I'm not quite done with it but I'm most of the way there. running around this castle in increasingly speedy and technical ways is very fun and being able to perform some crazy stunt that the game (might not have) asked me to do is compelling in its own right. there were times where I forgot the location of a room I had wanted to backtrack to which was a pain in the ass (and I imagine it was even more of a pain in the ass before a map was implemented) still, re-running through the corridors is pretty fun as long as I don't think about how I'm wasting my time on this earth.

oh I also play this game with the sound off and an album on. the best pairings were Betty Davis's They Say I'm Different and Laurie Anderson's Mister Heartbreak.

The game itself is fantastic for the price and one of the snappist MVs I've played, but don't bother if you hate sexualization. My GOD the sexualization of Sybil and her bottom I can't stand it and it's extremely annoying. I love her design but that doesn't matter because HER BOTTOM OMG MOMMY???

If you buy this game, go to the settings, check "Give Sybil Pants" and equip them in the equipment menu (it's cosmetic only). Bless the dev for including that in the settings btw. Oh and don't look up fanart.

Very very good, and just short of being totally great. The level design, progression and movement are all truly masterful. I personally felt the exact right amount of "lost" while exploring this castle. It's not SO big that it's ever a pain to get around so even if you don't really know where to go you can always just poke around and that's usually really fun. The levels are set up perfectly and the movement rewards creativity and mastery, while generally being pretty easy to get the hang of. I personally struggled a little with the wall run and wall jumps feeling a little inconsistent, that may just be me. My favorite thing is that there are many times when it seems like the next step to make progress requires some weird movement combo that feels like sequence breaking. You'll see a place and be like "actually I bet I can get there" and it turns out not only can you get there but that's where you are supposed to be anyway. Very satisfying.

The single biggest issue for me personally is that the atmosphere and environmental storytelling are unfortunately lacking. You don't really get any sense of this being an interesting place. The enemy design is uninspired and does not contribute to the world building. I don't mind how empty it feels, but what's going on here? The story is very unsatisfying, even if the atmosphere and aesthetic are usually pretty strong. I wish it felt weirder. I want to feel the decadence of the castle, and then really marvel at the discovery of the underbelly. New areas never felt like thrilling discoveries. I also don't think the game should've ended on a boss fight. The combat is fine, but it is not the game's strong suit and that's ok. It makes sense for there to be a final combat challenge (and I don't mind the final boss, it's pretty easy, but still relatively fun), I just think there should have been one final platforming challenge to conclude the game. Something more along the lines of Hollow Knight's white palace. The platforming is what makes the game special, that's what the final challenge should be.

Look, for the price you truly can't beat it. This is a hell of a game, that with a tiny bit more creativity in some of the storytelling and world building genuinely could have made a case for being one of my favorite games ever.

Pseudoregalia is a pretty neat little game. I like the movement of Sybil. Though at times the abilities kind of got in the way of one another. Happened a lot more than I care to admit, but it's more up to user error on that front, but I'd like to mention it regardless. The story is pretty non-existent to me. But for a game like this, it'd be hard to put together a cohesive story.

In the spirit of a metroidvania, I found myself getting lost, nearly to a fault, and got frustrated with that aspect of the game quite often. The map (provided in a later update) helped a bit, but wasn't really necessary to use most of the time, but could use a bit of tweaking to help navigation a bit more.

The combat is like the weakest point of the game for me and I wish it was utilized more in the platforming itself.
It has some pretty cool looking outfits you can unlock through some time trials that can be pretty tough, but rewarding.

Overall I dig Psuedo, I can see the real speed game potential of it. I would love to watch runs of it and see all the cool speedtech I learned on my own be used in an actual run!

Pseudoregalia is about two things: acrobatic platforming, and goat-bunny booty-cake :P

In all seriousness, it is astonishing that something this memorable came out of a four-month development cycle. Jumping, ledge-grabbing, and wall-kicking hasn't felt this good nor been this exhilarating since Mario 64.

Much has been said about the game's "second-rate" combat, but I rather appreciate that it is simple and does not detract from the main focus. Your character Sybil maintains momentum as she swings her weapon, turning fights into circumnavigational dances. The fact that stronger foes can knock your weapon away adds a thrill element, especially as you utilize the slide move to dodge under swings and reclaim your blade.

If there's anything to criticize, it is the late-game upgrades (eclectic lock-and-key abilities rather than movement-expanding agilities) and the enjoyably cryptic yet ultimately unfulfilled narrative.

I. 3D platformers were at their best in the 5th and 6th console generations. I think this is because there wasn't as much of a need (or opportunity) for visual detail. Increased visual detail means you have to rationalize the geometry of 3D platformer levels and increased visual clutter which leads to boring level designs and hard to navigate environments. Pseudoregalia's low-poly aesthetic, while very trendy, also perfectly suits a game that needs players to be able to quickly and thoroughly assess a levels geometry.

