Acquiescence

[h1] TLDR: Great design overall, but this game NEEDS the ability to change keyboard/gamepad controls. [/h1] I have only played 19 minutes of this game, and for the few minutes I played, I enjoyed. When I say enjoyed, I mean the character/enemy designs, the environment, and the music are all great. This game really scratches the itch of Lovecraft-esque retro shooter. I love the main character's design as well. It is very simple and yet cool looking as well. HOWEVER, the only thing that undercut all these good qualities about the game, is its god-awful controls. I even used an XBox One Controller with the same issue. [u] Allow us to set up our own key-binds, and this will easily be a hidden gem in the Steam Games Store. [/u]

A fun and simple game. Love the music and the atmosphere :)

(Review written after beating the game on 21/08/2022) [b]GAMEPLAY[/b] "Acquiescence" is a raw, old school run & gun 2D platformer. There's no exploration. No NPCs. No cutscenes. Not even an opening story in text format. You start the game and you're thrown head first into the action. Expect lots of shooting, jumping and platforming! [b]CONTROLS[/b] - I played this on keyboard. The controls were super smooth. No complaints. - The player has a double jump by default which is very useful to jump across insta-kill hazards like spikes and such (which is what you'll be doing most of the time!). - Player can shoot sideways, upwards, diagonally up & down and while crouching. He can also dash. - The game lets you map your own keyboard layout which I felt was a big plus point. [b]VISUALS[/b] - The game's twitter page says it's inspired by the works of H.P.Lovecraft and surreal artists H.R. Giger and Zdzislaw Beksinski and it subtly shows in the games artwork. - It's got some nice pixel art backgrounds and tiles that really sell the idea of a dark and surreal world. - Enemy sprites and animations are good. - I felt that in some places, the background art pieces were somewhat inconsistent and a little "rough" around the edges. - There is also a small issue with pixel scaling. In some levels, the background art was created at a smaller size and then scaled up. The result is that there are varying pixel sizes which is visually jarring. - The artworks for most levels are monochromatic. Perhaps the level color palette could have used some contrasting colors. [b]SOUND[/b] - The background music tracks are very nicely done and they add to the dark atmosphere of the game. - SFX is decent. [b]ENEMY DESIGN[/b] - The game contains some very interesting and crazy creature designs. Some are human or humanoid, others are robotic, yet others are weird creatures that are not of this world. - Some of the more memorable ones are as follows: Dudes in straightjackets who are also on fire. Human heads in jars with robotic legs. Tentacle monsters that summon swarms of flying eyeballs. A female boss whose lower half is a centipede! Clearly, a lot of creativity and effort has gone into enemy design. - The bosses were interesting, but had very predictable attack patterns and were thus rather easy to defeat. In fact, I defeated most of them on the first try. - Each level has like 3-4 unique enemies that are not repeated in other levels. While it helps make each level stand out, I think the game could have used more generic "cannon fodder" enemies that appeared across all levels. This could have broken up the monotony a bit. - Some enemies spam lots of bullets at you non-stop, which I found rather annoying. [b]LEVEL DESIGN[/b] - There are 7 HUGE levels set in various fantastical and nightmarish environments. - If you beat a level, it is unlocked permanently, which gives the game some replay value. - Savepoints are few and far between. And you lose your progress once you quit the level, which I don't think was a good game design decision. - IMO, because of their sheer sizes, some levels felt rather repetitive and monotonous. At times, it felt like I was doing the same thing over and over. Perhaps, this could have been avoided if each of the 7 huge levels were split into smaller "stages", with their own layouts and enemy placements. [b]WEAPONS & ITEMS[/b] - You get ONE gun that fires a different projectile or energy depending on the ability (or ammo type) it's equipped with. Sort of like in the Contra and Megaman games. - When a boss is killed, a new weapon ability is unlocked and can be accessed from the inventory. - Enemies sometimes drop health and missiles. That's all you get. There are no health or ammo packs lying around (which is normally expected in platformer games). *************** [b]FINAL THOUGHTS[/b] Despite it's few, shortcomings I LIKED "Acquiescence" mainly for it's raw handmade feel and for it's freshness in terms of setting and presentation. Although the game was inspired by other media (as mentioned earlier), it still feels like an original game and is not something derivative or emulative, like a Metroidvania or a Megaman clone. "Acquiescence" is it's own thing and shines for what it is. I'd also like to add that when I beat the game I was PLEASANTLY surprised at the unexpected ending and the way it was presented. I won't give away the ending, but I'll say this: it left me feeling rewarded for all my efforts towards completing the game. Highly recommended for fans of the 2D platformer genre. Definitely "hidden gem" material. [b]FINAL RATING [/b] [b]3.5/5[/b] (-.5 for repetitiveness, -.5 for easy bosses, -.5 for art flaws). (End of Review)

My quick little first impression. I like it. I would like to mouse support, especially for shooting. The default control layout isn't great, you can change the layout to your heart desires. the review that mentioned this game needed a customizable layout got its wish. The music is good; it's not going to win any awards, it is pleasant to my ears. The sprite work & level design looks great! The only true complaint that I have is that some of the sounds are way too quiet while others are too loud, I can barely hear my gun fire & I have very sensitive hearing, the music is blastingly loud, and I didn't see a setting to adjust the volume. I would adjust these settings, otherwise, so far this is a hidden gem & I will of course update this review when I've sunk more than 10-15 minutes into it.

Not bad platformer. Simpe graphic shizo atmosphere. What do you need more?

Didn't feel good at all.