Fun, well sprited, cute. It wears its Sonic inspiration on its sleeve, but gameplay is very different from it. However, this leads to combat feeling a bit… off? I feel like I took a lot of hits that felt cheap and undeserved. And when the lives system doesn’t matter, it begs the question of why it even exists. Game is fun, though. Doesn’t have much in the way of story; it takes itself very seriously for something so bare bones. It’s fun and charming, but yeah. That’s about all I feel. The Sonic comparisons generally do end outside of visuals and character design. I don’t think it’s a fair assessment of either game.

Existe um bom jogo aqui, mas que não deixa suas qualidades florescerem como poderiam
Acho que a mescla de suas influências consegue ser bem utilizada pegando parte boas delas e fazendo uma boa cara própria e ter um charme e carisma próprios excelentes
Mas as fases acabam estendendo demais, o que não seria um problema se o seu "spin dash" não fosse uma barra que precisa ser preenchida, o que faz a sua experiência nas fases não ser rápida como poderia
Além de suas escolhas frustrantes de dificuldade, como a maioria dos bosses serem bastante injustos e irritantes de enfrentar, consigo dizer bem poucos bosses que me divertiram, e na reta final o jogo passa a simplesmente encher a tela de inimigos sem nenhum critério ou dedo por trás disso.
No fim, é um jogo legal.

Freedom Planet is a fun game with a few issues that were hard for me to overlook.

It is a fun and very competent platformer. If you like classic Sonic games you will feel right at home here. The pixel art is crisp and vibrant with great animations. The overall visual presentation is just fantastic, it really looks like a classic Sega game. Likewise the soundtrack is great.

Mechanically it feels like Sonic but with tighter controls. You have better control over your characters than some of those classic games and movement feels good even when going pretty fast. Each character has unique mechanics that incentivize replaying the game with each of them. I think the developers did a good job of coming up with interesting ways to use your abilities as well.

The combat while fun suffers from multiple issues. There's often way too much enemy spam. Combine that with the laughably short iframes when you get hit and it's almost impossible not to take damage. Some enemies basically just rush straight towards you and there's no way to avoid them. I often felt like I had no choice but to damage boost through areas, and it was often easier just to run past enemies. Bosses also felt inconsistent. Their attack patterns are not well telegraphed, and I felt like I just had to keep dying until I could memorize the patterns.

The story is pretty cliche with mid to bad presentation. The voice acting and writing is very amateurish but you can tell a lot of heart went into making the game. Story is definitely not the draw of this game.

The game is probably not for everyone but even with its issues I enjoyed myself and would be interested in playing the sequel. Despite its flaws it's definitely worth a play if you enjoy 2d platformers and/or Sonic games.

Freedom Planet is a mostly excellent platformer. I loved the giant, sprawling levels and how richly the game rewards exploring them. The visuals are wonderful, with great character designs and tons of fun details in the colorful art.

Freedom Planet's roots as a Sonic fan game are on display, but that's not a bad thing as it's got a very strong personality of its own. In particular, the story and characters are very strong and memorable. The story gets a bit heavier than I expected given the early tone, but it sets the stakes well.

Lastly, the soundtrack is an all-time great. I picked it up on Bandcamp and listen to it regularly, just a joyful assortment of catchy tunes and fun instrumentation. Each paired stage featuring the same theme but remixed was a great choice.

The boss fights are the weakest aspect of the game, as I found they contributed to very uneven pacing. Most were simply not very fun to fight and ground the game to a halt. If the game excluded most of them I'd have enjoyed it more. I hope this aspect is improved in the sequel.

Played through the as Lilac campaign. Worth noting, every character has some unique levels, so there's more to find on a replay.

