AnonymousReview
2014
With all the fuzz that this game got for supposedly being an amazing experience for Sonic fans, I admit that I was expecting much more from Freedom Planet.
The game is a decent platformer which takes some ideas from Sonic the Hedgehog while mixing it up with ideas of its own. However, in the end, it felt just too bland for me.
You play as one of three characters through long levels where you're supposed to go fast while avoiding enemies and obstacles. As in Sonic, there are also puzzles and boss battles. The boss battles felt kind of unfair, with some attacks being pretty difficult to dodge. The game is easy enough that it doesn't matter, however, since there are infinite continues and ample checkpoints.
Still, I didn't find it satisfying to go through the levels and boss fights. The level design felt bland; it's similar to Kirby where you can ignore most of the stuff and just go quickly, but it doesn't have the same level of relaxing fun as Kirby does. There were a couple parts that felt innovative, but it was unfortunately not enough. The bosses were more annoying that fun or exciting.
The music is good but the game has terrible voice acting and not even in a funny way. The story is also kind of a mess and was difficult to follow. Overall I didn't care about it.
I left the game feeling really disappointed. The only takeaway I got from it is the great soundtrack.
The game is a decent platformer which takes some ideas from Sonic the Hedgehog while mixing it up with ideas of its own. However, in the end, it felt just too bland for me.
You play as one of three characters through long levels where you're supposed to go fast while avoiding enemies and obstacles. As in Sonic, there are also puzzles and boss battles. The boss battles felt kind of unfair, with some attacks being pretty difficult to dodge. The game is easy enough that it doesn't matter, however, since there are infinite continues and ample checkpoints.
Still, I didn't find it satisfying to go through the levels and boss fights. The level design felt bland; it's similar to Kirby where you can ignore most of the stuff and just go quickly, but it doesn't have the same level of relaxing fun as Kirby does. There were a couple parts that felt innovative, but it was unfortunately not enough. The bosses were more annoying that fun or exciting.
The music is good but the game has terrible voice acting and not even in a funny way. The story is also kind of a mess and was difficult to follow. Overall I didn't care about it.
I left the game feeling really disappointed. The only takeaway I got from it is the great soundtrack.
2023
Despite the undeserved controversy it got at The Game Awards due to being nominated for best independent game while being published by Nexon, this game still deserves recognition for being one of the best games from 2022.
The game feels innovative and fresh. You go from exploring a relaxing, deep ocean to a frantic restaurant management game similar to Diner Dash. In between, you have lots of different mini-games and activities to do like playing with a Tamagotchi-like creature, racing sea horses, farming, and many more.
While some players will not like everything the game has to offer, I believe this game has something that everyone will love. For me, I liked almost everything and was thankfully able to ignore the parts that I didn't like (farming and managing the branch restaurant). The quirky characters and varied gameplay kept me engaged for my 27 hours of play-through. After finishing all quests, I just wished for more.
This game feels like it was made with a lot of love and talent. I'm really excited for what this studio will accomplish in the future.
The game feels innovative and fresh. You go from exploring a relaxing, deep ocean to a frantic restaurant management game similar to Diner Dash. In between, you have lots of different mini-games and activities to do like playing with a Tamagotchi-like creature, racing sea horses, farming, and many more.
While some players will not like everything the game has to offer, I believe this game has something that everyone will love. For me, I liked almost everything and was thankfully able to ignore the parts that I didn't like (farming and managing the branch restaurant). The quirky characters and varied gameplay kept me engaged for my 27 hours of play-through. After finishing all quests, I just wished for more.
This game feels like it was made with a lot of love and talent. I'm really excited for what this studio will accomplish in the future.
There's something about the original Sonic that makes it so comforting to play through. It's probably a combination of the beautiful graphics, catchy soundtrack, and the relatively low-stakes feeling of the game. Combined with save states from the Switch version, this makes it a joy to play, despite some annoying levels.
