Insect Adventure

Great game, much like other Metroidvanias, it gives you the freedom to explore and obtain most items in the way you choose if you have the skills. Would recommend

Insect Adventure 8/10 Stars (Steam Only ATM) This is a Metroid-style MV, even though at first glance, I assumed it would be closer to an HK-style MV considering the bug theme (which they poke fun at in the game). Most of the familiar themes from Super Metroid are all here, although the Dev does have a few tricks up his sleeve. In fact, once I started playing it, I thought this was going to practically be a straight-up reskin like an AM2R type game with bug skin. Luckily I was wrong. We get the usual mobility upgrades (Relics), consumables (which can be purchased or mined), and upgrades for our health & strength. Plus, some stuff not found in Super Metroid. The parts that made it a little different were borrowed from HK and other newer MV-style games. They added collectibles (100 Golden Bees) and Augments that power up the weapons, move set, & Relics. You also get Augment Syringes so that you can equip more Augments (think HK charm system). With so many different kinds of items to find, it seems like there is something new to find in practically every room, which makes traversing the bug-filled land never feel boring or stale. This is also a true MV in the purest sense. Multiple paths can be taken, and sequence jump possibilities abound. In fact, while looking at the Steam achievements, it is clear that this game was designed with sequence breaking and speed running in mind. While I didn't set out to do anything like this, I apparently broke at least one sequence without even trying, so that should tell you something. While my playthrough clocked in at just under 8 hours, it wasn't without any headaches. The controls can be a little janky at times, especially at the beginning. Once you have acquired a few mobility upgrades, you will have way more control over the jankiness. If you are thinking about giving up the first hour or so, I would strongly urge you to reconsider. It gets a lot better IMO. I did get stuck in few walls too, although a consumable will take you back to your last save point. I would recommend always having a few on hand. I also had a fair amount of runtime errors the last 1/7 of the game (I think at least 6). To combat this, I saved frequently. I never lost more than about a room or two of progress, but it is something else to consider. I plan to let the Dev know as I think this game is a hidden gem. In contrast, I played Fearmonium all last weekend, and it never crashed once on the exact same high-end i7 gaming laptop. All-in-all, I enjoyed my time in Insect Adventure, and I can easily recommend it to fans of Metroid or people who like trying new games on Steam. Hopefully, this will be ported to consoles at some point, but in the meantime, we should show this game some love, so it doesn't end up forgotten in obscurity. Now I need to find the last 10 Bees as I have finished just about everything else ;-) I have summarized the kind and quantity of items that can be found below to give an idea of how big this game is. Note: You have to collect 2 Amber Hearts or Power Crystals each before you are granted any additional perks (denoted by 2/2). Golden Bees=Collectibles 100 Amber Hearts=Life Containers 2/2 16 Power Crystals=Attack Power 2/2 14 Augment Syringes 18 Augments 27 Relics 20 Consumables 6 Biomes 7

I liked the art style, level design, and overall concept of the game. But the combat and movement (including animations) just felt extremely "jittery" and "strange" for lack of better terms. The way enemies interact when you hit them, collision and hit boxes, etc. It just didn't feel right. It's like the whole game was completed before the core movement and combat got a chance to leave the rough draft phase. Maybe its just the jittery/janky animations that are throwing me off but I don't know, it just didn't feel right to me. I love metroidvanias, this one just doesn't hit the mark for me in it's current state unfortunately. It's not terrible, but theres so many better choices when it comes to this genre nowadays and I would rather play/recommend something else that feels a bit more polished. Sorry dev <3

Mannnnn I want to play this game but the controls are just so terrible. Sorry pops. Refunded.

Just not seeing enough to get enticed by. It's ugly, stuttery scrolling, movement and the abilities could feel better to use, more polished (The grapple in particular). Level design, charms, abilities, map all seemed quite fine.

Really solid metroidvania with non-linearity, TONS of upgrades, and some fun gameplay.

For ultra low battery usage on the steam deck, set TDP limit to 5 watts andset GPU clock to minimum (200) Originally this was an extremely unpolished and janky metroidvania, however the 1.5 update seems to have improved it significantly, although not quite enough. I have bailed on this for a reason that used to be very common in the old days before 3G but which is exceptionally rare nowadays: I got stuck and can't figure out where to go next. I think this is close to being something I can recommend but its not quite there yet. The animations are still terribly awful and the auto wall run is still very annoying to handle.

Really good game, rough around the edges so don't be surprised if sometimes hitboxes are weird or you get stuck in the ceiling. It borrows a lot of ideas from other games but it does enough to be its own game and the movement is really something else, one of the best in the genre imo. If you like Metroidvanias you should really give this one a try, hopefully it gets some traction.

Very nice metroidvania that is unfortunately flying under the radar. Controls may feel somewhat awkward in the early game, but once you start acquiring mobility upgrades you'll be zooming and zipping through the world no problem. There are lots of useful upgrades hidden all over the place so exploration is always rewarding. Some may find the game a little crude visually but don't judge a book by its cover. Give the game a chance and you may be pleasantly surprised!

Insect Adventure is a heartfelt metroidvania with countless nods to the classics. Aesthetically it's heavy on the Yoshi's Island side of things, while the gameplay offers fast paced platforming alongside some kinetic spectacle fighter-esque combat. The combination of those two elements isn't as polished as a Spark the Electric Jester game, but I found myself really appreciating the sheer breadth of content that Insect Adventure offers. It's a huge game, especially for $10, and brimming with imagination. There's a lengthy demo which does a good job of showcasing the core gameplay, I'd definitely recommend checking it out.