Pid

If you are interested in PID it's probably worth picking up despite its flaws. It has a vivid and unique art style (something not enough games value these days). The soundtrack is solid all the way through and some of the gameplay (specifically the puzzle element) is entertaining and relaxing - mostly towards the beginning. Also PID's code seems especially polished as I had zero issues during my time with the game. I commend the developers on this, as I see too many indies become critical or popular darlings but retain buggy code (Hotline Miami), something that should be inexcusable. The bad part: unfortunately PID is slow in introducing new gameplay elements, making it feel repetitive and at times frustrating which is why I think you see many reviews describing it as too easy or too hard. There are stealth sections for example that feel unending simply because the gameplay does not progress or change for several maps. Conversely there are sections and gameplay elements that seem all too brief (seeds that uncover secret stairs and space jumping towards the end). There are also several time gated sections that regardless of your difficulty setting are the same and feel obnoxiously punishing to get through. I played the game on normal most of the way through and it took me 10.5hrs to finish with about 350 deaths. Unlike other indies that make death "just part of the game" without feeling especially punishing (Gucamelee! Hotline Miami) PID resets the section you die on taking you out of the flow of the game and wearing on you over time. Lastly, although the story could be worthwhile, it is hamstrung by banal writing that is expositional, lacking much flavor, humor, or character. There's a lot of unrealized potential in PID. There are many things to like about the game, but too many grievances that prevent me from really falling in love with it. One hopes the developers do a sequel simply to realize the greatness this game has but can't deliver.

I was excited to get this game since the trailer looked very promising. Just to be clear, I am not a hardcore platform gamer but I enjoy the genre a lot and I like supporting independent developers. Indeed, the game is visually beautiful, the scenery and character design have been well thought out and most of the music fits the game well, it's simplistic and nice to listen to. And that's probably all the good stuff about Pid. My experience with all other aspects of the game was terrible. I finished the game in normal mode, total time was 18 hours or so (yeah). The actual game progression was at most 7-8 hours. The remaining 10-11 hours were retries, retries and... retries. Most of the areas in the game consist of a series of puzzles / things to do carefully in order to not get hit / spotted and get to the next area. Whenever you accidentally do something wrong and die, the game re-places you at the beginning of the area so that you must go through ALL of the stuff to reach the same position again. This game is in need of checkpoints (actually there are some checkpoints in the game, but not at all wherever needed). There are also some boss-areas in the game, most of which (if not all) are really frustrating. I realized that in order to beat them I didn't have to use my instincts and find a way, I just had to guess exactly what the game designers had in mind when creating them. Not to mention that the controls sometimes get so clunky which makes things even worse. Towards the end of the game I wanted to quit but I went on because I had already spent lots of hours in it. Usually, after finishing a game, I look for extras, unlocked modes, cutscenes, etc. In this game, after beating the last scene, the first thing I wanted to do was to uninstall it. I would actually love to see one of the game creators play the game from beginning to end without getting frustrated. Excuse me for the huge and "bad" review, but the reason I play games is to entertain myself (or even relax after work) and have a good time. This game was mostly cumbersome and frustrating for me (1 star goes for the audio / visual implementation).

The game has a compelling story, unfortunately it's not compelling enough to trundle through the puzzles, considering that Kurt is made of wet paper and everything can one-hit kill him, even without touching him. Shops are utterly useless as the other user say, secrets, are, as the other user says, not worth wasting the time and effort of reaching them.

A precision demanding puzzle platformer with heavily inert controls, try-fail-repeat design, slightly warped perspective due to 2.5D and checkpoint autosave system for a non-linear levels? Seems a miracle it's even playable. Still, barely enjoyable, as mentioned pitfalls make any potentially interesting challenge frustrating. Such a waste for all the art style, sound design and general charm.

I'm actually not a huge platform gamer, but this game looked to unique that I had to try it. That being said it was surprisingly fun and creative. The animation style is also fun to look at. I'm not sure if I'm the most reliable person to review a platformer (since they're my least favourite), but I enjoyed this game!