tendog
BACKER
So many mixed feelings and thoughts about this game.
Firstly, the positives:
+ KEY is filled with heaps of history about Prague, as well some impressive 3D modeling of the city and the objects found in it. They didn't hold back on the details.
+ The puzzles have definitely improved from Midnight in Salem, this time having quite a few devious ones. My opinion will always be too hard > too easy.
+ While the game offers a "classic" mode where you can move around the environment by clicking from spot to spot as in every previous ND game, KEY introduces a "modern" mode which functions as a free roaming first person perspective. I think this is the best new addition to the series. It feels good, and opens up a new way of taking in the environment that honestly would be cool to see implemented in the older titles as well.
Now, the negatives...
- Though most of the voice actors are fine... the new Nancy VA continues to talk robotically, putting weird emphasis on certain words that make her dialogue sound so... off at times. I constantly questioned if it was somehow AI generated. It's a shame that the wonderful Lani Minella did not receive a worthy successor. On top of the bad voice acting, there is an awkward pause of a few seconds at the end of every character's voiced dialogue which makes it slightly more unbearable to sit through.
- Unlike the usual HerInteractive style, dialogue doesn't have branching options, it just lists all questions from the start. Often, the forced options make it seem like Nancy is oblivious to what private knowledge she lets out. You just choose lines and then let the game continue automatically with a few back and forth follow-up questions spoken by Nancy without any choice involved. It's a far cry from the approaches you could take at questioning suspects in every previous game, and though there was just as much dialogue as usual, it was less engaging than ever.
- The more elaborate the puzzles got, the more convoluted they got as well. It feels to me like they were not tested beyond the creator's preferences, and so what you end up with are puzzles that often take a weird singular perspective that is often hard to grasp, even after solving. There were many puzzles I cracked without really grasping the concept of, and not for lack of trying.
• I also had some issues with text size, but I think this was a result of playing on steam deck ported to a distant TV screen, so I won't knock the game too much for that. It seemed pretty fine when I switched to desktop near the end.
So, I'm torn. On the one hand, I can feel the effort that went into making this game. On the other hand, I am reminded of how the original HerInteractive games felt so effortless, and did a whole lot more with a whole lot less.
Firstly, the positives:
+ KEY is filled with heaps of history about Prague, as well some impressive 3D modeling of the city and the objects found in it. They didn't hold back on the details.
+ The puzzles have definitely improved from Midnight in Salem, this time having quite a few devious ones. My opinion will always be too hard > too easy.
+ While the game offers a "classic" mode where you can move around the environment by clicking from spot to spot as in every previous ND game, KEY introduces a "modern" mode which functions as a free roaming first person perspective. I think this is the best new addition to the series. It feels good, and opens up a new way of taking in the environment that honestly would be cool to see implemented in the older titles as well.
Now, the negatives...
- Though most of the voice actors are fine... the new Nancy VA continues to talk robotically, putting weird emphasis on certain words that make her dialogue sound so... off at times. I constantly questioned if it was somehow AI generated. It's a shame that the wonderful Lani Minella did not receive a worthy successor. On top of the bad voice acting, there is an awkward pause of a few seconds at the end of every character's voiced dialogue which makes it slightly more unbearable to sit through.
- Unlike the usual HerInteractive style, dialogue doesn't have branching options, it just lists all questions from the start. Often, the forced options make it seem like Nancy is oblivious to what private knowledge she lets out. You just choose lines and then let the game continue automatically with a few back and forth follow-up questions spoken by Nancy without any choice involved. It's a far cry from the approaches you could take at questioning suspects in every previous game, and though there was just as much dialogue as usual, it was less engaging than ever.
- The more elaborate the puzzles got, the more convoluted they got as well. It feels to me like they were not tested beyond the creator's preferences, and so what you end up with are puzzles that often take a weird singular perspective that is often hard to grasp, even after solving. There were many puzzles I cracked without really grasping the concept of, and not for lack of trying.
• I also had some issues with text size, but I think this was a result of playing on steam deck ported to a distant TV screen, so I won't knock the game too much for that. It seemed pretty fine when I switched to desktop near the end.
So, I'm torn. On the one hand, I can feel the effort that went into making this game. On the other hand, I am reminded of how the original HerInteractive games felt so effortless, and did a whole lot more with a whole lot less.
2024
Constantly teetering on the edge between amazing puzzle game and legendary puzzle game...