(beat as Lilac; not super inclined to go back and play as the other two characters)

This is a decent 2D action-platformer, pretty heavily influenced by games like Sonic and Rocket Knight Adventures, among others. I was encouraged to give this game a try by various people, so I went ahead and gave it a shot. (I should note that I'm not a huge Sonic fan, personally, though I think some of the 2D Sonics are okay)

With that in mind, I had an okay time playing through this. Lilac has a neat moveset, with various melee attacks and means of movement to traverse obstacles (particularly her rocket attack, which is literally what Sparkster uses - the fact the recharge time for it is so slow is a drag, though). I did feel like the level design felt a bit meandering, however - I kinda wish the levels felt more focused and trimmed-down. These stages can last an incredibly long time (15-20 minutes each, generally), which feels very long to me. I also feel like the game's difficulty curve is a bit weird - the game is generally very easy, but then at a couple specific points, it suddenly becomes absurdly difficult, with little effort made to ramp things up ahead of time. At any rate, the lives system is basically pointless, so you can figure out how to proceed if you just keep trying over and over. Whether that's a good thing or not will depend on what you look for from a 2D action-platformer; I can say that I have no interest in going back to try and 1CC this game, personally.

There's also a story, which is... interesting? I get a very 2000s-era fanfic vibe from it. I was never in the Sonic fandom myself, but having been involved with various other fandoms in the 2000s, and being pretty geeky and passionate about other series' lore - I can see this game's writing and presentation really clicking with a specific kind of person. I am not that person, however.

(also, that one scene in Lilac's story (you know the one) is hilarious in a way that really does not feel intentional, lmao)

So, all in all, I appreciate Freedom Planet for what it is, even if it's pretty clearly not targeted at me. I think it's cool that something as fan-driven as this is able to exist. It could very well be worth checking out, but I think your enjoyment may hinge on how much you really enjoy Sonic.

I really wish I could feel the hype that some people put on this game, but it's just not all there for me. I'll start with the good, though.

The visuals and music were a treat. Stage environments were surprisingly detailed and vibrant, and I enjoyed some of the theming of said levels. The music I didn't find too crazy, but there were some solid and enjoyable tracks sprinkled in for sure!

The rest is where the cracks start to show, unfortunately. Boss design is cheesy and unengaging, with many moves and patterns feeling like they're designed for you to use I-frames and tank hits rather than confronting the boss in any interesting fashion. The levels are better, but not by much. Stage design blends together at times, with few memorable or fulfilling set pieces that make you go "oh man, that's good". None of the level design feels structurally interesting enough to warrant the long stage run-times, either.

Combat does little for me here as well. There doesn't feel like there's much of a reason to fight enemies, especially when the game spams them to the point where it feels almost as if it's encouraged to outright ignore them. Additionally it can really break the pace of some stages when you constantly have to stop-and-go with enemies spawning in odd places, ready to attack the moment they appear.

The story is... fine! I didn't particularly enjoy it, but I didn't dislike it either. What did get me though was some of the pacing. Some scenes reach near classic JRPG length with little to no gameplay to break it up. Conversely, some plot points felt like they were resolved far too quickly with little to no payoff.

Needless to say, I really hope Freedom Planet 2 brings some much-needed improvements to the table, because as of right now I'm really not feeling this formula.

2D Sonic but good.

All jokes aside it's a very solid fast-paced platformer. I got more used to the combat as time went on and the level design is actually amazing. I agree with the critique that boss battles feel like they encourage the trial and error strategy but it didn't get frustrating until some of the endgame bosses.

Music is solid too but the worst parts of the game are definitely the voice acting and the somewhat basic script.

I still had a fun time with it and I hope to do a Carol and Milla run eventually or play the sequel.

it's competent, I love the graphics and music, and the characters are charming enough, but everything else is... rough, though it does show some promise that could be fleshed out properly in a sequel.
my main problem is with the combat, which often forces you to deal with swarm of enemies you can't see coming and force you to take unnecessary damage. plus the bosses are very frustrating, and I found myself constantly dying in the later parts of the game because I could not discern a boss' attack pattern.
the level design is serviceable, apart from some cool themes, it's mostly unremarkable filler that doesn't really stick out in any way, good or bad.
the gameplay is just a worse version of classic Sonic, sorry not sorry lol. the physics clearly try to emulate a Sonic feeling but it makes movement feel very off, like it's not right just ever so slightly, mostly in the momentum and jump. it's hard to explain why but it just doesn't feel very good to play.
the story is uninteresting and honestly kind of annoying, with the voice acting straight out of late 2000s Newgrounds, which I have no nostalgia for, so it comes off as very amateurish.
overall yeah not the worst time you could have, and while nothing special, I am interested in what improvements a sequel could bring.

