Batbarian: Testament of the Primordials

It's a pretty good game gameplay-wise, except for the fact that Pip's abilities are limited in use. If you're a completionist and keep getting every pouch upgrade, you'll still be annoyed because the most useful ability has 7 uses at the endgame. If you're not, you'll be MISERABLE in combat because if you miss a throw, that's it, usually the enemies who drop the bash ability are the ones that can *only* be killed using them. An advice though: do not make focus your main stat. There are no respecs and it is basically useless since there is more than enough gold to be obtained from exploring/backtracking and puzzles usually have trees that give you one ability use (only if you have 0 left). Since there are chests that give stats, I'd actually put 0 points in it from level-ups if I ever played again.

Batbarian! Picked it up because the premise was silly, and it had a bat. I like bats. Turned out to be a solid metroidvania with a somewhat high level of difficulty, both in combat and in puzzles. It's not an easy game, even though it does have some assist options for people who would struggle. It was good! It was fun. It frustrated me a plenty and I hate wizards a little bit more after this experience. And something I rarely say about games because I tend to not pay attention: Music is excellent. Very enjoyable tunes to listen to trying to beat that stupid boss for the fifteenth time, or trying to figure out a puzzle. Or just getting frustrated and forcing my way, like a barbarian would, through spikes and enemies because the campfire is RIGHT next room I don't got time for this where is that last chest. Rowr MVP. Pip also MVP.

A very enjoyable Metroidvania despite some tense moments, particularly towards the end of the game and the (optional) challenge brought by a secret area. I really liked the characters I encountered and the multiple-choice dialogue options, which allow you to remain serious or play the big brute with a welcome touch of humour, something I already enjoyed when I tried the demo. A big downside is the French translation and the inclusive writing style, which makes the whole thing unreadable. It's an abomination that has no place in French writing. Given that you can control a woman or a man, I don't see why the writing isn't directly adapted to the choice made at the beginning of the game. --------------------------------- Metroidvania très sympa malgré des passages tendus, notamment vers la fin du jeu ou le challenge (optionnel) apporté par une zone secrète. J'ai beaucoup apprécié les personnages rencontrés et les dialogues à choix multiples qui permet de rester sérieux ou de jouer un gros bourrin avec une pointe d'humour bienvenue qui m'avait déjà plu en essayant la démo. Gros point noir pour la trad' française et l'écriture inclusive qui rend le tout illisible. C'est une abomination qui n'a rien à faire dans l'écriture française Sachant qu'on peut diriger une femme ou un homme, je ne vois pas pourquoi l'écriture n'est pas directement adaptée à ce choix effectué au début du jeu.

I really enjoyed a majority of the game but cannot recommend due to some parts/bosses in the second half that the average person will need to turn on assists for. I don't think having these assists available is a good excuse for not having these portions of the game balanced correctly (I spent multiple hours on two specific bosses and tried to avoid turning them on). Movement and some controls can feel clunky but I think the rest of the game makes up for it. If you will not hesitate to turn the assists on after a few tries, I'd absolutely recommend for platforming fans.

Batbarian is a fantastic action platformer... that is made unplayable by it's control scheme. You have to move with one stick, throw with the other, charge attacks, and platform all at the same time. Normally that is a lot to juggle, but there is no way bind these all in any sensible way to do that many things at once. The controls make boss fights with simple patterns all but impossible. The binding options do not give you full access to all of the game or menu commands. Normally I would just switch to mouse and keyboard, but you cant set up the mouse to aim! It just will not let you set it up that way. You are forced to aim with precision by tapping keyboard buttons?!?!? While moving, and jumping, and charging attacks?!?!?!?!? I really enjoyed the demo of Batbarian, and purchased the full version. Unfortunately I did not get to the sections where the controls fell apart until AFTER the 2 hour return window closed for me... I really wish I could recommend Batbarian, the game is charming and fun in ways that make me very angry with the devs and the controls for ruing.

Gameplay just feels very janky, and after 12 hours, I couldn't bring myself to finish it. + good pixel art + phenomenal music + some good boss fights - awkward controls and level layout - terrible checkpoint placement - skills that use resources for no other reason than annoyance - annoying puzzles - sometimes, the best course of action is to just damage boost through a section - bad dialogue

ABSOLUTE BANGER

Adictivo, muy buena jugabilidad, puzzles rápidos y sensación de progreso. Buen pixel art.

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Better than I thought it could be. Although, the mechanics and platforming are sometimes clunky and unnatural. You do get enhancements pretty quickly to mostly offset this, tho.