The perfect puzzle metroidvania still doesn't exist, maybe it never will. But this game flies close to that sun.
The perfect puzzle metroidvania still doesn't exist, maybe it never will. But this game flies close to that sun.
2018
The nicest thing to say about this game is that it has a really distinct, beautifully rendered art style, and an interesting world.
The least nice thing to say is that it is buggy, confusing, poorly translated, not that well programmed and not that fun to play because of that.
It really feels like the artist went all-out whilst the programmer/game designer held themselves back and left much unpolished.
I think I missed a few things because I made some choices that couldn't be undone, including a single click that sent me to an ending and ended that playthrough. I never made a save because it's a short game, and so that meant once I was done, it was either start over or call it a day.
Welp. I called it.
The least nice thing to say is that it is buggy, confusing, poorly translated, not that well programmed and not that fun to play because of that.
It really feels like the artist went all-out whilst the programmer/game designer held themselves back and left much unpolished.
I think I missed a few things because I made some choices that couldn't be undone, including a single click that sent me to an ending and ended that playthrough. I never made a save because it's a short game, and so that meant once I was done, it was either start over or call it a day.
Welp. I called it.
2014
My bad for taking 10 years to check this out...
Basically flawless mini-Cave Story. I had occasional trouble aiming and using the jetpack properly, but, really, this is a game with such refined movement, I could tell it was more of a me-problem than a game-problem. What a treat!
Basically flawless mini-Cave Story. I had occasional trouble aiming and using the jetpack properly, but, really, this is a game with such refined movement, I could tell it was more of a me-problem than a game-problem. What a treat!
2021
Another great point n click adventure by Skutnik!
There was some weirdness, like how I couldn't always tell which direction I had entered a room from, some overly obscured items, and some loose ends with the items that felt anticlimactic, but overall I had a great time surrounded by the weird creatures and crypts of Skutnik's imagination
There was some weirdness, like how I couldn't always tell which direction I had entered a room from, some overly obscured items, and some loose ends with the items that felt anticlimactic, but overall I had a great time surrounded by the weird creatures and crypts of Skutnik's imagination
I've already backed this game, as soon as I found out it was basically Yo Noid 2 but as its own full game, I was hooked
Thoughts on the demo:
- Way too much movement introduced at once!
It's all really cool, I love wallrunning/jumping, using the hook, sliding, jumpsliding, bursting out of the water, grabbing hooks, swinging on bars but whoa whoa whoa it's way too much to learn in a tiny little tutorial section! I think the idea was to give you all the movement from the get-go and send you out in the world, but it was a bit overwhelming and I was still not understanding some of the finer points of movement when I was 1 hour+ into exploring the desert.
- It's so dark!
Why is this game so so dark? I appreciate the night/day cycle and what influences that might have on the look/feel of the world - traveling the desert is highly reminiscent of exploring the Great Sea in Wind Waker - but the night is way too dang dark to make discern ledges, ropes, etc from the rest of the darkness. This was one of the hugest pains I had with the demo, I just couldn't see.
- It's so hard!
Whoa, I remember Yo Noid 2 required some genuinely advanced movement, but in a fully polished game I'd hope the difficulty ramps up a little more gradually. Maybe I was just exploring areas out-of-order, but when I encountered the island with the "boss" shooting down missiles at the top, I thought I was approaching the final boss of the demo! Moving as fast as I could, I was barely dodging hits and couldn't find enough cover to pause and take in my surroundings. I kept falling back down, dying, and losing my way in the darkness. When I finally reached the top, I was quite disappointed that the "boss" was actually just a 2 HP enemy with no reward...
All of the artstyle/graphics is fantastic. The feel of the movement is somehow even better than YN2. But I hope the reactions to this demo reels in the devs a bit. I understand this is a work in progress - hence why many areas felt empty - but all the same I hope this demo serves as an opportunity to refine the gameplay so it's more enjoyable for everyone.
Thoughts on the demo:
- Way too much movement introduced at once!
It's all really cool, I love wallrunning/jumping, using the hook, sliding, jumpsliding, bursting out of the water, grabbing hooks, swinging on bars but whoa whoa whoa it's way too much to learn in a tiny little tutorial section! I think the idea was to give you all the movement from the get-go and send you out in the world, but it was a bit overwhelming and I was still not understanding some of the finer points of movement when I was 1 hour+ into exploring the desert.
- It's so dark!
