“Roguevania” is a curious genre tag that I’d never heard of before seeing it on Mother Machine’s Steam store page. I sort of understand it conceptually: take the randomly-generated level layouts and progression over the course of multiple “runs” of a roguelite and combine it with the “upgrade yourself to improve your ability to traverse the world” mechanisms of a Metroidvania. However, upon dissecting that idea, I immediately start finding holes. If you’re lacking a particular upgrade on a given run, does that mean it might be impossible to complete? Wouldn’t randomized level layouts be a nightmare to properly balance to give that satisfying sense of progression that the best Metroidvanias are known for? It seems like a recipe for disaster, which made me all the more intrigued to see how Mother Machine would pull it off.
Tag: Platformer
Unbox: Newbie’s Adventure Review
“Play more box games; it’ll be a fun bit!” was the prevailing thought when I decided to boot up Unbox: Newbie’s Adventure. After quite enjoying both my playthrough of Boxes: Lost Fragments and revisiting Flat Heroes to play it in multiplayer, checking out a boxy 3D platformer with positive Steam reviews seemed like a great step to continue the trend. And then I actually started playing it, which rapidly turned into one of the most frustrating gaming experiences I’ve had recently. Unbox isn’t the worst game I’ve played by far, but every design decision in it seems so vehemently opposed to fun that it’s a wonder the game was released in its current state.
Death’s Door Review
What is a Souls-like? I found myself asking that question a lot while playing through Death’s Door, as in some respects it clearly apes FromSoftware’s venerable franchise, while in others it distances itself. With the rabid fanbase those games have accrued (not to mention all the memes about “X is the Dark Souls of Y”), I’m always a bit wary when slinging the Souls-like label around, lest I be called a filthy casual who doesn’t understand the genre … or worse. In the case of Death’s Door, though, I feel relatively safe assigning the moniker, as even the Steam store page has it tagged as such; the fans have spoken, and all that jazz. I think that it’s also one of the more accessible Souls-likes I’ve played, though that’s not to say it’s easy. Rest assured that Death’s Door is more than willing to provide a stiff challenge, but – well – we’ll get into that.
Little Kitty, Big City Review
Open world games have a tendency to get bogged down in tedium. One need only look at the latest guff put out by the AAA gaming sphere to see countless examples of games promising massive open worlds with hundreds of hours of content … which tends to boil down to mindless fetch quests and a sea of meaningless collectibles. Enter Little Kitty, Big City, a game which – on the face of it – may seem a bit lacking because of its length. According to How Long to Beat, it can be completed in a mere two and a half hours if you’re mainlining the story, and my playthrough took just over five with many side objectives completed and collectibles found. As is so often the case, though, brevity breeds quality, and while Little Kitty, Big City is not without its faults, it’s still a shining example of an open world that’s actually fun to explore.
Antonblast Review
The first thing you need to know about Antonblast is that superlatives can’t properly capture how truly bonkers it is. From its neon graffiti by way of Courage the Cowardly Dog aesthetics to its blasting rock-infused rhythms to the fact that the game has a damn button that does nothing but make your character scream, this is pretty much the definition of firing on all cylinders insanity. I lost count of the number of times I could barely process what was happening on-screen – where I was just pressing buttons and not dying and calling that good. My first play session lasted for about an hour, and it simultaneously barely felt that long and had me needing a break afterwards just to stop my retinas from frying. If you want calm, collected, cultured commentary, look elsewhere, but if you want a game that hits the gas from moment one (even the opening titles got me hyped every time) and never lets up, Antonblast is your game.
Awaken – Astral Blade Review
It’s rarely a good sign when I can’t remember a game’s name. For the first couple of days I was playing Awaken – Astral Blade, I kept getting its name confused with everything from Astrea to Stellar Blade. The only thing that managed to stave off this thoroughly generic title was a joking innuendo I made with one of my friends (“I’ll awaken your astral blade 😉”), which isn’t exactly an early point in the game’s favour. Even having beaten it, I couldn’t tell you what the real meaning of the title is; I suppose the protagonist Tania wields a blade, but it’s not particularly astral in nature. Perhaps it’s just the nature of video games to have nonsense titles that don’t seem to mean anything. That being said, what really matters is if Awaken – Astral Blade is a more enjoyable and memorable experience than its title, and while I do have reservations, I think it manages to be a fairly competent action platformer.
Cave Story+ Review
Booting up Cave Story+ was a truly nostalgia-infused experience. Seeing the opening cutscene and hearing the catchy menu music immediately hooked me back in after dabbling in the original release around a decade ago. This time around, I was determined to see the game through to the end, and I’m happy to report that I did just that! Doing so wasn’t without its difficulties, though, and it’s left me with some complicated feelings to parse out. Does this indie gem from years ago still hold up? For the most part, I’d say, “Yes”.
Superliminal Review
It boggles my mind thinking about what went into programming Superliminal. This is a game where you can pick up a dollhouse, hold it in the air and let it fall to the floor at ten times its previous size, then walk inside it and find a whole new part of the level to explore. The game centres around the idea of playing with perspective, where objects that appear small at a distance suddenly are small when you pick them up. Objects phase into existence by lining up abstract pieces at the correct angle, or turn into streaks of paint on the wall when looked at the wrong way. It can be a bit of a head trip, with the game using its setting of dreams within dreams as a means of excusing these impossible occurrences. However, what surprised me most about Superliminal wasn’t the strange perspective shifts or occasionally trippy visuals, but how I ultimately found the whole experience to be … boring.
Kitsune Tails Review
It’s said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and if that’s the case, Super Mario World had better feel the sincerity emanating off every inch of Kitsune Tails. From its aesthetics to its gameplay to even the game physics, so much of Kitsune Tails feels like it’s cribbed from or paying homage to Super Mario World that it initially felt uninspired. That’s not to say that it does nothing new, as its cozy, lesbian love triangle narrative gives it a far more progressive spin than anything Mario’s been in, not to mention its setting inspired by Japanese folklore being a far cry from the Mushroom Kingdom. With such a classic game as its inspiration, though, the real question is whether Kitsune Tails can manage to slip out of the shadow of its ancestor to stand on its own.
Tinykin Review
Take a pretty standard collect-a-thon 3D platformer, throw in a healthy dose of Pikmin, and add a dash of Tony Hawk, and you have the delicious dish that is Tinykin. I went into the game knowing next to nothing about it, just that it had a cute art style and seemed to be a charming little platformer. It turned out that I wasn’t prepared for just how charming Tinykin could be, and after some initial issues with getting my controller working with it, I was off to the races and playing for hours on end. Tinykin is a delightful little title, and one that surprised me with just how great it was from start to finish.
Olive's Game Garden 