katana zero with grappling hooks, this game fucking rules
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
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.
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
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.
Go play Katana Zero, it has a better narrative and a much more enjoyable pace
Sanabi is like a platform-based version of Katana Zero and it's a very promising game. It is in early access for now, but it is a very enjoyable game in terms of gameplay, the dialogue and the story are also given great importance in the game, which is a factor that increases the immersion of the game. Even though it's still in early access, I'm sure it will already be a great 2D action/platform game. If you like Katana Zero, I'm sure you will enjoy this game as well.
i adore the movement in this game, the story is def alright but it gets a 4 just for speedrun potential alone
I really enjoyed Sanabi, but honestly I think its score is a little inflated from just how good the last 2 hours of this game are. This game has some absolutely incredible moments. The opening is very strong, a few story moments in the middle are neat, and as mentioned the lead-up to the end of the game is amazing.
But the game is just way too drawn out. Most gameplay sections could have had their length cut in half, probably dropped to 1/4 if you wanted to only leave the really good stuff. A lot of sections, especially once you get to the back half of the main plot, drag on far past the point they should have and I was begging to be done with a few segments long before I reached the end. This was generally not because of difficulty - This is not an overly challenging game outside of a few tricky platforming areas. Instead you'll just be seeing endless screen after screen of incredibly basic platforming challenges you'd already mastered twenty minutes ago.
This is especially painful because Sanabi's writing is often genuinely enjoyable, though sometimes a little clumsy, and is really the only reason I made it through to the credits. The characters are generally well written and the dialogue usually succeeds at being actually funny. I often found myself wishing dialogue scenes would stretch on a little longer just so I could spend more time with the characters, but inevitably the scenes end and you're due for another 30 minutes of silently grappling your way through repetitive platforming challenges.
Sanabi is frequently compared to Katana Zero and while I agree the vibes are similar, I think Sanabi's flaws become especially glaring when that comparison is drawn. Katana Zero's total runtime clocks in at around 3.5-4 hours, less than half the time it took me to beat Sanabi, but that game has cut all the fat that sometimes makes Sanabi such a chore. If you enjoyed Sanabi then I think Katana Zero is an easy instant recommend, providing a shorter, more focused experience.
I still think Sanabi is worth playing. The story is fun, and the characters are likable. But the endless padding really brings down a game that is otherwise so close to becoming one of the indie greats.
But the game is just way too drawn out. Most gameplay sections could have had their length cut in half, probably dropped to 1/4 if you wanted to only leave the really good stuff. A lot of sections, especially once you get to the back half of the main plot, drag on far past the point they should have and I was begging to be done with a few segments long before I reached the end. This was generally not because of difficulty - This is not an overly challenging game outside of a few tricky platforming areas. Instead you'll just be seeing endless screen after screen of incredibly basic platforming challenges you'd already mastered twenty minutes ago.
This is especially painful because Sanabi's writing is often genuinely enjoyable, though sometimes a little clumsy, and is really the only reason I made it through to the credits. The characters are generally well written and the dialogue usually succeeds at being actually funny. I often found myself wishing dialogue scenes would stretch on a little longer just so I could spend more time with the characters, but inevitably the scenes end and you're due for another 30 minutes of silently grappling your way through repetitive platforming challenges.
Sanabi is frequently compared to Katana Zero and while I agree the vibes are similar, I think Sanabi's flaws become especially glaring when that comparison is drawn. Katana Zero's total runtime clocks in at around 3.5-4 hours, less than half the time it took me to beat Sanabi, but that game has cut all the fat that sometimes makes Sanabi such a chore. If you enjoyed Sanabi then I think Katana Zero is an easy instant recommend, providing a shorter, more focused experience.
I still think Sanabi is worth playing. The story is fun, and the characters are likable. But the endless padding really brings down a game that is otherwise so close to becoming one of the indie greats.
life changing media
epic game
Katana Zero if the story was actually finished
I thoroughly fucked with this game. Everything about it is in-sync with my tastes and I gotta put that up-front.
