Boomerang Jack

TL:DR Review [Out of 10]: Gameplay: 6; Story: 5?; Visuals: 6; Sounds: 5; OS Compatibility: 5; Value and Considerations: 5. "A buy for pirate hack and slash enthusiasts when on sale!" NOTE: The game in May would be worth more a buy than at current state while the dev fixes a couple bugs, though with the clarifications left by the creator, I have updated the review to be recommended. I wouldn't say the game is early access, but be warned it is fairly short compared to most games I purchased, and doesn't have too much replay-ability as of yet. (Looking forward to Horde Mode and the updates starting in May!) Disclaimer / Bias: RPGs is my second most popular game genre I play based on the percentage of RPGs on my 900+ game list over the decades. I do own some action + RPG, but not as many as other combinations such as grid-based. I enjoy pirate themes and boomerangs as weapons. I purchased this game at 35% off on the introductory offer. Suggestions: [Thank you for the reply! A dev who listens to feedback is someone I’m happy to support!] Collision bugs that happen when using your finisher on the edge of the screen needs an update. Saying make the game longer or even hide the completion rate on the menu won’t be helpful at all! If there are certain modes (after you beat the game that doesn’t exist yet) to add to replay-ability that would be great. Since the game is pretty much a level by level game, having a way to revisit a past level in order to tweak the difficulty and try again can be an improvement. Maybe even a bar to speed up traps or increase the amount of enemy spawns in an option menu could make it better! Certain choices in the dialog taking you to a couple different maps, or maps in different orders could also improve the choices the player has. The game currently has no achievements, or hidden paths anywhere. I have tried to go off the main path many times at least and haven't found anything. Gameplay: 6 out of 10. The game has a skill tree which allows you to power up your attacks, gain more health, and do additional skill combos. I like how you can refund your talents to change your playstyle. Since there are breaks in the “button mashing” game, (such as tap, pause, tap, tap, tap) it plays more like a fighter game with only a couple buttons (like street fighter). You have your boomerang button, your kick which can reflect some projectiles, a dash, and a throwing grenade button or a grab something button (shared). This game does cramp my hand at times, and some rooms remind me of a “bullet he!l” or Warriors type of game rather than an action RPG. Sometimes a skill works differently or not at all if you are on slime for example. Some places I can double or triple dash, such as over water, while other times I dash once, and then sink into the water in the same spot. These cases might be a collision issue in unity though. Once you enter a new zone, you can’t go back. Many of the stages offer different challenges such as a new enemy or object. Nothing seems to be lost, so once you see enemy 1, enemy 1 is (or usually is) in every level thereafter. At normal difficulty you can pretty much button mash the boomerang button in most rooms, without a care for damage due to how much healing items drop, and call it a day. Difficulty mainly seems to scale the damage you receive. Your letter meter to SSS I learned are style points, though I am not sure the relevance of the points currently. Story: 5 out of 10. While I’m giving it a 5 since I am only half way through, and will update it if I finish the game, what makes the rating lower is the fake choice options in dialog you get. There were a couple instances I went back and wondered what would happen to have the other line chosen. You get some tweaks in dialog, but there isn’t a different path you go, like some games provide. Sometimes you don’t even have a second option and you just have to press A to say a line. This is extremely pointless to even give the option to say what Jack is going to say anyway. I think the game would flow better if all those options were just removed. You also find scrolls around the map that offer information for the story. Visuals: 6 out of 10. The art style is a person’s preference, but the points are deducted due to a few factors. I have been glitched into the border of the map twice after performing my finisher move on an enemy that was near the ledge making collision an issue. I actually was about to ask for a refund on steam when the first minute in the game I clicked to go back to checkpoint, and I was clipped in the ship, unable to move. The game offers lots of flashing lights and big numbers (style points) for those who enjoy the casino life though it totally just gave me eye strain! lol Sounds: 5 out of 10. Sound effects are pretty good, though the music has been a pretty big letdown. I haven’t heard the trailer music yet, and that song really made me want to buy the game and soundtrack. However, the music within is few, and somewhat forgettable. With the 1000’s of songs I have spanning most of my game’s soundtracks which I use for background music, or tabletop game music, I wouldn’t bother purchasing this one even if they sold it. iOS Compatibility: 5 out of 10. I have played the game on Bazzite’s operating system (meaning it should work fine on Steamdeck). The laptop uses max fan speed though with the game… which makes me wonder how good the game is optimized, as the only other game that does this that I have played on it is Palworld, and this game visually isn’t close to that. No Mac support. Value and Considerations: 5 out of 10. I purchased this game at 35% off on the introductory offer. The game says I am at 50% completion at a game timer of less than 2 hours, but as per the Dev comment I should actually be about 30% done: I may beat the game then at 10 hours. 10 hours for games I have purchased is still fairly short… I have many games well over 100 hours on steam alone. The few times that I got stuck in the game and the music high bar the trailer promised and the game didn’t deliver made the score value decrease further. However, the game is getting updates in May which should make the game at least 15 hours for me if I complete everything planned to be offered! This would probably bump the score up in the future to a 6 or 7. Related Games: An RPG which offers bullethell mechanics? Try “Minishoot Adventures”. Hack and slash tons of enemies in “Dynasty Warriors” “Hades”, or “Diablo 3”.

If you like story driven dungeon crawlers with action packed challenges then look no further as this is the game for you. Between the action, story, and music you will find yourself fully immersed as you become the best boomerang slayer across the seven seas.

It's a great game with a lot of potential. The storyline, effects, and gameplay are well thought out. I would say though the combat sequences have potential to be better in terms of locking onto enemies and less randomness. Overall, engaging game and recommend it.

When this game was at its best I could absolutely see the vision, and I thought the combination of pirates and boomerangs was very unique. I did however find the start of the game to be quite jarring and hard to follow, but things did start to click more once I received the proper tutorial from the parrot. In my opinion, this game could benefit from an earlier tutorial, and without knowing how much content there the price does seem a bit steep.