II. The best part of Metroidvanias are the movement upgrades. Getting new weapons is cool, but nothing compares to getting the double jump, grapple hook, or speed boost and feeling that rush of ideas of where you could go with it. Sybil's upgrades in Pseudoregalia are about granting just enough movement options to maneuver through these levels. Sometimes the levels ask "Do you have the specific tool the game requires to get through here?", but at it's best the game asks "Can you get through here with what you have right now?"

III. Pseudoregalia blends these 2 genres together into a game with the fluid movement of the best 3D platformers and the exploration and steady upgrades of Metroidvanias. Music is also pretty sweet.

Pseudoregalia is the winner of my annual "Indie Game that Convinces Me I Still Like Video Games" award. bangs gavel

To start, while I feel value/pricing belongs more in a Steam review, it really can’t be overstated how great a value $6 for this game is.

With that out of the way, I had a great time with Pseudoregalia. My first formative memories of games landed right in the N64/PSX era, and this delivers that vibe in spades.

My wife, who hadn’t played anything on 5th gen hardware when she was young, always comments on how unsettling she finds SM64. Something about the low poly look + draw distance + sound design of that era has a dreamlike quality that skeeves her out- and honestly if you distance yourself from any associated nostalgia, she has a point. Pseudoregalia capitalizes on that mood. The game itself takes place in a dream, so the odd architecture and different locales all come together into a really cool ethereal space that, while somewhat difficult to navigate, actually feels great to experience. NPC dialogue is almost 50/50 split between innocuous and dark/ominous lines. I adored the sound design, especially the sound Sybil’s sword makes when thrown. It’s surprisingly weighty and that sound alone changed how I experienced the game’s atmosphere.

I’m playing after the map update, so my qualms aren’t as major as people who played prior, but I still had some issues figuring out where I was situated within a room without a character marker on the map. Some of the rooms are quite large and accidentally exiting the wrong door got a bit frustrating. Could be a personal issue, but that’s the only difficulty I had with the game.

As I’m sure everyone’s mentioned in their reviews, the movement is what makes this game great. Momentum feels good, and the powerups build on each other to make for a really fluid, complex system. I kept telling myself I was ready to finish the game but found myself completing nearly every time trial.

Combat isn’t anything to really write home about, but the game is obviously more about exploration and wears that on its sleeve.

I’d say I completed about 85% of the game- missed a few collectibles and one major powerup, but I was really satisfied with what I played. The game doesn’t overstay its welcome, but doesn’t leave you wanting too much more (at least in the space it provides). I can’t wait to see what else this dev has in store.

Also if I ever end up getting a fursuit it’s 100% gonna be a Sybil cosplay. We love a weird goat-bunny-lady

A Blast of the past as some say. Fucking amazing game (with some nitpicks on the side)
the Movement and physics are so fun to play with, i got lost multiple times while playing and couldnt stop cause of how fluid the game feels. I think this is better than Mario 64 in the movement and moveset department. a Moveset so good that i could clear parts that i usually couldnt without a certain move, but i could cause i was so persisten.
Very light on story, hell i didnt even know it has a proper story i was just playing the game.
the only 2 nitpicks i have are that i got lost very Very easily, i know a map was added in a recent update and while that helped a lot, i think a Mini-Map and location marker for the map couldve gone a long way.
Sybil is a cool character design and i want to SEX!

Get this game if your reading this and havent bought it. Its more than worth your time and Underpriced imo

A retro inspired 3D platformer/metroidvania with all the shortcomings of the N64 era. A great idea ruined by making it complicated instead of embracing simplicity.

I will start by saying, I played this AFTER the map update. So don't tell me there is a map. This game was really disappointing tbh. I saw so many people express how tight the controls were and how fun it was. I did not have that experience. I found it to be an intensely frustrating game.

First off. The character is cool looking. Here animations are nice. The music is really good. Full of bangers. Areas are varied and have good theming. The story is a nothing burger. But that's fine. You can also unlock different costumes which is cool.

Let's get to the crux of the problem though. The controls. This game is intensely frustrating because it simply does not do it's main objective of platforming well. There are a few moves that are super unreliable. They are not consistent. They are jank. And anyone who says, "they just take time to get used to," is not being truthful. You can like the game, but you can also call it out for being jank.

Each move, has its intricacies. For example, you slide jump gets you more height on walls. There is a turn flip that the game never tells you about as far as I know. Each move you get not only increases your basic movement, but also increases your advanced movement sets. That's all and good until the game decides you need to be a master platformer. Then you get to fight with the controls.

The biggest offender of this the wall jump. Not only does your angle matter, but also your distance from the wall. It is extremely jank and frustrating. You will constantly fight it. You will fail to grab edges because of it. It's infuriating.