This game is drop-dead gorgeous. Some of the cleanest and best sprite-work I personally seen in my godamn life. Mari is the cutest little button and I wanna slam her against the walls like a toy. Mago-City is a generic dystopian future city but it's rendered with such a nice palette and scale and the conspiracy surrounding it had me intrigued through-out. It's actually a shame that some of the designs and animations get used like once or twice because I find the aesthetics so appealing. Shout-outs to Major Song.
Gameplay is just how I like it with a solid satisfying core that is built upon by surrounding enemies, encounters, and levels; grapple hooks are just fun to play with even if it's only for movement and combat and little else. I think the game could have benefited from spacing out cutscenes a little bit more since you always feel like you just got a good groove going before stopping to bombard you with some expository moments that go on a bit too long but never bothered me enough to dent my experience.
The story could have used alot less "ooooooooo what could be happening" moments throughout but either than that the dynamic between the main characters and the dialogue coming from Mari are just well done enough to excuse the fact that this is just a well-executed but cliche story. It's got a very strong sequence near the end that really sold me on the whole package of the story.
Game's got alot of heart put into it but I can definitely see people who are wrong and stupid and not as smart or whimsical as me not enjoying it but fuck 'em
I thoroughly fucked with this game. Everything about it is in-sync with my tastes and I gotta put that up-front.
This game is drop-dead gorgeous. Some of the cleanest and best sprite-work I personally seen in my godamn life. Mari is the cutest little button and I wanna slam her against the walls like a toy. Mago-City is a generic dystopian future city but it's rendered with such a nice palette and scale and the conspiracy surrounding it had me intrigued through-out. It's actually a shame that some of the designs and animations get used like once or twice because I find the aesthetics so appealing. Shout-outs to Major Song.
Gameplay is just how I like it with a solid satisfying core that is built upon by surrounding enemies, encounters, and levels; grapple hooks are just fun to play with even if it's only for movement and combat and little else. I think the game could have benefited from spacing out cutscenes a little bit more since you always feel like you just got a good groove going before stopping to bombard you with some expository moments that go on a bit too long but never bothered me enough to dent my experience.
The story could have used alot less "ooooooooo what could be happening" moments throughout but either than that the dynamic between the main characters and the dialogue coming from Mari are just well done enough to excuse the fact that this is just a well-executed but cliche story. It's got a very strong sequence near the end that really sold me on the whole package of the story.
Game's got alot of heart put into it but I can definitely see people who are wrong and stupid and not as smart or whimsical as me not enjoying it but fuck 'em
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.
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.
Katana Zero but cooler
this game does everything it can to keep you from having fun
The gameplay and story keep fighting each other, which is a shame because both are fine in their own right. Also, towards the end, there was a lot of bullshit difficulty
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
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
GOTFY CRYING IS HEALTHY
This was a really damn good one man.
Gameplay was really fun with satisfying swing momentum based platforming, the pixelart was great, and the story tying it together, while dark, does have some fantastic sweat moments that really pull it all together
Gameplay was really fun with satisfying swing momentum based platforming, the pixelart was great, and the story tying it together, while dark, does have some fantastic sweat moments that really pull it all together
What now... she talks just like me!! I'm her fr!! There's a great balance between story and gameplay, everything hooked me. Yes I made the hook joke and I'll make it no matter how many times my personality is reproduced!!
Btw you wouldn't believe the easter eggs in this game. I agree with everything they said about him. Based Korea. They added a speedrun mode as well, which makes it the 2nd hook-based game that focuses on speedrunning, so I get two nickels for that but hooks are kind of made for speedrunning let's be real.
I love petting a cat to save. Only once though?? I wish i could just pet that little flying robot but I'm sure they thought long about it and decided it'll interupt the flow too much. Minus a whole star for that! (i'm kidding)
Btw you wouldn't believe the easter eggs in this game. I agree with everything they said about him. Based Korea. They added a speedrun mode as well, which makes it the 2nd hook-based game that focuses on speedrunning, so I get two nickels for that but hooks are kind of made for speedrunning let's be real.
I love petting a cat to save. Only once though?? I wish i could just pet that little flying robot but I'm sure they thought long about it and decided it'll interupt the flow too much. Minus a whole star for that! (i'm kidding)
What a strange game. The story has some obvious twists and some wilder ones. I didn't even expect much of any story.
