Frogun

The game looks great and is very appealing for someone who has a strong connection to PS1/N64-era 3D platformers, but I don’t think it’s particularly fun. I played up to about halfway through and then dropped it; the main reason was the lack of polish in the controls. If Frogun’s mechanic for grabbing onto the spot it hits had worked perfectly, I think I would have enjoyed this game.

It was probably one of the most grueling 100% i've done, where should i even start? The game is way too long and repetitive, the game tries to keep it fresh with new mechanics that i really like but it doesn't help that the game gets stale. The game is really buggy and messy, you get hit out of nowhere or from just jumping on enemies (that you're supposed to do to kill them btw) the frogun's range is really inconsistent and doesn't latch onto things when it's supposed to, i could write much more but i don't wanna drag this review. The bosses are basically waiting simulators and are structured like every platformer ever, you wait for them to do specific attack afterwards you can damage them then you wait again and again and again until you kill them, it was most noticeable during final boss where he was just ridiculously long and unfun which was a massive problem during boss rush and brutal rush where each attempt could take really long times and the length of last bosses not only made it even longer but also even harder to survive. The game is also poorly optimized in alot of places (the few last worlds and final boss) making gameplay really difficult at times But let's stop this negative train and say some positives, the level design is really well made, it was made with speedrunning in mind and you'll find alot of shortcuts you can take advantage of to beat time trials, time trials are also one of better things about this game, i usually hate time trials cuz they are way too tight and require some techniques you have no right to know but here they are quite forgiving and actually fun, when you die and go back to last checkpoint the time will reverse and you can continue if you had a good run, the music is also really good and catchy. the graphics are charming, i was starved for n64 like games and it delivered, overall frogun is pretty good game but has flaws, alot of them. If you're looking for a casual platformer to have fun with then go for it but if you want to 100% it then i would stay away from it. 5/10

Frogun is a bit of a mix between Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker and Crash Bandicoot. The gameplay is surprisingly simple. You have a single jump, you can aim the titular frogun and shoot the frogun to either grapple towards a wall/big enemy or pull something smaller towards you to later throw. Yet despite how simple the gameplay is, the level design is the highlight. With it's multilayered design you play it both as a fairly chill collectathon but also as a very "breakable" and very competitive speedrun game where the expert times really do expect you to completely abuse the systems in place to shortcut levels in ways you didn't think possible. It hits the spot so good in both of these aspects and ends up being a hugely satisfying game to learn. The game also introduces new gimmicks to stages at a consistent rate and never stops throwing you curveballs. It also doesn't overuse previous gimmicks and brings them back and combines them in interesting ways when they do show up again. My biggest complaint is honestly that because Renata falls so quickly after hitting a wall that every time the game expects you to chain wall grabs you at best have a split second between grabs and will result in you dying more often then you'd think. The camera being so far away can also occasionally result in depth perception issues, though the very visible shadow under the main character really helps in this regard, even showing if you would land in a hazard. While the story isn't the best and the music is okay but nothing special. This game resonated with me and I really think these devs have a good eye for level design. This was a joy to play and I highly recommend it!

Cool, a bit frustrating when the frogun doesn't attach even though the target indicator is showing.

It's junky and too long for what it is so I dropped it after beating 4 worlds but I still enjoyed it. It's fiiine.

Aesthetically perfect for my tastes. I'm bad at the game honestly though.

[h1]My Review of Frogun[/h1] [h2]Gameplay[/h2] If you love collect-a-thons, 3D platformers, challenges, and cuteness then your in the right place. This game is made for those kinds of people. This game is perfect for Steam Deck gamers as I played a majority of this on my deck. The controls feel very solid, I would class this as 100% a precision platformer now don't get me wrong this game does not expect perfection from you this is no crash bandicoot situation this game does have some forgiving design in it, but I will say now that a small portian of later levels do challenge your reaction time a little, but even as someone as myself who is not personnelly good at games but still managed to beaten almost all the levels. Probebly, the second most challenging thing in this game would have to be all the bosses of each section of the ruins especially the final boss (I can't even beat him good luck on that in particular). I can confidently say you'll be able to beat this game with enough patience and practice. I found when you do beat those certain levels that might be harder than others to be very rewarding. [h2]The One Mechanic to Rule Them All[/h2] The Frogun mechanic as many point out to be "janky" is partially true as sometimes you will find yourself grabbing stuff you didn't intend at times, but if you enable the "only aim 45 degree" setting, this in my experience mostly solves the jank issue and makes this game a bit easier to play through. [h2]Final thoughts[/h2] I may have some negative things to say as it may sound, but I say this fully with genuine good intentions as this game is really fun and a great time I think this game deserves more attention as it's a nice game to just sit back and play for real genuine fun.

