CommodoreFez
I don’t think this game is nearly as bad as people are saying. Namely, for those who believe this story is very unbelievable in how high schoolers treat each other, it really isn’t (especially having been treating suicidal teenagers for the past few months). Also yeah it’s a walking simulator, but I’m honestly okay with that. While I do think this game doesn’t work well as a whole, there are some really good parts here that I think could lead to a good game.
Pros
Environments are beautiful
Love the narrative structure
Love the FMV cutscenes
Art direction
Some genuinely disturbing moments
Cons
Dialogue is terrible
Voice acting is very meh
Trial and error chase sequences
Tries to weave in too many “dark” themes without really tying any of them together
Weird transitions between cutscenes and gameplay
Pros
Environments are beautiful
Love the narrative structure
Love the FMV cutscenes
Art direction
Some genuinely disturbing moments
Cons
Dialogue is terrible
Voice acting is very meh
Trial and error chase sequences
Tries to weave in too many “dark” themes without really tying any of them together
Weird transitions between cutscenes and gameplay
2014
Pure vibes and great soundtrack
2020
Really great single-screen platformer that provides an excellent introduction to speedrunning. Takes ~30 minutes to run through its 100 levels on your first try, but it can be completed in less than 10 and has a good number of collectibles to add variety to your run challenges. Art is beautiful and soundtrack goes unnecessarily hard. Super fun and a must play imo, especially for its asking price.
2018
Not a bad puzzle game, but not a particularly compelling one either. Pacing felt incredibly off, with new mechanics introduced way too slowly. The last several worlds threw some very interesting mechanics into its gameplay that I wish they had introduced much earlier to allow for further development (and combination) of those, alongside several other mechanics that seem like they would have clearly fit into this game design (multiplication would have been so much fun).
Hope
2023
I'm going to refrain from scoring until we get the expanded content edition in 2024, but this is one of my favorite visual novels I've played and truly something special.
One of the best arcade puzzle games. Simple, challenging, and addictive.
2021
Or “How I Learned That I Have a Much Longer Blink Tolerance Than the General Population.”
Absolutely gobsmacked by what this game achieved and how it achieved it. I don’t think video games can achieve emotional clarity much better than this one has, and I think this is going to stick with me for a long time.
Absolutely gobsmacked by what this game achieved and how it achieved it. I don’t think video games can achieve emotional clarity much better than this one has, and I think this is going to stick with me for a long time.
2023
Didn’t realize I needed a good cry today. Incredibly personal and touching work by this team, and I’m thankful that games like this exist.
2023
Having beaten around 35 runs so far, I can safely say that this is one of the most creative and enabling immersive sims, single-screen platformers, and roguelikes that I have played.
An incredibly easy-to-understand ruleset that allows for some incredible experimentation, Mosa Lina enables me to recognize my own genius (or, more often, stumble into it). By providing a multitude of "verbs" in the form of its 21 tools and 1330 tool combinations, Mosa Lina continually forces me to be creative, discover new interactions, and either reap the rewards or laugh at my failures. The brilliantly simple level design allows the player's actions to decide the fate of the world around them, a staple of immersive sims but a rarity in platformers. The platforming is equally solid, with the tight controls necessary to quickly respond to the unintended consequences of my own actions.
All of this variety and interaction could be hampered by getting stuck on a level or having to restart an hours-long run, but Mosa Lina avoids the roguelike grind that plagues the genre. The level switch mechanic diverts any mounting frustration into solving a different level with a new set of items, and, in the dozens of hours I've spent with the game, I have never gotten angry with the outcomes of a level. The short runs make restarting feel like a new opportunity rather than a burden or a setback, and I never feel cheated when I choose to give up on a run. Instead, I just get excited to see what batshit ideas I come up with next.
The only other addition Stuffed Wombat could have made to encourage more creativity would have been to give us a level editor. So, of course, they are currently developing one (it's availabe in the Beta branch). Hundreds of new user-generated levels have already been created and are available to download and play, meaning there are hundreds of thousands of new weapon-stage combinations to try in a given run. From vanilla-style levels to spike-and-mushroom-covered hellscapes to mini campaigns with thematic coherence, there is no end to what has been and can be created in this game. This is just the start for Mosa Lina, and, with new tools and developer stages also in development, I cannot wait to be along for the ride.
An incredibly easy-to-understand ruleset that allows for some incredible experimentation, Mosa Lina enables me to recognize my own genius (or, more often, stumble into it). By providing a multitude of "verbs" in the form of its 21 tools and 1330 tool combinations, Mosa Lina continually forces me to be creative, discover new interactions, and either reap the rewards or laugh at my failures. The brilliantly simple level design allows the player's actions to decide the fate of the world around them, a staple of immersive sims but a rarity in platformers. The platforming is equally solid, with the tight controls necessary to quickly respond to the unintended consequences of my own actions.
All of this variety and interaction could be hampered by getting stuck on a level or having to restart an hours-long run, but Mosa Lina avoids the roguelike grind that plagues the genre. The level switch mechanic diverts any mounting frustration into solving a different level with a new set of items, and, in the dozens of hours I've spent with the game, I have never gotten angry with the outcomes of a level. The short runs make restarting feel like a new opportunity rather than a burden or a setback, and I never feel cheated when I choose to give up on a run. Instead, I just get excited to see what batshit ideas I come up with next.
The only other addition Stuffed Wombat could have made to encourage more creativity would have been to give us a level editor. So, of course, they are currently developing one (it's availabe in the Beta branch). Hundreds of new user-generated levels have already been created and are available to download and play, meaning there are hundreds of thousands of new weapon-stage combinations to try in a given run. From vanilla-style levels to spike-and-mushroom-covered hellscapes to mini campaigns with thematic coherence, there is no end to what has been and can be created in this game. This is just the start for Mosa Lina, and, with new tools and developer stages also in development, I cannot wait to be along for the ride.
2010
Absolutely adore this games vibes, stories, characters, etc. Perfectly nails what is going for. And I am incredibly excited to see how they play with this world in the sequel.
I do think most of the complaints about the combat would be resolved if it were trimmed by about ~2 hours, but I found it engaging for most of the adventure.
I do think most of the complaints about the combat would be resolved if it were trimmed by about ~2 hours, but I found it engaging for most of the adventure.
2015
An absolute banger that should not be overlooked. Incredible soundtrack and kinetic platforming that really pushes you through some really fun levels. At 2 hours and $7, it’s respects both your time and your wallet, and I hope more people check it out
2023
A joy to play with some of my favorite written characters of the year and an absolutely banger soundtrack. Combined with a unique take one the visual novel format (and one I hope more people copy), I can’t recommend this game enough.
2023
An absolute gem of a game. Incredibly fun to control with a banging soundtrack and one that I’ll definitely replay when I have a spare hour or two
One of my favorite mobile games, and one perfectly suited to the platform. An absolute joy that perfectly adapts the source material in an entirely new genre and expands it in the best way. With its addicting gameplay and all the different characters that you can play as, I see this becoming the next Risk of Rain for me, where mastery of a character is such a rewarding process that you can’t help mastering them all. Please check it out if you are able.
Note: play in puzzle mode. It’s the way to go
Note: play in puzzle mode. It’s the way to go