The second worst offender is the wall run. It simply sometimes activates late or not at all. Although, I will say, you can break the game with. In corners you can spam the wall kicks and then spam wall run to gain crazy height. But only in corners. Now, why is the wall run so jank? It's because instead of you simply, holding the button and wall running, you also have to hold a direction. I know that doesn't sound that bad, but in a game like Prince of Persia 2008, you literally just hold the button and it knows to automatically wall run the direction you are facing.

The intricacies are great but at the same time get in the way of the basic platforming. It causes what should be an easy move to then be frustrating to grasp.

Level design ranges from fun to frustrating to nonsensical. Sometimes it feels like the rooms are just randomly cobbled together. Sometimes in ways to simply annoy. Like, let's put a large block on a smaller block. So when you jump up you hit your head. But it's a very simple jump. You just got to step back a bit. There is no need for that kinda thing.

Then there are rooms where you simply have no idea there is anything there unless you look at the mostly useless map. Like another door is hidden or officiated in infuriating ways.

Color palettes can make things extremely hard to see. Like I understand you are going for N64/PS1 textures. But I feel like they are better than what this game has to offer. Sometimes you legit cannot see your next jump because everything looks the same. Sometimes you next jump is high enough that the only way for you to know is exploratory jump and hope. The camera does not help. This would be solved by making the top texture having an outline. Ledges should be clear to see. But in this game they are not.

Darkness can be a very cool tool when used properly. Or it can make traversal extremely tedious and annoying. This game does the latter. With the color palette problem and the darkness, it is legit impossible to see things. There needs to either be more lighting in those darker areas or a different color palette. Not everything needs to be the same texture. But what adds insult to injury is your weapon glows. If you throw it, it glows more. Eventually you get an ability that makes it passively glow more, but it barely makes a difference. Also there is no brightness slider in the game. It's is beyond me why you would not add such a basic feature.

Now, let's talk about the map. This game has one of the single worst maps in a metroidvania game I have played. First off it was only put in the game, AFTER people complained enough about being lost. I do not understand why the launched a metroidvania without a map. Two, it lacks verticality. It's not a huge deal, but can make finding doors hard. Thirdly, there are no symbols on the map. It's insane to not put the player's position on the map. The entire room you are in glows green but you have no idea where you are in the room. It's the single worst design in this game. Adding a map was great, but it's not helpful without knowing where you are in the room. You just get lost so easily.

Combat is an afterthought. It's pretty basic and does what it needs to do. I do not understand why your range attack can also drain your magic. The same thing you use for healing. Especially when you can still do it without magic. I just find that to be a dumb choice. Like I get it is for a stronger attack. But it just is unnecessary.

Your vertical movement is very limited. Especially with no corners to exploit. As I talked about earlier, the wall jump is super unreliable and inconsistent. You can use it to gain height but it's incredibly jank. There is one reliable way to get vertical movement. This game was in need for a double jump or a Mario 64 consecutive jump mechanic. As I said earlier, there are many intricacies/advanced movement options. Yes they make help with height gain but yet again, are not easy to pull off.

The camera is a contant annoyance. Especially with wall running. I understand you wanted to make this authentic to the time, but you can leave some stuff in the past where they belong.

The game does not signpost itself well at all. It took me like 7 hours until I found my main objective. I was just exploring aimlessly exploring looking for powerups until then. It gives no direction. Thus cause you to be lost. You get a small hint once you find your main objective as to where to go next. Like I understand exploring and being lost is part of a metroidvania, but this is going too far. Like this felt as if you are playing the original Metroid. A game that understandably has no map due to the hardware at the time. But I would still say it has more signposting and a sense of direction than this game did.

The final boss is fun. It's very easy. I really enjoyed it. I'm glad the dev realized that combat is not the game's strong suit and just made it a fun fight. You can tank through it.

I kind of enjoyed this game. It really did disappoint me though. I wish the dev just made a normal wall jump. A normal wall run. There was no reason to make things as complicated as they are. I know a lot of people may say, "I got the hang of the advanced movement just fine." That's great. But it really hurts the experience. It takes simplicity and makes it way too complicated. It falls into the same traps the games from the actual era have that it is inspired by. It does not do enough to mitigate those problems. It's fine to be inspired but this is inspired to a fault.

I know I'm being hard on a game made by what I believe is a singular person. A passion project and game jam. I'm doing this to hopefully help them craft a better game next time. If you ever read this, I hope you understand that I'm not trying to be mean. I just feel like criticism is a good thing. You should be proud of what you made. Especially if it is your first game. It's not a bad game, just a flawed one.

This is a game I really wanted to like more than I did. But I ended up being more frustrated and annoyed than having fun.