Caramellized
2021
( + + ) Narrative: Beautifully told story + the voice acting was crisp af.
( + ) Visuals: Low - poly and very aesthetic vibe throughout the whole game.
( + ) Blinking mechanic: Never played a game with blinking being a main interaction mechanic, was definitely surprised and loved the idea!
( - - ) While I did love the blinking mechanic, it was the one thing that did hinder me from fully enjoying the game at times. First of all, even though the calibration was well made and worked most of the time, the game still registered blinking even though I didn't, which ended up skipping important cutscenes that I wanted to listen to. Aside from that, one may call it skill issue, but it got pretty exhausting and distracting trying not to blink during important cutscenes: it's something that we do naturally and trying not to do it for as long as possible felt exhausting through a 1.5 hour long game. I ended up missing a lot of dialogue, which is crucial in a game like BYE.
I would have probably preferred if blinking was still the main interaction mechanic, but we can actually decide when we want to blink by looking at the metronome and then blinking, instead of it being on screen the whole time stressing me out!
( + ) Visuals: Low - poly and very aesthetic vibe throughout the whole game.
( + ) Blinking mechanic: Never played a game with blinking being a main interaction mechanic, was definitely surprised and loved the idea!
( - - ) While I did love the blinking mechanic, it was the one thing that did hinder me from fully enjoying the game at times. First of all, even though the calibration was well made and worked most of the time, the game still registered blinking even though I didn't, which ended up skipping important cutscenes that I wanted to listen to. Aside from that, one may call it skill issue, but it got pretty exhausting and distracting trying not to blink during important cutscenes: it's something that we do naturally and trying not to do it for as long as possible felt exhausting through a 1.5 hour long game. I ended up missing a lot of dialogue, which is crucial in a game like BYE.
I would have probably preferred if blinking was still the main interaction mechanic, but we can actually decide when we want to blink by looking at the metronome and then blinking, instead of it being on screen the whole time stressing me out!
2024
3.75 ★
A cozy little customization game and absolutely adorable, especially considering the number of people who worked on it and that it only took 6 months!
( + + ) The assets are really pretty and you get quite a lot of customization options, I enjoy the whole pastel aestethic.
( + ) Clever coding: The way the Elderly / Young mechanic was coded was really smart, loved the overall concept a lot.
( + ) The game introduces you to more buildings with every level, aka slow and steady so you got enough time to learn it all.
( + ) Adorable dialogues + sandbox mode!
( + - ) New additions every level, but it still felt a little repetitive eventually! Maybe if the different levels had different cities / cultures / environments? The music also got on my nerves a little haha
( - - ) Was really sad that I wasn't able to save each of my levels and decide on each to restart or not. As soon as you started or replayed a new level, all other saves got deleted.
A cozy little customization game and absolutely adorable, especially considering the number of people who worked on it and that it only took 6 months!
( + + ) The assets are really pretty and you get quite a lot of customization options, I enjoy the whole pastel aestethic.
( + ) Clever coding: The way the Elderly / Young mechanic was coded was really smart, loved the overall concept a lot.
( + ) The game introduces you to more buildings with every level, aka slow and steady so you got enough time to learn it all.
( + ) Adorable dialogues + sandbox mode!
( + - ) New additions every level, but it still felt a little repetitive eventually! Maybe if the different levels had different cities / cultures / environments? The music also got on my nerves a little haha
( - - ) Was really sad that I wasn't able to save each of my levels and decide on each to restart or not. As soon as you started or replayed a new level, all other saves got deleted.
2018
This review contains spoilers
5.0 ★
What an amazing piece of art this was.
( + + ) The story. A perfect mix of side and main story, with some amazing twists and sweet plotlines. The story was interesting from the beginning and kept me engaged throughout the entire game. Also perfect length of story imo, finished the main plotline in about 30 hours. And lets be real: who doesn't love hearing about nordic mythology?
( + + ) The characters. Kratos and Atreus have such an amazing energy with some loveable father - son moments but also some difficult moments, which perfectly shows the ups and downs of parent - child relationships. Aside from that, the whole bunch of side characters we meet were lovely designed and fit so well into the entire story!
( + + ) Animations & Camera: The entire game almost felt like watching a movie: a very epic, well - made movie. Each of the rune attacks, the different weapon fighting animations... The big fight against the dragon left me standing here jaw to the floor, i loved it so much!
