Very glad that getting to the end is not what's important because this ending still feels off! anyway legend difficulty was surprisingly incredibly fun and not a slog like i was half expecting it to be, it kind of feels like the way the game was designed to be played after a first playthrough warm-up. It added some much needed difficulty and took away the option to cheese or damage tank certain sections, beating it felt great. Even after getting 100% I would still go for speedrun mode this game is just so satisfying to play
do yourself a favor and play this game
I played this game in early access in the middle of 2022. Me playing any early access game is rare enough, there are apparently 29 games in my Steam library that were once in early access, only four of which being games I purchased myself during that time, and Sanabi was not one of those. A friend gifted it to me and simply said "you need to play this" and so I did. Version 1.0.11 already had me completely hooked, and I could tell right away that this was going to be an incredible game when it was finished. So, after getting to the end of the demo, I put it down and patiently waited. Eventually I forgot about it, because when it finally came out on November 8th of 2023, I didn't realize it happened until it was almost December, and by the time I got around to playing it properly, it had already seen several more patches... including the addition of a speedrun mode. That's how you know it's really a gem.
A certain rule of thumb has existed in the back of my brain for many years now. "If the game has a grappling hook that isn't a quicktime event, it's probably an amazing game." Hasn't failed me yet. Well, not only does Sanabi have a grappling hook, the grappling hook is the core of the gameplay. A 2D platformer built entirely around swinging with a grappling hook and using enemies as single-use springboards is a game made specifically for me, but also a dangerous concept, since it relies heavily on the controls feeling consistent, predictable, and extremely good. The player needs to always simultaneously feel fully in control, and on the razor's edge of control. Not an easy balance to achieve.
But thankfully, it's fully achieved here, even managing to never become frustrating because the incredible clarity of the controls makes it impossible to blame the game for a skill issue. Not that you'd be doing that very often anyway, however, because even when you're not playing well, flying around the map like Captain Korea still always looks and feels cool. The game only loses its footing for a moment in the later stages, because one of the cool setpieces feels really clunky compared to the rest of the game and overstays its welcome, but I find that easy to overlook since it only happens once. It's even easier to look past that hiccup when considering the sheer rush of dopamine the final chapter gives you, rushing through the game at full power feeling like a god. I'd be singing this game's praises even if it was just a platformer with nothing else of note to offer.
But simply building the entire game around perfect controls wasn't enough. They had everything, and needed more.
Sanabi is a visually breathtaking game that bleeds style no matter where you look, with another level of visual beauty added through the extremely expressive and stylish character animations, all well beyond any reasonable expectations for a team of this size - only five people, and starting out as college students no less - to produce. Sound design is also wonderfully chunky and crisp, adding a lot of weight to the already weighty visuals, and even notably improved since the early access build I originally played.
The original soundtrack is beyond perfect for the game as well, fitting flawlessly into every scene and elevating the experience greatly while also being simply fantastic music on its own, to the point that I will probably be listening to this soundtrack outside of the game from time to time - as music to lose myself in, not just background sound - which is something I do so rarely with games that I didn't even have a top five until now; Jet Lancer, Hypnagogia: Boundless Dreams, Doom 2016, Iridion II, and now Sanabi... and it takes position 2 in that list.
Games like this aren't expected to have much, if any, narrative either. Nobody would have complained if Sanabi didn't have a storyline, all it really needed was to say that a bad thing happened and you're going in to fix it. But of course, that wasn't enough for Wonder Potion. The story of Sanabi is more than simply present, it's compelling enough, interesting enough, and charming. It's not exactly revolutionary, but that doesn't matter, it's way better than it ever needed to be - much better than the disgraceful writing of some triple-A games that get showered with praise - and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
As I played, I figured out most of the reveals before they came to pass, but from what I've seen online, a lot of people didn't, and even if you do see things coming like I did, getting to the end still makes the second playthrough feel pretty different, so I can't even say predictability is a caveat here. The only real caveat is that towards the end of the game (but not at the end, pretty much just in chapter 4), the translation quality dips, and it can be a little jarring, occasionally causing me to need to reread lines... but I can't get mad at that. Oddly, the focus on the story seems a little controversial, because The Gamers™ hate reading and cutscenes in 2D platformers, even when it's as good as this.
Fortunately for them, they only have to deal with it once, because once you see the true ending of the game - continue the game if you went downstairs - speedrun mode is unlocked. No dialogue, no cutscenes, no boss fights, no loading screens, no fades to black, just a straightforward run through each chapter with nothing to distract you from the incredibly fun flow of swinging through levels quickly. Every time you complete a chapter in speedrun mode, the game kicks back to the title screen instead of back to the speedrun menu, which is unfortunate and annoying, but livable considering how fun it is to run through each chapter nonstop. I'll call it an enforced moment of respite. My first attempt ended up at a total time of 1:11:20, which felt pretty slow to me and did a very good job of showing me just how much I still have to learn, especially since I then found out the current record on speedrun.com at that time was 25:58. I will definitely be coming back to this for a long time.