Sadly, the writing clearly needs some editing. There's a lot of reptitive / throwaway dialogue. Also, the English localization is pretty stiff / unnatural sounding, and there's quite a few grammar mistakes.
I did tear up a bit at the ending though, so there's some merit to the story.
I wish the gameplay was a bit more engaging though. Grapple swinging is really fun, but the game feels really drawn out. Too many levels and they all go on a little too long. Boss fights are quite un-fun to me.
Personally I'd say put the game on easy so you don't have to respawn when taking too much damage. There's enough "reset to checkpoint" instant things anyway that this just makes the game a bit smoother. I turned it on for the final boss and left it on for the bit of game after that just to speed things up.
The game has some weird pacing with lots and lots of dialogue and flashbacks, as well as the padded feeling levels. I legitimately thought I was almost done with this game probably 2 or 3 times. I spent close to 15 hours when I thought this was gonna be more of a 6 hour game. And frankly I think the game would be better that way.
[EDIT] oh i forgot to mention, there's some parts that are very visually difficult to look at. many instances of flashing lights and screen fading to white. definitely eye-watering at times.
Sadly, the writing clearly needs some editing. There's a lot of reptitive / throwaway dialogue. Also, the English localization is pretty stiff / unnatural sounding, and there's quite a few grammar mistakes.
I did tear up a bit at the ending though, so there's some merit to the story.
I wish the gameplay was a bit more engaging though. Grapple swinging is really fun, but the game feels really drawn out. Too many levels and they all go on a little too long. Boss fights are quite un-fun to me.
Personally I'd say put the game on easy so you don't have to respawn when taking too much damage. There's enough "reset to checkpoint" instant things anyway that this just makes the game a bit smoother. I turned it on for the final boss and left it on for the bit of game after that just to speed things up.
The game has some weird pacing with lots and lots of dialogue and flashbacks, as well as the padded feeling levels. I legitimately thought I was almost done with this game probably 2 or 3 times. I spent close to 15 hours when I thought this was gonna be more of a 6 hour game. And frankly I think the game would be better that way.
[EDIT] oh i forgot to mention, there's some parts that are very visually difficult to look at. many instances of flashing lights and screen fading to white. definitely eye-watering at times.
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.
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
Sanabi
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Graphics: 4.5/5 Tirei varias print pq pqp cada cenario mais bonito que o outro
Story: 5/5 Um dos unicos jogos que me fez chorar um pouco com o final
Gameplay: 3/5 Boa no geral, mto divertido de se balançar por obstaculos soq pode ficar enjoativa
Soundtrack: 3.6/5 Mto boa, especialmente a dos creditos
Bugs(0= None ; 5= Unplayable): 0
Fun factor: 2.3/5 La para o final do jogo eu me obriguei a finalizar mesmo estando um pouco enjoado da gameplay
Characters: 4.7/5
Final thoughts: 4.8/5 (5 no backlogged) Pqp que jogo bom, curtinho da para finalizar em uma tarde porem vale mto a experiencia. Me lembrou mto katana zero pela maneira que a historia foi contada e os cenarios (especialmente do inicio)
(Apenas uma coisa a se mencionar, o jogo tem por volta de 10 horas, porem eu recomecei o jogo pois tinha começado e parado a um tempo atras)
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Graphics: 4.5/5 Tirei varias print pq pqp cada cenario mais bonito que o outro
Story: 5/5 Um dos unicos jogos que me fez chorar um pouco com o final
Gameplay: 3/5 Boa no geral, mto divertido de se balançar por obstaculos soq pode ficar enjoativa
Soundtrack: 3.6/5 Mto boa, especialmente a dos creditos
Bugs(0= None ; 5= Unplayable): 0
Fun factor: 2.3/5 La para o final do jogo eu me obriguei a finalizar mesmo estando um pouco enjoado da gameplay
Characters: 4.7/5
Final thoughts: 4.8/5 (5 no backlogged) Pqp que jogo bom, curtinho da para finalizar em uma tarde porem vale mto a experiencia. Me lembrou mto katana zero pela maneira que a historia foi contada e os cenarios (especialmente do inicio)
(Apenas uma coisa a se mencionar, o jogo tem por volta de 10 horas, porem eu recomecei o jogo pois tinha começado e parado a um tempo atras)
To preface: I'm not the biggest fan of mechanical prestige games, like speedrunning is cool and I admire people who get really good at a game's mechanics and prefer that kind of thing to the rest of the medium's capabilities, but it's not always for me and that's ok. I'm on a time limit, I have other things to do and I'm not gonna write 500+ words on how a game's frame timing works or whatever, so I'll slip in a few hours and enjoy my time and then move on when it looks like the reward will just be more of the same reflex challenge, but faster and with more frame-counting. This sounds like I'm about to get harsh, but I promise I enjoyed this game and I think it's worthwhile if you like anything you've heard or seen from it.
