Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition

[h1]The linked video includes reviews of 10 indie games. The segment on [i]Dandara[/i] recommends the game, and discusses how its unique movement style interacts with different input methods.[/h1] [. . .] There may be a kernel of truth to the idea [i]Dandara[/i] was designed for mobile devices, but I think its unusual way of moving around feels best, works best, on a conventional controller. [. . .] [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eRtv28O-Pc][Click here to see the entire review on YouTube][/url]

É a terceira vez que jogo esse jogo, e a primeira que consigo derrotar a tormenta. Só tenho a dizer que esse jogo deveria ter mais reconhecimento. Dá pra ver o amor que tem em cada pedacinho dele. Chorei na música de entrada antes de recomeçar o jogo, em várias partes da trajetória e estou aos prantos depois de ver o final. É e sempre vai ser um dos meus favoritos <3

More versions of SotN with even more adrenaline. Amazing, I loved it! A unique gameplay design I've never seen before. This is not flattery, you did an amazing job, Keep it up!

I really tried to like this game. I have around 6 hours of actual playtime (ignore the 46 hours shown — I accidentally left the game running in the background for a couple of days), but unfortunately, I just could not fully get into it. That said, there are definitely things the game does well, so let me start there. THE GOOD 1. Beautiful pixel art – The visuals are fantastic, and I especially love the design of the main character. 2. Great music – I have yet to hear a track I dislike. The soundtrack is genuinely one of the stronger parts of the experience. 3. Well-written dialogue – Conversations are easy to follow, and the writing feels clear and natural. 4. Smooth controls and decent level design – Movement feels responsive, and some of the environmental ideas are genuinely interesting. 5. Exploration and secrets – There are plenty of puzzles, hidden chests, items, and branching paths for players who enjoy exploring. THE NOT SO GOOD 1. Maps feel overly large and repetitive – Many areas look visually similar and contain multiple branching paths, which sounds great in theory but becomes exhausting in practice. Because the scale is so large and movement is repetitive, exploration eventually started to feel tedious rather than rewarding. I found myself wishing there were more NPCs, events, or meaningful content to break things up. 2. Movement becomes frustrating over time – The bouncing mechanic feels fun and unique at first, but after several hours it started to wear on me. Eventually, you just want to move through areas quickly, but rushing often turns into ping-ponging around rooms and fighting the controls. Yes, part of this is me rushing, but because the game lacks a strong teleportation or fast-travel system, there is a lot of backtracking, which makes the issue more noticeable. 3. The map system is confusing – One of the stranger design choices is forced rotating certain rooms, which also rotates sections of the map. For someone with a terrible sense of direction (me), this became confusing and frustrating very quickly. I personally think the game would have benefited from keeping room orientation consistent to make navigation easier to follow. 4. Boss fights lose steam mechanically – Bosses are visually unique and interesting, but combat itself starts to feel repetitive. Without much combo variety or meaningful special abilities, encounters often boil down to the same pattern: charge, attack, repeat. Since bosses also have large health pools, fights sometimes dragged on longer than they should have. At its core, the game started to feel repetitive to me... repetitive movement, repetitive room design, repetitive combat loops, and confusing navigation. While I can see what the developers were aiming for, it ultimately did not click with me. That said, this is entirely personal preference. The game currently sits at a very positive rating with hundreds of reviews, so clearly a lot of players connected with it more than I did. If the developers are open to feedback for future projects, I think tightening map design, reducing repetition, and improving combat variety could go a long way. In the end, this one just was not for me.

We drink cafézinho com pão de queijo and make good games for you. Que jogo maravilhoso. Não esperava que fosse tão bom. Videogame.

Dandara tem uma proposta muito diferente, um jogo de plataforma no qual você NÃO anda. isso no começo é meio assustador, mas depois de se acostumar, vira uma mecanica extremamente divertida e dinamica. eu como um grande fã de metroidvanias considero essa como, com certeza, um dos meus 5 jogos favoritos da vida

Good game. Had fun. Wandering around getting lost isn't that bad. Check out a speedrun of this game. They go flying.

PEAKKKKKKK

Written as of beating the game and fresh in my mind. It's such a great game. I'll state what I like and dislike about it. Minor and early spoilers ahead. One of my favorite moments is when, there is an item you get, that once you pick it up, you now must follow a new route that uses this item. The corridor you once took now is blocked and you use the new item to go around it. It's really good! This particular item may not be at super relevant later on, but it was a very nice change of pace as opposed to other metrodvanias. The movement is great. Imagine playing Tomb of The Mask (mobile game) but you can move (as long as there is salt) in all directions instead of just the 4 cardinal directions. Btw I was cracked at ToTM. It gets super fun when you just zip around from place to place. It does get annoying when you are interrupted, but that doesn't happen if you look ahead. I don't know how it is with mouse and keyboard, but with a controller, it is great once you get the hang of it. My biggest complaint is the difficulty, or rather the unfairness. There are times where the nearest flag (checkpoint) is too far away and you die getting there so you lose your salt (skill point currency). I've never been a fan of corpse runs. It gets annoying at times. The game's actual difficulty is perfectly fine. I died 4 times to the (true) final boss and lost my salt 1 time. I've also been told that I say things are easier than they actually are, so take my scale with a grain of salt (heh). If you decide to play it listen to what I have to say here. [b]If an area is too hard to go through, then you aren't supposed to be there yet! Come back later![/b] This goes for all metroidvanias but there is an area you can access early on in particular that you may want to heed my advice. Oh and there is no map pins and I am angry about it. I noted things down by hand. There are accessibility options if it gets too hard. (Haven't tested how good are the options). I can't say much about the story. I read all the text I could find but it doesn't say much about the worldbuilding, rather it says more about the current state of affairs. It seems good though. Overall, I think this is a spectacular metroidvania. Movement is fun, metroidvania elements are done very nicely, and I think it is worth you time. I think it is fair in difficulty but unfair in checkpoint placements. I'd definately recommend it to any metroidvania fan, probably not to casual players though. If you do decide to play it remember: [b]If an area is too hard to go through, then you aren't supposed to be there yet! Come back later![/b] That's what I did and I think it is more fun this way. I'll get the rest of the achievements now, they look very doable.

Dandara is a rather good (and tough) platformer which makes the most of its novel platforming style. Everything feels smooth and refined- this is more than a proof of concept, it is damn good at being what it is. I also quite like the setting, the Salt is super interesting even if the dialogue/worldbuilding is a bit sparse. The DLC (as in, all the Hidden Realms content and associated ending) is absolutely the high point.