Kalevania

TL;DR if you like platformers and get it 50% off, it's good enough. Game is short, and the difficulty mostly comes from how unfamiliar it feels. As per the dev's instructions, just leaving the level to go spend your money makes the game immediately a lot easier than trying to hold on with poor equipment. You equip the fish and max out your magic and leave the level once you have more cash to strengthen your arms and everything becomes a cakewalk, nevertheless it's an entertaining few hours. Not exactly something worth a tenner, but well worth half-price for platformer fans. Having the life system doesn't make much sense, since either you're very ill-equipped to fight, lose all your money when you game over, and stay in the doom spiral, or you save your money and steamroll everything with Finnish witchcraft. Controls aren't the worst, not terribly great either. Stuff like barely not reaching a platform or the particle effects obscuring a lot of the action if you run into it doesn't make controlling Väinämöinen all that satisfying, but I can't say I hated properly utilizing spells to get through levels without a headache. I just wish there was more to it than a handful of levels and strange design decisions. Hope to see more once Jukka takes the lessons to heart.

Great and fun game about Finnish folklore Kalevala

This game is awesome, I genuinely like it a lot. Only negative is that the text runs way too fast when you try to talk to NPCs Played for like 15 minutes, died, probably not gonna play it again because i don't like games like this Would still recommend to everyone E: I watched a friend play through it and explained all the finnishisms it has, he loved it, I loved it, great type was had.

A really fun game about the Finnish folklore Kalevala. You play as Väinämöinen, who is a weakling in the beginning, but after the Prelude (stage 0) he becomes an unstoppable BEAST. A bit on the easy side, even in Hard mode.

Lyhyt mutta hyvin tehty kuvaa Kalevaniaa ehkä kaikista tehokkaimmin. Pelin läpäisee parissa tunnissa, mutta se on miellyttävä peli. Ohjattavuus toimii erittäin hyvin eikä ole mitenkään liukas tai kankea, Väinämöinen tekee mitä pitää ja kenttäsuunnittelu toimii erittäin hyvin. Peli ei ole erityisen vaikea, mikä on eräs asia mitä monet retropelit helposti ovat. Graafinen tyyli on oitis todella nostalginen ja musiikit ovat juuri niin hyviä, kuin tälläisen pelin kanssa voisi toivoakin. Omalla kohdalla suurta plussaa Kalevateemasta, vaikka sen kanssa onkin vähän hosuttu, sillä tarinankerronta häviää erittäin nopeasti toiminnan tieltä, vaikka sille selvästi olisikin ollut tilaa. Tämä on siinä mielessä suuri sääli, kyllä monet kansalliseepokset tilaneet olisi saanut käännettyä pelimuotoon erittäin hyvin, vaikka sitten vain muutaman vuorosanan muodossa. Peli on kokonaisuutena hyvä yhdistelmä toimintaa ja tasohyppelyä joissa kummassakin on hieman muuttujia rikastamassa kokonaisuutta, vaikkakin vaihtelua pelissä on aika vähän eikä uudellenpeluuarvoakaan juuri yhtään. Parin tunnin peliajan kanssa tästä sai kuitenkin irti oikein mielekästä pelattavaa ja jos tälläinen peli olisi ilmestynyt SNES aikakaudella, olisi se selvästi niitä parempi SNES pelejä ja kyllä se hyvin pärjää vertailussa Bloodstainedin ja Messengerin kanssa. + Kalevala teema + Musiikki + Ohjattavuus + Toiminta - Pituus - Tarina vähyys Arvosana: 7,5/10

A game made in Finland by one person about Finnish mythology and folklore, specifically their epic poem the Kalevala, and starring the protagonist, an epic bard whose name I cannot spell. I don't know much about it so it's interesting to learn stuff. As for the game itself, it's an old-school platformer with long sprawling levels and magic acting as secondary powers to bypass traps and obstacles. First impression is not great, to be honest, but after the first two introductory stages it gets much better with some clever ideas, nice challenges and a few secrets. Since most of the platforming is structured around the "bogo" jump (I think it should say "pogo" btw), I suggest to learn the stages by going back as soon as you can to the initial town stage and buy power-ups such as double jump and armor. It's not too hard but it can get challenging if you keep the base stats (also it's cool that you actually wear the items you buy). All in all it's a very nice retro-style title with some cool chiptunes. P.S. what the heck is a Sampo?

For those (as here on end) usually not into platformers / vania-type games, this is a surprise! Witty humor, swift controls and uplifting music draws you right in on the get go. Ancient Finnish culture is cleverly utilized with many of its main ingredients. From Kalevala to Kantele - from Sauna to Sampo via Runo singing / everything in between. Game can be very challenging at parts but never defeating - it is clear what to do and there's an element of reward after a grinding success. Väinämöinen throws magic spells, shoots, loots, sword pogos and also tries to woo women without any talent to that one, none whatsoever. One J.R.R. Tolkien took his main inspiration from Finland's epic past ending up with Lord of the Rings (meant as an equivalent to serve as England's national epic in a way), of which some prolly have heard. Kalevania is equally EPIC in funny. And this is "only" a platformer for the uninitiated. Next level challenge for the developer then? THE BOCK SAGA...

A really fun albeit short platformer with an absolutely BANGING soundtrack. The artstyle may be primitive in places, but it is extremely charming. The gameplay feels satisfying and punchy, and most spells are quite varied in function. The balancing is a little so-so at times. Some of the later game bosses are really easy to spam down with spells and melee knockback. The final boss was more confusing than anything, but still absolutely climactic. I also really didn't find much reason to use the bow; it severely nerfs your platforming abilities, and you get it in an area that is quite heavy on death pits. Still, this game is definitely worth a go. Absolutely a hidden gem in my books, though being Finnish my opinion may be more than a little biased. Seriously though, I can't praise the OST enough. Absolutely killer chiptunes!

Good game! Solid gameplay and excellent soundtrack.

At first I was worried that this game would be boring, but once you get the sword it becomes way more fun. I love the DuckTales pogo mechanic! I didn't have any issues with the gameplay aspects of the game, it's solid. The music ranges from ok to good, nothing really memorable, but nothing bad either. I think the artstyle is nice. The Finnish mythology aspect was the major selling point for me, it's very underutilized especially in the realm of gaming. As a person who has experience with retro games I managed to beat this in 2 hours. I enjoyed the time I spent with the game and felt like I got my money's worth, although I did get the -25% introductory discount. The full price is a bit too steep in my opinion for a game that skilled players can beat in two hours. *UPDATE* The price has been lowered by about 50%, the price is now very reasonable even without a discount.