting, and shows a little bit of sympathy for the Cree (nearly the only compassion given to them by anyone, minus small note snippets.) However, I feel that - like almost everything else here - it could have been expanded upon and shown in a much more compelling way. It's barely discussed at all, leaving it feeling like just another pointless plot thread that has little impact.
In regards to all of the side characters and stories, some of them are almost engaging, but they're largely throwaway. Almost none of them matter in the slightest, or are compelling enough to leave a big impression. They all feel half-finished, with no sort of conclusion. I expect this is another thing that was left unfinished. (Also, [SPOILERS] what happened to that guy Pierre? His death is very mysterious but it's never explained at all. [SPOILER END])
The final encounter is actually pretty cool (for the first minute or so.) It's a decent climax. But the bad controls - which are important during this part - end up ruining it. It's disappointing, because this is the only really intriguing part of the game.
And right at the end, you [SPOILERS] escape on a boat. While you're doing so, you can look back to try to spot the creature. But I'd gotten aboard so fast that he wasn't within my line of sight. I think this escape would've felt much more impactful if he were standing closer - but since he walks at such a leisurely pace, he wasn't anywhere near me. If there were a small puzzle to complete, or an item you had to use to progress, this sequence would have been much better. The creature would have time to get closer to you, and as a result, it would've felt like you were getting away by the skin of your teeth. [SPOILER END]
Finally, as it closes out... the game directly tells you its message. It's such an unsubtle route, but it basically HAD to take it, because it wouldn't be clear otherwise. Only a few select plot threads have anything to do with this theme, and even those are left too vague.
Overall, 1/5.
Gameplay:
Every mechanic is downright awful. Not only does nothing work in conjunction with anything else, but every gameplay element ends up disrupting what little flow Kona does manage to have. The survival system is flawed and boring. The terrible traversal methods make exploring the world a chore. The controls and menus are dreadful. And the combat and collectibles should've just been cut, given how underdeveloped they are.
There's a lot to get into here, but I'll address the control scheme first. A handful of questionable layout decisions really threw me off while playing. And the worst part is that there's no option to remap anything. I could be more forgiving if there was.
First and foremost, crouch is on LB and jump is on RB. I think that this is a pretty weird design to begin with (for this game, at least.) Even weirder, though, is that you can only jump when standing, and there's no indicator as to whether you're crouching or not. There were a few times where I forgot I had crouched; once, I thought I'd run into a glitch and just couldn't jump.
Even more egregious is the running. You do this by pressing down on the left joystick - which is a fine choice on its own, that's what I usually associate with the action. But my problem is with the balance of it. You can only run for around 5 seconds before you're fatigued, at which point you have to walk for 3-or-so seconds. And there's no indication of when you can run again. You just have to keep trying until it lets you. As a result, I was constantly jamming down on the joystick, which was really annoying and uncomfortable.
Using the weapons doesn't feel good in the slightest, either. As I've said, I think it would've been much wiser to not include combat at all. It's never very important anyways, aside from the final encounter. Removing it would've streamlined the game a bit, and taken out something that just feels unfinished and unnecessary.
Speaking of cutting things that feel unfinished and unnecessary... the collectibles (miniature totem poles) suffer the same issue.
To start with, they're never addressed in-game in any way. You only find out about them if you happen to spot the small holes in the ground (and there are only five of these spread out across a pretty big map.) You also have to complete a dumb object combination puzzle to be able to retrieve them.
There's no way to track how many you've found, either, aside from achievements. To my recollection, you're never even told how many there are. I never felt a sense of satisfaction from getting them - partially because I had to use a guide (there's no way I'd find them on my own), and partially because there was nothing driving me to keep at it.
The only purpose they really serve is to give you small meter bonuses, but I never even noticed that. Apparently the meters do pop up to tip you off, but they're so small - and I was so used to them appearing randomly while they were increasing/decreasing - that I never registered it. I only ever found out about this because I ran across one of the devs saying so online.
Those meters aren't fun, either. I'm not big on the survival genre, but even I know that there are better ways to execute this kind of thing. The campfire mechanic is obviously supposed to add a layer of tension, but it's just an annoyance. Having to search one out every few minutes in the large, boring map is nothing but a chore - doubly so when you need certain items to actually use it, and triply so when it's your only way of saving.
And, finally, my last point. traversing the world is the most unpleasant, tedious thing in the entirety of Kona. Running around, getting from place to place, it's all such a chore (especially if you want to 100%.) As I've said, there's no good way of knowing when you've completed an area, either. This means that you're probably going to have to backtrack - which just makes the flaws here even more apparent. There's also nothing to keep track of where you need to go next, or what objectives you need to complete. I mean, come on... it's a short exploration game, it's still an exploration game! This stuff would've helped a lot.
The truck does make things a bit better. However, you can only use it on main roads, and getting from one place to another with it can still take minutes. There's also a snowmobile available, if you find all of its components around a specific house/yard; you can use it to travel anywhere on the map. While this is theoretically much more useful, and I appreciate its inclusion, there are two major flaws with it.
First off, according to achievements, not many people actually got the snowmobile. It's an extremely helpful item that - again, theoretically - makes the game more enjoyable. But because of it being locked behind an obtuse search puzzle, few players got to use it. Personally, I had to look up the location of some of the components, so this doesn't surprise me. I think that it should've been made much more accessible, given that it completely changes how you get around the world (particularly since it's a short game with a big map.)
And despite the snowmobile helping you get around faster... it ends up being next-to-useless, because you can't open the map while you're on it. You have to completely stop and get off. I often ended up driving in the wrong direction, because breaking and watching the animations to get off and back on just sounded miserable, so I would try to guess instead. I'd often find myself even further from my destination than I originally was.
This is another reason why I believe a fast travel system or a smaller map would've helped a lot. Cut out a lot of this tedious traversal, and you have a much more streamlined game. By the credits, I'd felt like my playthrough was 10-11 hours long. I was surprised when I found out it had only been 5 1/2. That's how lengthy and boring it felt. Every minute drags on because of the lack of good settings, controls, or exploration methods.
Overall, 0.5/5.
Worldbuilding:
While some of the characters do have a few intriguing traits, it's not nearly enough to make them feel fully realized, especially when none of them are actually in the game. As I've said, there are a few kinda interesting side plots going on - but most of them don't have any sort of conclusion, and are only mentioned once or twice.
Including the indigenous stuff is a neat idea, but as I've said, it barely has an actual role. It would have been cool to see how the two cultures within the setting interact and clash; instead, the white people have all fled, and the Cree are mysteriously absent.
From my research, the devs seemed really uppity about Kona only having supernatural elements that 'make sense within the story'. I honestly feel like the game would've been much, much better if they had leaned into this side of things more. Feeling like you were being watched/stalked while exploring would have added a nice atmosphere. It would've built up to the ending in a better way, too.
Overall, 1/5.
Extra Category - Achievements:
Definitely not worth 100%ing. Searching for all of the campfires and documents tacked on even more needless roaming, which just made me even more tired of the world. But the most frustrating part is that you'll have to complete a playthrough of the game on-foot (meaning no vehicles past a certain early point.) I was using a guide, and I still had to do a lot of running around to find all of the required documents/items before I could progress to the last quarter.
At least some of the achievements are easy to get and kinda creative, though.
Overall, 1/5.
Overall game score: 1.5/5. While there are one or two cool ideas at Kona's core, it's not nearly enough to carry it. The detective story isn't good. The survival elements are annoying (and every other gameplay element is awful, too.) The world is boring. There's little-to-no interactivity. A lot of things (such as collectibles, combat, and side plots) feel unfinished - and probably are.
The few halfway enjoyable moments in the game aren't worth sitting through everything wrong with it. Invest your time into something else instead of this rushed, half-baked mess.
Note: I give spoiler warnings for spoilers.
While looking through stuff leaving Game Pass in March, I found myself intrigued by Kona's pitch as "an episodic and narrative-driven interactive tale". That sort of thing definitely appeals to me - not to mention the reportedly short length - so I decided to give it a shot.
Unfortunately, I was left unimpressed.
The game just feels half-baked. Most of it is, at best, mediocre and boring. Even that basic stuff it sells itself on isn't executed well. The plot is dull and disjointed. The narration is unnecessary. There's very little interactivity. And it's not even episodic!
But I believe answers as to WHY Kona feels unfinished - and downright bad at times - lay in its development history.
