Penny's Big Breakaway is a game I had been excited for since its announcement. Sonic Mania veterans Christian Whitehead, Tee Lopes, and others have created something wholly unique, and while a Mania sequel would've been great, I really love that they went on to do something as creative as this.
PBB to me feels like a mix of more classic level design, with each level containing a somewhat linear progression, mixed in with momentum based movement of more recent 3D platformers. PBB definitely takes inspiration from Super Mario Odyssey with Penny's moveset allowing you to stay in the air and use her yo-yo to attack and reach new heights, very similarly to Cappy from Odyssey. Within the first few levels I was immediately enamored by Penny's moveset, which felt easy to learn but hard to master. Everytime I fell off a platform, I felt like I could learn what mistakes in my "moveset planning" led me there. I love platformers that take an unconventional and new approach to movement, and PBB is no exception. Much of the level design is based around speed, and the game rewards you with new areas if you're capable enough to surpass a daunting obstacle. Many times there will be a ramp that you need to roll off of with enough speed to reach a collectible, for example. Throughout PPB's runtime, I felt like Penny's moveset was adequately used, with some exceptions.
The presentation of this game, graphics wise, is spectacular. The game has this bright, dreamy presentation that really catches your eye, and many times just starting a level the camera is panned out, allowing you to take in the gorgeous visuals before you enter. I've seen some people note a few glitches, like clipping into objects, which I've encountered but only 2 times through my runtime. Which is a shame. Hopefully there is a patch soon that fixes some of the rough edges, but overall I think the presentation is very well done for a studio's first game.
This game also tends to prioritize speed and a point based system, which I find really interesting for a modern 3D platformer. At the end of a level, you have the opportunity to score some extra coins/points by going through a quicktime event called a "busker bonus". Honestly, I didn't really care about how many points I accumulated by the end, so I think these events were more annoying than anything, and I think the reason I didn't care much about points is because there is hardly a reward for getting a high score. What I did enjoy, were the 6 "collectibles" throughout the levels, though. I ended up getting all of them, and some of them were tough to pin down at times. But I felt like they were perfectly challenging. Not too easy, but also not too hard.
Another point of the gameplay I really didn't care for were the penguins. I get why they are here, they motivate you to keep going through the level as fast as you can, but when I'm looking for collectables or trying to look for more health, I found them more annoying than anything. They weren't a huge issue, but just a small annoyance.
I think if a sequel were to be made for this game, I'd love for there to be even more cool yo-yo movement options. I think what they have here is great, but I can see a lot of potential for the future. Also, the wall jump was rarely used, which I found a bit confusing. Wall jumps are fun and I wish the level design allowed for its use. There's like one bonus level that centers around it and it uses it well, so to me it felt like a conscious decision to keep it away from the main game, which felt odd.
Also, really didn't care for the story, partially because I think the cutscenes felt like an after thought. I think the story pacing was just a tad weird, though I enjoyed the characters and their designs.
I really enjoyed PBB. While it doesn't completely realize its ideas, what is here is remarkably creative and very fun to play.
PBB to me feels like a mix of more classic level design, with each level containing a somewhat linear progression, mixed in with momentum based movement of more recent 3D platformers. PBB definitely takes inspiration from Super Mario Odyssey with Penny's moveset allowing you to stay in the air and use her yo-yo to attack and reach new heights, very similarly to Cappy from Odyssey. Within the first few levels I was immediately enamored by Penny's moveset, which felt easy to learn but hard to master. Everytime I fell off a platform, I felt like I could learn what mistakes in my "moveset planning" led me there. I love platformers that take an unconventional and new approach to movement, and PBB is no exception. Much of the level design is based around speed, and the game rewards you with new areas if you're capable enough to surpass a daunting obstacle. Many times there will be a ramp that you need to roll off of with enough speed to reach a collectible, for example. Throughout PPB's runtime, I felt like Penny's moveset was adequately used, with some exceptions.
The presentation of this game, graphics wise, is spectacular. The game has this bright, dreamy presentation that really catches your eye, and many times just starting a level the camera is panned out, allowing you to take in the gorgeous visuals before you enter. I've seen some people note a few glitches, like clipping into objects, which I've encountered but only 2 times through my runtime. Which is a shame. Hopefully there is a patch soon that fixes some of the rough edges, but overall I think the presentation is very well done for a studio's first game.
This game also tends to prioritize speed and a point based system, which I find really interesting for a modern 3D platformer. At the end of a level, you have the opportunity to score some extra coins/points by going through a quicktime event called a "busker bonus". Honestly, I didn't really care about how many points I accumulated by the end, so I think these events were more annoying than anything, and I think the reason I didn't care much about points is because there is hardly a reward for getting a high score. What I did enjoy, were the 6 "collectibles" throughout the levels, though. I ended up getting all of them, and some of them were tough to pin down at times. But I felt like they were perfectly challenging. Not too easy, but also not too hard.
Another point of the gameplay I really didn't care for were the penguins. I get why they are here, they motivate you to keep going through the level as fast as you can, but when I'm looking for collectables or trying to look for more health, I found them more annoying than anything. They weren't a huge issue, but just a small annoyance.
I think if a sequel were to be made for this game, I'd love for there to be even more cool yo-yo movement options. I think what they have here is great, but I can see a lot of potential for the future. Also, the wall jump was rarely used, which I found a bit confusing. Wall jumps are fun and I wish the level design allowed for its use. There's like one bonus level that centers around it and it uses it well, so to me it felt like a conscious decision to keep it away from the main game, which felt odd.
Also, really didn't care for the story, partially because I think the cutscenes felt like an after thought. I think the story pacing was just a tad weird, though I enjoyed the characters and their designs.
I really enjoyed PBB. While it doesn't completely realize its ideas, what is here is remarkably creative and very fun to play.