Normally I dislike tower defense games (Plants vs. Zombies was my only exception to a "pure" TD game). But this game is much more focused on the fun aspects of platforming/lite RPG. Yes, you can build stuff like in a TD game, but it's not overly complicated in terms of what the items are or where is the optimal location to place them. You don't feel like you have to micro-manage the actual placement and upgrading and management of the "towers". In fact, you don't have to worry about tedious stuff like repairing them. You can upgrade the "towers" to be more powerful, and it's done in a way that you can quickly and easily do it (or destroy them for a refund) while fighting off a legion of hilariously designed enemies that come after you via several waves. You could micro-manage it if that's your kink. Or, if you're like me, you can plop down what looks cool to you and then run off to go platform bash the enemies, periodically coming back to drop down new towers and upgrade existing ones.
But what really sells me on the game are the platforming and lite RPG aspects of it. You can pick from several characters to play as, with obvious trade offs and benefits. You can upgrade their gear, like weapons, shoes, etc. For example, I just bought the double-jump shoes and the broom that knocks dudes back. I'm a casual-ish player, so for me it's fun to be able to place silly "towers" such as the arcade machine which actually shoots out a massive laser beam (upgradable to also launch fighter jets), your "tanks" which come out of a gummy bear dispensing machine, and your surface to air/ground missiles (a soda machine).
The music is dope. The art is also fantastic. I'm shocked at how small the team is, yet the art is still high quality and the game is very well polished. I also like that the game doesn't overwhelm you with tons of pop ups trying to explain how to play. Instead of level 1-1 being "here you go, you have access to everything!" the initial couple stages purposefully dole out what actions you can do so you have time to get your bearings and understand what your character can do, as well as get used to the critical parts of the UI. With each successive stage, you'll unlock more tower types, harder enemies, and new features. And this happens quickly, for those of you itching to get to it ASAP. It's not like you have to spend 8 hours or grind anything to unlock things.
Another great thing is how the game handles the constant difficulty battle between "casuals" and "souls-like" demanding players. If you want to be casual? You can. You want to crank it up to 95 because for some reason you like abusing yourself? Go ahead: after each wave you're given an option to increase the difficulty. Doing this will not only make it harder, but it also rewards you in 3 ways: as soon as you opt to up the difficulty, you get successively greater amounts of "bits" (the currency used to build/upgrade towers) instantly: for example, the first time you do it, you'll immediately get 20, the next time, like 30, etc. That gives you a bit of a leg up to prepare for that harder next wave. Not only that, but it speeds the game up. The first time you do it, the enemies spawn and move 25% faster, and you can keep cranking this. They also get tougher. So you wanna be casual? Go ahead, play at the game's standard pace (which has excellent balancing as each stage progresses, at least for me). You want to be hard core and try to min/max as much as you can? Keep hitting that make it harder button after each wave.
What I dig about that ability to make the game harder PER WAVE is that you don't have to commit to playing the entire stage that way right from the start. You can jump into a new level and see if it's at the right difficulty for you before you decide you want to go ham.
Other features I like: when you die, you turn into a ghost. This doesn't let you fight (obviously, how would a ghost punch through the ether at an angry 80's headband wearing gym rat who shoots fireballs at you), but while you wait for your respawn time, you can actually float freely around the levels without any clipping and still collect bits (and not get hit in the process). I haven't played it with others yet, but I like that you can play with up to 4 players at the same time (couch co-op). This makes it so that you can have interesting class combinations with your friends. Like one friend could be your support/medic, another could be the up front brawler, another could be more of a ranger, etc. You can mix and match your comp.
The humor is also ridiculous and a big part of what makes the game fun. Like everything has all sorts of funny dialog or signage, or even item names. For example, on one level I ran across a store named "Pillows-N-Sheet", "Moist Walrus" (aka Wet Seal, is that even still a store anymore?), "Eternal Adolescence" (Forever 21), etc. The story dialog is also off the wall. It's not trying to be some super serious game or make some commentary. It's just there to be ridiculous and a fun back story to what you're doing. The humor is a constant presence on every screen and every dialog, even the tutorials. It's a constant delight when fighting.
Lastly, I really like how to unlock better weapons/armor/upgrades you have to try and do as best as you can on each level. By that I mean, you can earn up to 3 ninja stars (the upgrade currency) per level (you can actually earn 1/2 stars as well in case you just missed the max or whatever tier you were aiming for). On top of that, you can always go back and revisit those older stages on the map and replay them to try and max out all the possible stars for that level. It gets easier if you're struggling to 3-star every level at the start once you get some upgrades. You go back with your shiny new broom of beating (or whatever upgrades you have for your class), and whatever tower types you've unlocked, and you can pump up the difficulty as high as you're comfortable with and 3-star that sucker. It actually makes replaying old levels fun when you crank the difficulty way up and drop down laser fighter jet emitting arcade machines.
tl;dr if you want a polished game with a lot of humor, fun platforming and light rpg mechanics, and not frustrating tower defense elements, get this game.
Play as adorable, humble heroes! (Custodian, Cook, Gardener, Fixer, Deliverer, Nurse)
