i am not sure how the events surrounding the proposal, approval and development of this game went. supposedly, story goes, game freak allowed employees to initiate more side projects at the start of the 10s, anything other than pokémon. this shift produced a number of small, cute games that seem to be remembered by no one, relegated to and literally doomed on the 3ds e-shop. one of these projects was developed and directed by james turner, the first ever western pokémon designer at game freak and behind the designs of pokémon such as buzzwole or golurk. soon, shigeru ohmori, game designer at game freak who would later become the director for the 8th and 9th generation of pokémon games, was also brought onto the team. the game was born a platformer, but soon incorporated rhythm game mechanics and eventually became what i just finished playing, harmoknight.
why did i make all this preamble? because the game is legitimately good and it mostly came out of a development team known for making games of dubious quality for the most popular franchise in the world. they managed to create a product with an incredible artstyle (the noizoids are simply spectacular and also shoutout to lyra), a fun gameplay style (which was easily picked up even by an idiot like me who has barely even heard of the concept of 'rhythm'), impressive boss battles (i did let out a little scream when in the final boss stage i reenacted the ending to jojo battle tendency i am not going to lie) and an adequate difficulty curve (game held my hand like a baby just until i became a big boy able to walk on his own two legs). that projects like this can come out of a development team that is often derided, offended even, by critics of pokémon games (category i participate in in the same way a student spontaneously chooses to sit in the last row of class, yes i am there but please pretend i am not even here) is a sad state of affairs. i can feel vital energy pouring out of the screen here. maybe a cry for help? i hate wasted potential, it crushes your spirit. is that why the game is surprisingly mean in some of its parts? i intend that literally. during the beginning parts of the game, you are told that you are no harmoknight, that you are just a kid that has to pass the only weapon of the game, the note staff, to the true heroes of the land of melodia, although in the meantime you proceed to effortlessly beat several stages and a couple of bosses in the process. further, in the little dialogue boxes that come after the end of each stage, the other characters often direct comments to the main character tempo that belittle his efforts. only tempo's trusted buddy tappy seems to be supportive. are the developers trying to elicit some sort of emotional response from the player in order to support tempo and to generate second hand support the development teams efforts? nah. but to be honest there is something stifling creative drive at game freak. and if you want to have a feeling of what that creative drive could potentially be if let a little looser, play harmoknight. it certainly sparked an interest in me over all the other odd side projects developed at game freak.
why did i make all this preamble? because the game is legitimately good and it mostly came out of a development team known for making games of dubious quality for the most popular franchise in the world. they managed to create a product with an incredible artstyle (the noizoids are simply spectacular and also shoutout to lyra), a fun gameplay style (which was easily picked up even by an idiot like me who has barely even heard of the concept of 'rhythm'), impressive boss battles (i did let out a little scream when in the final boss stage i reenacted the ending to jojo battle tendency i am not going to lie) and an adequate difficulty curve (game held my hand like a baby just until i became a big boy able to walk on his own two legs). that projects like this can come out of a development team that is often derided, offended even, by critics of pokémon games (category i participate in in the same way a student spontaneously chooses to sit in the last row of class, yes i am there but please pretend i am not even here) is a sad state of affairs. i can feel vital energy pouring out of the screen here. maybe a cry for help? i hate wasted potential, it crushes your spirit. is that why the game is surprisingly mean in some of its parts? i intend that literally. during the beginning parts of the game, you are told that you are no harmoknight, that you are just a kid that has to pass the only weapon of the game, the note staff, to the true heroes of the land of melodia, although in the meantime you proceed to effortlessly beat several stages and a couple of bosses in the process. further, in the little dialogue boxes that come after the end of each stage, the other characters often direct comments to the main character tempo that belittle his efforts. only tempo's trusted buddy tappy seems to be supportive. are the developers trying to elicit some sort of emotional response from the player in order to support tempo and to generate second hand support the development teams efforts? nah. but to be honest there is something stifling creative drive at game freak. and if you want to have a feeling of what that creative drive could potentially be if let a little looser, play harmoknight. it certainly sparked an interest in me over all the other odd side projects developed at game freak.