Flowing Lights

Reviewed after S ranking the full game. Interesting little puzzle shooter. Level design is pretty creative and has a nice mix of requiring precise movement and aiming, as well as puzzle solving. Occasionally I'd hit a wall where something seemed too hard but it always ended up being a case of me missing a different way to complete the section. The level design feels a bit too basic for the first half of the game but the second half is much more interesting; with the final 4 levels of the game being standouts for excellent design as well as creative uses of the games mechanics to give them a unique feel. My biggest complaint with the game is that the first half feels a bit too samey, and doesn't really introduce much in the way of meaningful new mechanics past the first level. I could also forsee grinding hard for score to be frustrating because of the way the power up system works, though I have not grinded score enough to be able to say for sure. Overall the game is definitely a hidden gem and I hope it gets more attention in the future.

[b]Introduction[/b] Flowing Lights is a puzzle shmup or shooter with a ton of zones you're encouraged to speed run one at a time. I was given a free copy for betatesting and have played through the whole game. For each zone you have to figure out the best way to clear it, then use your shmup skills to get past the bullets and take out the enemies. [b]Gameplay[/b] There are 10 levels with each 17 to 26 short zones. The first two levels act as tutorial. Your weapons are regular fire and a slingshot with a slow laser guide. You can also use boosts with a time interval. You start each level with 1 live and you can earn more for clearing a zone without getting hit. In some zones you can earn weapon upgrades for getting combos. You earn a C rank for just finishing a zone but if you're fast enough you can get Bs, As and Ss. [b]Control[/b] You can play using keyboard, keyboard with mouse for weapons and boost or with an analog controller. You can even use an one handed controller in combination with a mouse if you'd like that. In some zones it can be useful to switch from your analog stick to your d-pad where you need to move straight forward to pass through bullet waves. [b]Tips[/b] In some zones you need to time your boosts but in most you can keep your boost button pressed. It also helps for quicker slingshots. You do need to let go of your boost button when you want to stand in place. Your time starts when you pass the red starting line, so to save time you can position your ship behind the line for the shortest distance to the enemies. Play on Hard difficulty if you want to challenge for the best times. [b]Music[/b] The music sounds a bit weird to me. [b]Conclusion[/b] The game does a good job of preparing you for the more advanced puzzles, most are not too hard to figure out. Only some zones gave me trouble but that may have been because I took breaks in the middle of levels forgetting all the hints I was given earlier in the game. It helps if you're good at shmups but the short zones does make the game accessible to more casual players. Personally I really like the short zones so once I figure out what to do I can brute force the zone to get a good time.

I don't hate this game, I'm marginally thumbing it down. It's pretty, it sounds nice, but the controls are super frustrating and often get in the way of the gameplay. The gravity effect is cool, but because your ship is affected so strongly by it, you end up fighting it instead of just using it to curve bullets. I spent too much time spamming the boost button to try and get up a small hill with ultra strong gravity, while the enemies just float around. I'd really like to try a game with similar bullet gravity mechanics to this game, but with less of an effect on the ship Overall it's an OK game, but I found it flawed, it's often frustrating rather than enjoyable - but it's not terrible. It might be worth a try if you think you'll like it

Wow! This game is great! It would have been a monster hit back in the arcade era! It's pretty unique too. You can approach each level as either a puzzle to solve, or just go guns blazing and blast through.

My first impressions video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFiEpUXglkE I don't often get to say a game is unlike anything I've seen before but Flowing Lights is definitely that. It's what happens if you make a fusion of a physics puzzle game and a shoot em' up. It sounds weird at first and even looking at the trailer and screenshots, it probably doesn't help that much. This is a game you really have to experience to get but once I did, I really loved it, even as someone who loves shmups but isn't really into puzzle games. There isn't really a story in Flowing Lights, just a series of 200(!) levels to play through, all of which are handcrafted and which range from easy to mindbending. New mechanics are introduced regularly but at the same time, the game only has three core abilities for your ship: Boost, rapid shot and the heavy shot that you have to aim, though you can create combos to get temporary enhancements to these. On many of the levels, you'll be forced to use physics and the actual geometry of the map in order to get through it. However, if a puzzle is too hard, you can skip it and at certain points, the game will even open up entire new zones to play, even if you haven't finished a previous one. It doesn't punish you for not getting it right away. Where this will also appeal to shmup fans is that every level has a scoring system and independent online leaderboards, as well as a leaderboard for each zone. You can also achieve ranks in each level and will get achievements for completing zones with higher ranks. Many hours of gameplay are already offered just by the sheer number of levels but if you want to master them all, you could be at this for a very long time. As with most games like this, the developers understood that having an instant restart is critical. If failing a level results in a lengthy load screen or animation sequence before you can get back into the action, that gives you time to focus on being frustrated at your failure and can lead to rage quitting. In this, when you fail the level or just press a button, you're right back at the start with no waiting whatsoever. Even on levels where I failed repeatedly, I never found myself getting aggravated because I didn't have time to. Flowing Lights features a basic, yet visually appealing aesthetic. The muted colours combined with the chill electronic score make a pleasant experience that doesn't feel stressful. While you are under time pressure if you want to get high ranks, you can also spend as much time in a level as you want to figure out the path forward. You can either move on and not care about your score or once you get that perfect route figured out, return to any previously played level whenever you want. As I write this, Flowing Lights has almost no buzz and that's a shame. This game deserves more attention than it's getting and I hope this review and my video can help with that. I've never seen another game like this and it's clear a lot of love and care was put into it. I hope it gets to find a bigger audience.