( + ) Very personal but: all achievements are able to be gathered post - game, so i could really enjoy the story / game and then get to the achievements and collectibles post game. I really dislike when a game has missable achievements ;/
( + ) The puzzles around the map were the perfect difficulty. Sometimes i had to think a bit longer on how to progress, but it never made me frustrated trying to figure out the solution.
Above I named the main reasons why I loved the game so much, but in my eyes the game did everything right that you can do for a (story - driven) videogame. From the character / creature designs, to the level design, the animations, the cinematics, the story, the side characters, the side quests, having your son as you secondary abilities and even have Mimir by your side telling you stories. We also can't forget about these HUGE characters we had like the World Serpent, the dragons, the frozen giant, it's just crazy. There is really no end to the points that make this game fantastic!
PS: The valkyrie queen was a pain, but after gathering enough rage and upgrading all I got i made it after my fourth try!
What an amazing piece of art this was.
( + + ) The story. A perfect mix of side and main story, with some amazing twists and sweet plotlines. The story was interesting from the beginning and kept me engaged throughout the entire game. Also perfect length of story imo, finished the main plotline in about 30 hours. And lets be real: who doesn't love hearing about nordic mythology?
( + + ) The characters. Kratos and Atreus have such an amazing energy with some loveable father - son moments but also some difficult moments, which perfectly shows the ups and downs of parent - child relationships. Aside from that, the whole bunch of side characters we meet were lovely designed and fit so well into the entire story!
( + + ) Animations & Camera: The entire game almost felt like watching a movie: a very epic, well - made movie. Each of the rune attacks, the different weapon fighting animations... The big fight against the dragon left me standing here jaw to the floor, i loved it so much!
( + ) Very personal but: all achievements are able to be gathered post - game, so i could really enjoy the story / game and then get to the achievements and collectibles post game. I really dislike when a game has missable achievements ;/
( + ) The puzzles around the map were the perfect difficulty. Sometimes i had to think a bit longer on how to progress, but it never made me frustrated trying to figure out the solution.
Above I named the main reasons why I loved the game so much, but in my eyes the game did everything right that you can do for a (story - driven) videogame. From the character / creature designs, to the level design, the animations, the cinematics, the story, the side characters, the side quests, having your son as you secondary abilities and even have Mimir by your side telling you stories. We also can't forget about these HUGE characters we had like the World Serpent, the dragons, the frozen giant, it's just crazy. There is really no end to the points that make this game fantastic!
PS: The valkyrie queen was a pain, but after gathering enough rage and upgrading all I got i made it after my fourth try!
4.25★
Here is the review:
(+ +) The characters. The way they were designed, the way their stories were told, their personalities: everything is just perfect. The characters are all so different from each other with beautiful and at times tragic backgrounds. I loved finding out about each of them and their thoughts and lives.
My favorite was Stanley!
( + + ) The way of narrating the game. Everything in this game is told to you in such a subtle way that you have to think about it for a moment, and once you puzzled it together it really hits you.
( + ) The music and soundtracks created such a beautiful atmosphere, especially with each character having their own tune that fit them so perfectly.
( + - ) Farming materials and improving your stuff. Now I put this as a positive and negative at the same time because of the following: The game offers a huge variety of materials, fish, recipes, etc you can collect and it's huge fun for I would say most of the game, however...at some point it becomes noticeable that the game is trying to just kind of waste your time. At some point, all of the farming becomes tedious and exhausting, especially regarding certain quests.
( - - ) This might be just me, but it was something that pissed me off quite a lot of times while playing. The game loves making you confused about whether you can't do something because you are bad, or because you have not progressed far enough in the game. I'll name three specific examples to make it more clear, with the last one being a slight spoiler:
1. I spent ages trying to fish a really difficult fish in the fog area, only to figure out eventually that I needed an upgrade for it. The area was already unlocked for a while, but the game did not have the thought of maybe popping up a dialogue of "mhm maybe i need better equipment before fishing this first"
2. On the other hand, at other parts, I gave up trying on something quickly, because I thought it was the same situation and I need to unlock something first, only to find out later that it was just a difficult section and I had to try a little harder to solve it.