While researching for this review, I found myself skimming its Kickstarter page from 2014 - and interestingly enough, it WAS originally supposed to be divided into four episodes... but there's no indication of that still being the case within the final product. In fact, each of those were supposed to be 1-2 hours long, and the finished game is around 5. And while I do think Kona feels half-done, it does still have a distinct beginning and end; I don't see it being returned to in the future.
Now, keep in mind that it was released in 2017. And if you look in the comments of the last Kickstarter update (posted in June of 2018), they mention they're going to e-mail backers about episodes and rewards. Then, in August of 2018, all of their social media goes completely silent. The Kickstarter, the blog, the Facebook page, the Twitter - none of them are updated anymore.
That is, until September of 2020, when they responded to a tweet by saying that they're currently working on their next project.
My guess is that the team realized the scope of what they were promising, created what they could, and then bowed out. It was kind of a doomed project from the beginning, honestly - they hadn't even made enough money from the Kickstarter itself. About half of their budget came from the 'Canada Media Fund'. And with the team now moving on to something new, I think it's safe to say we'll never see any of the other supposed episodes.
In the end, it's unsurprising that Kona isn't all that impressive, given that it seems to be only 1/4 of what the developers had in mind. And it's sad to say, but I don't have much faith that their future projects will be better. I'd love to be proven wrong, though.
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 2/5
Sound: 2/5
Story: 1/5
Gameplay: 0.5/5
Worldbuilding: 1/5
Achievements (Does not count toward overall game score.): 1/5
Overall game score: 1.5/5
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
The heavy snowstorm makes for an intriguing setting... for the first 20 minutes or so. After that, the largely unchanging landscape becomes pretty tiresome. The only thing that really shakes it up are the houses you visit, and even then, those are all spread too far apart. I think the game would've benefitted a lot from either downsizing the map, or implementing a fast travel system. That way you spend less time getting through the samey stuff, and more time exploring the places that are actually sort of interesting to see.
The graphics are okay. I like the interior of the shop/houses; they feel realistically lived-in. Once again, I wish they weren't buried under minutes of tedious traversal.
[SPOILERS] I also thought the design for the creature you encounter during the climax was neat. It unsettled me for a minute. I liked the ice wolves, too, as well as the frozen people. I wish this supernatural stuff had been utilized more. It provided some cool visuals. [SPOILER ENDING]
On a much more sour note, one of the things that REALLY brought the experience down for me was the UI. All of your items are displayed on god-awful, unintuitive wheel menus. This is particularly annoying when looking through the documents, especially if you collect a lot of them. You have to carefully hover over the tiny slivers to read their names (which are usually useless anyways.) I think this is especially egregious in the detective genre, where evidence like notes and files can play a big role in piecing things together. They could've just had a menu with the documents alphabetized, or sorted by the location you found them at.
The map is unhelpful, too. Its small icons were a problem for me; you have to zoom in to see the names of them, but doing so gets you way TOO close. On top of that, there's no easy way of knowing where you've already been. I wish icons were either automatically marked, or able to be marked, to keep track of their statuses (like if you're done there, need to return, or still have to visit.)
For the most part, Kona is not a bad-looking game. There's a solid foundation here that could've been turned into a cool setting. Unfortunately, it's mostly just boring; there's very little to keep you engaged while you travel from one place to the next. Plus, the poor UI brings down my opinion a lot more.
Overall, 2/5.
Sound:
There's not a lot of music to be found. The main audio accompanying you on your journey is the narrator, whom I was not a big fan of. He wasn't BAD, but his delivery was often unimpactful. His repeated cues annoyed me after a while, too; having to hear the same line over and over whenever my warmth meter was low became very grating.
I feel like the storybook narration was unneeded. Again, it's not awful, but it ended up ruining my immersion a bit. I understand that this type of story needs some exposition, but I just don't think this was the best solution. The game could've benefitted a lot from going a more traditional route, and letting the portagonist be the one to provide it. It would've created a much stronger connection to both him as a character, and the plot itself, because it would have put you in his shoes more. Add onto that a real soundtrack, and the entire experience would've been more enjoyable.
Overall, 2/5.
Story:
There ARE some interesting ideas here - an interactive detective game with supernatural elements sounds cool on paper. Unfortunately, I just don't think any of it is actually done well.
First of all, it's weird to me how much of an emphasis Kona puts on indigenous culture, and specifically how white people have affected natives... but it seems like it's just there to be a plot device. Their mistreatment is only ever really brought up to further the narrative. There are no named native characters, and there are only a few documents written by them. They're strangely absent in general, with no indication of where they might be. It sort of feels like these aspects were included solely so the game could borrow a legend from the culture.
Furthermore, it seems like the Cree were originally supposed to be a red herring for Hamilton's murder (according to the Kickstarter) - but that's never mentioned within the finished product. Given that information, I think the indigenous people were initially supposed to have a bigger, possibly more direct role within the story... and I think this is one of the things that was cut. It's just strange to me that this is what they decided to leave out, given that a large part of the plot is based around indigenous culture and mistreatment.
I'm also iffy on the way Hamilton is framed. He's a greedy rich guy destroying Cree land and abusing miners, but it never feels like Kona takes a hard stance against him. The townspeople who are attempting to stand up to him are shown as being unfit to do so - which would be fine, if the game took other steps to say definitively that what he's doing is wrong.
I believe a big part of it is that the main character, as well as the narrator, never really sympathize with the Cree or the workers. Of course, that's not to say that your protagonist has to be a perfect human being, or that narrators have to have distinct thoughts... but since they're nearly the only personalities actually present, it sets the entire tone as a little too centrist for my liking.
And as for Hamilton's actual murderer, the entire plot thread is pretty predictable and quite boring. There's no attempt to throw you for a loop. You're just pointed in the right direction pretty quickly. It's way too linear for a detective game.
The murderer's motive is at least somewhat interesting, and shows a little bit of sympathy for the Cree (nearly the only compassion given to them by anyone, minus small note snippets.) However, I feel that - like almost everything else here - it could have been expanded upon and shown in a much more compelling way. It's barely discussed at all, leaving it feeling like just another pointless plot thread that has little impact.
In regards to all of the side characters and stories, some of them are almost engaging, but they're largely throwaway. Almost none of them matter in the slightest, or are compelling enough to leave a big impression. They all feel half-finished, with no sort of conclusion. I expect this is another thing that was left unfinished. (Also, [SPOILERS] what happened to that guy Pierre? His death is very mysterious but it's never explained at all. [SPOILER END])
The final encounter is actually pretty cool (for the first minute or so.) It's a decent climax. But the bad controls - which are important during this part - end up ruining it. It's disappointing, because this is the only really intriguing part of the game.
And right at the end, you [SPOILERS] escape on a boat. While you're doing so, you can look back to try to spot the creature. But I'd gotten aboard so fast that he wasn't within my line of sight. I think this escape would've felt much more impactful if he were standing closer - but since he walks at such a leisurely pace, he wasn't anywhere near me. If there were a small puzzle to complete, or an item you had to use to progress, this sequence would have been much better. The creature would have time to get closer to you, and as a result, it would've felt like you were getting away by the skin of your teeth. [SPOILER END]
Finally, as it closes out... the game directly tells you its message. It's such an unsubtle route, but it basically HAD to take it, because it wouldn't be clear otherwise. Only a few select plot threads have anything to do with this theme, and even those are left too vague.
Overall, 1/5.
Gameplay:
Every mechanic is downright awful. Not only does nothing work in conjunction with anything else, but every gameplay element ends up disrupting what little flow Kona does manage to have. The survival system is flawed and boring. The terrible traversal methods make exploring the world a chore. The controls and menus are dreadful. And the combat and collectibles should've just been cut, given how underdeveloped they are.
There's a lot to get into here, but I'll address the control scheme first. A handful of questionable layout decisions really threw me off while playing. And the worst part is that there's no option to remap anything. I could be more forgiving if there was.
First and foremost, crouch is on LB and jump is on RB. I think that this is a pretty weird design to begin with (for this game, at least.) Even weirder, though, is that you can only jump when standing, and there's no indicator as to whether you're crouching or not. There were a few times where I forgot I had crouched; once, I thought I'd run into a glitch and just couldn't jump.
Even more egregious is the running. You do this by pressing down on the left joystick - which is a fine choice on its own, that's what I usually associate with the action. But my problem is with the balance of it. You can only run for around 5 seconds before you're fatigued, at which point you have to walk for 3-or-so seconds. And there's no indication of when you can run again. You just have to keep trying until it lets you. As a result, I was constantly jamming down on the joystick, which was really annoying and uncomfortable.
