Animal Gods

Every Kickstarter backer's fear: An unfinished product. First, I was given a sword. I used it to kill the one type of mindless enemy. Then it was taken away. Next, I was given a bow and arrow. I used it to kill the one type of mindless enemy. Then it was taken away. In a small twist, I was given the abilty to dash past obstacles. I dashed past obstacles. Then it was taken away. Finally, I wandered to the last chapter. I was slowly given back my sword... then my bow.. then my dash move... then the credits rolled. Aside from the two hours it takes to complete, the minimal story elements, and the mostly irritating music, Animal Gods reminds me of the tutorail section of a Zelda game. You know, the first few dungeons that are really just preparing you for the rest of the game... I sure hope they finish it.

I have not played this game all the way through, but that is because that which I have played quite severly turned me off of it. My first impression was that it would be an art piece with the mechanics of the genre done well enough that one can focus on the visual emersion. However the lair of the Snake god which was the first dungeon piece I took part in, was filled with dull unrewarding gameplay that focused quite entirely on the subliminal story driven religious message. which might have worked had I been doing anything other than hitting boxes with a stick then restarting a section if I touched a box. Moving on only when all the boxes had been sufficiently hit. which makes it sound way more interesting than it actually was. The music which was immedidiately striking was set on loop for my entirity of my play time such that I truly had no motivation to keep hitting boxes. Maybe it gets better, I'll hope for the best.

Animal Gods es un juego hecho por Still Games, un pequeño estudio independiente que se presenta en sociedad con este título. Y con lo de pequeño no es que esté exagerando, es que está compuesto por dos personas, un diseñador y una programadora. Además, ha participado en el desarrollo del juego un encargado de la banda sonora y los efectos de sonido. Como no sería justo valorar el juego de la misma manera que lo hacemos con los triple A, intentaré destacar sus puntos positivos, aunque realmente es un título con bastantes cosas por pulir. He leído varias veces que Animal Gods es un juego con un aire a los Zelda clásicos, pero os puedo asegurar que el parecido viene por algunas decisiones de diseño que supongo que son intencionadas. Si el protagonista fuera moreno y utilizara armas de fuego en vez de un arco y una espada, nadie pensaría en Link al verlo. Primero porque estéticamente no tiene nada que ver con el estilo Nintendo de los 90 y segundo porque el juego no es un RPG ni nada que se le parezca. De hecho, no sabría en que género encuadrarlo, porque de las 2 horas que dura más o menos, una y media te la vas a pasar andando y leyendo textos, sin poder decidir ni hacia dónde ir ni qué decir. El resto del tiempo, lo único que hay para hacer es matar cuadrados (sí, así son los enemigos) o bien con la espada o bien con el arco, dependiendo del escenario elegido. En el tercer mundo disponible, no tendremos ningún arma, sólo una capa que nos permitirá deslizarnos por encima de unas corrientes que, según parece, podrían ser veneno, pero el protagonista no lo acaba de tener claro. Si a esta poca actividad, le sumas una música repetitiva y una velocidad más bien pausada, lo mejor que te puede pasar mientras lo juegas es que te duermas. Además, el juego tiene otras dos decisiones de diseño inexplicables que ralentizan más el ritmo del juego. El detalle de los escenarios es más bien escaso, optando por una ambientación minimalista, pero por alguna extraña razón han decidido incluir por todas partes una rayas horizontales en los caminos, que supongo que son escaleras. Algo que, aparte de no tener ningún sentido en un mundo en dos dimensiones, aún hacer que el protagonista se mueva más despacio. El otro error de diseño, importante en mi opinión, aparece en los diálogos (monólogos más bien). El texto avanza más bien lento, teniendo en cuenta que no hay voces, las frases son cortas y para pasarlas hay que pulsar algún botón. El problema es que cada dos líneas, aparecen unos puntos suspensivos, que tardan lo mismo que una frase entera en cargar y que también hay que hacer pasar apretando alguna tecla. Un desespero. En cuanto a la historia, pues la iremos conociendo poco a poco, a través de las hojas de un diario y las notas esparcidas por cualquier rincón de los escenarios. Personalmente le he encontrado demasiadas referencias religiosas y no precisamente críticas, por lo que no sé muy bien por dónde pillar Animal Gods en este sentido. Lo que sí me queda bastante claro es que no parece un juego terminado, ni a nivel de guión, ni de mecánicas, ni de ideas en general. Algo que, para ser un juego financiado vía Kickstarter, es bastante preocupante. Y para hacer aún más evidente esa falta de ideas, cuando acabas de recorrer los interminables pasillos del juego y te pasas el juego, se desbloquea un nuevo modo de juego llamado “09 Lives” que no nada varia en absoluto. Ni la dificultad, ni el número de enemigos, ni sus movimientos. El único cambio es que en vez de tener vidas infinitas, sólo tendremos nueve, como su propio nombre indica. Y si las acabamos todas antes de llegar al final, tendremos que volver a empezar de cero. Creo que el punto de partida de Animal Gods es muy bueno, pero a medida que se fueron traspasando las ideas del papel a la pantalla, fue perdiendo fuerza. El resultado es un juego demasiado lento, como si nos quisiera animar a contemplarlo sin prisas, pero el problema es que no hay nada que mirar, porque todo es muy sencillo. NOTA: 4/10

