stevenz
2024
This game feels surprising and visceral at best, but ultimately unbearably stilted and sexless. The pawns are freaky, the fantasy is unforgivably dull, and the moment-to-moment animation is wonky, awkward and unimpressive.
2021
Only played the first two levels. It's not what I expected; tactical and precise. Pizza-and-puke-core, that Cartoon Network stank that the internet likes. The economics are abrasive. Scrounging a tiny profit and losing it to a nonsense stock market.
The other reviews are funny, unbothered. Honestly being in debt IRL makes this a little less entertaining. To roil in that pain and express the grossness of it all. I get it on a level I don't want to, like other art. Probably won't be picking it up again.
The other reviews are funny, unbothered. Honestly being in debt IRL makes this a little less entertaining. To roil in that pain and express the grossness of it all. I get it on a level I don't want to, like other art. Probably won't be picking it up again.
2022
Oddly naturalistic level design with an... arcadey, boomery character controller. Found a secret in the first level that bypassed the whole area. What's the point of that? All visual sauce and polish, little else.
This game is hard to fuck with. It's charming, intimate, funny, but a little confused and empty.
The enemies feel overtuned, frequently throwing insta-kill grabs and combos where even the weakest enemies can thrash you. The spaces you trace are strangely open, seemingly in some sort of compromise between open world sensibilities and the responsibility to design levels. Sometimes it all comes together and you're scuttling the seabed, the fights are good, and there's a joke you know some young adults had a blast putting together, but by the time I reach another poison swamp it feels like it's collapsed under its own weight, and the fun is over. Like I'm in a big empty area with some crabs littered around it. Is it underdeveloped? Too big to support itself?
When it stopped being fun, I tried turning the difficulty down, but the effects were marginal. I figured even if I turned it down to the easiest settings, I wasn't going to see much more than the first few hours. When the magic is gone like that, it's hard to come back.
The enemies feel overtuned, frequently throwing insta-kill grabs and combos where even the weakest enemies can thrash you. The spaces you trace are strangely open, seemingly in some sort of compromise between open world sensibilities and the responsibility to design levels. Sometimes it all comes together and you're scuttling the seabed, the fights are good, and there's a joke you know some young adults had a blast putting together, but by the time I reach another poison swamp it feels like it's collapsed under its own weight, and the fun is over. Like I'm in a big empty area with some crabs littered around it. Is it underdeveloped? Too big to support itself?
When it stopped being fun, I tried turning the difficulty down, but the effects were marginal. I figured even if I turned it down to the easiest settings, I wasn't going to see much more than the first few hours. When the magic is gone like that, it's hard to come back.
2024
Delightful - as in, full of delight; the delights of steamy water, full winds, and warm sunlight washing through spacious rooms.
This puzzler is generous, genuinely relaxing, and quite an achievement for such a small team. It's clever in a way that isn't antagonistic. I had simply a delightful time with the few hours I spent with it, like a midday lunch in a luxurious garden.
This puzzler is generous, genuinely relaxing, and quite an achievement for such a small team. It's clever in a way that isn't antagonistic. I had simply a delightful time with the few hours I spent with it, like a midday lunch in a luxurious garden.
2024
A bit one-note. Couldn't play very long. Something this fierce and colorful shouldn't be three hours long, or a puzzle game, but somehow it is?