Originalmente um fangame de Sonic, Freedom Planet traz misturas de ideias o suficiente pra se justificar e se destacar como um jogo original, mas isso não significa que elas são bem executadas.
Isso também não significa que as raizes sônicas também são. Imagine um Sonic onde o Spin Dash depende de uma barra a ser carregada, e que é descarregada toda vez que você pula girando, e onde você não aumenta a velocidade ao correr, em fases de 15 minutos.
Uma coisa que ele melhora nessa fórmula é a variedade de gameplay entre os personagens, que mudam bastante. Aliás, me arrependo de ter jogado a campanha com a protagonista, pois a gata parece muito melhor pelo o que eu joguei.
Das ideias originais, eu diria que botar cenas de 15 minutos entre cada fase acelerada não foi uma boa. A história é até legalzinha, mas os personagens estereotipados não interessam muito. Só o vilão e os governantes deixam algum impacto.
O jogo é desafiador, mas os chefes são injustos de doer até a alma, causando muita frustração e pouca catarse ao os derrotar. Pelo menos as cenas de início são puladas automaticamente nas tentativas repetidas, e todo jogo deveria fazer isso.

O fator replay não me chamou tanta atenção, e as músicas que variam de qualidade não me prenderam. Esse foi um jogo curto e legalzinho que valeu a experiência e mostrou capacitação e talento dos desenvolvedores, que não conseguiram alcançar suas ambições. 2024 começou. Ainda quero conferir o 2!

Eu genuinamente achei melhor que uma boa quantidade das influencias que ele puxa, e foi meticuloso no uso dos ingredientes pq n tentou só sintetizar tudo de mais principal de outras franquias, mas balanceando e pegando o que combinava mais pra cada determinado design. Tem bastante carisma mesmo que seu ponto baixo seja a história em si: Ela tem um pé politico interessante mesmo que seja previsivelmente raso, mas me faz pensar em Sonic SatAM e como eu achava aquilo o meio ideal de uma história que não é forçada mas tbm n se compromete com o próprio mundo que perfeitamente encaixava com a franquia.

As vezes só acho que extrapola nos bosses e o jogo meio que se extende até demais em seus ultimos segmentos, e por mais que o level design seja sólido na maior parte do tempo, ele consegue se viciar de uma maneira que compromete a dificuldade de um jeito q n parece tão justo, certos níveis só spammam uma quantidade impossível de inimigos que tomam mt tempo para eliminar e quebram o pacing da fase, ainda mais quando as vezes parece q seus golpes n registram onde deviam.

Talvez seja skill issue meu essa ultima parte, mas enfim, eu ainda posso dizer que me surpreendeu.

Freedom Planet is a game that I'm weirdly passionate about. There is a lot of things that undeniably suck, like the absurdly long cutscenes between the levels (I personally think the story itself is overhated, its the amount of the time you spend in these cutscenes that makes it worse), the complete lack of iframes making laser attacks remove half of your health, the obnoxious enemy spam starting from Battle Glacier and playing as Milla in general. However this game just boats such wonderful vibes with very memorable levels like Fortune Night or Jade Creek that I replay constantly. Mastery of Lilac's movement and levels just feels so stupidly good and don't get me started on the soundtrack, might be my favourite in an indie platformer period.
FP1 is definitely not a game that is gonna click with everyone as it takes getting used to, but damn it I like it.

This definitely is a game and it's kinda fun too. The mechanics can be fairly interesting and I feel it's the later stages that really start to push how creatively it can be used. With that said I think this game suffers a lot in terms of combat and unnecessary loads of enemies. Sometimes it feels like this game's main inspiration is a bad mega man x game but that isn't to say combat can't be fun. Some of the bosses I actually found fairly enjoyable...when they didn't insist on wasting time. That dragon boss is a prime example of a nothing encounter that just takes up time.I can see the appeal in the gameplay and maybe I'll like it more on a few level revisits.

