Hoa

Que joguinho lindo!

Don’t get fooled by the pretty art. Underneath the nice art style it got, the gameplay is janky and boring for a platformer, and the stiff controls do not help either, wrapped with a shallow storytelling. So, what I mean by janky gameplay? Some elements like the swinging vines, and certain jumps which require you to clip the edges in order to get on the platforms. It’s weird, it feels like something you do when you wana cheese games or speedrun them, not normally play them. And what about boring? Well, all you gotta do in this game is open up the map and go to the marked spots, no hidden things, no collectibles, nothing… this is as linear as it gets for a platformer. You might like the simplicity, but it sure as hell gets boring fast, all levels consisting of go pick up butterflies and unlock runes so that the main NPC goes free for you to interact with. Now, I played until the dream level, which I think it’s the last but not sure, cuz I got a crash during it and it sent me back to the start. Normally it would be just a setback, but what made this level special is that it crams mechanics which you did not got used too until then. You get to move 2 characters at once, at some point stage inverses controls, and let me tell ya, couple this up with some janky/stiff controls and I was an immediate “I ain’t trying this again”. Now, before this level there is one where you gotta run from a boss, so you would expect to get ready for some fast-paced action scene where timing matters a lot, but guess what? The whole level is auto! That’s right, the whole chase scene plays by itself, it’s just a cutscene… Before this level (or better said cutscene) you have the boss one where you gotta solve 2 puzzles to pass, these will be the only puzzles in the game, and to add salt to injury, both of these puzzles are the exact same, match symbols. While I did say the controls are stiff, well, they are playable, I played platformers with worse controls, so, the ones in this game aren’t that bad, but neither good. And now for the storytelling, I didn’t liked it. All NPCs which talk to you feel like tutorials, even the main ones (once you free or wake them up they either open paths or give you extra skills like double jump). Their dialogues consist on about 2 sentences referring some part of the story with the rest being tutorial stuff, like “Get me 5 butterflies for X skill” or “Go through there in order to reach the next NPC”, or “The next guy will tell you the rest”, these are things that side NPCs or just text boxes will tell you, not mixed up among story dialogues. To close up, the only ones I would rec this are kids, the game is simple, has no combat, puzzles are simple too, and battling the jankiness will be only challenge. I also see the game got some awards for the art, and I agree with that, the game is gorgeous, it’s just a shame for the gameplay and storytelling.