Using the weapons doesn't feel good in the slightest, either. As I've said, I think it would've been much wiser to not include combat at all. It's never very important anyways, aside from the final encounter. Removing it would've streamlined the game a bit, and taken out something that just feels unfinished and unnecessary.
Speaking of cutting things that feel unfinished and unnecessary... the collectibles (miniature totem poles) suffer the same issue.
To start with, they're never addressed in-game in any way. You only find out about them if you happen to spot the small holes in the ground (and there are only five of these spread out across a pretty big map.) You also have to complete a dumb object combination puzzle to be able to retrieve them.
There's no way to track how many you've found, either, aside from achievements. To my recollection, you're never even told how many there are. I never felt a sense of satisfaction from getting them - partially because I had to use a guide (there's no way I'd find them on my own), and partially because there was nothing driving me to keep at it.
The only purpose they really serve is to give you small meter bonuses, but I never even noticed that. Apparently the meters do pop up to tip you off, but they're so small - and I was so used to them appearing randomly while they were increasing/decreasing - that I never registered it. I only ever found out about this because I ran across one of the devs saying so online.
Those meters aren't fun, either. I'm not big on the survival genre, but even I know that there are better ways to execute this kind of thing. The campfire mechanic is obviously supposed to add a layer of tension, but it's just an annoyance. Having to search one out every few minutes in the large, boring map is nothing but a chore - doubly so when you need certain items to actually use it, and triply so when it's your only way of saving.
And, finally, my last point. traversing the world is the most unpleasant, tedious thing in the entirety of Kona. Running around, getting from place to place, it's all such a chore (especially if you want to 100%.) As I've said, there's no good way of knowing when you've completed an area, either. This means that you're probably going to have to backtrack - which just makes the flaws here even more apparent. There's also nothing to keep track of where you need to go next, or what objectives you need to complete. I mean, come on... it's a short exploration game, it's still an exploration game! This stuff would've helped a lot.
The truck does make things a bit better. However, you can only use it on main roads, and getting from one place to another with it can still take minutes. There's also a snowmobile available, if you find all of its components around a specific house/yard; you can use it to travel anywhere on the map. While this is theoretically much more useful, and I appreciate its inclusion, there are two major flaws with it.
First off, according to achievements, not many people actually got the snowmobile. It's an extremely helpful item that - again, theoretically - makes the game more enjoyable. But because of it being locked behind an obtuse search puzzle, few players got to use it. Personally, I had to look up the location of some of the components, so this doesn't surprise me. I think that it should've been made much more accessible, given that it completely changes how you get around the world (particularly since it's a short game with a big map.)
And despite the snowmobile helping you get around faster... it ends up being next-to-useless, because you can't open the map while you're on it. You have to completely stop and get off. I often ended up driving in the wrong direction, because breaking and watching the animations to get off and back on just sounded miserable, so I would try to guess instead. I'd often find myself even further from my destination than I originally was.
This is another reason why I believe a fast travel system or a smaller map would've helped a lot. Cut out a lot of this tedious traversal, and you have a much more streamlined game. By the credits, I'd felt like my playthrough was 10-11 hours long. I was surprised when I found out it had only been 5 1/2. That's how lengthy and boring it felt. Every minute drags on because of the lack of good settings, controls, or exploration methods.
Overall, 0.5/5.
Worldbuilding:
While some of the characters do have a few intriguing traits, it's not nearly enough to make them feel fully realized, especially when none of them are actually in the game. As I've said, there are a few kinda interesting side plots going on - but most of them don't have any sort of conclusion, and are only mentioned once or twice.
Including the indigenous stuff is a neat idea, but as I've said, it barely has an actual role. It would have been cool to see how the two cultures within the setting interact and clash; instead, the white people have all fled, and the Cree are mysteriously absent.
From my research, the devs seemed really uppity about Kona only having supernatural elements that 'make sense within the story'. I honestly feel like the game would've been much, much better if they had leaned into this side of things more. Feeling like you were being watched/stalked while exploring would have added a nice atmosphere. It would've built up to the ending in a better way, too.
Overall, 1/5.
Extra Category - Achievements:
Definitely not worth 100%ing. Searching for all of the campfires and documents tacked on even more needless roaming, which just made me even more tired of the world. But the most frustrating part is that you'll have to complete a playthrough of the game on-foot (meaning no vehicles past a certain early point.) I was using a guide, and I still had to do a lot of running around to find all of the required documents/items before I could progress to the last quarter.
At least some of the achievements are easy to get and kinda creative, though.
Overall, 1/5.
Overall game score: 1.5/5. While there are one or two cool ideas at Kona's core, it's not nearly enough to carry it. The detective story isn't good. The survival elements are annoying (and every other gameplay element is awful, too.) The world is boring. There's little-to-no interactivity. A lot of things (such as collectibles, combat, and side plots) feel unfinished - and probably are.
The few halfway enjoyable moments in the game aren't worth sitting through everything wrong with it. Invest your time into something else instead of this rushed, half-baked mess.
Donkey Kong Country
1994
DONKEY KONG COUNTRY REVIEW
Let me start off by being completely transparent. I am most definitely one of those people who have a lot of nostalgia attached to the SNES, and Donkey Kong Country is one of those (along with a lot of the old Marios, The Legend of Zelda, Paperboy, and The Lion King.) While visiting family, I decided it was high time to pull out the old system and play some of my childhood favorites again. There was no doubt in my mind which would be first - of course it would be DKC. Out of the games I had at my disposal, it was the one I expected to hold up the best.
I went in with very high hopes. Besides my own fond memories of it, it is considered a classic by many others. I even told people I was sure it would live up to my expectations. But the question remains... Does it?
Well, kind of. My opinions here ended up being a lot more nuanced than I thought they would.
Let me start off by saying that I DID enjoy it overall, despite my issues. It's also only fair for me to point out that I ruined the experience for myself slightly by crunching for 101%. See, DKC is at its best when you're playing it after school with other kids, taking turns to beat difficult levels and look for secrets. It's not built for 2000s completionists who will cram it into a few afternoons, like I did. I just don't have the time (or monumental patience) required to search for all of the bonuses myself. A lot of them are ridiculously well-hidden - like, "impossible to find without a guide" well-hidden. 101%ing it inorganically ended up taking away a lot of the magic, unfortunately. Instead of enjoying it at a natural pace, taking my time to explore and search, I was left glancing back and forth between a guide and the screen. That's not to mention the annoyance of dying and replaying the same levels again and again, either. It's not nearly as satisfying of an experience as progressing naturally - but because of the impossibility of 101%ing it in a reasonable amount of time that way, completionists (like me) are left in the dust.
This is why I think the game is better left for occasional, casual play on your own time. If you pick it up, don't worry about finding everything like I did. Get to the end (if you're enjoying yourself enough), then continue playing it to search for things if you WANT to.
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 4.5/5
Sound: 5/5
Gameplay: 3/5
Worldbuilding: 4/5
Replayability: 1.5/5
Overall score: 3.5/5
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
DKC is, undeniably, a technical marvel for its time. The visual style and pre-rendered graphics were a big reason why it became such a huge success in the 90s. Even in 2021 it looks impressive.
I particularly love the color usage. There's beautiful sky backgrounds, lush green jungles, snowy white peaks, and much more. A good handful of levels feature rain or the aforementioned snow to add to the ambience, too.
The colors, of course, are given their chance to shine because of the diversity in environments present. On top of those jungles and glaciers, there's factories, temples, caves, and more (including a unique setting for the final battle!) It's amazing to see so many radically different places in a platformer this old.
The character design is pretty decent. There's cool little character animations to add to their personality. That's nice.
I don't know why, but I particularly really like Diddy Kong. His design is cute to me, which is funny, because I hate monkeys (and gorillas.) Other than that, they range from average to bad for me personally. Funky Kong and Cranky Kong are okay. Not a big fan of Donkey Kong. I hate Candy Kong with a burning passion, awful female character design, but what do you expect from the 90s?
If you really want to be picky, the graphics ARE a little dated by today's standards. Still, it doesn't take away from how revolutionary DKC was in this regard when it was first released; nor does it denote that it manages to hold up to this day.
(Unfortunately, my copy for the SNES is a little glitchy, leaving it very static-y. Still, I fully enjoyed looking at the game.)
Overall, 4.5/5.
Sound:
On top of the beautiful visuals, DKC boasts a gorgeous soundtrack that is touted by many as one of the best to this day. It really is amazing. Before this playthrough, I could still recall some of those tunes - which I think says something, given I last played it when I was around 11. The amount of atmosphere the music provides in-game is undeniable. This is definitely another reason DKC is still so iconic.