The more I like a thing, the less I usually have to say about it. I've said as much as I can think of at this point, I don't know how to dig deeper into the details about why this game is so fantastic or what makes it feel so amazing to play. So just trust me bro. I'll close with this.
Wonder Potion had everything they needed and chose to go well above and beyond for the sake of their vision. The result is something to be very proud of, and I applaud them. Sanabi is absolutely one of the best games I've played, and an all time favorite.
(from my web zone: https://kerosyn.link/when-control-is-everything-and-everything-isnt-enough/)
A certain rule of thumb has existed in the back of my brain for many years now. "If the game has a grappling hook that isn't a quicktime event, it's probably an amazing game." Hasn't failed me yet. Well, not only does Sanabi have a grappling hook, the grappling hook is the core of the gameplay. A 2D platformer built entirely around swinging with a grappling hook and using enemies as single-use springboards is a game made specifically for me, but also a dangerous concept, since it relies heavily on the controls feeling consistent, predictable, and extremely good. The player needs to always simultaneously feel fully in control, and on the razor's edge of control. Not an easy balance to achieve.
But thankfully, it's fully achieved here, even managing to never become frustrating because the incredible clarity of the controls makes it impossible to blame the game for a skill issue. Not that you'd be doing that very often anyway, however, because even when you're not playing well, flying around the map like Captain Korea still always looks and feels cool. The game only loses its footing for a moment in the later stages, because one of the cool setpieces feels really clunky compared to the rest of the game and overstays its welcome, but I find that easy to overlook since it only happens once. It's even easier to look past that hiccup when considering the sheer rush of dopamine the final chapter gives you, rushing through the game at full power feeling like a god. I'd be singing this game's praises even if it was just a platformer with nothing else of note to offer.
But simply building the entire game around perfect controls wasn't enough. They had everything, and needed more.
Sanabi is a visually breathtaking game that bleeds style no matter where you look, with another level of visual beauty added through the extremely expressive and stylish character animations, all well beyond any reasonable expectations for a team of this size - only five people, and starting out as college students no less - to produce. Sound design is also wonderfully chunky and crisp, adding a lot of weight to the already weighty visuals, and even notably improved since the early access build I originally played.
The original soundtrack is beyond perfect for the game as well, fitting flawlessly into every scene and elevating the experience greatly while also being simply fantastic music on its own, to the point that I will probably be listening to this soundtrack outside of the game from time to time - as music to lose myself in, not just background sound - which is something I do so rarely with games that I didn't even have a top five until now; Jet Lancer, Hypnagogia: Boundless Dreams, Doom 2016, Iridion II, and now Sanabi... and it takes position 2 in that list.
Games like this aren't expected to have much, if any, narrative either. Nobody would have complained if Sanabi didn't have a storyline, all it really needed was to say that a bad thing happened and you're going in to fix it. But of course, that wasn't enough for Wonder Potion. The story of Sanabi is more than simply present, it's compelling enough, interesting enough, and charming. It's not exactly revolutionary, but that doesn't matter, it's way better than it ever needed to be - much better than the disgraceful writing of some triple-A games that get showered with praise - and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
As I played, I figured out most of the reveals before they came to pass, but from what I've seen online, a lot of people didn't, and even if you do see things coming like I did, getting to the end still makes the second playthrough feel pretty different, so I can't even say predictability is a caveat here. The only real caveat is that towards the end of the game (but not at the end, pretty much just in chapter 4), the translation quality dips, and it can be a little jarring, occasionally causing me to need to reread lines... but I can't get mad at that. Oddly, the focus on the story seems a little controversial, because The Gamers™ hate reading and cutscenes in 2D platformers, even when it's as good as this.
Fortunately for them, they only have to deal with it once, because once you see the true ending of the game - continue the game if you went downstairs - speedrun mode is unlocked. No dialogue, no cutscenes, no boss fights, no loading screens, no fades to black, just a straightforward run through each chapter with nothing to distract you from the incredibly fun flow of swinging through levels quickly. Every time you complete a chapter in speedrun mode, the game kicks back to the title screen instead of back to the speedrun menu, which is unfortunate and annoying, but livable considering how fun it is to run through each chapter nonstop. I'll call it an enforced moment of respite. My first attempt ended up at a total time of 1:11:20, which felt pretty slow to me and did a very good job of showing me just how much I still have to learn, especially since I then found out the current record on speedrun.com at that time was 25:58. I will definitely be coming back to this for a long time.
The more I like a thing, the less I usually have to say about it. I've said as much as I can think of at this point, I don't know how to dig deeper into the details about why this game is so fantastic or what makes it feel so amazing to play. So just trust me bro. I'll close with this.
Wonder Potion had everything they needed and chose to go well above and beyond for the sake of their vision. The result is something to be very proud of, and I applaud them. Sanabi is absolutely one of the best games I've played, and an all time favorite.
(from my web zone: https://kerosyn.link/when-control-is-everything-and-everything-isnt-enough/)
A beautiful game with a surprisingly amazing story. Gameplay is fun, but could use some variety especially paired with the repetitive level design and, in some cases, awful gimmicks.
Extremely tight and hard-hitting story, its even paired with some really fun fast-paced gameplay.
Beware of skill issues and tears.