Why is this game so so dark? I appreciate the night/day cycle and what influences that might have on the look/feel of the world - traveling the desert is highly reminiscent of exploring the Great Sea in Wind Waker - but the night is way too dang dark to make discern ledges, ropes, etc from the rest of the darkness. This was one of the hugest pains I had with the demo, I just couldn't see.
- It's so hard!
Whoa, I remember Yo Noid 2 required some genuinely advanced movement, but in a fully polished game I'd hope the difficulty ramps up a little more gradually. Maybe I was just exploring areas out-of-order, but when I encountered the island with the "boss" shooting down missiles at the top, I thought I was approaching the final boss of the demo! Moving as fast as I could, I was barely dodging hits and couldn't find enough cover to pause and take in my surroundings. I kept falling back down, dying, and losing my way in the darkness. When I finally reached the top, I was quite disappointed that the "boss" was actually just a 2 HP enemy with no reward...
All of the artstyle/graphics is fantastic. The feel of the movement is somehow even better than YN2. But I hope the reactions to this demo reels in the devs a bit. I understand this is a work in progress - hence why many areas felt empty - but all the same I hope this demo serves as an opportunity to refine the gameplay so it's more enjoyable for everyone.
Looks great, plays great... but there are like 6 things to do and then the game's over. Feels like there was a lot more room to explore. Not worth the $18 entry fee
2022
In an alternate universe, this is their Animal Well...
A huge kaizo metroidvania with slow, weird movement. I wish the dev was a bit kinder to the player (better checkpoints, heal at checkpoints, not as many blind drops/pits). But, I played it for 7.5 hours because it was just so dang cool. I have a good feeling about this dev.
A huge kaizo metroidvania with slow, weird movement. I wish the dev was a bit kinder to the player (better checkpoints, heal at checkpoints, not as many blind drops/pits). But, I played it for 7.5 hours because it was just so dang cool. I have a good feeling about this dev.
2024
Ok, it's the inevitable cross between Bike Racing games and QWOP, I think?
I love the concept, and I love that it's a mobile game with no ads or popups! It's pure game! Why is that rare nowadays?
However, the QWOPification of its bike physics makes it unfortunately, just as horribly frustrating as QWOP when you are trying to actually get somewhere. Getting through the levels is one thing, trying to beat the "Super Nice!" time limit is insane for some levels, and requires you to master these weird controls that never seem to cooperate just right. I wanted to tilt my phone so bad. Why didn't this game take advantage of the accelerometer?
This game made me want to download Bike Race again.
(So I downloaded Bike Race again, and no surprise, it feels so much better, makes me want to play more because I can actually see what's coming ahead and can land jumps. But it's filled with microtransactions and ads. Ugh.)
I love the concept, and I love that it's a mobile game with no ads or popups! It's pure game! Why is that rare nowadays?
However, the QWOPification of its bike physics makes it unfortunately, just as horribly frustrating as QWOP when you are trying to actually get somewhere. Getting through the levels is one thing, trying to beat the "Super Nice!" time limit is insane for some levels, and requires you to master these weird controls that never seem to cooperate just right. I wanted to tilt my phone so bad. Why didn't this game take advantage of the accelerometer?
This game made me want to download Bike Race again.
(So I downloaded Bike Race again, and no surprise, it feels so much better, makes me want to play more because I can actually see what's coming ahead and can land jumps. But it's filled with microtransactions and ads. Ugh.)
2004
This review contains spoilers
When you play this game, try to image the room as a cube. Or, if you see it as a cube, picture it as a room.
2007
A legendary escape game.
2006
This is the first gotmail.jp game with sound!
There are some really cool layers of puzzle in this game, along with some stupidly pixel-hunt esque type moments... But in terms of content, this blows the previous gotmail entries out of the water, so I still respect it a lot for what it sought out to do.
There are some really cool layers of puzzle in this game, along with some stupidly pixel-hunt esque type moments... But in terms of content, this blows the previous gotmail entries out of the water, so I still respect it a lot for what it sought out to do.
2022
After starting my first game, I spent about 15 minutes trying to get anywhere or pick up any powerup, and found that it was just too hard for me to have any fun. So I started over, enabling everything that would make me invincible to explore the world and see what was going on. But then the world felt extremely flat, not like "oh, I've been here before. I remember this place because I did x and y here". Maybe that's my fault, but with an invincibility cheat code baked right into the menu, it's kinda hard to resist. And there's no putting the genie back in the bottle once you've taken away every surprise-pit and sudden bossfight. Oh well.