While I didn't really enjoy Animal Gods, the game has some redeeming qualities which could make some people enjoy the game a lot more than I did. The biggest problem I had with Animal Gods is that it is just a pretty boring game. The art style is pretty good and the story could be interesting but the game play drags down the game in my opinion. The controls work fine but the mechanics just aren't that interesting. The dash ability is fun for a while but I was kind of bored with it by the end of the "dungeon". The combat in the game is pretty dull since all you have to do is find a safe spot close enough to the enemies to be able to strike them without being hit since the enemies won't chase you. If you like games that mostly focus on the art style and story I think you could enjoy Animal Gods quite a bit. If the game play is most important to you though, I would at least wait for a sale to purchase Animal Gods. Note: I received a free review copy from the developer. [url=http://www.geekyhobbies.com/this-weeks-steam-releases-and-reviews-october-16th-2015/#AnimalGods] Read My Full Review [/url]

I'm conflicted. I backed this game on Kickstarter, and I don't regret that, but I did expect more from this. The game plays out as long stretches of beautiful scenery and music, punctuated by an "Animal God Dungeon", where you gain access to a single ability to use through the dungeon. After 3 of these dungeons, you're granted access to the final dungeon, which allows you to use your previously gained abilities for the final stretch to game completion. And unfortunately, that is the entirety of the game in a nutshell. It's got a fantastic ambience to it, and is aesthetically pleasing, but ultimately is just... not very fun. I feel like there are some great concepts in progress here, but they're... incomplete. They have a lot more potential than what was ultimately used in the game, and I hope that the devs manage to build upon them some more over time. Sadly, I just can't bring myself to recommend the game in its current state.

*sigh* I really don't want to tear this game appart, I see what the devs tried to do here and it seems like a legitimate, passionate little piece of software, but... It definitely has it's fair share of problems. First off, the art style is absolutely beautiful, I really hope the devs continue using this style in their future games. The animations though, they don't look that good, besides some neat effects achieavable by the engine itself, the overall animations of the main protagonist are hideous to look at. Then there's the level design, it's just so linear and basic at times, I wonder if they were made in just a few hours and slapped together some pretty art to justify the price tag. And the price tag... Yeah, its pretty hard to recommend at its current price tag, especially considering how short the thing is, I literally finished this game in just a few days in my spare time at the office. So yeah, overall, I hope the dev makes something better in the future, because this game just isn't fun or even that interesting, there are glimpses of neat ideas in it's story, but drops them off almost immediatly. Get this at a heavy discount to support the dev, just keep your expectations in check.

[h1] Interesting visuals are not enough to make a good game. Most of time you stand next to enemies waiting to strike them as they move in predetermined pattern. One hit and you're back to checkpoint. After defeating some cubes move to next area. Gameplay is one of the most shallow I've ever seen. There's probably 3 zones with boss fights by the end and in each one you gather one ability like dash or weapon like bow. It's nothing like Zelda. Safe skip. [/h1]

Gorgeous art, disappointing gameplay. The game play is a tedious and unrewarding slog with no heart. I was expecting a Zelda-like experience, as promised, but this is not Zelda or even Zelda-like except in the broadest possible interpretation; it might have worked better as a point-and-click puzzle adventure, or a JRPG, than a sort-of-maybe-kind-of "platformer". I truly wish the game had turned out better given I helped KickStart it. If you can steel yourself enough to put up with the game play, the art is indeed stunning, and the music is beautiful (if repetitive)--with these the developers met and exceeded expectations.

I fully enjoyed the two hours it took to traverse this very unique game. It's a little artistic, and some may find it pretensious. It suffers from the comparisons that have been made to the zelda series - including from the creators. I found the art, sounds, and light story elements to be engrossing, and the gameplay to be perfectly tuned in challenge given the small amount of game there actually is. I was pushed to near the breaking point a few times (why can't I warp through this laser section!) but never past it; and neither did I feel it was too easy and I was wasting my time. But make no mistake, each "dungeon" has a very linear path with very little exploration to be had. I've seen complaints about the dungeons giving you abilities and then taking them away. I actually thought it was interesting and focused having each dungeon only allow a single ability, and makes the most out of what you can do with that ability. You only do ONE thing, but the challenge level is very fluid. They are more skill-based than puzzle-based. There definitely is a lack of variation in gameplay. The story is a little too light, and told in a disjointed style that makes it unclear what it is even about. It's more of a mood piece. I liked the mood, and if you are into the sort of writing where you have to fill in the blanks yourself to take whatever meaning you can take, you may like it. I found the writing probably the weakest part of the game. The standout here is the art. It's a very different style, that plays with shapes, lines, layers, and negative space. Nearly every scene has standout elements that are not seen anywhere else in the game. If this doesn't interest you your experience with the game will be diminished. On the other hand, if those artistic merits do interest you, it's probably worth a playthrough for that alone. Disclaimer: I was a kickstarter backer. I found the game to be... quite different from what I expected.