This game uses photogrammetry to accurately represent real objects in 3D environments. It's hands down the best looking game I've ever played. Rocks have interesting mossy growth and cracks. Buildings have stains wear from the elements. It's just a level of detail I've never seen duplicated anywhere else in the medium. The wallpapers are simply stunning because of it. The music is fantastic. It's dripping with atmosphere, but it never goes over the top. I listen to it all the time while working. It's unsettling enough that it keeps me alert and focused, but it's not distracting. It's a great soundtrack. The digital maps are really cool, but don't look at them until you've played the game, since they have spoilers. I got this for free since I pre-ordered the game, but I think it would be well worth the money for the soundtrack alone.
The game is beautiful. The colors and the way the world looks is fantastic. But the gameplay is just dull. It's called a platformer, but it isn't even really that. You basically hold a dash button to run around and solve simplistic mazes with occasional combat and a random stealth element thrown in for fun. Precise movements are rarely, if ever, required and there is no challenge. Even the combat is basic and requires no challenges. The boss fights are a little more creative, but they don't really have a higher challenge either. The enemies don't get any more difficult either, for the most part, but you continually unlock new abilities and get stronger, which just serves to make the combat even more boring. On top of this, the save system is terrible. There are built in checkpoints that function well enough, but the game doesn't save at those checkpoints. You only continue from the checkpoint if you die and continue to play. If you decide to turn the game off before reaching an actual save point, you can say goodbye to any progress you made. Those save points are occasionally far between too, which is just unacceptable at this point. I remember at least one section that took me nearly an hour to get to the next save point. The story is fairly entertaining, but rather simplistic. Overall, I think the game would appeal to children. My kids enjoyed watching it and liked the story, but I was very bored. If you're looking for something new that will tickle your 3D platforming itch as an adult, look elsewhere.
My buddy played through this alone and insisted it was a fantastic game we needed to play together. i thought the concept sounded cool and I do like metroidvania games. As a single player experience, this game appears to be great. The puzzles are simple and the abilities are fun with fast, fluid combat. Add multiplayer to the mix and the guacamelee becomes a bit sour. Many of the games puzzles involve platforming while switching between the world of the living and dead, which causes other platforms to appear and disappear. This makes some of the platforming just impossible with two people. Instead of making it workable, they added a feature to turn into an orb to be able to move to your partner and re-materialize. This meant most of the platforming was done by one person while the other watched... or ended in some hilarious-at-first deaths that just became tedious. It's another one of those games where they added multiplayer because. And just because. I think the game is probably much better in single player. The dimension switching alone causes other issues, since any player can switch dimensions at will. Add to this the monster's ability to inflict damage but be immune to it if you are in the opposite dimension as them and arenas full of monsters in both dimensions and you have a chaotic situation on your hands.
I quite enjoyed this game. The artwork is amazing and the storytelling is very unique. The sound effects all fit the game very well. I enjoyed the puzzles a lot. Even though there only a few mechanics I didn't feel like the puzzles ever really repeated themselves. I've seen other reviews complain about the difficulty of this game. It's really not THAT difficult. Sure, you die, bu the checkpoint is usually 30 seconds back. The boss fights are puzzles and I'm sure you'll die several times figuring them out. At times it might be frustrating, but the game took less than 10 hours to complete. It's not that difficult. But then, I grew up playing things like Ninja Gaiden, so maybe I'm a glutton for punishment. Games should be challenging, and with that challenge comes a sense of accomplishment when you do finish the game. It takes real effort, but it's worth it.
A must have for old Gauntlet fans. This game features: Large mazes filled with interesting puzzles and secrets. Hordes of enemies that spawn endlessly until the spawn is destroyed. Unique abilities for each of 5 character classes. Two full campaigns and several other game modes. Local multiplayer for up to 2 and up to 4 over the internet. This game MUST be played with a controller. Keyboard is just painful. I've had a good time playing this with friends and solo. Not a bad game to just join people in mid-session either since you get all the money they have collected along the way. Stopping at a shop gets you caught up with everybody else really quickly. The gauntlet remake bonus levels are just fun (and worth lots of money).
