High Strangeness

kcsv v

I first heard about High Strangeness from a Slope’s Game Room video. Its history and distinct art style immediately caught my attention, so I added it to my wishlist. I ended up receiving it as a Christmas gift and started playing right away, finishing it the same day. I’d heard it compared to Zelda, which feels accurate in the 8-bit dimension. The 16-bit sections, however, reminded me more of a more polished Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku. The story is a bit cliché, but it’s fun, charming, and doesn’t overstay its welcome. It’s also very approachable if you’re someone who likes to get a 100% completion. Overall, High Strangeness is a truly wonderful hidden gem on the Steam store.

I am 32 years old. My ex-wife and I have a daughter together, and we adopted our son together. Both are now 4 years old. When we were going through our separation, I felt lost and unhappy. I was self-destructive. One day, I was so angry with everything spiraling out of control that I punched a concrete wall in a moment of overwhelming emotion. This resulted in breaking my fifth metacarpal in my right hand—the hand I worked with, played games with, and used to carry my children to bed—the hand I desperately needed to ensure I could continue providing. Upon learning the severity of the self-inflicted damage, I became almost suicidal. Keep in mind that just a few months before this, I was the happiest man, with no history of depression or anxiety. I had never experienced anger outbursts, nor was I the type to break down and cry, but I was in a tough situation that truly prevented me from seeing the light on the other side. With nothing better to do, I looked for a game I could play WITH ONE HAND while recovering. Somehow, I stumbled upon this game and read some of the comments. I decided it was worth a try... I must admit I didn't beat the game, nor did I play as much as some of you. In fact, I may have played this game for only a day or two. That being said, after doing so, I had a new joy and hope for life. I managed to leave behind the pain and suffering that had been thrust upon me. I could experience the joy and happiness of other people. I relaxed for 5 ♥♥♥♥ minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay. After realizing this, I turned off the game and went back to work. My hand hurt a lot, but I was motivated. I stopped feeling so sorry for myself and became the father I needed to be at that moment, not the weak boy I was behaving like. Today, I am close friends with the mother of my children. We don't fight, argue, or say hurtful things to each other. We are parents and friends. Now I have 3 children. My third child is, wait, ALSO 4 YEARS OLD. The woman I am with was going through a very similar situation at the time of my separation, and we just unexpectedly stumbled into each other's lives. We have been dating for a year and are very happy together. Moral of the story: you never know what life has in store for you, and if I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today. This silly little game helped me realize that. Thank you.

Overall I liked this game. The story is the standard "your whole life was a lie and now you discover you're The Chosen One" trope, but it has plenty of interesting quirks and twists to keep it interesting. It has all the visuals, action and inspiring music of the old 90s Square games. There is a little bit of puzzle to it, but it skimps on quantity, and the fighting is too easy to master, especially if you take a little time to grind and max out your upgrades. Where the old games sometimes seemed to drag on forever, this game is way too short, but it still makes for a nice couple of afternoons. I recommend getting it when they offer at least 40% off.

All-in-all a cute game that's good for some hours of fun. Worth buying on sale. You play as Boyd, a young dude, who together with his cat must switch back and forth between the 12-bit and 8-bit world to collect crystal skulls and save the universe from sinister forces. Gameplay is reminiscent of old school Zelda (like NES Legend of Zelda and SNES Link to the Past) and includes combat and puzzles. As others have commented, it's a relatively short game and the difficulty level isn't very challenging. Once you get used to game mechanics and get a power up or two you'll breeze through the bad guys, and the boss battles (other than the final boss) don't require any particular strategy. The story is intentionally silly and the details of your quest and its ramifications are crazy overblown. In addition to the fun 8-bit/12-bit deal you also get some watercolor artwork cut scenes which are sort of random, but I thought they were nice looking and maybe add to the game's charm. A favorite part: the achievement you get for powering up your equipment is called "Falled Out." A least favorite part: the meow sounds the game makes whenever your cat talks (yes, there's a talking cat!).

Interesting concept for a game, switching between styles and such. Great pixel art, cool story and funny dialogue. 7/10

Not good

1 elephant went out to play Upon a spider's web one day He found it such enormous fun That he called for another elephant to come. 2 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 3 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 4 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 5 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun But there weren't any more elephants to come. 6 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day He found it such enormous fun That he called for another elephant to come. 7 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 8 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 9 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 10 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun But there weren't any more elephants to come. 11 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 12 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 13 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 14 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun But there weren't any more elephants to come. 15 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day He found it such enormous fun That he called for another elephant to come. 16 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 17 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 18 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 19 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun But there weren't any more elephants to come. 20 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun But there weren't any more elephants to come. 21 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 22 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 23 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 24 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun But there weren't any more elephants to come. 25 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day He found it such enormous fun That he called for another elephant to come. 26 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 27 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 28 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 29 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun But there weren't any more elephants to come. 30 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun But there weren't any more elephants to come. 31 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 32 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 33 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 34 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun But there weren't any more elephants to come. 35 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day He found it such enormous fun That he called for another elephant to come. 36 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 37 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 38 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 39 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun But there weren't any more elephants to come. 40 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun But there weren't any more elephants to come. 41 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 42 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 43 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 44 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun But there weren't any more elephants to come. 45 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day He found it such enormous fun That he called for another elephant to come. 46 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 47 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 48 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun That they called for another elephant to come. 49 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun But there weren't any more elephants to come. 50 elephants went out to play Upon a spider's web one day They found it such enormous fun But there weren't any more elephants to come.

I like the game concept on paper, but I got stuck early in the game with bugs that as far as I can tell broke the game and trapped me. Maybe I'll come back to it again, but after that it's hard to recommend.

High strangeness is a good game. A lot of nostalgia. The story is pretty good and the characters looks cool. Its a bit short but defenitely worth the money. I like the puzzles and the 8/16 bit changing. the drawings in the game are good looking and the plot twist is amazing. 7/10