Long before I decided to become a game reviewer, I used to jot down brief thoughts on the games I was completing in order to capture my feelings for personal archival purposes. Since then, I’ve of course evolved my craft into full-fledged write-ups, but I do think there is enough merit to some of the earlier critiques to warrant their publication, especially for titles I do not intend on replaying (in the near future at least). While I’ve thrown in some minor revisions, this is one of them.
GRAPHICS
-Art style is very unique with a pleasant color palatte. It takes the steampunk aesthetic and combines it with something I can't quite describe, like something you would find in an early Newgrounds video.
-Stutter that occurs sometimes when you're transitioning from area-to-area since there's no cut scene: it's all seamless.
-Backgrounds are beautiful whatever their aesthetic or picture (paintings, brick walls, overblown windows, drapes, clouds, etc...)
-Surprisingly good facial expressions on the main character (changes depending on whatever action you're doing: pushing an object, climbing, shooting a ray, etc...).
-Rain drops bouncing on character's head = nice feature.
GAMEPLAY
-Gameplay is good for the most part. It has unique platforming mechanics, and I liked how each new upgrade/item added a brand new mechanic to the world.
-Didn't like the Metroidvania aspect when it came to collecting the scrolls as they were not marked on the map at all, so you couldn't know which ones you had to get and where to look for them. Obviously lots of people won't mind this, but for me I like to have some sort of checklist, especially if the world is a chore to backtrack through.
-Scrolls also lacked a drive to get as a result of the poor storytelling. Doesn't help that the "true" ending for getting them isn't worth the effort.
-Bosses are a real pain in the pass. They're really short with three waves so the developers didn't include any checkpoints, which is fine except for the fact that you die in one hit. Therefore, the fights can be more tedious than fun. Particularly infuriating is the final fight with the King, where his attack patterns are random and dodging some of his moves (the crown blasts, sword shockwaves) require precise timing on the part of your blink attack.
-Also, for a final boss, it didn't really involve the use of all your abilities like it should have (i.e. like Metroid prime in Metroid Prime).
-Also didn't like how childish it was (frying the guy's ass) given that the game has a dark feel overall.
-I can't deny that there's an element of Dark Souls to these games in terms of the trial-and-error combat, but I feel it's pointless in a platformer.
-Clear Donkey Kong Country influence (King final boss, using crown as weapon, some platforming, etc...).
STORY
-The story is told without words, which ultimately works against it. It's a simple story, but the deeper parts of it like the fighting faction names (revealed via a readthrough on Wikipedia) are lost as a result, and make the final battle lack weight.
VERDICT
-Overall I would recommend Teslagrad since it provides enough content for its price (took me 7-8 hours to beat at $10.00, though I think I even got it on discount for $0.99). It's a unique game with a cool look hampered by bad boss fight design and unnecessary Metroidvania gameplay for the sole collectable.
GRAPHICS
-Art style is very unique with a pleasant color palatte. It takes the steampunk aesthetic and combines it with something I can't quite describe, like something you would find in an early Newgrounds video.
-Stutter that occurs sometimes when you're transitioning from area-to-area since there's no cut scene: it's all seamless.
-Backgrounds are beautiful whatever their aesthetic or picture (paintings, brick walls, overblown windows, drapes, clouds, etc...)
-Surprisingly good facial expressions on the main character (changes depending on whatever action you're doing: pushing an object, climbing, shooting a ray, etc...).
-Rain drops bouncing on character's head = nice feature.
GAMEPLAY
-Gameplay is good for the most part. It has unique platforming mechanics, and I liked how each new upgrade/item added a brand new mechanic to the world.
-Didn't like the Metroidvania aspect when it came to collecting the scrolls as they were not marked on the map at all, so you couldn't know which ones you had to get and where to look for them. Obviously lots of people won't mind this, but for me I like to have some sort of checklist, especially if the world is a chore to backtrack through.
-Scrolls also lacked a drive to get as a result of the poor storytelling. Doesn't help that the "true" ending for getting them isn't worth the effort.
-Bosses are a real pain in the pass. They're really short with three waves so the developers didn't include any checkpoints, which is fine except for the fact that you die in one hit. Therefore, the fights can be more tedious than fun. Particularly infuriating is the final fight with the King, where his attack patterns are random and dodging some of his moves (the crown blasts, sword shockwaves) require precise timing on the part of your blink attack.
-Also, for a final boss, it didn't really involve the use of all your abilities like it should have (i.e. like Metroid prime in Metroid Prime).
-Also didn't like how childish it was (frying the guy's ass) given that the game has a dark feel overall.
-I can't deny that there's an element of Dark Souls to these games in terms of the trial-and-error combat, but I feel it's pointless in a platformer.
-Clear Donkey Kong Country influence (King final boss, using crown as weapon, some platforming, etc...).
STORY
-The story is told without words, which ultimately works against it. It's a simple story, but the deeper parts of it like the fighting faction names (revealed via a readthrough on Wikipedia) are lost as a result, and make the final battle lack weight.
VERDICT
-Overall I would recommend Teslagrad since it provides enough content for its price (took me 7-8 hours to beat at $10.00, though I think I even got it on discount for $0.99). It's a unique game with a cool look hampered by bad boss fight design and unnecessary Metroidvania gameplay for the sole collectable.