Underhero

Getting this right out of the way... as Underhero makes perfectly clear in its description, the game is heavily inspired by the Paper Mario series. This is particularly clear in the game's combat and two-dimensionality, which draw a lot from the series. When fighting, you have a series of actions that you can use to attack (sword, slingshot, hammer), defend (shield, jump, duck), or heal (potions). You use up stamina points with almost every action; you can increase these (or your health or your damage dealt) every time you level up. At most, you'll be doing 20-30 damage per attack; since enemies seem to max out around 100 or 200 HP, that's not a problem. The story starts with a subversion of the most common RPG trope: the hero fails to rescue the princess, and is defeated not by the big bad, but by a faceless minion. Over the course of the game - about 12 hours or so - you initially seem to be reconstructing these tropes. You go on a series of quests and try to power yourself up so you can take down the big boss. However, in the last two hours or so the game takes a hard left turn, going from simply hinting at postmodernism to actively deconstructing everything from tropes to mechanics. Sadly, I can't go into too much detail without spoiling. You just need to experience it. There are a few shortcomings. The combat can become repetitive, and one of the later dungeons just goes on too long for its own good. That being said, Underhero is easily worth the asking price. I can't recommend it enough.

This game is one of my greatest joys this year. It is basically the spiritual successor to "Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door". And I'm not exaggerating. Before writing this review I was thinking "how to explain to GOG users what this game is about?", And I still don't know how to explain it in an exquisite way, as the title deserves, so, within my possibilities, allow me to affirm that it is a unique experience. Completely unique. It works like an RPG, it works like an adventure, it works like a platform game, it works like a rhythmic game, it works like a puzzle game and it works like a narrative game. It is brilliant how Underhero incorporates multiple elements of the games and builds a jewel as surprising as the aforementioned Paper Mario was. If you love games, especially if you were a player from the 1990s, Underhero is a love letter, and especially a sigh in front of all this ton of generic titles that we have received in recent years. Here we have a level design and love of games class, and that spirit is explicit from the beginning until the final PHENOMENAL of the game. Not only do I suggest buying this jewel, I encourage you to play it TODAY. Is unforgettable!

I really wanted to give this game lower then 5 stars since It has quite a few negatives I can mention...but I can't...there is so much love and attention put into it by a very small team...it deserves the score. So about the game... Negatives: the things that pissed me off the most are the platforming mechanics. They feel like a chore and the controls are pretty bad (character slips after landing, jump is based on how long you press the button so its inaccurate) and the puzzles themselves seem to be there just to waste your time, its not difficult just annoying. Other then that the game has weird alt-tabing and resolution issues (you have to go windowed and drag the screen to make it get to 1440p for instance... and there is no mouse support. I didn't have the controller issues other people are complaining about tho. Positives: I really like the combat mechanics...the game is a bit laid back and slow, so anyone can pick it up, meaning there isn't much in the way of challenge, but it is quite unique. Its not turned based but not quite real time either...its timing based, almost rhythm based, you have to look at the enemy animations and react accordingly (parry,block, attack, jump). I liked it a lot, I just wish it got better/ more challenging over time. The things that stand out the most tho are the humor, the story and the bosses. All those I found very well made and they carried me to the end. Also the final boss is quite spectacular...really blew my mind and was totally unexpected. Well done. Big thanks for GOG for recommending this and to the devs for making it, hope to see more from them. Cheers.

This game has quite a charm. It starts off a bit cheesy, maybe too self-aware, but it gets better as it goes. While the game alludes to Paper Mario, I find it more similar to the Mario & Luigi series, at least when it comes to evasion in the battle system. The battles can be a bit drawn out, but the amount of enemies is actually pretty low, all things considered. Things like enemies and coins never respawn, giving a strong sense of permanence to the world. I think the battle system could have been more varied, being limited to the same 3 attacks in a "turn"-based system, but I still appreciate the unique mechanics it introduces. I liked being able to talk to enemies before taking action! While the game isn't really designed with replayability in mind, I can see people doing "bribe" runs, sparing as many enemies as possible, specially since this offers additional dialog. It took me about 14 hours to 100%, a few of those which were spent hunting down a few missed collectibles. The game is designed so you can do everything on a single playthrough, which I like. Sadly, the game's achievements bugged on me, leaving quite a few achievements locked and the unlock order nonsensical. Speaking of bugs, I encountered a few during my playthrough, mostly related to moving platforms and one in-battle, but the overall experience is pretty smooth. (I did not face any controller bugs some reviews mention.) *SPOILER-ISH*: While the ending is a bit predictable, having only a handful of primary characters to connect the dots with, I still enjoyed the story! It has some genuinely great moments, and the comedy hits well. Since I didn't immediately see a rating or warning I feel compelled to say that the game has a few mature moments; it looks generally kid-friendly but I would probably give it a "T" rating.