Ice Cave Chant is the most underrated track.
I also absolutely love the sound effects. I don't know why, but they're all incredibly satisfying. It's one of my favorite things about the game as a whole. I love the sound of Rambi hitting enemies head-on, and the clacking of Klaptrap's teeth.
Overall, 5/5.
Gameplay:
A lot of people will probably disagree with me on some of my points in this section, and that's okay. It's important to be thorough, though. Buckle up.
There's good stuff here, but I also think there are flaws that make playing DKC really frustrating.
Let's talk about the good first. I actually believe the idea of the 'life' system is great on paper; you basically have two lives, one with each Kong, which can be replenished by the DK barrels seen throughout levels. I like that, and I'm fine with the added difficulty in this regard.
I also love how, on top of the diverse environments, each and every level is unique in its mechanics. Many of them have things that only appear in the entire game once, or at most a handful of times. It keeps it fresh. There's a good variety with the bonus level minigames, so none of them get old, either.
Another big plus is that each level eases you into whatever you'll be dealing with next - it'll usually have one easy obstacle before getting into the more taxing stuff, as a sort of small tutorial. I'm a big fan of that.
As for the actual controls, despite their burden in execution, a lot of them are actually really simple. You just have to learn the timing. Now, I don't think simple OR complicated controls are automatically good or bad; it depends on the execution in both regards. In the case of DKC, it definitely benefited from simplicity. With how tough everything else is, convoluted controls would make DKC unplayable.
All of this SHOULD add up to exceptional gameplay, but it doesn't. The life system, the unique mechanics, and the deceptively easy controls get exasperating when the game insists on being way too harsh in every other regard. The hitboxes are janky, and it requires way too precise platforming at points for that to be excusable. The levels can begin to drag on, because you have to replay the same parts over and over again. The devs seemed like they WANTED to make children's lives miserable, with how often they put a single obstacle right before exits that you probably won't avoid first time through.
Again, there's a lot of good here. Yet, I cannot excuse the ridiculous difficulty present in this game, and how frustrating it is. It becomes a slog when you have to repeat things that are often very slow and unreliable. It's possible to learn how to flow through levels - and I'll admit, it is satisfying when you occasionally do - but it takes a lot of time and practice. I just didn't enjoy DKC enough to get that good at it.
Like I said before, this might not be such an issue if you play at a slow pace. Don't binge it to 101% in three days like I did.
Overall, 3/5.
Worldbuilding:
DKC has absolutely fantastic environmental design. The settings are all super memorable, with unique music, enemies, and color palettes to make each one stand out. Even when you go back to familiar places you've already been, it doesn't feel repetitive!
There are some charming characters, too. I particularly find Cranky Kong to be delightful. He's very funny, and I love his role - nagging on his grandkid who has taken his place, complaining that he was a better hero (he talks about the game being a game! It's very meta, I love it.) And like I said, I really like Diddy Kong!
Overall, 4.5/5.
Replayability:
There's definitely an addictiveness to DKC that pushed me to 101% it - and the presentation alone makes it a game worth coming back to every now and then. Still, my problems with the gameplay leave me doubtful that I'll pick it up again any time soon. I think it's best left for casual afternoons every few months or so. Otherwise, it'll become frustrating rather than fun.
Overall, 1.5/5.
Overall game score: 3.5/5. I was hoping to come out of this giving DKC a better score - at least a 4 - but I'm still pretty satisfied with what I got out of it. It's solid enough, with particularly beautiful visuals, sound design, and environmental design. However, it is also extremely frustrating and overly difficult in the gameplay department - though there are pros there, too (like the game's simplicity in controls and ability to keep things fresh.) I still wouldn't really recommend DKC to people outside of those nostalgic for it, or people interested in older games. It's an undeniable piece of gaming history, though, and remains a classic. A good way to kick off 2021.
"I gave it a 4/5 because of the hardness, and the experience and gameplay." - My 9-year-old brother's much more concise review.
Let me start off by being completely transparent. I am most definitely one of those people who have a lot of nostalgia attached to the SNES, and Donkey Kong Country is one of those (along with a lot of the old Marios, The Legend of Zelda, Paperboy, and The Lion King.) While visiting family, I decided it was high time to pull out the old system and play some of my childhood favorites again. There was no doubt in my mind which would be first - of course it would be DKC. Out of the games I had at my disposal, it was the one I expected to hold up the best.
I went in with very high hopes. Besides my own fond memories of it, it is considered a classic by many others. I even told people I was sure it would live up to my expectations. But the question remains... Does it?
Well, kind of. My opinions here ended up being a lot more nuanced than I thought they would.
Let me start off by saying that I DID enjoy it overall, despite my issues. It's also only fair for me to point out that I ruined the experience for myself slightly by crunching for 101%. See, DKC is at its best when you're playing it after school with other kids, taking turns to beat difficult levels and look for secrets. It's not built for 2000s completionists who will cram it into a few afternoons, like I did. I just don't have the time (or monumental patience) required to search for all of the bonuses myself. A lot of them are ridiculously well-hidden - like, "impossible to find without a guide" well-hidden. 101%ing it inorganically ended up taking away a lot of the magic, unfortunately. Instead of enjoying it at a natural pace, taking my time to explore and search, I was left glancing back and forth between a guide and the screen. That's not to mention the annoyance of dying and replaying the same levels again and again, either. It's not nearly as satisfying of an experience as progressing naturally - but because of the impossibility of 101%ing it in a reasonable amount of time that way, completionists (like me) are left in the dust.
This is why I think the game is better left for occasional, casual play on your own time. If you pick it up, don't worry about finding everything like I did. Get to the end (if you're enjoying yourself enough), then continue playing it to search for things if you WANT to.
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 4.5/5
Sound: 5/5
Gameplay: 3/5
Worldbuilding: 4/5
Replayability: 1.5/5
Overall score: 3.5/5
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
DKC is, undeniably, a technical marvel for its time. The visual style and pre-rendered graphics were a big reason why it became such a huge success in the 90s. Even in 2021 it looks impressive.
I particularly love the color usage. There's beautiful sky backgrounds, lush green jungles, snowy white peaks, and much more. A good handful of levels feature rain or the aforementioned snow to add to the ambience, too.
The colors, of course, are given their chance to shine because of the diversity in environments present. On top of those jungles and glaciers, there's factories, temples, caves, and more (including a unique setting for the final battle!) It's amazing to see so many radically different places in a platformer this old.
The character design is pretty decent. There's cool little character animations to add to their personality. That's nice.
I don't know why, but I particularly really like Diddy Kong. His design is cute to me, which is funny, because I hate monkeys (and gorillas.) Other than that, they range from average to bad for me personally. Funky Kong and Cranky Kong are okay. Not a big fan of Donkey Kong. I hate Candy Kong with a burning passion, awful female character design, but what do you expect from the 90s?
If you really want to be picky, the graphics ARE a little dated by today's standards. Still, it doesn't take away from how revolutionary DKC was in this regard when it was first released; nor does it denote that it manages to hold up to this day.
(Unfortunately, my copy for the SNES is a little glitchy, leaving it very static-y. Still, I fully enjoyed looking at the game.)
Overall, 4.5/5.
Sound:
On top of the beautiful visuals, DKC boasts a gorgeous soundtrack that is touted by many as one of the best to this day. It really is amazing. Before this playthrough, I could still recall some of those tunes - which I think says something, given I last played it when I was around 11. The amount of atmosphere the music provides in-game is undeniable. This is definitely another reason DKC is still so iconic.
Ice Cave Chant is the most underrated track.
I also absolutely love the sound effects. I don't know why, but they're all incredibly satisfying. It's one of my favorite things about the game as a whole. I love the sound of Rambi hitting enemies head-on, and the clacking of Klaptrap's teeth.
Overall, 5/5.
Gameplay:
A lot of people will probably disagree with me on some of my points in this section, and that's okay. It's important to be thorough, though. Buckle up.
There's good stuff here, but I also think there are flaws that make playing DKC really frustrating.
Let's talk about the good first. I actually believe the idea of the 'life' system is great on paper; you basically have two lives, one with each Kong, which can be replenished by the DK barrels seen throughout levels. I like that, and I'm fine with the added difficulty in this regard.
I also love how, on top of the diverse environments, each and every level is unique in its mechanics. Many of them have things that only appear in the entire game once, or at most a handful of times. It keeps it fresh. There's a good variety with the bonus level minigames, so none of them get old, either.
