Freedom Planet

Had I not played Shovel Knight at the beginning of this year, Freedom Planet would have been my favorite retro platformer this year. But because of how fine tuned SK is, I cannot overlook the flaws in this game. What elements of old platformers that are in Freedom Planet, namely momentum challenges, level design and the boss fights towards the first half, are executed nearly perfectly. I say nearly perfectly because each has their own missteps. Unlike your retro Sonic titles, momentum on slopes is not an issue at all; you can lightly walk along curved walls at your leisure, which makes it jarring when you take Carol's motorcycle into consideration as you'll ride up ninety degree walls like they are nothing. I don't know if it was a deliberate design choice but it does take some of the immersion out of me when I'm coming up to dead-ends because I went up a wall I wasn't supposed to be able to get to. This isn't the reason why I took a way a star from my rating. It's just something I think the devs need to reconsider if they make a sequel. Level design and bosses are what got under my skin at the end of my two playthroughs (adventure mode with Lilac and Carol). The main problem is that it seems like the devs made the characters' abilities first, then the levels and the bosses separate from one another in the later half of the game. Lilac's boost ability (similar to Rocket Knight's jetpack) seems vital when fighting the last levels' bosses. Carol does not simply have enough momentum or a high enough jump to avoid certain attacks and to attack enemies out of her reach. Many times I had to exploit the invincibility frames to win the fights. Some might say this is because Carol is a harder character to play; I think it's more to do with a lack of focus. Each character, including Millia, gets their own level that works wonders with their abilities and they're great to play, despite the boss battle with Spade. So why shouldn't the final bosses be made the same?

I've had this game sitting in my library for years, but only recently I decided to play through it to tide me over until the release of Sonic Mania Plus. Expecting an experience similar to Sonic was probably my first mistake; then again, Freedom Planet deliberately inspires feelings of 16 bit nostalgia with its artstyle and promises of high speed abilities, so it didn't help itself in that regard. My first issue would be the emphasis on combat. Granted, it says right there in the description that its a "combat-based platform[er]" but I don't think even that pretense gives enough warning as to how much fighting there is. The levels are densely populated with enemies, all with their own attacks and health. Some go down in one hit, others take multiple; usually correlated by size. This first issue is also exacerbated by the second one I have, and that is the size of the levels. Any hopes for clearing a level in under a minute will be dashed, as the in-game achievements have criteria for speedrunning each level - the average being about 7 minutes. A more average clear time for a level ranges between 10 and 15 minutes. Combine that with the scores of enemies you'll be facing and each level feels like a slog, particularly towards the end of the game where the difficulty ramps up. When you do get to the end of the level, you'll naturally be greeted by a boss. Now I don't necessarily have a problem with this, but the (spoilers ahead) final level really did my head in. Essentially it got split into four parts, with each one culiminating in a boss; then the final boss of that set has 3 separate phases that might as well be their own individual boss fights! What's worse is how zoomed in the camera is, which often results in you getting blindsided by boss attacks. To summarise, the game is exhausting. When the platforming takes precedence, there's a really fun game to be had here; but it grinds to a halt in every sense when the game starts throwing enemies at you.

The title basically says it. This game feels like sonic, apart from the boss fights, which feel like standard beat-em-up bosses. The game is positively cheesy and the main protagonist is charming. Just don't expect any story depth and if you're a completionist who wants to collect everything, be prepared to spend hours searching the big levels. I found it most fun to just run through, beating up everything along the path and generally having a good time, not bothering about getting all crystals. Sure, the game doesn't win any innovation prizes, but it copies well from other great games and over all you get a fun, openly nostalgic platformer.

First off, huge shout out to an old friend, Sean Chiplock for doing an awesome job of Spade. I look forward to more of your VA roles! Freedom Planet is that game where it hits the kind of nostalgia that you came to know and love of Genesis/Saturn platformers, and kicks it up a level with its compelling story and gameplay. My first impressions of this game was, unfortunately, the idea of it playing like a Sonic & Knuckles. Boy was I wrong. This game isn't like it at all. Your characters, Lilac, Carol and Milla all play differently from one another. Just because they have the same objective, doesn't mean it'll get easier with a different character, giving this game a lot of replay value. And then there's the story. Despite some flaws and plot holes (which will probably be answered in some updated patches), this game's story has been something I needed for the longest of time. When the story threw in jokes, I laughed. When the atmosphere got tense, I got tensed. And when the game got dramatic, I felt feels. And it was all thanks to the voice acting. If a game can captivate me with just the voice actors' dialogue, then I see nothing wrong with the game at all. In fact, I was ABOUT to hate Carol due to her color scheme, until I heard her dialogue. I was immediately sold with her alongside Lilac. With Milla and Spade, I was immediately sold, and not just because one of those VAs is an old buddy of mine, no. And what's really great with each VA is that no one person truly stood out. No one's better and no one's worse than all. Every character is lovable in each of their own way. I wish I could say more, but I'm running out of characters to review. So that said, if there's a 2D platformer you need in your life, please consider getting this one. This is one of the very few games I would consider even getting at full price, and I would simply buy from them again on steam (when I have enough money) just because I think this game deserves that much love.

I purchased it on a whim thinking it might be just a fun sonic clone, but I now consider it one of my all-time favorite games. The game has a great balance of platforming and combat, the bossfights are a blast, the music fits the theme so well and gets you pumped! And the story (with voice acting!) is entertaining. It all comes together so well. This game doesn't get nearly the recognition it deserves.