3. SPOILER: Sometimes, there were small islands on the far right or left of the screen that could only be reached with an additional ability: When using gliding, I always just barely missed the paltform, making me think that I just hadn't timed the jump right, so after trying multiple times, I left it be. Turns out I had to learn the dash ability first to reach it. All fair n square but why not place the platform a few meters more to the right so that I notice the first time that the gliding is not enough to reach it. Why make the players confused about whether they should keep trying or not. I could rant about this much longer, but it'll make this review too long.
Here is the review:
(+ +) The characters. The way they were designed, the way their stories were told, their personalities: everything is just perfect. The characters are all so different from each other with beautiful and at times tragic backgrounds. I loved finding out about each of them and their thoughts and lives.
My favorite was Stanley!
( + + ) The way of narrating the game. Everything in this game is told to you in such a subtle way that you have to think about it for a moment, and once you puzzled it together it really hits you.
( + ) The music and soundtracks created such a beautiful atmosphere, especially with each character having their own tune that fit them so perfectly.
( + - ) Farming materials and improving your stuff. Now I put this as a positive and negative at the same time because of the following: The game offers a huge variety of materials, fish, recipes, etc you can collect and it's huge fun for I would say most of the game, however...at some point it becomes noticeable that the game is trying to just kind of waste your time. At some point, all of the farming becomes tedious and exhausting, especially regarding certain quests.
( - - ) This might be just me, but it was something that pissed me off quite a lot of times while playing. The game loves making you confused about whether you can't do something because you are bad, or because you have not progressed far enough in the game. I'll name three specific examples to make it more clear, with the last one being a slight spoiler:
1. I spent ages trying to fish a really difficult fish in the fog area, only to figure out eventually that I needed an upgrade for it. The area was already unlocked for a while, but the game did not have the thought of maybe popping up a dialogue of "mhm maybe i need better equipment before fishing this first"
2. On the other hand, at other parts, I gave up trying on something quickly, because I thought it was the same situation and I need to unlock something first, only to find out later that it was just a difficult section and I had to try a little harder to solve it.
3. SPOILER: Sometimes, there were small islands on the far right or left of the screen that could only be reached with an additional ability: When using gliding, I always just barely missed the paltform, making me think that I just hadn't timed the jump right, so after trying multiple times, I left it be. Turns out I had to learn the dash ability first to reach it. All fair n square but why not place the platform a few meters more to the right so that I notice the first time that the gliding is not enough to reach it. Why make the players confused about whether they should keep trying or not. I could rant about this much longer, but it'll make this review too long.
2018
(++) The visuals of this game are obviously one of the most beautiful ones ever. The game is so aesthetically pleasing and i love the whole 2D vibe and how crisp everything looks.
(++) The music is absolutely beautiful. If I can get my hands on a vinyl of this I will not hesitate.
(++) As someone who loves collecting achievements, the developers made it really easy to get all of the stuff you need post - game. You unlock chapter select and can otherwise fully focus on the game.
(+) The story and the background of it all is very touching and lovely made. Very nice depiction of The Five Stages of Grief.
(+) The puzzles were so creative and different, I never got bored of them. Some were a bit more challenging but never once frustrated me extremely.
(+ -) The movement felt slow at times, because its only just one speed, but i can honestly overlook that because it fits the game.
I don't really have anything really negative to say, overall an amazing game, but I did decide to leave it on 4 well deserved stars! Totally understand why people would give it 5 stars, though.
(++) The music is absolutely beautiful. If I can get my hands on a vinyl of this I will not hesitate.
(++) As someone who loves collecting achievements, the developers made it really easy to get all of the stuff you need post - game. You unlock chapter select and can otherwise fully focus on the game.
(+) The story and the background of it all is very touching and lovely made. Very nice depiction of The Five Stages of Grief.
(+) The puzzles were so creative and different, I never got bored of them. Some were a bit more challenging but never once frustrated me extremely.
(+ -) The movement felt slow at times, because its only just one speed, but i can honestly overlook that because it fits the game.
I don't really have anything really negative to say, overall an amazing game, but I did decide to leave it on 4 well deserved stars! Totally understand why people would give it 5 stars, though.
2020
end my misery
2023
I haven't played that many Idle Games yet, so I can't reference that many of them for this review, but I really enjoyed this game. It is extremely ''simple'' but quite effective.