Beware of skill issues and tears.
Incredibly fun game held back by a lackluster story I found the main character straight up irritating at certain points and the story never got me asking any questions
the gameplay however while somewhat basic and not giving you an upgrade I consider essental for qol its incredibly fun cant really go wrong with good grapple hook mechanics
the gameplay however while somewhat basic and not giving you an upgrade I consider essental for qol its incredibly fun cant really go wrong with good grapple hook mechanics
Un bon jeu d'action / plateforme qui peut être aussi beau et frénétique, que frustrant.
Pour commencer par des qualités, le jeu est magnifique, vraiment un régale de pixel art ultra peaufiné et bien animé. Certaines scènes et panoramas ont vraiment une qualité cinématographique indéniable. L'ost est elle aussi très bonnes dans l'ensemble, elle réussit bien à retranscrire les moments d'émotions et ajoute une bonne dose de dynamisme aux phases de gameplay. Le scénario est plus que solide, avec beaucoup de thèmes tournant autour de La Cybernétique, puisant dans sa philosophie pour en ressortir des questionnements sur notre condition d'humain. La narration qui accompagne ce récit est un peu classique sur les bords, mais elle fonctionne et possède son lot de moments brillants. L'écriture des personnages est top, avec des personnalités bien définis et de l'humour qui sait virer au glauque quand il faut.
Maintenant, le gameplay. Ce n'est en rien une tare du jeu, de laquelle il devrait se débarrasser. Cependant (F Dumbledore), c'est un aspect de sa conception qui ne m'a pas convaincus. Il y a de très bons moments : nerveux, avec beaucoup de flow et une emphase sur le mouvement, rapide et fluide. Puis il y a 60 à 70% du jeu, notamment entre le début et la fin. Ces moments où, à moins d'avoir une connaissance parfaite du niveau, il va falloir ralentir et prendre le temps d'analyser le niveau pour en sortir... C'est personnel certes, mais ce n'est clairement pas ce que j'attendais du jeu après une première heure et demi aussi dynamique. C'est un playstyle qui conviendra à beaucoup, j'en suis sûr, mais je l'ai vécu comme un gros remplissage permettant au jeu de faire sa narration entre quelques morceaux de gameplay. Je rajouterais qu'ici la qualité principale de l'OST, à savoir son energie devient un défaut : c'est comme entendre quelqu'un te motiver à courir, sur un terrain de mine. On a l'envie d'aller vite et de volé de niveau en niveau en moins d'une minute, mais le jeu ne nous laisse pas le faire. L'avantage, c'est que ça laisse de la place aux tryhardeurs, car les niveaux ne sont pas mauvais en soit.
C'est un jeu qui aurait pu être exceptionnel, et son gameplay aurait peut-être pu être mieux utilisé par un level design plus fluide, mais ça reste un petit bijou que je recommande vivement, ne serait-ce que pour ses thèmes et son écriture.
Pour commencer par des qualités, le jeu est magnifique, vraiment un régale de pixel art ultra peaufiné et bien animé. Certaines scènes et panoramas ont vraiment une qualité cinématographique indéniable. L'ost est elle aussi très bonnes dans l'ensemble, elle réussit bien à retranscrire les moments d'émotions et ajoute une bonne dose de dynamisme aux phases de gameplay. Le scénario est plus que solide, avec beaucoup de thèmes tournant autour de La Cybernétique, puisant dans sa philosophie pour en ressortir des questionnements sur notre condition d'humain. La narration qui accompagne ce récit est un peu classique sur les bords, mais elle fonctionne et possède son lot de moments brillants. L'écriture des personnages est top, avec des personnalités bien définis et de l'humour qui sait virer au glauque quand il faut.
Maintenant, le gameplay. Ce n'est en rien une tare du jeu, de laquelle il devrait se débarrasser. Cependant (F Dumbledore), c'est un aspect de sa conception qui ne m'a pas convaincus. Il y a de très bons moments : nerveux, avec beaucoup de flow et une emphase sur le mouvement, rapide et fluide. Puis il y a 60 à 70% du jeu, notamment entre le début et la fin. Ces moments où, à moins d'avoir une connaissance parfaite du niveau, il va falloir ralentir et prendre le temps d'analyser le niveau pour en sortir... C'est personnel certes, mais ce n'est clairement pas ce que j'attendais du jeu après une première heure et demi aussi dynamique. C'est un playstyle qui conviendra à beaucoup, j'en suis sûr, mais je l'ai vécu comme un gros remplissage permettant au jeu de faire sa narration entre quelques morceaux de gameplay. Je rajouterais qu'ici la qualité principale de l'OST, à savoir son energie devient un défaut : c'est comme entendre quelqu'un te motiver à courir, sur un terrain de mine. On a l'envie d'aller vite et de volé de niveau en niveau en moins d'une minute, mais le jeu ne nous laisse pas le faire. L'avantage, c'est que ça laisse de la place aux tryhardeurs, car les niveaux ne sont pas mauvais en soit.