I'd prefer to end there because this game's story falls into laughably bad and needlessly edgy with moments including torture and death that serve little to nothing but be there for shock value. Feels written by an edgy 14 year old and that's not great.

Freedom Planet overall, alright.

Reviewing again after a fresh playthrough.

Wow, this game is pretty much as good as I remembered it. Brutal in the final stages, especially on hard mode! Final boss was also brutal as well; very fast, high risk/reward ratio, frantic, just like a final boss in a story of this caliber should be.

Say what you want about the voice acting, I think it did a great job at conveying the story's emotion. And yeah, the story, while (arguably) basic at its fundamental level, works incredibly well.

Music absolutely rocks. Incredibly inspirational work. Stellar, even.

I'll come back to this game to play Carol and Milla's parts eventually. Still can't wait to play FP2 (waiting for a good sale lol).

First Cleared on July 22nd, 2014 (Literally one day after it launched)
Recently Cleared on April 11th, 2023

Freedom Planet is a game that I've followed quite closely back in 2013. I discovered this game going down internet rabbit holes on trolls related to Sonic the Hedgehog who are long gone or irrelevant, and I was immediately invested. I played the demo and had a fun time.

When I heard it was going to be released as a full game, I got excited. I spent a lot of my 9th grade high school time thinking about it. I’ve kept up with news on the game, I’ve replayed the demo, and I was hoping the game would eventually catch on. The game, at the time, did not. But I wasn’t going to stop my excitement. When it finally came out on July 21st, 2014, I wasted no time getting into it. I installed it and spent a good amount of my week getting through all three characters, and it was worth the wait.

Freedom Planet is considered the spiritual successor to the 2D Sonic Games back before Sonic Mania was even announced. While I've always been more interested in the 3D Sonic games, I could not deny how amazing Freedom Planet looked and played. It felt more in-depth with its combat system and the other characters all felt fun to play with their own distinct style which allows you to approach levels and bosses in different angles. The three characters that you play as are Lilac the Dragon, Carol the Wildcat, and Milla the Hound.

Lilac the Dragon is the powerhouse that bears resemblance to Sonic except in place of the spindash, we have the Dragon Boost which was borrowed from Rocket Knight and, in my opinion, feels so much better to use because you don't have to stop to charge up speed. On top of being the fastest character in the game and having the extremely powerful Dragon Boost which propels you in six different directions, deals damage and gives you a few frames of invincibility, she also gets Cyclone which can be used to gain a little extra height and increase her horizontal distance while dealing damage in the way.

Carol the Wildcat is a more agile combatant of the three as her basic attacks although not as strong as Lilac's, is much faster. Her movement speed isn't as fast, but her strength over Lilac is being able to cover vertical distance much better than she can as she can climb up walls Mega Man X style. She can somersault like a traditional Sonic character could, Pounce to cover horizontal distance, Pounce + Claw combo for burst damage, and use her signature Wild Kick which lets her deal rapid damage while having invincibility. This aspect of Carol is so busted, for the record, that it might explain why they took it away from her in Freedom Planet 2 and gave her a new ability. The most notable thing about Carol, however, is that she can ride a motorcycle and by that point, she becomes even faster likely matching or even surpassing Lilac, at the least, having better initial acceleration. It gives her a double jump although it takes away her ability to Pounce. She also loses it upon taking damage with the exception of some bosses.

Milla is the explorer of the three. She is the slowest character and makes her the best character for taking in scenery and exploring, but even with her slow speed, she can be very strong in her own way. She can conjure a shield that deflects enemy projectiles, create a cube that she can either throw for long distance damage, or create a bigger shield and follow up with a massive blast that can hit multiple enemies. She can also flutter in the air. While that’s not impressive compared to what Lilac or Carol could do, it gives her much better air control in comparison.
That said, as fun as Milla is, she is very unbalanced. Her shield allows her to cheese aspects of the game that the other characters would find hellish, but Milla having much lower health means that she dies very easily. Milla has a high skill-ceiling compared to the other characters, and was even at one point considered a character of choice for speedrunners which might have to do with how her path is structured as a few segments could be considered shorter.