jeu empruntant un look et un gameplay rétro mélangeant shmup, puzzle, arcade, plate forme et speedrun. par conséquent le jeu a un gameplay et concept simple tout en restant sympa. présentation rapide : https://youtu.be/7AH2EHJJN5w présentation gameplay : https://youtu.be/lL16pJyDRZc notre vaisseaux s'est retrouvé attirer par une planète dont la gravité est importante et on cherche à rejoindre le pole nord là où elle sera moins forte nous permettant de décoller. [list] [*] il nous faudra donc progresser au travers des niveaux (subdivisés en section) tout en survivant la faune locale qui semble bien décidé à nous occire. [*] pour ce faire nous n'avons que 2 armes, un court boost et aucune protections si ce n'est plusieurs points de vie qui s'en vont parfois très rapidement. [*] faire des combo nous octroi des améliorations temporaire ou des soins. [*] chaque section de niveau est noté en fonction du score mais surtout du temps de complétion. [*] le relief nous empêchera de nous mouvoir à volonté et, couplé, a la gravité cela altérera la trajectoire des projectiles pouvant ainsi devenir un piège. ce qui est réconfortant c'est de savoir que ce qui est un piège pour nous peut aussi l’être pour les ennemis [*] les niveaux proposent des ambiances différentes et apportent leur lot de nouveauté. [*] le jeu se fini en 3h voir moins cependant la durée de vie repose beaucoup sur le coté speedrun : refaire les niveaux pour les finir toujours plus vite et finir 1er au leaderboard. [*] le jeu propose aussi quelques options pour s’entraîner sur des sections ou aider à en franchir une difficile [/list] le jeu est plutôt sympa avec ses ambiances visuelles et sonore aux petits oignons. je regrette l'absence d'éditeur de niveau qui pourrait augmenter grandement la durée de vie du jeu car, si le coté speedrun ne vous intéresse pas, elle sera assez courte. (les devs m'ont dit que l’éditeur est une bonne idée mais compliqué à implémenter)

C'est en tant que joueur occasionnel que je m'exprime : ce jeu est bon. Très bon. Derrière une direction artistique épurée se cache une myriade de niveaux à la progression savamment dosée, permettant au néophyte du genre — shmup-puzzle — que je suis de ne pas se retrouver rebuté par une difficulté excessive. Chaque niveau est en effet conçu pour permettre plusieurs solutions, mêlant adresse et ingéniosité, permettant aux néophytes dont je suis de passer au niveau suivant sans stress, et aux spécialistes de parfaire leurs stratégies optimales. Pour peu que l'on coince réellement sur un niveau — et il y en a une pléthore ! —, on peut même se payer le luxe de sauter celui qui nous rebute. Clairement, le joueur vaguement nul que je suis apprécie ! Sortant des sentiers battus, au gameplay magnifiquement dosé, Flowing Lights s'avère être un très agréable passe-temps. Je recommande d'y jeter un œil !

Excellent shooter qui trouve le moyen de renouveler le genre en ajoutant un aspect puzzle à la progression . La realisation est solide , les graphismes stylisés sont à la fois élégants et très lisibles ce qui est primordial dans ce genre de jeu, la musique accompagne bien l action. Le chrono associé à la progression est une bonne incitation au replay . Bref , addictif, une réussite .

A one of a kind shooter... visually striking, the gravity thing/shape of the world looks and plays in a very fun way. For me the puzzle / time trial ranking aspect falls flat, so it's not for me, but the game is really cool. Recommend giving it a try at least.

fun inde games .. easy to play .. difficult to get S score .. addictive game ! a must have !