You just keep buying fish packs and grow them with time. Once they are grown up you can sell them to buy more fish or keep them and they earn you money by the second!
There is different tanks, decorational elements and ofc fish.
Short:
(++) The thrill of getting different rarities of fish in the packets!
(+) Variety of fish (types, colors, palinted, golden, rainbow)
(+ -) Though the game is extremely simple and you don't need to do a lot, which is the point of an idle game, I did wish for a few more things to do than just sell and buy fish!
(+ -) Decorations are cute but i'd like to customize more!
(+ - ) The achievements are a pain and they will take ages, but I suppose the developer was nice by not including rainbow and painted mythics haha
( - ) The game is lovely but it does get a bit repetitive. Still very much worth the small prize and a lovely game that is worth checking into once a day.
You just keep buying fish packs and grow them with time. Once they are grown up you can sell them to buy more fish or keep them and they earn you money by the second!
There is different tanks, decorational elements and ofc fish.
Short:
(++) The thrill of getting different rarities of fish in the packets!
(+) Variety of fish (types, colors, palinted, golden, rainbow)
(+ -) Though the game is extremely simple and you don't need to do a lot, which is the point of an idle game, I did wish for a few more things to do than just sell and buy fish!
(+ -) Decorations are cute but i'd like to customize more!
(+ - ) The achievements are a pain and they will take ages, but I suppose the developer was nice by not including rainbow and painted mythics haha
( - ) The game is lovely but it does get a bit repetitive. Still very much worth the small prize and a lovely game that is worth checking into once a day.
2021
A really cute, ''short'' and relaxing Point and Click that is entirely free. The content is plenty enough for a free game and the story is very adorable. Leaves a lot of room for interpretation and conveys a sweet message!
pop pop pop
pop pop pop
2020
You for sure don't need this game to be productive, but it sure has a nice charm to it. Simplistic, nice graphics, beautiful soundtracks and easy to use. Definitely helped me get some stuff done and might use it til i grow tired of the soundtracks.
Some small cute customizations too.
Some small cute customizations too.
Short. Fun. Easy.
One huge image where you need to spot 100 cute cats.
One huge image where you need to spot 100 cute cats.
2021
An idle game that helps you to study or focus up for a while.
( + + ) You can customize so much in this game, it's actually really cool. You can even create your own room and personalize it completely.
( + ) You can interact with other users by writing and receiving messages, really sweet.
( + - ) The soundtracks and sound effects are nice and cozy, but i feel like the quality was quite low and so it was not that relaxing afterall.
( - - ) A lot of the content needs to be paid for. In itself nothing too bad, i like supporting developers even for little games like these, but I rather pay a tiny prize upfront and have all my stuff than play the game and find out half of it is not accessible (and especially those items seem to be needed for the achievement completion as well)
( + + ) You can customize so much in this game, it's actually really cool. You can even create your own room and personalize it completely.
( + ) You can interact with other users by writing and receiving messages, really sweet.
( + - ) The soundtracks and sound effects are nice and cozy, but i feel like the quality was quite low and so it was not that relaxing afterall.
( - - ) A lot of the content needs to be paid for. In itself nothing too bad, i like supporting developers even for little games like these, but I rather pay a tiny prize upfront and have all my stuff than play the game and find out half of it is not accessible (and especially those items seem to be needed for the achievement completion as well)
Honestly a decent game. Addictive as hell but so satisfying when you merge the fruits. Not so satisfying when they barely touch. What happens when two watermelons touch? I couldnt find out.
2018
This game, where you play as Space Dwarves, is honestly great fun with friends and it's definitely easy to get your hours up in here!
Criteria:
(++) Randomly generated maps: The fact that each map is being randomly generated with every mission and that there are a bunch of different biomes, just adds so much to the replayability of this game. It is really easy to play it for a few hours every now and then and it still feels somewhat different each time.
( + + ) The way of leveling in this game is really great. There are so many ways to spend your resources and points and it's just overall really fun to level your stuff, especially with the ''battlepass'' - like mechanic.
(+) Mission variety: I think there are a bunch of different missions that are quite creative and differ from one another.
(+) The spawn / base is so interactive that it is really fun to chill and do some stuff there. You can gather quite a bunch of achievements and have quite a lot of room to explore around, which is not that common imo!
