Timespinner

It's a good platformer but the gameplay was a liitle bit to easy for me and after 8h I finished the game. Thanks for support Linux ;)

Good game overall. Good story. Great production value with nice retro graphics. Think Super Metroid: the fantasy, shorter more story-driven version. It was a little bit on the easy side (you have the option to play hard once you complete the game, I think you should start with that option) and I could just brute force my way through most of the bosses without having to figure out their patterns or without having to use the time mechanic which is a shame (though I explored every nook and cranny which leveled me up a lot, you might have an harder time if you just blitz through the game). There are offensive gear combos to explore which is nice. Some of the gear is very similar (they could probably have cut the equipment variety by half), but still, it adds a nice flavor to the game. Level design was not utterly revolutionary, but it was well done and it conveyed a lot of atmosphere. There was also a nice amount of variation in the opponents I faced throughout the game. The story is not afraid to explore more darker/controversial themes (polygamy, unwanted children, short term dalliances with the intent of having a child, using murder to solve problems, etc) which is nice and the time mechanic is woven into the story in an interesting way. I do wish they had integrated more forks into the story (chuck it to limited resources I guess) and characters were a bit bland though (but the game is fairly short so I guess you have only so much to work with there). So, overall, will this be a classic that an entire generation will reminisce about 20 years from now? Probably not, but its a solid effort well worth playing, especially for fans of the genre. It definitely pulled me in for a good 10-20 hours and who knows, maybe a couple of years down the line, I might even play it again (at a higher difficulty mind you).

This Platventure is pretty solid, especially if you like Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. You can equip 2 orbs, which simulate a weapon or spell, and there's a fair amount of variety to be found, even if most are just blunt or sharp, and you get only one for each elemental, which seems like a missed opportunity, but most games fall into this same trap. Each can level up on its own, so you can keep them relevant throughout the game, and still have the right elementals at your disposal; they level up fairly quickly, too, so you won't really need to grind. In fact, you won't need to grind for much of anything; movement is quick and fluid, and the game isn't super difficult overall. There are a few points where exploration really opens up, too, giving you a fair amount of freedom. The toppings of this sundae are pretty good, too. Visually, the game is stunning; the pixel art is fantastic, and character design is fairly unique. The environments are striking, too, in a dark sort of way. The soundtrack is overall very good; it's reminiscent of Castlevania, but that's not exactly a bad thing. The story was surprisingly good, too; usually time travel stories don't work very well, but this managed to tackle some interesting topics, and did a good job with most of them. If you're a fan of this kind of game, you'll probably find plenty to like, even if it isn't likely to blow your mind.

A game that answers the question, "What if Symphony of the Night — but Chrono Trigger?" Well, actually, it draws inspirations from way more games than that. (The back-and-forth between two maps thing feels a lot like A Link to the Past, for example.) It blends a lot of elements together well. Its visual style works for the game it's trying to be, its enemy design is clever at times, and it has a pretty satisfying level of rewarding exploration and backtracking. It's not that long — I finished my first playthrough in 9 hours — but I don't mark that against it. (Hollow Knight is not much longer, and Hollow Knight is one of the best games I've ever played.) However, given how short it is, it's far too easy to accidentally outlevel the enemies and bosses if you're playing on Normal difficulty, and there's one too many weapon orbs that are just a rehash of the first orb. Those things wouldn't stand out as much if the game were bigger, but as a game that's a relatively contained experience, they become noticeable. (Nightmare difficulty fixes one of those issues, if you're willing to play through it twice.) I like most of the characters, but I dislike the "backstory" they gave Nuvius, the evil emperor. It also seems like the demon siblings were originally planned to take up more space in the game, but they actually just disappear after you beat them. All of the endings even mention dealing with the demons still hanging around, when that feels like it could have been another quest for the player to take on — finishing what you started, in a way. The game still presents Lunais with interesting decisions in each ending, and each one feels "right" in a different way. At the same time, none of them are clean, perfect "happy" endings. So the story definitely has strong moments. All around solid game for Metroidvania fans.

I really really wanted to like this game. It looks amazing (that waterfall background is one of the most beautiful areas I've ever seen in a game), music is wonerful (especially the piano tunes) and so far is the indie game that feels closer to Symphony of the night in terms of presentation and atmosphere. It's not a clone though, as this one is set in a different planet and you explore past and future versions of it, where a few changes made in the first have an effect in the later. Characters and story are interesting too and, even though I don't need to relate morally to a game, this one shares some nice values. The huge problem is, as many other comments stated before, the difficulty. I bought this game once, refunded it, and decided to give it a second chance (even hoping the developer would patch it now that the sequel is announced). Now I'll refund it again because I consider it unplayable. Normal difficulty is so easy, that once you upgrade your scythes they just float around you killing almost every enemy you touch. And if you play on hard mode (first finishing the game on normal, or using the code NIGHTMARE777) any enemy can kill you with a couple of hits. That would not be such a big issue if it wasn't for the fact that some save rooms are very far from each other, forcing you to lose a lot of progress because you made a slight mistake. Some hardcore gamers might enjoy the hard mode, others may like the very casual gameplay of normal difficulty; but in my case I'll just hope the sequel is a lot more balanced.