I played this game when it was new-ish. Still return to it regularly. It was kinda dated even back then in era full of "GTA-clones", but it's different enough to be enganging: run'n'gun with bullettime, wall hopping, absurd extra guns and temporary power ups - fast, fun and addictive. It does not takes itself seriously, story is really simple and at moments does not make very much sense, the humor is corny, the hero is a walking stereotype and throws cheesy one-liners all the time. Soundtrack is banging, atmopshere is great, just pure 00's fun. There are a lot of challenges, extra points and upgrades to grab in the open world. Personally I give it 5 stars, but to be fair it can be clunky sometimes and you can feel that it had a smaller budget and devs had to cut some corners. Still, it's a lot of stupid fun. If you have never played it, and you are open to check this hidden gem of the GTA-clone craze of the time - you're gonna have a good time!
Many people compare this to Dust: An Elysian Tail and in some way it makes sense. Both are indie games, created mostly by one person, story driven metroidvania, beautiful graphics and sound, good controls, mechanics, etc. But Dust has more manga/sad disney atmosphere, this one takes you to pixel art religious dystopia. Most of the time it does not takes itself too serious, it has a lot of humour in it, but the lore and background story is quite good, expect some twists. At first this world is strange and has a lot of things that are not explained to you, but the game slowly unravels almost everything to you. The characters are great, really nice written for a platformer like this. Difficutly is spot on, pacing is good, there is backtracking but it doesn't feel like a pain in the lower back. Also the underwater segments didn't make me want to break my controller in half and that's rare. The puzzles are not frustrating, some of them are easy, some require more meddling with it but I didn't need any gamefaqs. Core elements are very well executed, the detail of the world is awesome, each area is distinctive, sound design is awesome... Even if you are not a platformer/metroidvania geek you should play this game, one of the best games available on GOG. Overall great, highly immersive experience. PLAY IT
All I can say that this is an incredible game. One of the best that are here on GOG. But I'll note here at the start - I don't recommend playing it on keyboard, it was designed to be played on a pad. If you're a metroidvania type of game fan - you're at home. If you're not - do not worry - I'm not to and despite that I enjoyed massively this game. The combat system is simple enough to learn it and it doesn't take that much to master it and have fun. There are some RPG elements in the game, you gain exp from slaying monsters (additional bonus exp from big hit chains) and you distribute the stat points. You also have an inventory which enhances further your stats, you can gather materials and "craft" the stuff. Honestly it's just a way of progression in the game, something to keep you interested beyond the story and hacking through enemies, it is also a good system of rewarding the player - the best stuff comes from treasure chests that are optional, but many of them require more effort to get to them. The visuals are amazing, everything is hand made, very coherent and just full of character. I loved the voice acting in the game. And the soundtrack is also very good. The story.. The whole game is just worth playing for the story. Although it's not very complicated it's very interesting, inspiring and at the end - heartwarming. The world that was created for the game contains many mysteries that are unsolved, many basics of this universe are very shortly described without much background, but that really didn't bother me, it's not a massive AAA openworld rpg (thank God). Consider it as a tale. It's not a very long game, it took me 9+ hours to finish it doing some of the optional quests and stuff but I can say every hour was worth it and I'm satisfied with it. Go buy it, support the devs and enjoy the game.
I've never understood the whole Harvest Moon thing. But I gave a shot to this game... I was hooked from the first minutes. It's adorable. It's lovely. It's pleasant. And I promise, there was a moment when I felt moved. The story and characters are superb - a little stereotypical and childlish - but so well done. The gameplay is varied - you can manage your farm, plant different things and craft different things, you can fight your way through the mines and other places and earn some loot and minerals, you can fish, explore or just goof around. The beautiful side of this game that there's never any hurry - of course, if you want to progress fast you need to maintain effectivness in your daily schedule - but if you want to take it easy - you can. There's really a lot of events and different things you can do, it can give really a great ammonut of hours of gameplay. One of the best buys on GOG.
I've spent some time with the game, tried different variations and I think I can review this properly. This game brought me back to the times when I was spending evenings on Newgrounds playing those old flash games, simulators included. There were a lot of them. And this is exatcly like them. Just better, more polished, funnier and more entertaining. Warning! If you think this is a FIGHTER game, don't buy it. It's 100% management/sim. Standard stuff : maintain your character needs while trying to get some cash while developing skills and winning fights. Sounds simple - but it isn't. The game encourages three developement styles - strength, agility or stamina based. But you must maintain some balance anyway to have any chance, for example buffing yourself to the maximum in STR will give you nothing because your fighter will be exhausted and on the floor after first 3 punches. I found the STR/STA based character the best, but it's my experience. Game offers some plot, some quests, a heck ton of pop-cultural references and gags and it's pretty in it's own retro style (if you dig it). There are moments when the difficulty just goes over the roof (like finishing the rookie leauge and then going to play offs), but with a little grind later they're managable. The whole fighting thing also requires some strategy and thinking - you can unlock many skill that will help you battle different types of enemies, depending on what stats they base on. It's simple but enganging enough. It takes some time to raise your fighter well enough to kick ass, but it's worth it. Fun little game.
I feel like I'm in minorty in this, but well... The whole concept behind the game is good. The story is confusing at start, but as the time passes by it becomes more clear and interesting. Of course you have the main baddy, of course you have your allies that guide you and you're the one destined to win, but it doesn't feel so boring throughout the game. The lore that was created for the game is also something fresh and new. The quests are good, with a sense of humor and a large variety of things to do. The writing of most conversations is solid and fun. But the gameplay is something that ruins everything for me. Fighting and leveling your character just feels like copied from some cheap MMO. Fighting feels awkward and bases on button mashing and smashing those hotkeys for skills, sometimes you need to think how to approach a large group of enemies, that's all. Also the enemies just feel mostly like copy pasted, just with different skins and names. I feel like fighting is just a chore. And that's a big part of the game. It isn't a AAA budget game so the graphics weren't top notch at realease. It's quite pretty, in some places there was a lot of effort put in, but the engine is not well optimised. Also, the animations used in conversations and facial expressions.. Are mostly silly and unnatural, but the cheesy British voice acting helps me forget about it ;) TL;DR : solid game that was nicely written but with really bland gameplay and mechanics.
A few minutes ago I finished this beautiful game. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It made sad. It made me happy. It's a wonderful story which you will feel attached with. A story about life, love, dreams, compassion and destiny. It's inspiring. The graphics are nostalgic and beautiful, not to mention that so well fitted soundtrack. If you're tired of slashing hordes of goblins, killing off random terrorists and conquering the world.. Go for this one. It's worth your time. I guarantee.
