If the stars could fuck would they choose to be a man and a woman?
Explore'em Up type game with a heavy emphasis on combat, specifically with enemy encounters and fight design. Fighting enemies plays like a chimera-fusion of turn-based RPG and rhythm fighting game and fortunately it's sick nasty. Fights are real scrap it out brawls.
It doesn't take long to get into the groove of encountering a new enemy and trying to put your hands on them and the animation and effects work really sell the spectacle, making it feel like one of them playable stick figure fight animations you'd see online. It's a bit hard to sell the creativity of attacks and telegraphs without seeing it yourself so just trust when I say if you got an appreciation for stylish 2d fighting you'll find yourself well treated on that front mechanically and artistically.
Which is why it's a bit of a letdown that the other half of it is just ok. Exploration and progression are pretty linear but also don't deliver any surprises. It tries it's hardest to make it interesting but it's just not enough. A biome will have little swings you have to use to get across pools of water that kill you, and one zone has boost pads that you have to actively platform your way with which was actually pretty fun, but everything else is pretty bland. especially since every zone only really changes by what fights are in it and the color it mainly consists of. The art in this game is pretty impressive for how little it uses to effectively communicate animations and flourishes and it's got plenty of Juice but the art is pretty double-edged when every zone is consisting of shapes that are not very distinguishable from each other.
Exploration was likely not a focus, from what I can observe from the design of the game (might even call it a metroidvania-lite). It's mainly about giving you a window of down-time from fight to fight accompanied by some well composed but forgettable music. Depending on your view this can either be a let-down or a key part of the experience.
Part of me wishes I could just go from encounter to encounter without the fluff of having to slowly waddle from point to point wishing I had something more interesting to do. But I also see from a design and pacing perspective why these exist and might even be necessary. I enjoy the fighting alot however so it's likely just an issue on my part.
There's a story that is barely told to you. It definitely exists but it's neither an enhancing or debilitating aspect. Something about stars and a war and finding balance which sounds nice but I can assure you there isn't much to even reach for.
Game's great if you know what you're throwing yourself into and I cannot stress enough that the end-game fights are real bangers. But I struggle to see myself revisiting this game for anything beyond the Boss Rush mode and my favorite encounters.
Shout-outs to warrior women and punch guys.
Explore'em Up type game with a heavy emphasis on combat, specifically with enemy encounters and fight design. Fighting enemies plays like a chimera-fusion of turn-based RPG and rhythm fighting game and fortunately it's sick nasty. Fights are real scrap it out brawls.
It doesn't take long to get into the groove of encountering a new enemy and trying to put your hands on them and the animation and effects work really sell the spectacle, making it feel like one of them playable stick figure fight animations you'd see online. It's a bit hard to sell the creativity of attacks and telegraphs without seeing it yourself so just trust when I say if you got an appreciation for stylish 2d fighting you'll find yourself well treated on that front mechanically and artistically.
Which is why it's a bit of a letdown that the other half of it is just ok. Exploration and progression are pretty linear but also don't deliver any surprises. It tries it's hardest to make it interesting but it's just not enough. A biome will have little swings you have to use to get across pools of water that kill you, and one zone has boost pads that you have to actively platform your way with which was actually pretty fun, but everything else is pretty bland. especially since every zone only really changes by what fights are in it and the color it mainly consists of. The art in this game is pretty impressive for how little it uses to effectively communicate animations and flourishes and it's got plenty of Juice but the art is pretty double-edged when every zone is consisting of shapes that are not very distinguishable from each other.
Exploration was likely not a focus, from what I can observe from the design of the game (might even call it a metroidvania-lite). It's mainly about giving you a window of down-time from fight to fight accompanied by some well composed but forgettable music. Depending on your view this can either be a let-down or a key part of the experience.
Part of me wishes I could just go from encounter to encounter without the fluff of having to slowly waddle from point to point wishing I had something more interesting to do. But I also see from a design and pacing perspective why these exist and might even be necessary. I enjoy the fighting alot however so it's likely just an issue on my part.
There's a story that is barely told to you. It definitely exists but it's neither an enhancing or debilitating aspect. Something about stars and a war and finding balance which sounds nice but I can assure you there isn't much to even reach for.
Game's great if you know what you're throwing yourself into and I cannot stress enough that the end-game fights are real bangers. But I struggle to see myself revisiting this game for anything beyond the Boss Rush mode and my favorite encounters.
Shout-outs to warrior women and punch guys.