Character doesn't feel very good to control, feels messy without having decent agency

Frogun has a lot to offer, but after playing through World 5, it was just too annoying to finish. For the most part, in the first three worlds, it's an unspectacular, but solid linear 3D platformer with good collectables and a solid graphic presentation. The music and sound is fairly annoying though, so I eventually turned those off. The problem is that the central grabbing mechanic is implemented okay until later in the game where there are a lot more open voids, turning to regrapple after the first grapple, dodgy hit detection, and some missed button inputs. It's no communicated well where you are in 3D space and grapples will miss (or hit the wrong thing) even if the indicator is lined up correctly. The game is not mechanically sound enough for the later level designs that are added, so, while it is doable, it's not fun. The movement doesn't feel good and led to a lot of deaths that feel like the game's fault, not yours. There's a good game in here, but this was a miss for me.

If Steam had a middle option between Recommended and Not Recommended, I’d probably put Frogun there. I wish I’d enjoyed it more than I did, but past the good there’s a fair amount to dislike or cause frustration. On a first glance, Frogun looks like it’s going to be a fun platformer reminiscent of old N64 and PSX games, with some cool retro filters to try out from the get-go. The low poly look is pretty cool and works well for the block-based gameplay. There are some fun designs in terms of enemy looks and environment. I wasn’t overly fond of the pixel art portraits, I think just a render could have worked better, but that’s a nitpick. The big problem, for me at least, is that sometimes it can be difficult to gauge the distance between objects and platforms. This is especially annoying in the brutal levels later in the game. The colours are bright and poppy, although there were a couple of darker levels in the second half of the game that made platforming harsher than perhaps it should have been, sometimes I felt like I had to make too many leaps of faith. The camera is completely controlled by the player. This works well, until it doesn’t. For the positives, the developer can hide secrets more easily and the player doesn’t have to fight an auto-camera. The negatives become apparent when the player needs to do tricky platforming sections in multiple axes, or the multiple grapple sections. This is often frustrating as you don’t particularly have much room for error, and any pitfalls will send you back to the last checkpoint. In terms of performance, everything ran well. The exception is on Steam Deck which weirdly has frame drops now and then. This could be a quirk of Proton, I’m not quite sure. There are some typos here and there, but nothing too terrible. Gameplay wise, Renata can move, jump and use the titular Frogun, her sentient froggy grapple gun. Overall, the grapple is used well, although comes with its annoyances. The grapple can be used to grapple to walls as well as enemies and objects. Sometimes it can be difficult to tell how the grapple will effect enemies, making it a bit of a guessing game as to whether it brings you toward the enemy or the enemy towards you. I think it could have been cool to have a separate ‘attack’ along with the grapple, as hit detection can feel a bit iffy when it comes to enemies. Sometimes you’ll jump on an enemy and get hurt, other times you won’t. The goal of each level is to reach the end, collecting optional gems and collectibles along the way, including some little expository notes. The gems can be used in shops to buy hats as well as concept art, which is a nice touch and reward for those willing to go out of their way to collect things. There are plenty of enemies, pitfalls and traps in each level, with checkpoints spread throughout. I wasn’t a fan of restarting to the checkpoint when falling down pits, just reduce Renata’s health or something. Sometimes checkpoints feel too far spread, often making you repeat pretty tricky sections if you fail one part. The worst offenders for this are the race levels, which leave very little room for error and just become a chore. In the end I decided to just use a mechanic exploit for the final one, as the brutal difficulty was beyond annoying. I think some of the final levels just border on unfair and were pushing my patience. The bosses are a mixed bag. I liked some of the ideas, but some of their mechanics, such as those of the final boss, feel ill suited to Renata’s slow movement. It can be hard to react at times. As well as this, the sound of them taking damage isn’t very impactful and I was left wondering whether I was doing any damage – I think a damage indicator or health bar would have worked well there. The manual camera can also be a problem here, especially as some of the bosses like speeding across their arenas, making them difficult to track. Only having 5 HP makes the longer ones too harsh for my liking, with no way of recovering life either. The music and sound are a bit mixed. There’s some nice music, although it can get grating on the more annoying or longer levels. The coin sound is really loud and sharp, but luckily it has its own volume slider. In the final levels there is a timing-based platforming mechanic, I think the sound should be more prominent to help the player. Overall, there is some fun to be had, mostly in the first half, but for me the frustrations took away from the experience. It’s impressive from a small team nonetheless.