C'est un jeu qui aurait pu être exceptionnel, et son gameplay aurait peut-être pu être mieux utilisé par un level design plus fluide, mais ça reste un petit bijou que je recommande vivement, ne serait-ce que pour ses thèmes et son écriture.
We are Owls that never cry..
SANABI is a 2D action title developed by Wonder Potion under the NEOWIZ umbrella. You play as a retired general whose peaceful life changes forever on one fateful day. Armed with nothing but his expert skills in combat and his mechanical arm he seeks out the entity known as SANABI that hurt the one closest to him as he entangles himself in a grander and broader mystery that is looming over the horizon.
SANABI's introduction is brilliant, the game is funny when it wants to, cute when it calls for it and gritty when necessary. It gives the player ample amount of questions that pile on one another, and as the story concludes it answers all of them in a heartbreakingly satisfying way. It's not the most unpredictable story ever created, but damn is it good and well written. And the gameplay accompanying it is as good as the story. On your journey to seek SANABI you'll meet Mari who'll tag along you throughout the entire game. Mari's bubbly and seemingly carefree persona contrasts beautifully with our jaded general. She's a great character, she's bubbly and funny but not to a degree where it takes away from SANABI's darker subject matters. She, like others written for the story are layered and believable and I got heavily invested in all of their personalities during my 10 or so hours of playtime. I cried profusely when everything unfolded as the devs pulled on my heartstrings.
And what accompanies that story and characters is an equally banging and satisfying gameplay loop. SANABI is 2D action game that prioritizes movement. Your base kit is simple but hard to master; you have an ability to climb most walls, jump and your main attraction: the Grapling Arm. The arm works like most grapling hooks with an incredible weight and snappiness behind it. You graple to certain surfaces and swing, how hard could that be? Well.. decently difficult actually since Wonder Potion have done a beautiful job with SANABI's level design. Granted, some of them do get a little.. same-y but considering the game that game doesn't overstay its welcome too badly it doesn't really take away from the overall experience.
Combat is also revolving around your hookshot, and the combat encounters here are mostly just minor roadblocks that are fast to deal. They're not bad, some of them, especially the bosses are a highlight but I was wishing for something just a little bit "meatier" if that makes any sense. That being said they're mostly designed for speedrunners in mind, since the game also comes with an in-built Speedrun mode for those who seek to optimize their routes to perfection.
Music, spritework and overall presentation in SANABI are a joy as well; the game is (seemingly) based in a dystopian fictional version of Korea where a big corporation has taken over the normal, day-to-day citizen's lives. Backgrounds consist (but are not limited to) beautiful mountaintops with lushious greenery to neonlit corporate cityscapes. It's all there and it's accompanied by a great soundtrack that suits every environment beautifully. Characters are lively with so little pixels, so the devs put some extra effort into animating text boxes to bring out that extra bit of personality which goes a long way in making SANABI's world feel truly alive.
I've praised to the Moon and back.. and given it a full, five star score. But SANABI isn't perfect, no game is. So what gives? For one, the level structure can be a bit unclear where it wants you to go at times, and some of the sections feel a bit more trial and error than others (like the Overseer chase sequence). Some text boxes had weird spacing issues between sentences and some of the translations were off by just a bit. Assisted aim needs more, in-depth way to customize it and what bugged me the most was that the main characters is just.. a bit of dick at times. Look, I understand why and I understand the weight of the story but it was overbearing, just by a little bit at points.
Otherwise, SANABI is a true gem. A testement to game development and 2D indie games as a whole. It's getting a physical release soon and I cannot wait to pick it up. Please play this game because it deserves all the love that it's getting and then some. It's also priced incredibly well in my opinion.
SANABI is a 2D action title developed by Wonder Potion under the NEOWIZ umbrella. You play as a retired general whose peaceful life changes forever on one fateful day. Armed with nothing but his expert skills in combat and his mechanical arm he seeks out the entity known as SANABI that hurt the one closest to him as he entangles himself in a grander and broader mystery that is looming over the horizon.
SANABI's introduction is brilliant, the game is funny when it wants to, cute when it calls for it and gritty when necessary. It gives the player ample amount of questions that pile on one another, and as the story concludes it answers all of them in a heartbreakingly satisfying way. It's not the most unpredictable story ever created, but damn is it good and well written. And the gameplay accompanying it is as good as the story. On your journey to seek SANABI you'll meet Mari who'll tag along you throughout the entire game. Mari's bubbly and seemingly carefree persona contrasts beautifully with our jaded general. She's a great character, she's bubbly and funny but not to a degree where it takes away from SANABI's darker subject matters. She, like others written for the story are layered and believable and I got heavily invested in all of their personalities during my 10 or so hours of playtime. I cried profusely when everything unfolded as the devs pulled on my heartstrings.
And what accompanies that story and characters is an equally banging and satisfying gameplay loop. SANABI is 2D action game that prioritizes movement. Your base kit is simple but hard to master; you have an ability to climb most walls, jump and your main attraction: the Grapling Arm. The arm works like most grapling hooks with an incredible weight and snappiness behind it. You graple to certain surfaces and swing, how hard could that be? Well.. decently difficult actually since Wonder Potion have done a beautiful job with SANABI's level design. Granted, some of them do get a little.. same-y but considering the game that game doesn't overstay its welcome too badly it doesn't really take away from the overall experience.