Another big plus is that each level eases you into whatever you'll be dealing with next - it'll usually have one easy obstacle before getting into the more taxing stuff, as a sort of small tutorial. I'm a big fan of that.
As for the actual controls, despite their burden in execution, a lot of them are actually really simple. You just have to learn the timing. Now, I don't think simple OR complicated controls are automatically good or bad; it depends on the execution in both regards. In the case of DKC, it definitely benefited from simplicity. With how tough everything else is, convoluted controls would make DKC unplayable.
All of this SHOULD add up to exceptional gameplay, but it doesn't. The life system, the unique mechanics, and the deceptively easy controls get exasperating when the game insists on being way too harsh in every other regard. The hitboxes are janky, and it requires way too precise platforming at points for that to be excusable. The levels can begin to drag on, because you have to replay the same parts over and over again. The devs seemed like they WANTED to make children's lives miserable, with how often they put a single obstacle right before exits that you probably won't avoid first time through.
Again, there's a lot of good here. Yet, I cannot excuse the ridiculous difficulty present in this game, and how frustrating it is. It becomes a slog when you have to repeat things that are often very slow and unreliable. It's possible to learn how to flow through levels - and I'll admit, it is satisfying when you occasionally do - but it takes a lot of time and practice. I just didn't enjoy DKC enough to get that good at it.
Like I said before, this might not be such an issue if you play at a slow pace. Don't binge it to 101% in three days like I did.
Overall, 3/5.
Worldbuilding:
DKC has absolutely fantastic environmental design. The settings are all super memorable, with unique music, enemies, and color palettes to make each one stand out. Even when you go back to familiar places you've already been, it doesn't feel repetitive!
There are some charming characters, too. I particularly find Cranky Kong to be delightful. He's very funny, and I love his role - nagging on his grandkid who has taken his place, complaining that he was a better hero (he talks about the game being a game! It's very meta, I love it.) And like I said, I really like Diddy Kong!
Overall, 4.5/5.
Replayability:
There's definitely an addictiveness to DKC that pushed me to 101% it - and the presentation alone makes it a game worth coming back to every now and then. Still, my problems with the gameplay leave me doubtful that I'll pick it up again any time soon. I think it's best left for casual afternoons every few months or so. Otherwise, it'll become frustrating rather than fun.
Overall, 1.5/5.
Overall game score: 3.5/5. I was hoping to come out of this giving DKC a better score - at least a 4 - but I'm still pretty satisfied with what I got out of it. It's solid enough, with particularly beautiful visuals, sound design, and environmental design. However, it is also extremely frustrating and overly difficult in the gameplay department - though there are pros there, too (like the game's simplicity in controls and ability to keep things fresh.) I still wouldn't really recommend DKC to people outside of those nostalgic for it, or people interested in older games. It's an undeniable piece of gaming history, though, and remains a classic. A good way to kick off 2021.
"I gave it a 4/5 because of the hardness, and the experience and gameplay." - My 9-year-old brother's much more concise review.
Outer Wilds
2019
Outer Wilds is very pretty, has a lot of unique and fun mechanics, and boasts a great atmosphere.
Unfortunately all the deep sea imagery makes me want to pass out, and kinda ruined the experience for me. I'd really like to play more of it, but I'm kind of scared to at this rate. I don't hold this against the game at all, of course. It's just a personal issue.
I would recommend this to people who like atmospheric indie games (and don't share my phobia lol), especially anyone who likes space (like I do.) The only complaint I found with it is that some of the mechanics felt kind of clunky, but that doesn't detract from all the positives.
Update: I've picked this game up again and am going to try my best to finish it! Hopefully I can.
Unfortunately all the deep sea imagery makes me want to pass out, and kinda ruined the experience for me. I'd really like to play more of it, but I'm kind of scared to at this rate. I don't hold this against the game at all, of course. It's just a personal issue.
I would recommend this to people who like atmospheric indie games (and don't share my phobia lol), especially anyone who likes space (like I do.) The only complaint I found with it is that some of the mechanics felt kind of clunky, but that doesn't detract from all the positives.
Update: I've picked this game up again and am going to try my best to finish it! Hopefully I can.
Lisa: The Painful
2014
LISA: THE PAINFUL REVIEW
Note: I give spoiler warnings for spoilers.
There's so much I could say about LISA. Honestly, I could probably talk about it forever.
I first played it in April of 2017. I then promptly replayed it a second time in May, and recently finished a third run (with a fourth unfinished one in between.) It has been amongst my very favorite games since that first run, and I expect it to remain there... Probably forever.
I truly think it's one of the best of all time, and something everyone should play, if they can stomach it. It certainly isn't a story that everyone will be able to sit through, but it's absolutely worth it if you can - for both the serious moments, and the humorous ones.
Here is a TW guide for LISA that I think people should see before heading in, because it really does deal with a lot of triggering topics. Still, don't let the dark nature deter you, unless you're really not good with that sort of thing. LISA has a lot to say, and it says it exceptionally well.
TW list: Parental abuse (physical, emotional, and sexual. The first two are shown on-screen, the last is implied.) Child rape (implied, talked about, common theme.) Drug usage and addiction (shown on-screen.) Suicide (shown on-screen.) Animal death (shown on-screen, once.)
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 4.5/5
Sound: 5.5/5
Story: 5.5/5
Gameplay: 4.5/5
Worldbuilding: 5.5/5
Achievements (Does not count toward overall score.): 5/5
Overall score: 5/5 [5.1/5]
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
LISA is a simple 2D pixel game, but I honestly really love the style. I think that, in general, it's an underrated choice (especially with the current trend of AAA studios tending towards hyper-realistic graphics.) It suits LISA perfectly, and it looks great for being made by a single person. It's not anything groundbreaking, but it's really good.
Most of the character designs are great, too. There's so many unique-looking people, both allies and foes. The companions, the human enemies, the joy mutants - they're all so memorable. On the surface, there are many designs that seem like they would feel out of place - but they don't. A guy with a goose head who reads poetry? A spear-wielding tiger man named Tiger Man? Fish people? Angry snowmen with guns? Yeah, that all works. Because the humor and the world of LISA are already so absurd, all of the weird designs it presents you with just work.
(My only complaint with this aspect is that I'm not a fan of how some of the POC are portrayed. It's very stereotypical at times.)
I also love the use of color. Most apocalypse settings will refrain from palettes outside of browns, grays, and maybe reds. LISA doesn't take this road, though. There are lots of colors in the game - both in the locations and in the character designs. It's something that makes the world pop. (Side note, this is something I think Fallout 4 actually did right, too.)
The graphics are simple, yet charming. That, plus the designs and colors, make LISA a memorable visual experience.
Overall, 4.5/5.
Sound:
This game has, hands down, one of my favorite soundtracks of all time. I cannot overstate how much the music contributes to the atmosphere, and how good of a job it does. I really can't explain to anyone why it's so good, either - all of the tracks are just so catchy and fun (or unnerving, in some cases.) It's very unique, too. I've never heard any music like it, and I doubt I ever will again.
Besides that, there's not much sound design to review here, minus some audio cues and a few one-off jokes during dialogue. LISA doesn't really need a lot of sound, though. The cues serve their purpose, and the rest of the focus is given to the music (or the absence of it in some parts, which is just as effective.)
Overall, 5.5/5.
Story:
I truly believe that LISA has one of the most tragic, heart wrenching plots in any medium. It's one that you have to experience, instead of just reading about.
LISA has the capability of shifting perfectly between darkly comedic and downright nauseating in a heartbeat - and it often manages to do both at the same time. The world of Olathe is a dark reflection of toxic masculinity. Men who solve their problems with violence. Men who feel entitled. Men who are willing to hurt and traumatize to satisfy their own pleasures.
It's a story of a father chasing after his adoptive daughter, in an effort to keep her safe from the immeasurable danger she faces on her own... But then, the game makes you question whether he does so because he really loves her, or if it's because of his own deep-seated guilt related to his past.
Almost none of the people in LISA are good people, and almost none of them are innocent. There are times where, emotionally, it feels like a hopeless endeavor to continue trying. And yet Brad keeps marching forward, so why shouldn't you? No matter how difficult it gets, he is committed to mowing down every man who stands between him and rescuing Buddy - [SPOILERS] despite the fact that she doesn't WANT to be rescued by him. [SPOILER ENDING]
There are so many different plot threads, all interesting, all which tie together perfectly. Every one of these people are haunted by the death of one girl, years ago; even the title screen is haunted by her. Whether the people knew her or not, it doesn't matter. She's always there, lingering in the background.
