A Short Hike + Sword = Lil Gator Game
That's basically what this one comes down to. What's interesting to me is that I definitely enjoyed this more than A Short Hike. Why? It all comes down to expectations.
By the time I got around to playing A Short Hike, it was already a bonafide indie darling -- one that, judging from its review scores, could be considered one of the greatest indie games of all time. So when I played it and found that it was just a short, pleasant (albeit well-executed) platformer, I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.
Before playing Lil Gator Game, on the other hand, I had zero expectations. And because of this it was a lot easier for me to just accept it for what it is -- a pleasant, short game inspired by A Short Hike, Wind Waker, and Breath of the Wild.
Running around an island and slashing cardboard enemies is mindless, yes, but not every game needs to be Battletoads or Mega Man 2. The writing is a bit too self-aware and the story didn't hit me in the feels like I suspect it hoped to, but the gameplay was engaging enough to keep me invested until the end. Is it a masterpiece? Not by any means. But if you subscribe to Game Pass and three hours to kill, you could do a lot worse than spending them on this game.
That's basically what this one comes down to. What's interesting to me is that I definitely enjoyed this more than A Short Hike. Why? It all comes down to expectations.
By the time I got around to playing A Short Hike, it was already a bonafide indie darling -- one that, judging from its review scores, could be considered one of the greatest indie games of all time. So when I played it and found that it was just a short, pleasant (albeit well-executed) platformer, I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.
Before playing Lil Gator Game, on the other hand, I had zero expectations. And because of this it was a lot easier for me to just accept it for what it is -- a pleasant, short game inspired by A Short Hike, Wind Waker, and Breath of the Wild.
Running around an island and slashing cardboard enemies is mindless, yes, but not every game needs to be Battletoads or Mega Man 2. The writing is a bit too self-aware and the story didn't hit me in the feels like I suspect it hoped to, but the gameplay was engaging enough to keep me invested until the end. Is it a masterpiece? Not by any means. But if you subscribe to Game Pass and three hours to kill, you could do a lot worse than spending them on this game.