... only it didn't love me back. My current progress indicator hangs at around 25% or so, I don't quite remember because I haven't touched the game in weeks. Stuck in another tedious boss fight which is just, for the lack of a better description, too damn cryptic to make it through. Before the introduction of the "relaxed mode" (or watchamacallit) where you basically take no damage, I was stuck at 11% progress. This game is just way too hard for the aged casual gamer, as I would describe myself, although I certainly have beaten lots of classic platformers back in the days. So the main fact why my savegame is lying unfinished is that I simply gave up. It doesn't tickle my interest enough so that I would want to spend another tedious session getting by that "Ash" dude. Don't get me wrong, the game is beautifully executed! The graphics are cute, astounding sometimes, every now and then tripping down memory lane not quite remembering which good old classic they remind me of, but it's there. The sound is fantastic as well. Controls are crisp and the animations are spot-on. From a technical point of view, it is absolutely flawless. So why only two stars? Because when you look behind the still pictures, actually play it for a while, it becomes boring, repetitive and often enough just plain unfair. There are not enough rewards to keep me going. The long, long cut scenes with their often ridiculous dialogues could be reduced to half their length, at least. You can tell a good story without having to run a book's worth of text over the screen. Will that blond girl whose name I already forgot find back her brother and ... what was the game's main goal again? I will never find out. Well, maybe I'll find a nice walkthrough video on the Y'tub some day.