The writing is amazing, too. The dialogue between characters is great. All of the serious moments feel natural and real. And the game is so funny. The jokes nearly always land, and are super entertaining.
Lastly, the ending is perfect. It genuinely makes me emotional every time I play through it again.
I will never forget the final words spoken in LISA, or everything leading up to them.
Overall, 5.5/5.
Gameplay:
The combat system is fairly simple. That's a complaint I hear often, but I don't personally see it as a negative. I don't think it NEEDED to be overly-complicated. What it does provide is fun and interesting. There are some cool combinations you can pull off, if you think about who you utilize as companions. There's a few different mechanics in the combat itself, too, such as the status effects (of which there are many), and the use of SP and TP on different characters.
I do think it's notable that, at some point, the combat CAN get pretty easy (minus some of the boss fights.) This largely depends on which route you take. I won't spoil much, but there is a chance to make the fighting much less taxing than it could be, at the cost of other in-game consequences.
There is also a Painful mode, which can add a new layer of difficulty. I've played it once, and it's a fun way to make replays a bit more challenging. I'm sure that when I inevitably play the game again in a year or two, I'll be playing this mode.
Overall, 4.5/5.
Worldbuilding:
Olathe is such a unique and interesting setting. It perfectly blends the dark aspects of the setting with the humor, creating an experience that no other game can offer. It is chock-full of fascinating characters, both one-off and recurring. There's endless little details, encounters, and jokes to discover. There are a lot of hints toward the plot and what's really going on, but it's left just vague enough to give you something to think about and theorize on even after the credits roll.
There is never a dull moment in LISA. Every in-game location has something to keep your attention and/or make you laugh.
(Side note, I love all of the wrestling jokes and references, given that I'm a huge wrestling nerd.)
Overall, 5.5/5.
Extra Category - Achievements:
This game has 68 Steam achievements total, which is quite a lot. I got the last one I needed for 100% on my last playthrough.
I really like the achievements themselves - the pictures, names, and descriptions are cool and build upon the world a bit. They're also fun to get, ranging from story progression, to simple world exploration, to defeating difficult side bosses.
Overall, 5/5.
Overall score: 5/5. LISA is nearly perfect in my eyes. There's so much to appreciate about it.
I highly recommend playing through it at least once. The story, characters, world, writing, and music will keep you entertained and engrossed from beginning to end. If you play it and enjoy it, I also recommend checking out The Joyful, which is a (much shorter) sequel that builds upon the characters and world further.
Note: I give spoiler warnings for spoilers.
There's so much I could say about LISA. Honestly, I could probably talk about it forever.
I first played it in April of 2017. I then promptly replayed it a second time in May, and recently finished a third run (with a fourth unfinished one in between.) It has been amongst my very favorite games since that first run, and I expect it to remain there... Probably forever.
I truly think it's one of the best of all time, and something everyone should play, if they can stomach it. It certainly isn't a story that everyone will be able to sit through, but it's absolutely worth it if you can - for both the serious moments, and the humorous ones.
Here is a TW guide for LISA that I think people should see before heading in, because it really does deal with a lot of triggering topics. Still, don't let the dark nature deter you, unless you're really not good with that sort of thing. LISA has a lot to say, and it says it exceptionally well.
TW list: Parental abuse (physical, emotional, and sexual. The first two are shown on-screen, the last is implied.) Child rape (implied, talked about, common theme.) Drug usage and addiction (shown on-screen.) Suicide (shown on-screen.) Animal death (shown on-screen, once.)
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 4.5/5
Sound: 5.5/5
Story: 5.5/5
Gameplay: 4.5/5
Worldbuilding: 5.5/5
Achievements (Does not count toward overall score.): 5/5
Overall score: 5/5 [5.1/5]
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
LISA is a simple 2D pixel game, but I honestly really love the style. I think that, in general, it's an underrated choice (especially with the current trend of AAA studios tending towards hyper-realistic graphics.) It suits LISA perfectly, and it looks great for being made by a single person. It's not anything groundbreaking, but it's really good.
Most of the character designs are great, too. There's so many unique-looking people, both allies and foes. The companions, the human enemies, the joy mutants - they're all so memorable. On the surface, there are many designs that seem like they would feel out of place - but they don't. A guy with a goose head who reads poetry? A spear-wielding tiger man named Tiger Man? Fish people? Angry snowmen with guns? Yeah, that all works. Because the humor and the world of LISA are already so absurd, all of the weird designs it presents you with just work.
(My only complaint with this aspect is that I'm not a fan of how some of the POC are portrayed. It's very stereotypical at times.)
I also love the use of color. Most apocalypse settings will refrain from palettes outside of browns, grays, and maybe reds. LISA doesn't take this road, though. There are lots of colors in the game - both in the locations and in the character designs. It's something that makes the world pop. (Side note, this is something I think Fallout 4 actually did right, too.)
The graphics are simple, yet charming. That, plus the designs and colors, make LISA a memorable visual experience.
Overall, 4.5/5.
Sound:
This game has, hands down, one of my favorite soundtracks of all time. I cannot overstate how much the music contributes to the atmosphere, and how good of a job it does. I really can't explain to anyone why it's so good, either - all of the tracks are just so catchy and fun (or unnerving, in some cases.) It's very unique, too. I've never heard any music like it, and I doubt I ever will again.
Besides that, there's not much sound design to review here, minus some audio cues and a few one-off jokes during dialogue. LISA doesn't really need a lot of sound, though. The cues serve their purpose, and the rest of the focus is given to the music (or the absence of it in some parts, which is just as effective.)
Overall, 5.5/5.
Story:
I truly believe that LISA has one of the most tragic, heart wrenching plots in any medium. It's one that you have to experience, instead of just reading about.
LISA has the capability of shifting perfectly between darkly comedic and downright nauseating in a heartbeat - and it often manages to do both at the same time. The world of Olathe is a dark reflection of toxic masculinity. Men who solve their problems with violence. Men who feel entitled. Men who are willing to hurt and traumatize to satisfy their own pleasures.
It's a story of a father chasing after his adoptive daughter, in an effort to keep her safe from the immeasurable danger she faces on her own... But then, the game makes you question whether he does so because he really loves her, or if it's because of his own deep-seated guilt related to his past.
Almost none of the people in LISA are good people, and almost none of them are innocent. There are times where, emotionally, it feels like a hopeless endeavor to continue trying. And yet Brad keeps marching forward, so why shouldn't you? No matter how difficult it gets, he is committed to mowing down every man who stands between him and rescuing Buddy - [SPOILERS] despite the fact that she doesn't WANT to be rescued by him. [SPOILER ENDING]
There are so many different plot threads, all interesting, all which tie together perfectly. Every one of these people are haunted by the death of one girl, years ago; even the title screen is haunted by her. Whether the people knew her or not, it doesn't matter. She's always there, lingering in the background.
The writing is amazing, too. The dialogue between characters is great. All of the serious moments feel natural and real. And the game is so funny. The jokes nearly always land, and are super entertaining.
Lastly, the ending is perfect. It genuinely makes me emotional every time I play through it again.
I will never forget the final words spoken in LISA, or everything leading up to them.
Overall, 5.5/5.
Gameplay:
The combat system is fairly simple. That's a complaint I hear often, but I don't personally see it as a negative. I don't think it NEEDED to be overly-complicated. What it does provide is fun and interesting. There are some cool combinations you can pull off, if you think about who you utilize as companions. There's a few different mechanics in the combat itself, too, such as the status effects (of which there are many), and the use of SP and TP on different characters.
I do think it's notable that, at some point, the combat CAN get pretty easy (minus some of the boss fights.) This largely depends on which route you take. I won't spoil much, but there is a chance to make the fighting much less taxing than it could be, at the cost of other in-game consequences.
There is also a Painful mode, which can add a new layer of difficulty. I've played it once, and it's a fun way to make replays a bit more challenging. I'm sure that when I inevitably play the game again in a year or two, I'll be playing this mode.
Overall, 4.5/5.
Worldbuilding:
Olathe is such a unique and interesting setting. It perfectly blends the dark aspects of the setting with the humor, creating an experience that no other game can offer. It is chock-full of fascinating characters, both one-off and recurring. There's endless little details, encounters, and jokes to discover. There are a lot of hints toward the plot and what's really going on, but it's left just vague enough to give you something to think about and theorize on even after the credits roll.
There is never a dull moment in LISA. Every in-game location has something to keep your attention and/or make you laugh.
(Side note, I love all of the wrestling jokes and references, given that I'm a huge wrestling nerd.)
