katsuragiis
1996
beautiful themes
2023
needs an airdash methinks.. sokuchads WE MOVE
2023
a fundamental misunderstanding of fire emblem. this franchise is inching closer and closer to persona 5 each day
2023
15 dollar indie games almost always end up being better than 50% of games in the modern gaming industry nowadays and gravity circuit is no exception.
in a sea of ‘action platformers that want to be exactly like pre-existing media from thirty years ago, yet end up falling short of what made the original great due to a misunderstanding of core concepts’, it is endlessly refreshing to play a game that feels inspired and full of life and takes cues from its predecessors and expands upon them. gravity circuit understands all it needs to about what came before and uses it as a springboard to bounce off of and reach new territory.
combat in this game is endlessly fun to engage in, movement is smooth as butter (as expected of a game that comes packaged with a grappling hook, this should be a no-brainer) and feels rewarding to execute with how much speed you’re able to gather. an average combat scenario in the first level of this game feels like an endgame encounter in anything else. you can pull yourself to an enemy, kick them twice and combo moves that feel like something out of a fighting game and pick up the enemy, throw them at another and so on. this is one example of a combat encounter in a sea of endless possibilities. it’s such a rewarding gameplay loop that makes the game feel good to play from the moment you turn it on to the moment you turn it off. gravity circuit also has chips that you can use to modify your character exactly how you want, with tons of possibilities for movement, combat, and survivability.
to give one critique about the upgrade chip system, it’s kind of clear what the best ones are and once you gain access to them there’s little reason to change things around unless you really feel like getting crazy. this can be said for your special moves as well, as once you have four that you really like, you aren’t incentivized to change them up or use others which can make your experience feel a bit drab towards the end, but this is also very easily fixed by the player just.. choosing to use other chips and change their gameplay experience.
almost every single level here is fresh, brimming with passion and creativity with a soundtrack that matches the energy perfectly. if you were to sit me down and ask what all the level themes in this game are, i would be able to repeat them to you in perfect succession. the spritework in this game knocks it out of the park, with stage transitions and talksprites that are a joy to take in. the music is also great, but i was a little disappointed with the exclusion of unique boss themes for every circuit.. i feel it would have done a lot to expand their already vibrant personalities, but it isn’t a huge loss. (my three favorite tracks are as follows, if you care: ‘theme of medley (wave circuit)’, ‘theme of ray (optic circuit)’ and ‘theme of bit (shift circuit)’.)
as for the design of said levels, i have to commend the devs for managing to create levels that don’t feel cramped to explore and move around in yet also don’t feel too easy to get through in one go. this isn’t to say that the level design is some godsend, though, because some platforming segments felt unnecessary and for the sake of stretching the level out a bit more, as if the devs saw a spot they could add a few floating platforms and went with it. these portions are few and far between though, and not enough to drag the overall experience down. you’re rewarded at the end of every stage with currency based on your end time and the reward isn’t something that’s going to massively halt your progress, but it is going to encourage you to go faster and be more creative with how you navigate the levels. boss design here is also really good. when you get tripped up by a boss and caught off guard, it is always your fault and feels deserved because you didn’t respond to their attack correctly. gravity circuit doesn’t have much in the way of collectibles, which is refreshing to say the least. so many similar games pack their stages full of useless trinkets and still expect you to focus on speed, whereas this game knows you’re going to be focused on speed and feeds you about two collectibles a level, which is enough to get by comfortably.
one quick passage about the story, because i would feel wrong not mentioning it but i also have no other place to put it: this game’s story is compelling. not an expansive and grim look into automatons and their intrinsic nature to be replaced by better hardware or anything, but it’s definitely a fun time. i really like that there’s a reason the main character feels so powerful, as it gives context to why you feel like you have endgame abilities right out of the gate. pay attention to it if you want, or don’t. it won’t really hamper your enjoyment of the game.
i loved every second of my experience with this game, and i heavily encourage everyone reading to go out and support the devs by buying this. they worked really hard on this game and as someone who had been following the development of this game for about four months prior to release, they deserve your money. gravity circuit is an amazing gameplay experience rounded out by its colorful cast, fluid movement, and incredible boss design. see you all in gravity circuit 2: the ocky way.
in a sea of ‘action platformers that want to be exactly like pre-existing media from thirty years ago, yet end up falling short of what made the original great due to a misunderstanding of core concepts’, it is endlessly refreshing to play a game that feels inspired and full of life and takes cues from its predecessors and expands upon them. gravity circuit understands all it needs to about what came before and uses it as a springboard to bounce off of and reach new territory.