Combat is also revolving around your hookshot, and the combat encounters here are mostly just minor roadblocks that are fast to deal. They're not bad, some of them, especially the bosses are a highlight but I was wishing for something just a little bit "meatier" if that makes any sense. That being said they're mostly designed for speedrunners in mind, since the game also comes with an in-built Speedrun mode for those who seek to optimize their routes to perfection.
Music, spritework and overall presentation in SANABI are a joy as well; the game is (seemingly) based in a dystopian fictional version of Korea where a big corporation has taken over the normal, day-to-day citizen's lives. Backgrounds consist (but are not limited to) beautiful mountaintops with lushious greenery to neonlit corporate cityscapes. It's all there and it's accompanied by a great soundtrack that suits every environment beautifully. Characters are lively with so little pixels, so the devs put some extra effort into animating text boxes to bring out that extra bit of personality which goes a long way in making SANABI's world feel truly alive.
I've praised to the Moon and back.. and given it a full, five star score. But SANABI isn't perfect, no game is. So what gives? For one, the level structure can be a bit unclear where it wants you to go at times, and some of the sections feel a bit more trial and error than others (like the Overseer chase sequence). Some text boxes had weird spacing issues between sentences and some of the translations were off by just a bit. Assisted aim needs more, in-depth way to customize it and what bugged me the most was that the main characters is just.. a bit of dick at times. Look, I understand why and I understand the weight of the story but it was overbearing, just by a little bit at points.
Otherwise, SANABI is a true gem. A testement to game development and 2D indie games as a whole. It's getting a physical release soon and I cannot wait to pick it up. Please play this game because it deserves all the love that it's getting and then some. It's also priced incredibly well in my opinion.
While its simple gameplay mechanics left me hungry for something more challenging, Sanabi features an outstanding narrative that truly surprised and shocked me to my core. While it looks like so many other 2D sprite-based platformers on the market today, Sanabi is absolutely worth your attention if you love cyberpunk storytelling and clever metanarrative discussion in games.
https://neoncloudff.wordpress.com/2024/01/31/now-playing-january-2024-edition/
https://neoncloudff.wordpress.com/2024/01/31/now-playing-january-2024-edition/
Great game with a great story. My only complaint is that I feel like you are incredibly overpowered throughout the whole game, and while it was satisfying to feel almost invincible and destroy everything with ease, it leaves a lot to be desired in terms of challenge.
If you liked Sanabi, I would also recommend checking out Ghostrunner, Rusted Moss and Katana Zero.
If you liked Sanabi, I would also recommend checking out Ghostrunner, Rusted Moss and Katana Zero.
E X C E L E N T E
Very fun, with a delightful core loop, great visual style, and a solid OST. The narrative doesn't do much for me, especially in the second half, but it was solid overall. Well worth a play.
Katana Zero but cooler
This review contains spoilers
a better and a cooler ver of katana zero
also extra cool point for the trails reference
the only down side its an only early access game it didnt even finished yet
also extra cool point for the trails reference
the only down side its an only early access game it didnt even finished yet
Lots of good thing, still i'm kinda mixed about the story, i think it was pretty good globally but oh my god those emotional parts were soooo boring and cringe. Nonetheless, the OST and graphisms were dope but the maniabilty can be frustrating at times
Shoutout to Elon Musk for being such a terrible human being that he indirectly inspired this game's creation.
Insane that this flew under the radar. Amazing story, engaging gameplay, it's got everything.
Insane that this flew under the radar. Amazing story, engaging gameplay, it's got everything.
Another hidden gem as it seems nobody cares about it now that the full game released, really surprising considering how much it gets compare to katana zero which is much more popular and it's also better than zero in my opinion currently
This review contains spoilers
Sanabi is a fast-paced 2D action platformer with clear and explicit inspiration from Katana Zero with the addition of a grappling hook being the core mechanic behind movement and combat. Seeing this description compelled me to try the game, but the experience was not exactly what I was expecting.
From the beginning, it takes a long time to actually get into any real gameplay, and this trend continues as the majority of levels get broken up constantly by 5-10 minutes of cutscenes before allowing the player to resume again. At some point, I started just skipping cutscenes because I wasn't going to make it through the game otherwise, and I did want to get through the game. Maybe I missed out on some character development or some interesting moments, but using my judgement to resume watching cutscenes, I don't think I ended up missing anything important. I know there was a big story to tell, but I think the way it was delivered was antithetical to what the game feels like it should be - focusing on intentional level and enemy design to fully support the fast and fluid systems in place. I wish I could give those high praise, but unfortunately I had some minor issues with the gameplay side of things as well.