Minus the special stages, this game is just a blast, especially after you've beat it multiple times and know what's coming. It's just a relaxing experience which I recommend everyone try.
Note: Don't expect to go fast in levels.
Minus the special stages, this game is just a blast, especially after you've beat it multiple times and know what's coming. It's just a relaxing experience which I recommend everyone try.
Note: Don't expect to go fast in levels.
1985
Super Mario Bros. is a fun and challenging game. While later games obviously perfected the formula, upon replaying this, I can appreciate what it did and how it innovated in multiple aspects. The game is a departure from the simple platformers that came before it.
It manages to still feel good to control and play through now (although I gotta admit some parts of it, especially in world 8, are frustrating). I don't think I can say much which hasn't been said in the last 35 years. It's still exciting to see where the magic started.
It manages to still feel good to control and play through now (although I gotta admit some parts of it, especially in world 8, are frustrating). I don't think I can say much which hasn't been said in the last 35 years. It's still exciting to see where the magic started.
I don't have the same admiration for SWERY as many people do. I do like Deadly Premonition and The Missing, but I didn't get this game because I knew he directed it. I just saw it on the store and thought "hey, the graphics look cool". Then I found out that this is supposedly SWERY's "unfinished magnum opus". While I can understand the frustration of not having your favorite author finish their story, I don't feel like we lost much in this case.
Playing through this game was a frustrating experience. The game has 3 chapters which are very short. The main story can probably be summarized in a couple of paragraphs. This is not necessarily bad considering this is an adventure game, and a big part of the story is told through examining different things. However, I didn't enjoy the context provided through examining objects, and the main story is lacking.
You play as a detective called David whose wife was killed. Due to surviving a bullet wound to the head, David acquired the ability to go back in time. He's trying to go back and save his wife.
The premise itself is good but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The characters are quirky and interesting like in Deadly Premonition, but there's so little story that this feels more like a tech demo than an actual game.
The game is padded out with boring side-quests. Most of them are fetch-quests and while they do give us some insight on the characters, they don't add much to the overall story and feel more like filler. I usually like fetch quests in games, but here, the environments are small and the loading times bad, so they're just annoying. There aren't any vistas to enjoy while you travel and the reward is usually a boring conversation between David and the character which leads nowhere.
Other than this, there's really not much to the game. The QTE sequences were fun but there's only three of them that I recall, and they're pretty short. The music is good for what it is. There's also kinect support which I couldn't try out because I played this on Series X.
Overall, I don't get why people think this is SWERY's best game? It's way worse than both Deadly Premonition and The Missing. I'm okay with not having closure, thank you.
Playing through this game was a frustrating experience. The game has 3 chapters which are very short. The main story can probably be summarized in a couple of paragraphs. This is not necessarily bad considering this is an adventure game, and a big part of the story is told through examining different things. However, I didn't enjoy the context provided through examining objects, and the main story is lacking.
You play as a detective called David whose wife was killed. Due to surviving a bullet wound to the head, David acquired the ability to go back in time. He's trying to go back and save his wife.
The premise itself is good but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The characters are quirky and interesting like in Deadly Premonition, but there's so little story that this feels more like a tech demo than an actual game.
The game is padded out with boring side-quests. Most of them are fetch-quests and while they do give us some insight on the characters, they don't add much to the overall story and feel more like filler. I usually like fetch quests in games, but here, the environments are small and the loading times bad, so they're just annoying. There aren't any vistas to enjoy while you travel and the reward is usually a boring conversation between David and the character which leads nowhere.
Other than this, there's really not much to the game. The QTE sequences were fun but there's only three of them that I recall, and they're pretty short. The music is good for what it is. There's also kinect support which I couldn't try out because I played this on Series X.
Overall, I don't get why people think this is SWERY's best game? It's way worse than both Deadly Premonition and The Missing. I'm okay with not having closure, thank you.