Sanabi is a decent mix of that mechanical prestige presentation and a more casual-friendly focus on story and art, providing an interesting skill-based mechanical basis and attempting to work a narrative around those mechanics. Obviously, we can make several direct lines to Katana Zero, and the devs are well aware of their place in a post-K0 world, and Sanabi does a good job being its own thing artistically and mechanically, but it does start to wane when the mechanics are buffered by cutscenes and dialogue that feel more like a half-baked excuse to get the player going from A to B than a meaningful, original story. That's fine, but I think the game would benefit a lot more from a classical arcade approach instead, providing an outline for what you're doing and why, and then letting you go wild for an entire zone before giving you a break with a short cutscene and some exposition on your brooding protagonist's connection to the game's core conspiracy. I think it would suit the piece just fine to remove some of the padding and setpiece justification, and compromise a few of its hit-or-miss anime "serious protag, energetic girl" jokes in favor of some punchy illustrations and a paragraph or two of text after a boss.
Sanabi is a decent mix of that mechanical prestige presentation and a more casual-friendly focus on story and art, providing an interesting skill-based mechanical basis and attempting to work a narrative around those mechanics. Obviously, we can make several direct lines to Katana Zero, and the devs are well aware of their place in a post-K0 world, and Sanabi does a good job being its own thing artistically and mechanically, but it does start to wane when the mechanics are buffered by cutscenes and dialogue that feel more like a half-baked excuse to get the player going from A to B than a meaningful, original story. That's fine, but I think the game would benefit a lot more from a classical arcade approach instead, providing an outline for what you're doing and why, and then letting you go wild for an entire zone before giving you a break with a short cutscene and some exposition on your brooding protagonist's connection to the game's core conspiracy. I think it would suit the piece just fine to remove some of the padding and setpiece justification, and compromise a few of its hit-or-miss anime "serious protag, energetic girl" jokes in favor of some punchy illustrations and a paragraph or two of text after a boss.
Sanabi is a linear, Action Platformer with a strong focus on its Narrative. A bit of a unique and bold take in a genre that’s usually light on dialogue even in a post-TLOU world, Sanabi chooses to ask you to stop and listen to the tale it has to tell, and if you give it that respect, I think you’ll find a very well woven story that takes advantage of the fact its a video game pretty well.
You play as The General, a retired war hero who’s called back for one last mission into the massive mega city, Mago City, to chase after the elusive SANABI and to investigate the disappearance of the inhabitants of the city, a mission he’s all to eager to take as it ties into his personal mission of vengeance. Inside the city, he meets the sole survivor of the investigation team sent in to investigate the disappearances. Together, the two climb the city and solve the mystery behind the City and The Geenral hunts down Sanabi.
To climb said city, The General is equipped with a Bionic Commando type grappling hook he can use to grapple and zip around. And it feels great to grapple and swing in this game. And the simple jump and swing controls are complimented with some excellently designed stages, both in terms of layout and challenge, as well as thematically. There’s only 2(?) more additions you get from his base kit, but they’re both well timed additions and feel super fun to use, and the stages feel varied and no gimmick overstays their welcome. This game does feel like it’s designed with WASD + Mouse in mind, but I played through on a controller just fine with a bit of getting used to.
