Little Bug

[table] [tr] [th][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33501916/]Follow my curator for More Puzzle Platformer Recommendations![/url][/th] [/tr] [/table] A delightful puzzle platformer where a young girl, lost in a dream, recruits a little ball of light to help her navigate through the dreamscape. Set in a beautiful 2.5d like world, Nyah who is seemingly compelled to pick up everything that isn’t nailed down comes across a dead cat, but is he dead? From there, late to get home, Nyah enters the dream world. Both the real world and dream world are beautifully realised with distinct looks and architecture matched to an outstanding OST. Soon upon entering the dream world, Nyah comes across a ball of light that allows her to swing freely through the world reaching places she could never dare. Like the game Brothers, the left stick controls Nyah while the right stick controls the ball of light. With a little practice some quite complex manoeuvres can be pulled off and at times the game requires some pretty precise coordination. Those inexperienced with this sort of game may get frustrated at times as dying will be frequent. Though usually the main path is a little easier, going off this path to collect the copious amount of collectables will require some slick moves at times. There are plenty of checkpoints but these are unevenly spaced at times. Sometimes I had to pull off 3 or 4 pretty tricky manoeuvres in a row to make it to the next one, other times I just had to walk up a hill. The game is not super long, less than two hours but this is an unmissable addition to the puzzle-platformer genre.

[h2]I think it's important that there's some visible criticism of this game because it has some major flaws.[/h2] First let's talk about my unabashed praise: The sound design and visual design are both very good - you'll be able to gauge just from the store page if these will appeal to you. The controls are also incredibly tight and consequently controlling Nyah feels really good - there's a level of mastery you can achieve which totally validates the design choices of the game. [h2] Every other positive aspect of the game is modified by some quite glaring flaws.[/h2] [list] [*] The game is very short (<1 hour blind). This is suplemented by plentiful bonus levels which means in total you can get about 2 hours of unique content from the game. For the asking price this wouldn't be unreasonable, but: [*] The game suffers from massive padding - of the game's hour length you'll spend over 7 minutes holding a single direction with 0 risk of failure or in unskippable cutscenes. You are required to complete at least 2 playthroughs to access all the bonus content (it's locked behind collectables, and you must leave at least 6 behind on your first run) and multiple playthroughs are encouraged through the achievements (both a speedrun and no-death run) yet the game has no respect for your time. You also cannot choose to skip ahead when grabbing collectables which is made even worse when a bug exists that can cause some not to spawn (forcing a reinstall of the game) meaning that even with a guide, a player could be forced to spend 20 minutes just to find out that they have to reinstall. [*] The story is bland, neither interesting or offensive. It serves it's purpose but can't be called memorable. [*] The game doesn't fully explore it's main mechanic until the bonus levels. Upon replays much of the game can feel rote, excluding one or two sections just before the game ends where tolerances are uncharacteristically tight. [/list] [h2] If the positive reviews still appeal to you, then there's some tips I can give you:[/h2] [olist] [*] You can glitch out of Nyah's apartment the first time you get there. Carefully brush up against the door until Nyah greets her mother and then quickly turn around and the staircase will despawn around you warping you to the next chapter much faster. [*] The attraction to the spirit light grows with distance. You can use it even when offscreen. Although you can't move it away from Nyah offscreen, it won't move towards her if you constantly try to move it away. Between these three mechanics, you can use the spirit light to jump arbitrarily high whenever there isn't a roof which can allow you to skip multiple parts of the game and easily achieve well over a minute's airtime. [*] The speedrun time is incredibly lenient - I finished my deathless run in 18 minutes. Just don't hang around and it's basically free, you can even pick up some missed collectables while you do it. [*] For the deathless run you can skip almost every single roofed section by jumping over them, there is one exception (the second roofed section preceded by red hands - it starts with two finger gates) but otherwise you can skip almost everything. I'm pretty sure that skipping a trigger in the clouds section will softlock the game though, so be cautious near the end. Also skipping these sections will skip triggers to end music tracks, so by the end you will have multiple songs playing. [/olist] [h1]If the premise captivates you, then you'll probably enjoy your time with little bug right up until you try to complete it.[/h1]