Overall, 5.5/5.
Extra Category - Achievements:
This game has 68 Steam achievements total, which is quite a lot. I got the last one I needed for 100% on my last playthrough.
I really like the achievements themselves - the pictures, names, and descriptions are cool and build upon the world a bit. They're also fun to get, ranging from story progression, to simple world exploration, to defeating difficult side bosses.
Overall, 5/5.
Overall score: 5/5. LISA is nearly perfect in my eyes. There's so much to appreciate about it.
I highly recommend playing through it at least once. The story, characters, world, writing, and music will keep you entertained and engrossed from beginning to end. If you play it and enjoy it, I also recommend checking out The Joyful, which is a (much shorter) sequel that builds upon the characters and world further.
FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S REVIEW
Note: I give spoiler warnings for spoilers.
I don't know why, out of all my options, I decided to pick up FNaF last night. Easy achievements, maybe? Its relative shortness? Who knows. (Probably those two things, though.)
I'd played a bit of it when I was a kid, at the peak of its hype, and, well... it definitely had a greater effect on me at the age of 14. It actually managed to be pretty scary back then - but that was indubitably because I was young, and because I hadn't encountered much horror at that point in my life. I just didn't know what was good in the genre yet.
Looking back on FNaF now, after many more years (and scary movies/games), it's safe to say that it's not what 14-year-old me thought it was. Once you get past the jumpscares, there's just nothing going on here. It's a mediocre mess that became undeservedly popular because of novelty and circumstance. It did nothing to earn the sequels, toy lines, and dedicated fanbase that spawned from it. That's easy to see that when you actually play the game... and yet, here we are.
Though it's not nearly as big or talked about as it was in its heyday, there's still hardcore FNaF fans out there. A movie is reportedly in the works. There's more sequels being made. In fact, there's apparently an entire expanded universe now, with in-depth lore and a whole host of animatronic characters. And while it seems weird at first glance that something so throwaway would have such a long-lasting impact, I think it's easy to understand if you really think about it.
To start with, 2014 YouTubers with young, impressionable audiences proclaimed it the "SCARIEST GAME EVER???!!!" - which it obviously isn't, but I think that, like me, this was a lot of the demographic's first brush with the genre. On top of that, the fact that FNaF is so easily digestible makes it easy for both kids and teens to enjoy. There's no deep, convoluted story. The mechanics are simple. The levels are all pretty much identical. It has undeniable novelty value. The edgy + cute animatronics appeal to both age groups. Even if it was unintentional, this was perfectly made to be baby's first horror media. A kid's going to watch a playthrough of this over something like Silent Hill 2 90% of the time.
Now, I'm not saying there's absolutely zero value to be found here, even if the game isn't good. If nothing else, it's an interesting piece of pop culture history. I just do not think it lives up to the hype surrounding it at all - and I think that's even easier to see 6 years after the fact.
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 1.5/5
Sound: 3/5
Story: .5/5
Gameplay: 2/5
Worldbuilding: 1.5/5
Achievements (Does not count toward overall score.): 2/5
Overall score: 1.5/5
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
The graphics are pretty ugly.
The first thing that struck me when I started playing was that the room you're in isn't 3D; it's a 2D projection of a desk and doors that wrap around you, causing some really weird perspective issues. It was very distracting the first few nights, until I got used to it - but by the time I got used to it, I was halfway through the game!
The room designs are pretty empty and uninteresting to look at. This would be fine, if everything else in game wasn't equally uninteresting. The only notable thing about the setting to me are the children's drawings hanging up in some areas. Those add a small bit of personality.
The menus and game over screen are incredibly simple. It feels like words were MS Painted over some decent enough 3D art, and that was that.
It's not the ugliest thing ever, but I was surprised that I'd never seen anyone talk about these flaws. I understand that it's a small indie project (at this point in the series, anyway), and I'm sure sequels improve upon the visuals. That doesn't change the fact that this one looks really bad, though.
I DO think that it does a good job with the positioning of the animatronics on the security cameras. There's definitely some pretty scary visuals in that regard, with them often looking right at the camera as they stalk you. I think the lighting is done pretty well, too, for the most part. The dimness helps create a creepy atmosphere. What I don't like is how lit-up the characters are when they're outside the doors. It takes away a lot of that creepiness.
Now, on to the most important aspect of this section for FNaF. The character design.
The animatronics are supposed to simultaneously be scary enough to be horror antagonists, and charming enough to be mascots for a children's place. I think it's a very interesting concept that COULD be done well, but I feel like FNaF ultimately fails at it.
There is nothing scary to me about the animatronics. They're just... Whatever. The only thing that ever made them scary to people is that they jumpscare you. I do like the colors, and overall they're not awful-looking... But a game like this relies heavily upon the fear factor of its designs, and there is nothing fear-inducing here to me. I think Chica is the only one that gets close, with her human teeth and bib.
I also have to note that Foxy's jumpscare is extremely underwhelming. He just pops into frame in a really boring way. The other ones are okay for what they are - again, they're just whatever. I think it would've been cool if they each had their own jumpscare, killing you in different ways. That's beyond the capability of the first FNaF, though, if we're being honest.
Overall, 1.5/5.
Sound:
I have to hand it to FNaF, I like the sound design. It does a very decent job with the audio cues. They are extremely helpful, while all being fairly creepy. I like the way they integrated ambient "scary noises" in a way that actually means something. Listening for those noises lets the player in on what's going on around them, and makes the game slightly more interesting to play.
Also, Phone Guy's voice actor did a really good job. He was entertaining and delivered the lines well. Thanks for adding a bit of actual fun to this game, Phone Guy!
Overall, 3/5.
Story:
There isn't one. There are a few hints toward possible lore scattered around, and I know that later games expand upon these tidbits. Still, there's not much going on in the first. In fact, nothing in FNaF1 really makes sense or works on a logical level, and I can only suspend my disbelief so much. Most of it is mindless horror for the sake of it.
If FNaF picked up the slack in other categories, I wouldn't hold this against it so much. I understand some games will be more focused on certain aspects than others. This one is much more so meant to be about the visuals and gameplay. Too bad that neither of those are good enough to make up for anything.
Putting aside all of the other entries in the franchise, and just taking this one at face value, there's not much more to even say here. There's almost nothing to review, because a 'story' is almost entirely nonexistent - and what does exist makes little-to-no sense.
Overall, .5/5.
Gameplay:
FNaF is reliant upon 'fun and cool' gameplay mechanics to make players stick with it until the end.
It fails.
The novelty wears off quickly, you realize you're playing nearly identical levels, and it becomes stale and uninteresting.
The mechanics themselves ARE a compelling concept. They're meant to contribute to a feeling of helplessness, which is meant to illicit fear in the player. You instinctively want to keep track of the animatronics, but doing so drains your power, taking you one step closer to certain death. Having the camera open also leaves you vulnerable to jumpscares, the one thing you're fighting to stop.
There are good ideas. It's just not executed well enough to be a full game. It has creepy mechanics that I ultimately think would work better as a sort of minigame in a larger project. It just doesn't work here. It's stretched out, and even though FNaF isn't long, the gameplay just isn't enough to carry it to the finish line. There are titles that make the player feel helpless in much better ways. Outlast comes to mind - even though I don't think that game is particularly great either, it does have some really cool mechanics, and manages to succeed in places where FNaF fails.
FNaF relies on the mechanics, and the mechanics rely on novelty. That novelty will wear off, and you will probably get bored.
It all falls apart anyways when you realize you don't need to keep track of Chica and Bonnie at all. You only need to keep the camera on Freddy and check the lights.
Overall, 2/5.
Worldbuilding:
There's some creepy children's drawing and a few kind-of-cool easter eggs. Since there's almost no story, there's not much to build upon in the first place, leaving the world feeling pretty empty.
Again, I did enjoy Phone Guy and the final phone call [SPOILERS] after he dies. [SPOILER ENDING] The calls gave the nights a slightly different feel from each other - and like I said before, the voice actor did a great job.
Overall, 1.5/5.
Extra Category - Achievements:
Achievement hunting for this quite literally gave me a headache. I thought it was going to be way easier than it turned out to be. The last one needed - completing the custom night with all animatronics set to 20 - forces you to repeat the same pattern in rapid succession for the entire duration of a night (nearly 9 minutes.) All you can do is hope that you're repeating it fast enough. Hardly intuitive gameplay. Night 6 feels like nothing in comparison to that now.
Overall, 2/5.