I wasn't a fan of how the game slowly drops upgrades on you as the game progressed. Whenever I unlocked something and tried it out, my reaction was never, "Wow, this is a cool upgrade" but instead "Wow, this should have been available at the start of the game". The only power-up that might not fall under that category is the dashing attack and even there I was telling myself that I wish I didn't have to go through the start-up charge, which they eventually got rid of in another small boost. It seems to me like the developers really wanted to focus on slowly stacking one mechanic at a time, which is admirable, but the degree at which it is done almost feels like they don't trust the player to intuit what to do at times (they were still flashing back to the training grounds near the end of the game). I can figure out things like how a lock can open something on another screen or that platforms can block laser beams without a cutscene or a dedicated section to just teaching that interaction. While I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, too much of it ended up making the first ~80% of the game feel like a demo or tutorial and also slowed down and prohibited what could have been some more interesting level design. The only complaint I have for the movement itself is that I think you should be able to drop faster after pulling yourself to the ceiling. I did encounter a few bugs, but they were pretty minor and I never felt like dying was a huge punishment anyways.
Speaking of design, there were a few bosses that didn't feel great either. For context, I played on veteran difficulty. I didn't enjoy the Justice fight as much as I wanted to. Sometimes it felt like you were being punished for not being able to dodge the circular move because you weren't in range of a car to grapple onto (not sure if the pattern for the cars were random or not, but they may as well have been). The Major Song encounter was the only fight that ended up giving me trouble. Sometimes the grapple would snap to her instead of the platform and I would get countered, and some of her attacks required a pretty fast reaction time to avoid normally. Additionally, having to wait for the charge to dash into her felt gross as she would often teleport away or simply hit you before you could dash. There was even a mind game of her being able to counter the dash, which was admittedly cool, but the only way to play around it was to sit in your charge a little longer to see if that's what she was going to do, which made it easier for her to get away or hit you. What ended up working for me for both bosses was just spinning in circles like a maniac, which is fine, but kind of strays away from the precise movement that I expected and know that the game is capable of.
The last section of the game involves traversing through the area of each chapter again with some increased difficulty and more thought into how each chapter's unique mechanic works and is only broken up by a cutscene at the end of each level. Here, you can really experience how fast you can go and how skilled you can feel and I wish that more of the game was like this.
Back to the story, my biggest gripe here is that I wish they were more subtle about giving details throughout the game. It was easy to suspect that Mari and the main character were connected, but once the personality data plot and worker hint were given, it became way too easy to figure out most of the details, so the grand and climactic reveal of what actually happened didn't feel very climactic since I had a sense of what was happening for a majority of the game. I also wish they weren't so blatant about the Katana Zero inspiration because every shot of the main character and Mari watching the city with a pronounced parallax effect felt too much like they were trying to capture that one Katana Zero moment, when it didn't really earn it yet. This is definitely the point where I'm reaching the most, and to be fair, I think the engine is just built around that parallax effect, but I could never stop thinking about it whenever I encountered a cutscene like that. I'm also not quite sure why they don't show the main character's sacrifice at the end. They do drive home the point that "getting to the end isn't important, it's how you get there", but by then you've already made the decision to not pursue the false "end" and I think it would've been much more important to show the culmination of your journey and just how much love and responsibility the hero has. It was also almost comical the way he walked off screen and it cut straight to his gravestone after just a few seconds.
I ended up saying a lot about this game, which feels fitting after the amount of dialogue that I went through or skipped. Although there was a lot, I actually didn't dislike it. I wanted to love it, but ended up just liking it instead. I didn't mention it yet, but the music and art style were great! For me, there was a lot of potential here. All of my issues were pretty minor, and I mostly had a good time playing and I was able to identify what I do and don't like about games and game design, which felt rewarding in its own way.
From the beginning, it takes a long time to actually get into any real gameplay, and this trend continues as the majority of levels get broken up constantly by 5-10 minutes of cutscenes before allowing the player to resume again. At some point, I started just skipping cutscenes because I wasn't going to make it through the game otherwise, and I did want to get through the game. Maybe I missed out on some character development or some interesting moments, but using my judgement to resume watching cutscenes, I don't think I ended up missing anything important. I know there was a big story to tell, but I think the way it was delivered was antithetical to what the game feels like it should be - focusing on intentional level and enemy design to fully support the fast and fluid systems in place. I wish I could give those high praise, but unfortunately I had some minor issues with the gameplay side of things as well.
I wasn't a fan of how the game slowly drops upgrades on you as the game progressed. Whenever I unlocked something and tried it out, my reaction was never, "Wow, this is a cool upgrade" but instead "Wow, this should have been available at the start of the game". The only power-up that might not fall under that category is the dashing attack and even there I was telling myself that I wish I didn't have to go through the start-up charge, which they eventually got rid of in another small boost. It seems to me like the developers really wanted to focus on slowly stacking one mechanic at a time, which is admirable, but the degree at which it is done almost feels like they don't trust the player to intuit what to do at times (they were still flashing back to the training grounds near the end of the game). I can figure out things like how a lock can open something on another screen or that platforms can block laser beams without a cutscene or a dedicated section to just teaching that interaction. While I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, too much of it ended up making the first ~80% of the game feel like a demo or tutorial and also slowed down and prohibited what could have been some more interesting level design. The only complaint I have for the movement itself is that I think you should be able to drop faster after pulling yourself to the ceiling. I did encounter a few bugs, but they were pretty minor and I never felt like dying was a huge punishment anyways.