(+) Weapons: Big enough variety and upgrades make it cooler.
( + ) Character Customization: You get it.
(+ - ) Roles: There are a total of 4 roles: Scout, Driller, Engineer and Gunner. While the roles are incredibly creative and well designed, they seem quite unbalanced. Some roles are just not as much fun as others and are just overall not really needed that much for missions.
( - ) Solo experience: The game is immense fun with 3-4 players, but solo it just really lacks something that makes it really interesting. Especially with an achievements that requires you to do 100 solo missions, that's just kind of exhausting.
Criteria:
(++) Randomly generated maps: The fact that each map is being randomly generated with every mission and that there are a bunch of different biomes, just adds so much to the replayability of this game. It is really easy to play it for a few hours every now and then and it still feels somewhat different each time.
( + + ) The way of leveling in this game is really great. There are so many ways to spend your resources and points and it's just overall really fun to level your stuff, especially with the ''battlepass'' - like mechanic.
(+) Mission variety: I think there are a bunch of different missions that are quite creative and differ from one another.
(+) The spawn / base is so interactive that it is really fun to chill and do some stuff there. You can gather quite a bunch of achievements and have quite a lot of room to explore around, which is not that common imo!
(+) Weapons: Big enough variety and upgrades make it cooler.
( + ) Character Customization: You get it.
(+ - ) Roles: There are a total of 4 roles: Scout, Driller, Engineer and Gunner. While the roles are incredibly creative and well designed, they seem quite unbalanced. Some roles are just not as much fun as others and are just overall not really needed that much for missions.
( - ) Solo experience: The game is immense fun with 3-4 players, but solo it just really lacks something that makes it really interesting. Especially with an achievements that requires you to do 100 solo missions, that's just kind of exhausting.
This review contains spoilers
Olgierd.
This game was extremely short but very lovely, definitely an interesting concept that was very enjoyable. I'll sum up the arguments for my rating below:
(+) Visuals: The artstyle is extremely artistic, probably due to them being ''handpainted'' and overall having a very painterly style. The characters are drawn in a style similar to anime.
(+) Sound: The music and sounds are very lovely. There are not really any narrators or voices, but I think that supported the cozy atmosphere.
(+) Puzzles: I think the puzzles were not too hard but also not too easy, but they were really innovative and i enjoyed the variety and thoughts behind them.
(+) The story was short, but very touching.
(-) Length: The game was extremely short. I finished the main game in about an hour and a half and the DLC was around another hour, and I really took my time, so it is possible to finish it in less time. For the price (especially considering that the DLC's also cost extra money) it is just not really worth it. I'd recommend to get it in a sale.
(- -) This certainly won't concern everyone, since it is about the achievements. There are not many of them, but you certainly won't be able to find them on your own, because they are just really pointless. Many of them are things like ''click on x ten times'' or ''stare at y for this many seconds''. I love achievement collecting, but this just felt like a task. Especially because most achievements are extremely missable and you will just have to replay it to get them: Cutscenes are unskippable which makes the entire progress tedious.
This leaves me at about three stars!
(+) Visuals: The artstyle is extremely artistic, probably due to them being ''handpainted'' and overall having a very painterly style. The characters are drawn in a style similar to anime.
(+) Sound: The music and sounds are very lovely. There are not really any narrators or voices, but I think that supported the cozy atmosphere.
(+) Puzzles: I think the puzzles were not too hard but also not too easy, but they were really innovative and i enjoyed the variety and thoughts behind them.
(+) The story was short, but very touching.
(-) Length: The game was extremely short. I finished the main game in about an hour and a half and the DLC was around another hour, and I really took my time, so it is possible to finish it in less time. For the price (especially considering that the DLC's also cost extra money) it is just not really worth it. I'd recommend to get it in a sale.
(- -) This certainly won't concern everyone, since it is about the achievements. There are not many of them, but you certainly won't be able to find them on your own, because they are just really pointless. Many of them are things like ''click on x ten times'' or ''stare at y for this many seconds''. I love achievement collecting, but this just felt like a task. Especially because most achievements are extremely missable and you will just have to replay it to get them: Cutscenes are unskippable which makes the entire progress tedious.
This leaves me at about three stars!