Cosmic Pebble

I feel like this is the pure definition of a hidden gem. I think the platforming is as fun as celetre, even though some platform placement sometimes means it isn't always as polished (resulting in a couple jumps that require too much precision sometimes, though not frequent). Each level has different gimmick to keep things fun. The writting is charming and the characters are fun. The game is cheap, but I would have bough it for more, it's just surprisingly fun. Only the boss battle sequence were "not really fun" to me because of one hit kill and no checkpoint in the fights. Deeply recommend this one!

This game is so addictive !! I love it <3

Very underrated game. The platforming and level design imo is almost as good as games like celeste, even tough sometimes the controls feel I little finnicky. I was surprised about how original each level's gimmicks were, and even when they were more generic, they were still taken to the extreme of their capabilities. It's a bit of a shame that there isn't (as far as I know) a level that mixes them all togheter. The last level tough randomly introduces a lot of gimmicks, and they're all good, but it makes the level feel a bit inchoesive, especially since some of the earlier gimmicks get kinda forgotten. The boss fights weren't that good (except the last one which I liked, tough it was kinda a different gameplay style), dying in one hit felt a bit weird, but they were pretty short, and not too tough once you got the hang of things so not so bad. The story has some really cringy moments, but also some really emotional ones. I was a bit teary in a few scenes. The main thing I disliked about the story was that it has almost nothing to do with the gameplay. The player character, Sophia, does literally everything from a "plot" standpoint, but she doesn't have any character arc or relevance to the story's themes besides acting as a therapist for the other characters. Meanwhile the other characters carry all of the story's emotional and thematic weight, but they don't do anything to advance the plot. If they weren't there, Sophia would be able to advance all the way to the game's end anyways. And nothing you do in the actual levels (aside from finding a few characters) actually advances the plot, which kinda advances on its own. Another thing I didn't quite like is that the levels, altough they have great level design from a gameplay standpoint, don't really even try to feel like real locations, but rather just obstacle courses. Of course in no platformer they're gonna feel 100%, or even 50% real, because irl you simply cannot find floating platforms, but for some reason I find this problem especially pronounced in this game compared to others I've played, tough I can't quite put my finger on it. Music was pretty great. Overall fantastic game, will probably come back to it.