combat in this game is endlessly fun to engage in, movement is smooth as butter (as expected of a game that comes packaged with a grappling hook, this should be a no-brainer) and feels rewarding to execute with how much speed you’re able to gather. an average combat scenario in the first level of this game feels like an endgame encounter in anything else. you can pull yourself to an enemy, kick them twice and combo moves that feel like something out of a fighting game and pick up the enemy, throw them at another and so on. this is one example of a combat encounter in a sea of endless possibilities. it’s such a rewarding gameplay loop that makes the game feel good to play from the moment you turn it on to the moment you turn it off. gravity circuit also has chips that you can use to modify your character exactly how you want, with tons of possibilities for movement, combat, and survivability.
to give one critique about the upgrade chip system, it’s kind of clear what the best ones are and once you gain access to them there’s little reason to change things around unless you really feel like getting crazy. this can be said for your special moves as well, as once you have four that you really like, you aren’t incentivized to change them up or use others which can make your experience feel a bit drab towards the end, but this is also very easily fixed by the player just.. choosing to use other chips and change their gameplay experience.
almost every single level here is fresh, brimming with passion and creativity with a soundtrack that matches the energy perfectly. if you were to sit me down and ask what all the level themes in this game are, i would be able to repeat them to you in perfect succession. the spritework in this game knocks it out of the park, with stage transitions and talksprites that are a joy to take in. the music is also great, but i was a little disappointed with the exclusion of unique boss themes for every circuit.. i feel it would have done a lot to expand their already vibrant personalities, but it isn’t a huge loss. (my three favorite tracks are as follows, if you care: ‘theme of medley (wave circuit)’, ‘theme of ray (optic circuit)’ and ‘theme of bit (shift circuit)’.)
as for the design of said levels, i have to commend the devs for managing to create levels that don’t feel cramped to explore and move around in yet also don’t feel too easy to get through in one go. this isn’t to say that the level design is some godsend, though, because some platforming segments felt unnecessary and for the sake of stretching the level out a bit more, as if the devs saw a spot they could add a few floating platforms and went with it. these portions are few and far between though, and not enough to drag the overall experience down. you’re rewarded at the end of every stage with currency based on your end time and the reward isn’t something that’s going to massively halt your progress, but it is going to encourage you to go faster and be more creative with how you navigate the levels. boss design here is also really good. when you get tripped up by a boss and caught off guard, it is always your fault and feels deserved because you didn’t respond to their attack correctly. gravity circuit doesn’t have much in the way of collectibles, which is refreshing to say the least. so many similar games pack their stages full of useless trinkets and still expect you to focus on speed, whereas this game knows you’re going to be focused on speed and feeds you about two collectibles a level, which is enough to get by comfortably.
one quick passage about the story, because i would feel wrong not mentioning it but i also have no other place to put it: this game’s story is compelling. not an expansive and grim look into automatons and their intrinsic nature to be replaced by better hardware or anything, but it’s definitely a fun time. i really like that there’s a reason the main character feels so powerful, as it gives context to why you feel like you have endgame abilities right out of the gate. pay attention to it if you want, or don’t. it won’t really hamper your enjoyment of the game.
i loved every second of my experience with this game, and i heavily encourage everyone reading to go out and support the devs by buying this. they worked really hard on this game and as someone who had been following the development of this game for about four months prior to release, they deserve your money. gravity circuit is an amazing gameplay experience rounded out by its colorful cast, fluid movement, and incredible boss design. see you all in gravity circuit 2: the ocky way.
so gas. you're actually a brainlet if you hate this game. travis is awesome. his girlfriend (forgot her name because i was too busy staring at her big breasts) is so hot lol. shinobu is the ultimate waifu because she loves nihongo almost as much as me. this game is so cool. travis is cool. cute girls, big boobs, suda51 FOR LIFE.
2019
the 7.6/10 game of all time is calling..
astral chain’s story starts off incredibly basic and kind of annoying.. to the point where i thought i wouldn't enjoy it as much as i thought i would. to put my feelings on the characters as blunt as i possibly can: this game is like evangelion if the cast spoke like ragna the bloodedge 50% of the time. do NOT play this game in english for any reason unless you’re prepared to hear akira act like the worst isekai protagonist you’ve ever had the displeasure of listening to. the game toys with some pretty interesting ideas and concepts but the ‘chosen one’ and silent protagonist tropes end up preventing it from being something amazing. this is a game that really depends on your attachment to the familial bond of the two main characters to have an impact, and because the player’s character ends up being silent, some story beats fall entirely flat.
from what i’ve said so far, you’d probably think i didn’t really enjoy the story of this game, but i actually really did. there is a lot of lore here for players to sift through if they want and when the writers choose to actually write this game can be great. the last 45% of this game is really good, and i do think it’s worth sitting through the pretty OK first half to get to. there is a lot of symbolism here with birds which i think is pretty awesome when you link things together.
i'll keep things brief on the combat side of things, mostly out of credit to platinum for always making good action games. fighting in this game is so much fun just because of the amount of skills and playstyles you have at your disposal. in every single combat encounter with an enemy, you can link up attacks to make things feel at least somewhat engaging, which is all something like this needs to be fun. every legion (these are basically mini eva units with different playstyles that affect how you fight. beast is the best one btw.) i would have liked to have seen more types of weapons for the protagonist.. three is alright but i didn’t see myself using the pistol much unless there was something on the wall. speaking of.. this game sometimes decides that it wants to do air combat, and when it does it really just becomes an extremely shallow exchange between you and the enemy where you’re either sending the legion out to hit them in the air repeatedly, or shooting at them with the gun. definitely a weak point for the game, albeit not a large one. side note, platinum needs to stop trying to work with multiple playstyles and halfassing one. the bike portions are cool to look at but annoying to play.
