[i]Frebbventure[/i] is a great example of what we call backwards thinking. The idea is that if you want to do something, you should create your goal first, and then work backwards from that. The goal of [i]Frebbventure[/i] is "how can I make a combination of DBZ, Tom and Jerry, Earthworm Jim, Wario, and Sonic the Hedgehog a good video game?" The answer is probably something close to this.
[i]Frebbventure[/i] is messy and jank and not the tightest designed game in existence, but by god it is so full of heart and passion that I can do nothing less than wholeheartedly recommend it. A 2D platformer stuffed to burst with content, insane ideas, and nearly perfect execution. Holy hell, this game kicks ass.
From the second you hit go, [i]Frebbventure[/i] delights. Excellent sprite art and solid music abound, instantly setting the tone perfectly. The game looks great for a solo indie effort, with tons of awesome details in the sprite art and sound effects. I love how Frebb makes that "cartoon coconut running" sound effect when he turns around, or the comical THOOMP of him shoving shells into his rocket launcher. The game borrows liberally from all sorts of inspirations, but the core art and character design holds fast the entire game. Not a single character looks out of place or poorly designed, and the cast range from simple and elegant designs to multicoloured, mangled monstrosities.
Gameplay is a whole other story. Frebb is a fairly agile and honestly overpowered character to play as, with incredible jumping speed and a dodge that is flat-out busted. Until the midgame difficulty spike kicks in, Frebb can simply leap past basically everything the game throws at him. You have a ton of health, deal great damage with your ranged options, and most enemies barely pose a threat. Instead, the game delights in giving you a huge amount of options at any one time. From an inventory menu on the map, Frebb can equip different items that radically alter his moveset. He can change out his spins for a giant sword, or stock his rocket launcher with seeker missles, giving him lots of options to tackle any situation. Level design is highly varied, and just about every obstacle course and boss has something going for it.
The key word here for [i]Frebbventure[/i] is variety. The game is bursting to the seams. Everything I just said is actually secretly one fourtieth of what this game has. The game has fourty levels. Like, thirty bosses. Drinn, Roxy and Mindstein are all playable, and each one has a unique moveset. Drinn can fly like she has the Super Cape from [i]Super Mario World[/i], Roxy is a slow-but-strong AOE tank that can eat enemies to refuel a flame breath attack, and Mindstein is an agile and long-ranged damage dealer equipped with a fast-firing laser pistol. Like fifteen inventory items, some of which are unique to specific characters. A randomized challenge mode for running through multiple levels as specific characters. Said mode also comes with unlocks, which include characters unique to that mode. An entire enemy bio written from all four of the main character's perspectives. Maybe ten vehicle levels (NONE of which suck, many of which are very fun). However many freaking enemies. It is ABSURD that this game is a solo effort. I feel like I was playing a game made by twenty people, not a single person. How did you even create this thing?
Frebb's journey is absolutely incredible, featuring a solid cast of core characters. Frebb himself is an awesome main character, and watching his evolution from cynical loner to hero feels earned. Frebb stays edgy, confrontational and mean the entire journey, but gains a sense of responsibility and empathy to balance it out. By the end, he felt developed and three-dimensional, which is a great accomplishment for a character who so clearly draws from one-dimensional icons. Frebb's skittish ally Drinn is a fantastic foil, while the observant Dr. Mindstein and the sardonic Roxy round out the cast well. The villains Ulcethot and Rose are some of the most memorable I've seen in a game, and their rivalry and hatred with Frebb feels authentic. By the end of the game, the mutual hatred between Frebb and Rose escalates to such heights that I could not believe it. The game is also, shockingly, authentically funny! A lot of games in this style struggle with writing quality and often make jokes that don't land, but [i]Frebbventure[/i] manages to make me laugh multiple times. The finale is... in a word, "excessive", but I loved every second of it.
The game does have some flaws. As a solo indie effort, it is pretty darn jank. And that's okay! Lingering hitboxes, weird telegraphs and out-of-nowhere difficulty spikes abound. The game is also "overwritten", where characters say things in four sentences that could be said in two, or even one. Characters talk for a long, long time, and while I did say the writing was good, it can get a little overwrought. As well, the game has issues with demonstrating damage. It can be hard to know what is hitting you in the environment. The game seems to give you a ton of health to mitigate this alongside generous invulnerability frames, so its likely the dev knew this was an issue. Still, the game was easily beatable and this wasn't much of an issue. The polish is put to good use in other areas, and ultimately I felt like this was a fairly reasonable game to accomplish. While the platforming and combat is fairly loose, which might irk some people, I feel the game has a fairly high skill ceiling, and the challenge mode really emphasises skill. That said, the game does have some balance issues. I felt pretty darn overpowered through most of the game, and nothing really posed a continuous challenge. Whether that really matters is up to you, but I honestly did not care.
I walked into [i]Frebbventure[/i] expecting charm, and walked out with about twelve buckets of kino. This is why I play indie games, man. Worth every penny.
