If you like the egyptian setting this game pulls you into, then you're in for a treat. There's some fun to be had with the classic adventure puzzles and funny dialogues. Unlike the second and third game here on GoG (to date), this one has the German voices included, you just need to swap out / rename the language folders in "/media/conversations". And voila, Ankh's voices are played back in your preferred language! Fun fact: the game also works fine in triple-widescreen mode, although the menus will be stretched. --- Sofern ihr Rätsel-Spiele mit ägyptischem Setting mögt, wird euch Ankh sicher ein paar Stunden in den Bann ziehen können. Geboten werden klassische Adventure Puzzles und durchaus witzige / unterhaltsame Dialoge. Im Gegensatz zum zweiten und dritten Teil hier auf GoG (aktuell), sind hier die deutschen Stimmen mit enthalten, man muss nur die Sprachordner in "/media/conversations" austauschen/umbenennen. Und Voila! Die Stimmen von Ankh werden in deiner bevorzugten Sprache wiedergegeben! Fun Fact: Das Spiel funktioniert auch im Triple-Screen Modus, auch wenn die Menüs dann gestreckt werden.
Freedom Planet is a love letter to the16-bit era of platform gaming, with beautifully crafted graphics, lovely animations, a wonderful soundtrack and great level design that invites you to look around rather than just quickly rush past the scenery. There are many inside jokes, references and homages to videogame culture to be found. Depending on which of the three characters you choose to play, the levels will be slightly different. Some levels are unique to a specific character, increasing the overall amount of content and adding a lot of replay value. While I adore the amount of detail that was poured into the Story Mode cutscenes, they are somewhat tedious to watch after a while. Luckily you can switch to Classic Mode, which eliminates all of them and gives you pure platform action. Be warned there are a lot of boss fights in Freedom Planet. And sadly they are often more frustrating than fun. They usually get easier once you figured out how to beat an enemy, but more often than not stun-attacks will temporarily paralyze your movements and kill you. Dying means you have to repeat each and every wave of that particular boss, which makes it a tiresome procedure at times. On the plus side, finishing a level unlocks it for you in Time Attack mode, finishing the game rewards you with free level select. Overall, the boss fights are just a minor complaint compared to the rest. My verdict: 5 stars! While the game is undoubtedly inspired by various famous 90's platform titles, it does not deliberately try to be either of them. Besides well-known and established game mechanics, it offers a plethora of new and inventive features, too. This is not Sonic, it's not Rocket Knight Adventures or Gunstar Heroes. This is Freedom Planet. Do yourself a favor and stop reading reviews, start playing the game!
