Are you here investigating if you should play this game? Maybe you got it recommended to you somewhere, somehow? Do it. Play Laika.
This is the best indie game you haven't played this year. Laika Aged Through Blood bills itself as a metroidvania. I think it's better described as some kind of 4 parent love child spawned by Happy Wheels, Hollow Knight, Max Payne, and Hotline Miami. Then that child grew up and became a furry who binged watched every Tarantino movie because they loved the gore.
You play Laika, a motorbike riding cyote who is the recipient of her family's curse that causes her to come back to life. Laika, hates this. She's depressed. She's mad. And she is the only thing that can fight back against the bird army which is oppressing her village and daughter.
The story is dark, serious, and shockingly mature. While I liked it, you can ignore most of it because the core gameplay loop of BULLET TIME HAPPY WHEELS slaps.
The controls are unique and fun with a gamepad. Accelerate with the left trigger. Hold right right trigger to enter bullet time and release to shoot. Doing backflips in the air reloads your gun. Your enemies, and you, die in one hit.
While no single aspect in this game is too unique mechanically, they combine in a way that is more than novel. It is on par with Yoku's Island Express in terms of unique feel and freshness in metroidvanias.
On top of all of that, the boss battles are sublime. AND it's an easy candidate for best music of 2023. Laika feels so fragrantly under apricated that I made my very first TikTok review about it?!
If you've made it this far, put the game on your Wishlist. Buy it now. Because...
This is the best indie game you haven't played this year. Laika Aged Through Blood bills itself as a metroidvania. I think it's better described as some kind of 4 parent love child spawned by Happy Wheels, Hollow Knight, Max Payne, and Hotline Miami. Then that child grew up and became a furry who binged watched every Tarantino movie because they loved the gore.
You play Laika, a motorbike riding cyote who is the recipient of her family's curse that causes her to come back to life. Laika, hates this. She's depressed. She's mad. And she is the only thing that can fight back against the bird army which is oppressing her village and daughter.
The story is dark, serious, and shockingly mature. While I liked it, you can ignore most of it because the core gameplay loop of BULLET TIME HAPPY WHEELS slaps.
The controls are unique and fun with a gamepad. Accelerate with the left trigger. Hold right right trigger to enter bullet time and release to shoot. Doing backflips in the air reloads your gun. Your enemies, and you, die in one hit.
While no single aspect in this game is too unique mechanically, they combine in a way that is more than novel. It is on par with Yoku's Island Express in terms of unique feel and freshness in metroidvanias.
On top of all of that, the boss battles are sublime. AND it's an easy candidate for best music of 2023. Laika feels so fragrantly under apricated that I made my very first TikTok review about it?!
If you've made it this far, put the game on your Wishlist. Buy it now. Because...