Speaking of design, there were a few bosses that didn't feel great either. For context, I played on veteran difficulty. I didn't enjoy the Justice fight as much as I wanted to. Sometimes it felt like you were being punished for not being able to dodge the circular move because you weren't in range of a car to grapple onto (not sure if the pattern for the cars were random or not, but they may as well have been). The Major Song encounter was the only fight that ended up giving me trouble. Sometimes the grapple would snap to her instead of the platform and I would get countered, and some of her attacks required a pretty fast reaction time to avoid normally. Additionally, having to wait for the charge to dash into her felt gross as she would often teleport away or simply hit you before you could dash. There was even a mind game of her being able to counter the dash, which was admittedly cool, but the only way to play around it was to sit in your charge a little longer to see if that's what she was going to do, which made it easier for her to get away or hit you. What ended up working for me for both bosses was just spinning in circles like a maniac, which is fine, but kind of strays away from the precise movement that I expected and know that the game is capable of.
The last section of the game involves traversing through the area of each chapter again with some increased difficulty and more thought into how each chapter's unique mechanic works and is only broken up by a cutscene at the end of each level. Here, you can really experience how fast you can go and how skilled you can feel and I wish that more of the game was like this.
Back to the story, my biggest gripe here is that I wish they were more subtle about giving details throughout the game. It was easy to suspect that Mari and the main character were connected, but once the personality data plot and worker hint were given, it became way too easy to figure out most of the details, so the grand and climactic reveal of what actually happened didn't feel very climactic since I had a sense of what was happening for a majority of the game. I also wish they weren't so blatant about the Katana Zero inspiration because every shot of the main character and Mari watching the city with a pronounced parallax effect felt too much like they were trying to capture that one Katana Zero moment, when it didn't really earn it yet. This is definitely the point where I'm reaching the most, and to be fair, I think the engine is just built around that parallax effect, but I could never stop thinking about it whenever I encountered a cutscene like that. I'm also not quite sure why they don't show the main character's sacrifice at the end. They do drive home the point that "getting to the end isn't important, it's how you get there", but by then you've already made the decision to not pursue the false "end" and I think it would've been much more important to show the culmination of your journey and just how much love and responsibility the hero has. It was also almost comical the way he walked off screen and it cut straight to his gravestone after just a few seconds.
I ended up saying a lot about this game, which feels fitting after the amount of dialogue that I went through or skipped. Although there was a lot, I actually didn't dislike it. I wanted to love it, but ended up just liking it instead. I didn't mention it yet, but the music and art style were great! For me, there was a lot of potential here. All of my issues were pretty minor, and I mostly had a good time playing and I was able to identify what I do and don't like about games and game design, which felt rewarding in its own way.
Katana Zero with a grappling arm is fun, but it drags on a bit too long and has mostly repetitive platforming, which is a shame b/c platforming is the MAIN focus rather than combat
The opening was sick tho
The opening was sick tho
Genuinely a fantastic game. Everything about it is good from the gameplay, music, story, etc. I was crying at the end and you will as well.
This review contains spoilers
Amazing game. Great moment to moment gameplay, makes full use of the mechanics. Artwork is beautiful, and the story is heartbreaking.
Only gripe I have is that the levels could have been better paced. The last level, which is just a run through of the whole game with cutscenes intercut, felt too easy and did not end with a challenging/climactic boss fight. The Song bossfight is basically the final boss of the game, after which the game just makes you run around while it drops the story on you.
Only gripe I have is that the levels could have been better paced. The last level, which is just a run through of the whole game with cutscenes intercut, felt too easy and did not end with a challenging/climactic boss fight. The Song bossfight is basically the final boss of the game, after which the game just makes you run around while it drops the story on you.
Dá pra resumir em duas palavras: decepcionante e ruim.
A pixel art é bela... Mas o jogo é extremamente rápido e não dá para apreciar.
A ideia é interessante... Mas os controles SÃO TERRÍVEIS, extremamente IMPRECISOS, porcamente pensados. Além do seu boneco ficar se prendendo em TODAS superfícies do jogo, fazendo sua gameplay ficar "engasgada" e mais lenta e imprecisa. Inclusive a gameplay tem pouca variabilidade. O combate além de ser repetitivo ele é muito prejudicado devido aos controles péssimos.
A história inicialmente é instigante com uns diálogos bonitinhos... Mas depois a história fica repetitiva, chata e desinteressante, com diálogos ruins, chatos e desinteressantes. Junto de cutscentes desnecessariamente longas que fazem você se sentir preso no próprio jogo.
OBS: Colocar diálogos no meio da luta é uma decisão no mínimo burra
OBS2: Na reta final, a história fica ruime até moralmente duvidoso
O level design é legalzinho (embora seja frustrativo devido a jogabilidade)... Mas em algumas ocasiões é porco, preguiçoso, repetitivo e mal feito.
As fases especiais de extrema velocidade e chefões - que deveriam ser as mais bem trabalhadas e chamativas - são terríveis e conseguem ser pior que as fases normais do jogo.
Portanto, é um fato que esse foi um grande disperdício, tem aspectos bons mas que são estragados logo depois. Espero o melhor para os criadores e que eles melhorem no futuro.