Overall, 1.5/5. Going in, I was hoping to be able to give FNaF at least a 2, maybe even a 2.5, but I just can't. The game wants to scare you, but nearly the only way it has to do so is a cheap jumpscare that isn't even scary, because the characters aren't scary. There is some creepy ambience and an okay atmosphere, but it's not enough to make the game good or worth playing. I'd suggest leaving this title in the past and finding something better to pick up.
Note: I give spoiler warnings for spoilers.
I don't know why, out of all my options, I decided to pick up FNaF last night. Easy achievements, maybe? Its relative shortness? Who knows. (Probably those two things, though.)
I'd played a bit of it when I was a kid, at the peak of its hype, and, well... it definitely had a greater effect on me at the age of 14. It actually managed to be pretty scary back then - but that was indubitably because I was young, and because I hadn't encountered much horror at that point in my life. I just didn't know what was good in the genre yet.
Looking back on FNaF now, after many more years (and scary movies/games), it's safe to say that it's not what 14-year-old me thought it was. Once you get past the jumpscares, there's just nothing going on here. It's a mediocre mess that became undeservedly popular because of novelty and circumstance. It did nothing to earn the sequels, toy lines, and dedicated fanbase that spawned from it. That's easy to see that when you actually play the game... and yet, here we are.
Though it's not nearly as big or talked about as it was in its heyday, there's still hardcore FNaF fans out there. A movie is reportedly in the works. There's more sequels being made. In fact, there's apparently an entire expanded universe now, with in-depth lore and a whole host of animatronic characters. And while it seems weird at first glance that something so throwaway would have such a long-lasting impact, I think it's easy to understand if you really think about it.
To start with, 2014 YouTubers with young, impressionable audiences proclaimed it the "SCARIEST GAME EVER???!!!" - which it obviously isn't, but I think that, like me, this was a lot of the demographic's first brush with the genre. On top of that, the fact that FNaF is so easily digestible makes it easy for both kids and teens to enjoy. There's no deep, convoluted story. The mechanics are simple. The levels are all pretty much identical. It has undeniable novelty value. The edgy + cute animatronics appeal to both age groups. Even if it was unintentional, this was perfectly made to be baby's first horror media. A kid's going to watch a playthrough of this over something like Silent Hill 2 90% of the time.
Now, I'm not saying there's absolutely zero value to be found here, even if the game isn't good. If nothing else, it's an interesting piece of pop culture history. I just do not think it lives up to the hype surrounding it at all - and I think that's even easier to see 6 years after the fact.
SHORT REVIEW
Visuals: 1.5/5
Sound: 3/5
Story: .5/5
Gameplay: 2/5
Worldbuilding: 1.5/5
Achievements (Does not count toward overall score.): 2/5
Overall score: 1.5/5
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
Visuals:
The graphics are pretty ugly.
The first thing that struck me when I started playing was that the room you're in isn't 3D; it's a 2D projection of a desk and doors that wrap around you, causing some really weird perspective issues. It was very distracting the first few nights, until I got used to it - but by the time I got used to it, I was halfway through the game!
The room designs are pretty empty and uninteresting to look at. This would be fine, if everything else in game wasn't equally uninteresting. The only notable thing about the setting to me are the children's drawings hanging up in some areas. Those add a small bit of personality.
The menus and game over screen are incredibly simple. It feels like words were MS Painted over some decent enough 3D art, and that was that.
It's not the ugliest thing ever, but I was surprised that I'd never seen anyone talk about these flaws. I understand that it's a small indie project (at this point in the series, anyway), and I'm sure sequels improve upon the visuals. That doesn't change the fact that this one looks really bad, though.
I DO think that it does a good job with the positioning of the animatronics on the security cameras. There's definitely some pretty scary visuals in that regard, with them often looking right at the camera as they stalk you. I think the lighting is done pretty well, too, for the most part. The dimness helps create a creepy atmosphere. What I don't like is how lit-up the characters are when they're outside the doors. It takes away a lot of that creepiness.
Now, on to the most important aspect of this section for FNaF. The character design.
The animatronics are supposed to simultaneously be scary enough to be horror antagonists, and charming enough to be mascots for a children's place. I think it's a very interesting concept that COULD be done well, but I feel like FNaF ultimately fails at it.
There is nothing scary to me about the animatronics. They're just... Whatever. The only thing that ever made them scary to people is that they jumpscare you. I do like the colors, and overall they're not awful-looking... But a game like this relies heavily upon the fear factor of its designs, and there is nothing fear-inducing here to me. I think Chica is the only one that gets close, with her human teeth and bib.
I also have to note that Foxy's jumpscare is extremely underwhelming. He just pops into frame in a really boring way. The other ones are okay for what they are - again, they're just whatever. I think it would've been cool if they each had their own jumpscare, killing you in different ways. That's beyond the capability of the first FNaF, though, if we're being honest.
Overall, 1.5/5.
Sound:
I have to hand it to FNaF, I like the sound design. It does a very decent job with the audio cues. They are extremely helpful, while all being fairly creepy. I like the way they integrated ambient "scary noises" in a way that actually means something. Listening for those noises lets the player in on what's going on around them, and makes the game slightly more interesting to play.
Also, Phone Guy's voice actor did a really good job. He was entertaining and delivered the lines well. Thanks for adding a bit of actual fun to this game, Phone Guy!
Overall, 3/5.
Story:
There isn't one. There are a few hints toward possible lore scattered around, and I know that later games expand upon these tidbits. Still, there's not much going on in the first. In fact, nothing in FNaF1 really makes sense or works on a logical level, and I can only suspend my disbelief so much. Most of it is mindless horror for the sake of it.
If FNaF picked up the slack in other categories, I wouldn't hold this against it so much. I understand some games will be more focused on certain aspects than others. This one is much more so meant to be about the visuals and gameplay. Too bad that neither of those are good enough to make up for anything.
Putting aside all of the other entries in the franchise, and just taking this one at face value, there's not much more to even say here. There's almost nothing to review, because a 'story' is almost entirely nonexistent - and what does exist makes little-to-no sense.
Overall, .5/5.
Gameplay:
FNaF is reliant upon 'fun and cool' gameplay mechanics to make players stick with it until the end.
It fails.
The novelty wears off quickly, you realize you're playing nearly identical levels, and it becomes stale and uninteresting.
The mechanics themselves ARE a compelling concept. They're meant to contribute to a feeling of helplessness, which is meant to illicit fear in the player. You instinctively want to keep track of the animatronics, but doing so drains your power, taking you one step closer to certain death. Having the camera open also leaves you vulnerable to jumpscares, the one thing you're fighting to stop.
There are good ideas. It's just not executed well enough to be a full game. It has creepy mechanics that I ultimately think would work better as a sort of minigame in a larger project. It just doesn't work here. It's stretched out, and even though FNaF isn't long, the gameplay just isn't enough to carry it to the finish line. There are titles that make the player feel helpless in much better ways. Outlast comes to mind - even though I don't think that game is particularly great either, it does have some really cool mechanics, and manages to succeed in places where FNaF fails.
FNaF relies on the mechanics, and the mechanics rely on novelty. That novelty will wear off, and you will probably get bored.
It all falls apart anyways when you realize you don't need to keep track of Chica and Bonnie at all. You only need to keep the camera on Freddy and check the lights.
Overall, 2/5.
Worldbuilding:
There's some creepy children's drawing and a few kind-of-cool easter eggs. Since there's almost no story, there's not much to build upon in the first place, leaving the world feeling pretty empty.
Again, I did enjoy Phone Guy and the final phone call [SPOILERS] after he dies. [SPOILER ENDING] The calls gave the nights a slightly different feel from each other - and like I said before, the voice actor did a great job.
Overall, 1.5/5.
Extra Category - Achievements:
Achievement hunting for this quite literally gave me a headache. I thought it was going to be way easier than it turned out to be. The last one needed - completing the custom night with all animatronics set to 20 - forces you to repeat the same pattern in rapid succession for the entire duration of a night (nearly 9 minutes.) All you can do is hope that you're repeating it fast enough. Hardly intuitive gameplay. Night 6 feels like nothing in comparison to that now.
Overall, 2/5.
Overall, 1.5/5. Going in, I was hoping to be able to give FNaF at least a 2, maybe even a 2.5, but I just can't. The game wants to scare you, but nearly the only way it has to do so is a cheap jumpscare that isn't even scary, because the characters aren't scary. There is some creepy ambience and an okay atmosphere, but it's not enough to make the game good or worth playing. I'd suggest leaving this title in the past and finding something better to pick up.