Unfortunately even with total invincibility and most of the items, I couldn't find anything that made traversal feel much improved from how it felt at the start. Or if there was a good combined application of my items, the fact that I had to hunt-and-peck the items on the keyboard made it too hard to find it (the game devotes 20% of the screen to boxes labeled A-R for your item slots, which are activated with those keys). Every key after R (alphabetically) changes Sylvie into a lime which effectively turns off gravity, sending her flying.
It's a very experimental approach... but I can absolutely guarantee you I would have had more fun if this game had 1 action button than 19. It's just too many, and too randomly dispersed too fast. Ironically, I found this game because it was advertised as a sort of Animal-Well-like, a game that had you scroll through 6+ items using L1 and R1... but I digress.
There seemed to be some meta-dialog about the creation and creators of the game you are playing sprinkled throughout the world, but I just didn't care to read into it myself. It was a bit too long-winded, like picking up a book in Skyrim. I'm not a fan of the idea of platforming games with VN elements, I prefer story that is baked into the gameplay and the world. You can't spell Skyrim without Skim...
I like to try new things and I like when devs try new things, so I'm happy this game exists, but I think it needs some restructuring if the devs want this to be able to reach a larger audience.
Unfortunately even with total invincibility and most of the items, I couldn't find anything that made traversal feel much improved from how it felt at the start. Or if there was a good combined application of my items, the fact that I had to hunt-and-peck the items on the keyboard made it too hard to find it (the game devotes 20% of the screen to boxes labeled A-R for your item slots, which are activated with those keys). Every key after R (alphabetically) changes Sylvie into a lime which effectively turns off gravity, sending her flying.
It's a very experimental approach... but I can absolutely guarantee you I would have had more fun if this game had 1 action button than 19. It's just too many, and too randomly dispersed too fast. Ironically, I found this game because it was advertised as a sort of Animal-Well-like, a game that had you scroll through 6+ items using L1 and R1... but I digress.
There seemed to be some meta-dialog about the creation and creators of the game you are playing sprinkled throughout the world, but I just didn't care to read into it myself. It was a bit too long-winded, like picking up a book in Skyrim. I'm not a fan of the idea of platforming games with VN elements, I prefer story that is baked into the gameplay and the world. You can't spell Skyrim without Skim...
I like to try new things and I like when devs try new things, so I'm happy this game exists, but I think it needs some restructuring if the devs want this to be able to reach a larger audience.
This narrator is talking about proper game design as I'm glitching through the plane of the world and getting soft locked. Is this a joke? This really feels like someone trying too hard to make something meaningful and also trying to get you to buy some cool PS5 games they keep mentioning??
2023
This is SUCH a unique fusion of genres, so I have massive respect for the devs for going all out... but I think the gameplay wasn't too fun for the first half. Although, I'm also nearly certain more horror fans will enjoy this than golf fans will, and I fall in the latter category.
That being said, the golf mechanics were surprisingly decent! The horror elements just became frustrating to me as the motivation of the player felt a bit too vague. When you come across [spoiler thing], why would you keep playing a round of golf? I think there are hints that the player-character is a bit psychotic, but it's not totally clear what the meaning of it all is, which is probably okay! It just makes it hard for the golf fan in me to enjoy.
I will say the second half this game kinda kicks ass, and frankly I wish more golf games would attempt something as bold as what this game does. Easily puts Super Rush to shame in terms of breaking the golfing mold, but I think the possibilities of the horror-golf genre, as well as the golf genre in general, are still out there.
(btw, I totally found out this game because of Jacob Geller, but I didn't actually watch the video yet)
That being said, the golf mechanics were surprisingly decent! The horror elements just became frustrating to me as the motivation of the player felt a bit too vague. When you come across [spoiler thing], why would you keep playing a round of golf? I think there are hints that the player-character is a bit psychotic, but it's not totally clear what the meaning of it all is, which is probably okay! It just makes it hard for the golf fan in me to enjoy.
I will say the second half this game kinda kicks ass, and frankly I wish more golf games would attempt something as bold as what this game does. Easily puts Super Rush to shame in terms of breaking the golfing mold, but I think the possibilities of the horror-golf genre, as well as the golf genre in general, are still out there.
(btw, I totally found out this game because of Jacob Geller, but I didn't actually watch the video yet)