A pixel art é bela... Mas o jogo é extremamente rápido e não dá para apreciar.
A ideia é interessante... Mas os controles SÃO TERRÍVEIS, extremamente IMPRECISOS, porcamente pensados. Além do seu boneco ficar se prendendo em TODAS superfícies do jogo, fazendo sua gameplay ficar "engasgada" e mais lenta e imprecisa. Inclusive a gameplay tem pouca variabilidade. O combate além de ser repetitivo ele é muito prejudicado devido aos controles péssimos.
A história inicialmente é instigante com uns diálogos bonitinhos... Mas depois a história fica repetitiva, chata e desinteressante, com diálogos ruins, chatos e desinteressantes. Junto de cutscentes desnecessariamente longas que fazem você se sentir preso no próprio jogo.
OBS: Colocar diálogos no meio da luta é uma decisão no mínimo burra
OBS2: Na reta final, a história fica ruime até moralmente duvidoso
O level design é legalzinho (embora seja frustrativo devido a jogabilidade)... Mas em algumas ocasiões é porco, preguiçoso, repetitivo e mal feito.
As fases especiais de extrema velocidade e chefões - que deveriam ser as mais bem trabalhadas e chamativas - são terríveis e conseguem ser pior que as fases normais do jogo.
Portanto, é um fato que esse foi um grande disperdício, tem aspectos bons mas que são estragados logo depois. Espero o melhor para os criadores e que eles melhorem no futuro.
Sanabi é um bom jogo. É desafiador na medida certa e tem uma trama bem interessante.
A minha nota se justifica por algumas escolhas bem questionáveis na narrativa da história, colocando cutscenes gigantescas no meio da ação. Acaba quebrando o ritmo e sendo bem cansativo.
A minha nota se justifica por algumas escolhas bem questionáveis na narrativa da história, colocando cutscenes gigantescas no meio da ação. Acaba quebrando o ritmo e sendo bem cansativo.
This game has a very good story and an excelent gameplay. I would recommend going blind into it for the history sake.
That being said, i feel like sometimes the story drags for too long, and the fact that you cant pause during the cutscenes also agravates me.
The plot twist is good but also a bit predictable if you are paying attention
Overall great game 8/10, could be better but it delivers a fun experience
That being said, i feel like sometimes the story drags for too long, and the fact that you cant pause during the cutscenes also agravates me.
The plot twist is good but also a bit predictable if you are paying attention
Overall great game 8/10, could be better but it delivers a fun experience
A great story troubled by not very complemental gameplay and some plot incongruences, although none of that diminished my enjoyment of it. I was fully invested into the characters and story and sad that it had to end so soon, even though the gameplay parts went on for way too long -- I switched to easy midway because I had no incentive to getting good at the game, and even then I almost gave up because of a bullshit boss near the end.
Still, absolutely no regrets playing this.
Still, absolutely no regrets playing this.
This is one of the best games ever made. Please play this game knowing as little as possible. For the first time in years, a game has finally made me shed tears. 10/10
In spite of how great the gameplay loop is, once the main character "awakens" the game becomes incredibly easy. Press shit, kill enemy, repeat. To add insult to injury, the platforming, even though, again, has an enormous potential, is incredibly bland. The gameplay becomes a shore you must do in order to get to the story. That sucks..
Spoiler warning
And that ending... No pretense. No final boss. Just.. story? It was good, if not a bit cheesy in the very ending, but still? No final fight? I understand the decision, but I can't find myself agreeing with it.
Strong 7
Spoiler warning
And that ending... No pretense. No final boss. Just.. story? It was good, if not a bit cheesy in the very ending, but still? No final fight? I understand the decision, but I can't find myself agreeing with it.
Strong 7
The best game I have ever played. The gameplay is immensely satisfying, and the story is the best I have ever experienced in my 20+ years of gaming.
I don't hate the game, but I can't say I love it either because there is very little gameplay. Usually there are 10-15 minutes of gameplay, and then you read a ton of boring text that tells literally nothing about the game. I like the gameplay and the platforming parts, but just when I start having fun, another cutscene comes. Just because it's still in early access, I'll give it another chance and hope that it gets better after the full release.
Scratches my KZ itch, with some tears :'
Sanabi caught my interest because the trailer gave me the similar feeling feeling to Katana Zero, so I set my expectation a bit lower because I was like "this is not gonna be as good as KZ".
And oh boy, I'm so glad I was wrong. This is on par with Katana Zero, while managed to do their own thing, miraculously.
Length: 11.5hrs
Visual - 9
Audio - 8
Gameplay - 8.5
Story - 10
Fun - 9
Overall - 9/10
Sanabi caught my interest because the trailer gave me the similar feeling feeling to Katana Zero, so I set my expectation a bit lower because I was like "this is not gonna be as good as KZ".
And oh boy, I'm so glad I was wrong. This is on par with Katana Zero, while managed to do their own thing, miraculously.
Length: 11.5hrs
Visual - 9
Audio - 8
Gameplay - 8.5
Story - 10
Fun - 9
Overall - 9/10