Between each stage/chapter/whatever, there’s typically a lot of dialogue, expanding on the Mystery of the City, Mari’s goals or The General’s past. If you’re good at this type of game, you might feel there’s more dialogue than game play, and that may be off putting, I’ve seen many reviews criticising the pacing or questioning the choice of the plot focus. And while I get it, I think 1 – there’s a skip option and 2 – The story sets the stage wonderfully for some of the most entertaining and cool stages and boss fights I’ve experienced in a platformer in a long time, and these moments wouldn’t have hit as hard if the story hadn’t set up these stakes so well. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a 90s kid gamer, I can hold right for no other reason than Beat Wily or Kill Dracula. But I dunno man, something about Sanabi’s use of set pieces and dialogue mad moments like Justice and The Oversee stand out and I’m sure stick in my memory.
The real question you may be asking though is, if you pay attention to this Video Game Story, does it pay off? And I honestly think so, yeah. I’m a big on creators using the medium of video games to tell interesting stories, and Sanabi does just that. It’s not anything revolutionary, or is some deep dive into the human condition or anything. It’s just a touching story that takes advantage of you being the video game boy (or girl!) and does some interesting twists with it.
I hope this review sells Sanabi to you. It’s a delightful little product made with care and love for both storytelling and video games. And I want nothing but the best for Mari.
You play as The General, a retired war hero who’s called back for one last mission into the massive mega city, Mago City, to chase after the elusive SANABI and to investigate the disappearance of the inhabitants of the city, a mission he’s all to eager to take as it ties into his personal mission of vengeance. Inside the city, he meets the sole survivor of the investigation team sent in to investigate the disappearances. Together, the two climb the city and solve the mystery behind the City and The Geenral hunts down Sanabi.
To climb said city, The General is equipped with a Bionic Commando type grappling hook he can use to grapple and zip around. And it feels great to grapple and swing in this game. And the simple jump and swing controls are complimented with some excellently designed stages, both in terms of layout and challenge, as well as thematically. There’s only 2(?) more additions you get from his base kit, but they’re both well timed additions and feel super fun to use, and the stages feel varied and no gimmick overstays their welcome. This game does feel like it’s designed with WASD + Mouse in mind, but I played through on a controller just fine with a bit of getting used to.
Between each stage/chapter/whatever, there’s typically a lot of dialogue, expanding on the Mystery of the City, Mari’s goals or The General’s past. If you’re good at this type of game, you might feel there’s more dialogue than game play, and that may be off putting, I’ve seen many reviews criticising the pacing or questioning the choice of the plot focus. And while I get it, I think 1 – there’s a skip option and 2 – The story sets the stage wonderfully for some of the most entertaining and cool stages and boss fights I’ve experienced in a platformer in a long time, and these moments wouldn’t have hit as hard if the story hadn’t set up these stakes so well. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a 90s kid gamer, I can hold right for no other reason than Beat Wily or Kill Dracula. But I dunno man, something about Sanabi’s use of set pieces and dialogue mad moments like Justice and The Oversee stand out and I’m sure stick in my memory.
The real question you may be asking though is, if you pay attention to this Video Game Story, does it pay off? And I honestly think so, yeah. I’m a big on creators using the medium of video games to tell interesting stories, and Sanabi does just that. It’s not anything revolutionary, or is some deep dive into the human condition or anything. It’s just a touching story that takes advantage of you being the video game boy (or girl!) and does some interesting twists with it.
I hope this review sells Sanabi to you. It’s a delightful little product made with care and love for both storytelling and video games. And I want nothing but the best for Mari.
This is the actual peak dad videogaming, Sony's first-party titles could never. Seemingly basic story yet with an incredible underlying concept, wonderfully written as a whole and in moment-to-moment interactions, at times it made me wish that the gameplay sections (which are admittedly great) were shorter so we could back to the story faster.
The way it paces the story and the gameplay could be a bit more balanced, but the narrative payoff is so worth it you won't even care once you make it there (and with the game being only 10 hours long at best it's not even going to take you that long!) I understand why Nasu got so owned by it.
I was in tears by the time I saw the credits roll.
Going in my forever favorites list.
The way it paces the story and the gameplay could be a bit more balanced, but the narrative payoff is so worth it you won't even care once you make it there (and with the game being only 10 hours long at best it's not even going to take you that long!) I understand why Nasu got so owned by it.
I was in tears by the time I saw the credits roll.
Going in my forever favorites list.