[b] Update:[/b] I decided to change my review from negative to positive after the last update, initially the tutorial notes were very distracting and out of context for the world-building, but as a form of experimental art, now I think it feels more consistent with how it's being presented. The game is still very odd, but the developer fixed some of the issues that I think ruined my first playthrough.
When you buy a game from ApeHardware you are in for ...... something, probably not exactly a conventional game. I knew what I was paying for, so don't take it the wrong way, I am following the dev for 4 games now, but at $8, I just thought the game was more on the tedious side, even though I got some interesting vibes from it. As a store would suggest you can roughly describe the experience as anti-rhythm, hidden-object, and "roguelite", or in this case, I would more accurately describe it as "anti-rogue-lite", as the upgrades you getting are stacking negative effects - now that is pretty original. It's like power creep, only in reverse XD.
The game has a bit of a learning curve to it, it has a tutorial but honestly, it's kinda confusing and not all that helpful, you kind of have to feel the game out and figure out exactly what is happening. Essentially you have a moving bar of "areas" and you have to move into a different area not to take damage, and if you see a "pearl" you can pick it up. During a playthrough, you will encounter a few stores where you can heal and presumably buy items that will affect some endings, but make sure you don't spend too much because you are required to pay your taxes. Apparently, this game has 8 endings, but I will be completely honest, there is no ***** way I am replaying this game 8 times. I did find the narrative somewhat interesting, I can certainly relate to being overwhelmed by the noise of life, but the game was pretty vague and there is not a lot for me to digest. Frankly, I just don't feel like the numbers are balanced that well to properly aim for specific items or have any real strategy for that matter.
Some of the frustration in this game comes from not understanding exactly when the tax happens, it seems you have to pay it in the hub area before wasting your money in the store, so it's a bit if a beginner trap I think. Another weird thing is that, even though the game has all these weird-looking cutscenes and you want to look for those pearls, realistically, once the game stars going you don't get much time to look for items, it's a lot easier to just inspect every area and look at the notes.
The game does get pretty creative with its negative effects, like it will cover parts of your screen or speed up certain notes, although not too difficult once you understand the rules.
[h1] Pros: [/h1]
(+) As usual, if nothing else, you made a very strange and unique experience, I certainly don't recall playing a game where my upgrades are negative effects and I have to pick the one I hate the least. Those little bits of narrative are compelling, but I didn't get a good grasp on anything, it just kinda felt like doing chores, and getting some vague reward in the end.
(+) The game strangely has several endings, if you really wanted to replay it. But um...
[h1] Feedback: [/h1]
[u] Some random thoughts: [/u]
I didn't really feel like any of the mechanics really came together that well, the first time I beat the game I only bought 1 small healing so even though you have all these upgrades, it didn't really matter. Also, I didn't feel like I had enough spare pearls to really go for those "narrative" items.
[strike] I think your games would benefit from having a more organic tutorial or perhaps no tutorial at all, not shoving walls of text into the player, not only it was confusing, but also it kinda ruins the immersion of your game. I think if you making a deconstruction game, the last thing you want to do is to explain how it works, and if you do, maybe do it through natural gameplay progression, not just injecting an explanation. Maybe instead of putting the text before the level, you could have started the player in the hub area and maybe have a character that gave some hints but without taking urgency away from the game. [/strike]
Also, I feel like you not leaning into the narrative enough, the few rare parts of story you get in this game is what I am attracted to, maybe you could do more exploration around the hub, talk to someone, have a few more cutscenes or an occasional exploration zone with something to find.
[b] Overall Thoughts: 6/10 [/b]
I follow a lot of devs that make experimental games, but something I see very often is not being able to translate a weird experience into something that is actually enjoyable, the game is super weird and I want to like it, but there was not enough substance for me to really care about it. Partially why "Me and my eldritch parasite" worked for me better is because it felt like I would get more narrative reward playing it, so maybe you could rely more on injecting narrative and character into the game, perhaps you could have done more in the hub area, do a bit more world-building. I don't like how you make an experimental game and then shove a generic tutorial into it, I say either do it more organically through gameplay or don't do it at all. Lastly, even though the game wants you to have some type of strategy picking a negative effect that works for you, overall I didn't feel like any of that made an impact on my plan, I literally only bought 1 healing so.
[code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]
