Copperbell

Basically about two (maaaaaybe three) area's worth of content out of a more regular adventure platformer followed by an ending. The game's rather polished so I [b]don't[/b] think that's the case, but if you told me that this was the first act of a larger project that got cancelled but then the publisher decided to ship as much salvageable content (with the plot adjusted for that), I'd believe you. But what's here is a enjoyable albeit basic experience. Your one utility upgrade is double jump which you get early on and that's as complex as things get. The final proper stage (the are a before the final boss is trivial) you visit is somewhat "dungeon-like" with unlockable doors and teleporters (of little use given how they're spread), and even that is mostly just platforming in small platforms while dodging enemies, like the rest of this game. There's three "boss fights", but the first two are not really traditional fight ("kill X amount of enemies" and "destroy all these targets while getting pestered by sometimes unfair attacks"). The final battle is more of a proper one, though it's also arguably half-puzzle as killing the enemy "cleanly" can take too much dodging. Final pet peeves are how the damage system makes some money permanently lost due to some obstacles making it irrecoverable if you take damage to/dnear them, making it possible to finish the game without buying all stat upgrades (for the achievement) and how sometimes damage is likely due to no "look down" feature (the map is usually laid down so that this isn't a problem, but it's occasionally a problem). [h3]So why, in spite of everything I've said, I recommend this?[/h3] Because it's very charming. There's tons of flavour text in the overworld and the few NPCs have just enough dialogue (which changes as you progress the game) to keep you wanting to talk to them. The graphics look great and the soundtrack is fitting. The map is stylized but also rather detailed so it never feels useless, especially in the aforementioned dungeon where you find it piece by piece. It's not worth $5, but I'd argue it is probably worth it on a sale for a nice hour and a half. I don't think I'll revisit it for the challenge achievements or even the missing ones, but I had fun during it.