Copperbell is a VERY short adventure platformer featuring beautiful hand-drawn art and a sweet story about defeating evil. Although it was extremely short-lived, its smooth mechanics of jumping, dodging and killing enemies make it a neat little casual addition to anyone's Steam library.
[u]Pros[/u]
+ Hand-drawn and detailed art.
+ Smooth gameplay.
+ Unique upgrade system for HP, attack and walking speed.
+ Steam achievements.
+ Range of unique enemies such as grubs, bats and spiders.
+ A few differing environments ranging from caves to a woodland area.
[u]Cons[/u]
- Jumping sound effects are quite irritating and killing spiders causes a very shrill sound to play.
- All bosses were extremely easy except the last boss which was quite difficult in comparison.
- The $AU14.50 price tag seems a bit steep for an hour-long game.
-[i]Nitpick:[/i] Slightly awkward controls with X as the attack button and space as jump.
- [i]Nitpick:[/i] Unsure why a demo is needed for a game that is under two hours long. Stating on the store page that someone would probably beat it over a weekend is a bit misleading.
[h1]Story[/h1]
The game is short and sweet and therefore there isn't much of a story to go on. Copperbell is the protagonist and is indeed, a bell! He lives with his grandparents in a cosy little house on the edge of a forest. Once the story begins, the friendly bell is tasked with getting his 'clapper', which I had no idea what this was at the time as I don’t believe this is a common term in Australia. Upon googling it, it appears it is the striker of a bell which then becomes his weapon of choice and is used throughout the remainder of the game.
Copperbell must then complete various quests to continue his adventure to defeat the demon next to his home. Nothing else was really explained in much detail as it seems the focus of this game was on its gameplay and appearance as opposed to its story.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1820701000
[h1]Gameplay[/h1]
Using the arrow keys to control Copperbell, players are immersed in his intricate, fantasy world to complete quests and defeat bosses to proceed to the next area. Each area has a unique environment with new enemies that all behave differently. Using the X key to attack, the protagonist will strike his clapper which must be well timed to hit the enemy. Jumping on top of the enemy or making any contact with them at all will cause Copperbell to lose a portion of his health bar.
Killing enemies will cause coins to drop, these coins which can also be found by smashing containers can then be used to upgrade HP, attack speed and walking speed for limited amount of times. His health is also displayed at the bottom of the screen as little bell icons and each time he is injured, one icon will disappear. Despite this, the game isn't too difficult and there are save points and health to collect throughout the levels.
It is mostly linear however there are a few trails which players can explore to obtain more coins to upgrade their skills, however I wouldn't say that this is a worthwhile reason to replay the game.
The boss battles are unique and add something different to the game, however I found them all to be extremely easy despite such a large build up to the fight, particularly the Spider boss. In contrast, the last battle with the demon proved quite challenging and I would like to see the other bosses at least slightly resembling a similar difficulty.
[h1]Graphics[/h1]
The hand-drawn beautiful art is something in this game that I did appreciate, and it complimented the game brilliantly. It has quite intricate details, especially in the house and basement. Another noteworthy aspect was the enemies which were well designed and suited the fantasy environment well.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1820701227
[h1]Sound[/h1]
There are no voice overs in this game however a calming melody does play in the background at the beginning of the game. In saying this, I did find some of the sound effects quite repetitive and annoying such as Copperbell's jumping sound and the high pitched shrill played when an enemy spider is killed. Although, after a while, I got used to these sounds and it wasn't detrimental to my experience.
[h1]Bugs and Glitches[/h1]
I did not experience any problems, the game played smoothly, and it seems well polished.
[h1]Price and Content[/h1]
For a game that took me just 1.5 hours, the price of $AU14.50 is hard to justify and I would recommend waiting for a hefty sale. Although there are some options for exploration to acquire some more coins, there is no real motivation to replay the game except to obtain 100% achievements.
[h1]Conclusion[/h1]
I enjoyed Copperbell and it would be a great casual game for anyone who likes platformers. Its beautiful hand-drawn art and smooth gameplay demonstrates the developers hard work that has gone into making this game as well-polished as it is. However, I would only recommend getting this on sale and to be aware before purchasing that it is approximately just 1-2 hours long. Overall, it would still be a nice calming title to sit down one lazy day and finish in one sitting.
This review copy was provided to the OCG-Curations curator.
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