SPOILERS FOR MAIN STORY EVENTS AHEAD. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
let’s start with akira for character reviews as i think he’s the most fleshed out character here. um.. i kind of don’t like him but i also think he’s cool. it’s weird. every single time he starts to act somewhat human, they have to either punch down at him or throw him the most annoying and forced line of all time. when the writers decide they actually feel like writing him, however, he has some great character moments that build him up and are genuinely touching. his ending was amazing and one of my favorite moments in the entire story.
hal was probably my second favorite character in the game. i can’t exactly explain why, because he’s not even relatively significant in the grand scheme of things, but i just have a thing for boys that are nerds like he is. hal always comes across well and has a good heart that i really enjoyed. his role in the story never felt forced which is actually surprising, considering many other characters struggle to make as big of an impact as him while being present for longer.
jena anderson is awesome. to be honest, i think that this game would have benefitted from keeping her around for longer. i like yohan as this game’s antagonist, but jena is just so much more interesting as a character what with her dirty and careless look compared to the well kept, clean feel of the main cast. 10/10 character stuck in a 7.5/10 game. i hope she comes back if there’s a sequel.
astral chain’s story starts off incredibly basic and kind of annoying.. to the point where i thought i wouldn't enjoy it as much as i thought i would. to put my feelings on the characters as blunt as i possibly can: this game is like evangelion if the cast spoke like ragna the bloodedge 50% of the time. do NOT play this game in english for any reason unless you’re prepared to hear akira act like the worst isekai protagonist you’ve ever had the displeasure of listening to. the game toys with some pretty interesting ideas and concepts but the ‘chosen one’ and silent protagonist tropes end up preventing it from being something amazing. this is a game that really depends on your attachment to the familial bond of the two main characters to have an impact, and because the player’s character ends up being silent, some story beats fall entirely flat.
from what i’ve said so far, you’d probably think i didn’t really enjoy the story of this game, but i actually really did. there is a lot of lore here for players to sift through if they want and when the writers choose to actually write this game can be great. the last 45% of this game is really good, and i do think it’s worth sitting through the pretty OK first half to get to. there is a lot of symbolism here with birds which i think is pretty awesome when you link things together.
i'll keep things brief on the combat side of things, mostly out of credit to platinum for always making good action games. fighting in this game is so much fun just because of the amount of skills and playstyles you have at your disposal. in every single combat encounter with an enemy, you can link up attacks to make things feel at least somewhat engaging, which is all something like this needs to be fun. every legion (these are basically mini eva units with different playstyles that affect how you fight. beast is the best one btw.) i would have liked to have seen more types of weapons for the protagonist.. three is alright but i didn’t see myself using the pistol much unless there was something on the wall. speaking of.. this game sometimes decides that it wants to do air combat, and when it does it really just becomes an extremely shallow exchange between you and the enemy where you’re either sending the legion out to hit them in the air repeatedly, or shooting at them with the gun. definitely a weak point for the game, albeit not a large one. side note, platinum needs to stop trying to work with multiple playstyles and halfassing one. the bike portions are cool to look at but annoying to play.
SPOILERS FOR MAIN STORY EVENTS AHEAD. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
let’s start with akira for character reviews as i think he’s the most fleshed out character here. um.. i kind of don’t like him but i also think he’s cool. it’s weird. every single time he starts to act somewhat human, they have to either punch down at him or throw him the most annoying and forced line of all time. when the writers decide they actually feel like writing him, however, he has some great character moments that build him up and are genuinely touching. his ending was amazing and one of my favorite moments in the entire story.
hal was probably my second favorite character in the game. i can’t exactly explain why, because he’s not even relatively significant in the grand scheme of things, but i just have a thing for boys that are nerds like he is. hal always comes across well and has a good heart that i really enjoyed. his role in the story never felt forced which is actually surprising, considering many other characters struggle to make as big of an impact as him while being present for longer.
jena anderson is awesome. to be honest, i think that this game would have benefitted from keeping her around for longer. i like yohan as this game’s antagonist, but jena is just so much more interesting as a character what with her dirty and careless look compared to the well kept, clean feel of the main cast. 10/10 character stuck in a 7.5/10 game. i hope she comes back if there’s a sequel.