There were supposed to be two more characters that are playable being Torque and Spade. Torque would resemble a Gunstar Hero with a range of weaponry based on the colored orbs that he picked up, and Spade is a ranged fighter that darts around and throws cards at people. However, those two were "put on an indefinite hold" with future plans to give them their own side games instead. Kind of a shame since I was looking forward to seeing their stories unfold... that reminds me.

The story of this game is another aspect I was interested in, and it’s… interesting. The thing is, depending on who you ask, the story is either well-written and exciting, or sloggish with an inconsistent tone. Honestly, I've never really had a problem with the story's tone. Namely with the things the villain Brevon does, it was established in the intro that Brevon is a ruthless psychopath the moment that he beheaded the king of Shuigang, and even before the infamous Thermal Base cutscene, things were already getting really bad for the protagonists, anyway, and I've completely forgotten about the cootie joke that got removed in later patches in the game. And if we're going off the logic of tone inconsistency, I'd argue that Freedom Planet 2 is noteworthy sometimes in that regard and that story is praised by the same people who call Freedom Planet 1 "tonally inconsistent". I don't have a problem with Freedom Planet 2 in that regard, it's just something I wonder why people don't call into question. I think a far more pressing matter in regards to the story of Freedom Planet 1 is just the pacing as some cutscenes in the game can go on for a long while. Like I'm not even kidding when I say this, but Lilac's story alone has exactly 1 hour of cutscenes and she gets like 12 levels which could each go on for around 5-10 minutes depending on how skilled and knowledgeable you are at the game, and the cutscene to get from Level 2 to Level 3 takes like 13 minutes. If this sounds absurd, don't worry, you can just play Classic mode and ignore the story altogether.

The story is nowhere near as bad as other people say it is, but that's not to say I think the story is perfect and everybody doesn't get it. I have a few qualms with the story which include Neera Li's character, a misplaced dialogue where Lilac rants about ignorant leaders which could've been a lot better when said some time after Shang-Tu turned on Lilac and her friends, and some unanswered questions that came from the negative effect of putting Torque and Spade on an indefinite hold.

The thing that carried the story for me are the main cast, namely Lilac the Dragon. When revisiting the story, I thought maybe I was exaggerating when I believed Lilac to be one of my favorite characters in all of fiction, but when I went through it again, I realized she’s more than just one of my favorite characters, but my favorite heroine in all of fiction. It’s remarkable how she had stood the test of time in the face of new heroines because many of them are obnoxious brats like Frey (Forspoken) or just poorly written like Abbey (The Last of Us II). The writers understands that Lilac doesn’t have to sacrifice being compassionate and friendly in order to be strong. If anything, it’s because of how much Lilac cares that makes her more badass, and I think her ability to have fun and goof around gives an amazing contrast to just how pissed off she can be, making it all the more shocking. Think of it this way, when you see someone that’s usually angry get angry, you think “oh great, they’re at it again”, but when you see the person that’s usually fun and quirky get angry, you think “oh god”. Lilac is a character that can have fun with what she does, but quickly shift to serious mode when she knows the stakes. And yet Lilac is not a flawless Mary Sue character, she does display headstrong and stubborn tendencies even when her intentions are good, but it’s not overbearing like the average “stronk wooman”, and actually adds to the character that she is, the person she wants to be. A hero, and when you control her, you feel heroism and a rush to fight and save the world. And this is all just in the first game.
Anyway, Carol is funny although a bit annoying some times, and Milla is just a cute and sweet character. I don't really have as much else to say about them compared to Lilac, but they're good characters too.

Some other things I love about the game include it's visual presentation, and even now it still looks great for the developer's debut game. The music is also fantastic, and Battle Glacier in particular is an amazing song that invokes the feeling of triumph, and a final push against Brevon's armies.

The sequel may blow it out of the waters, but Freedom Planet 1 is still a good game and worth at a playthrough.