[h1]Ciekawie skonstruowana platformówka o wielkiej mocy oczarowywania - [i]Little Bug[/i][/h1] Nyah jest odrobinę dziwną dziewczynką. Dostrzega rzeczy, których nie widzą inni, a do swojego pudełka śniadaniowego zbiera wszystko, co znajdzie na drodze: kamienie, pojedyncze kwiaty czy robaki. Pewnego dnia, wracając ze szkoły, na ulicy dostrzega potrąconego kota. Widok ten wstrząsa Nyah tak mocno, że w domu rozładowuje napięcie, kłócąc się z mamą. Zarzuca kobiecie, iż ta interesuje się już tylko swoim młodszym dzieckiem. Po rozmowie dzieje się coś przerażającego. Blok mieszkalny zapada się, rodzina Nyah znika, a ona sama trafia do świata pełnego niebezpieczeństw. Od tej pory dziewczynka musi radzić sobie niemal sama w pokręconej rzeczywistości. Towarzyszy jej osobliwa kula mocy, która - po wciśnięciu spacji - unosi Nyah ponad ziemię, dzięki czemu bohaterka pokonuje rozmaite przeszkody. Stąd pozwolę sobie przejść już do opisu mechanizmu sterowania, z jakim nie spotkałam się dotychczas w żadnym innym tytule. Oprócz tego, że Little Bug, jako gra platformowa, jest momentami bardzo wymagająca, to należy w niej korzystać z obu zestawów klawiszy ruchu: WSAD służy do poruszania Nyah, a strzałki do poruszania wcześniej wspomnianą kulą. Co dziwne, koordynacja obu dłoni jest w tym wypadku trudniejsza niż np. jednoczesne granie na klawiaturze i z myszą albo wstukiwanie tekstu. Do sterowania oczywiście można się przyzwyczaić, ale przez całą rozgrywkę w niektórych miejscach sprawiało mi ono trudność. Zwłaszcza gdy należało szybko przesunąć kulę, a jednocześnie cały czas mieć baczenie na to, co robi Nyah. Z takim układem Little Bug mogłyby przechodzić dwie osoby na raz i jedna odpowiadałaby za dziewczynkę, a druga za poprawne umiejscowienie kuli. Plansze są bardzo jednolite pod względem klimatu oraz kolorystyki. Wśród przeszkód i pułapek są neonowe ręce i nogi (jakkolwiek dziwacznie to brzmi), duchy, które raz obudzone podążają za Nyah i zetknięcie z nimi równa się śmierci, a także lodowe podłoża. Podczas rozgrywki warto rozglądać się za przedmiotami kolekcjonerskimi podświetlonymi na niebiesko. Niektóre są położone w łatwo dostępnych lokacjach, inne ukryto. Bohaterka może je umieszczać w pudełku śniadaniowym, jednak zamieści się tam jedynie sześć rzeczy, a inne oddaje się duchowi potrąconego kota. Jeśli chodzi o częstotliwość zapisu stanu gry, jest ona dość wysoka, a miejsce zapisu oznaczone jest zapalonymi świecami, które gasną, kiedy się do nich podejdzie. Nyah ma jeden cel - pragnie wydostać się z alternatywnego świata przypominającego sen i wrócić do domu. Jej podróż trwa około trzech godzin, lecz nie musi być ona jednorazowa. Twórcy Little Bug zaszaleli z paroma osiągnięciami. Jedno z nich zostanie odblokowane po przejściu gry w 45 minut, do kolejnego należy podejść z idealną znajomością planszy, ponieważ chodzi w nim o dotrwanie do końca na jednym życiu i najlepiej bez rozładowywania energii kuli (wystarczającej na około trzy skoki). Są to prawdziwe wyzwania nawet dla wyjadaczy platformówek. Sama nie wyobrażam sobie nie zginąć ani razu w ciągu rozgrywki, skoro w wielu punktach traciłam życie po kilkanaście razy. Ale, jak to się mówi, do odważnych świat należy. Little Bug to prosta gra z potencjałem na dodatkowe poziomy bądź drugą część, do tego ładnie wygląda, dlatego prędko się nie znudzi. Mimo że użytkownicy Steam zgłosili już kilka błędów, sama nie doświadczyłam większych problemów i tylko raz musiałam uruchomić grę od nowa, kiedy Nyah utknęła w teksturze. Omawiany tytuł urzeka mnie stroną wizualną, dźwiękową i pomysłowością. Również cena należy do tych bardziej przystępnych, dlatego Little Bug warto się zainteresować. Polecam tę grę zwłaszcza osobom, które nie zniechęcają się szybko i lubią próbować swoich sił tam, gdzie wymagana jest zręczność. Na koniec garść informacji. Za stworzenie Little Bug odpowiada kilkuosobowe amerykańskie studio Buddy System i wydawnictwo z 25 września jest ich debiutem na rynku gier. Założyciele firmy, Bela Messex i Hana Harada, opisują siebie i swoich współpracowników jako ludzi kochających naturę, sztukę, a także wspierających osoby o różnych kolorach skóry, wywodzących się z różnych kultur i o różnych orientacjach seksualnych. Mam nadzieję, że Little Bug przyniesie im sukces i studio zaprojektuje kolejne świetne gry. [i]Zapraszam na moją stronę [url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/27231431/]kuratora Steam[/url]. Na pewno znajdziesz tam coś dla siebie.[/i]

This game. I have had the pleasure of receiving this game as a review copy. If you're looking for a sweet/cute game, with amazing visuals (with meaning, if you dig deep into the story and you'll see that everything here visually aids the overall arc!) and challenging puzzles all packaged up into a lovely platformer? Do it. You won't be disappointed. Take the time to go through the game and enjoy the music and try your best to *explore* rather than simply trying to blow through the game. Go for the hard-to-reach places and it will add another layer and dimension to the game to enjoy right then and later! Great work, Buddy System! First try? Nailed it.

I'm a Fig backer, and have been looking forward to Little Bug for a long time now. I am not disappointed - the storyline, art style, and gameplay are all incredible. I love the world they've created! Once you find secret items, some will have bonus challenge levels that unlock. They're all incredibly hard, but a nice diversion after the main story is completed.

Karakterinizle birlikte ilerleyip, karşılaştığınız birtakım nesneleri toplayabileceğiniz bu platform oyununda; karakterinizin zıplamadığını görünce, ilk başta biraz şaşırabilirsiniz. Onun yerine siz ilerledikçe size eşlik eden parlak bir mekanik görebilirsiniz. Bu mekanik size eşlik etmekle de kalmayıp, elektromanyatik görünümlü bir zincirle sizinle bağlantı kurabiliyor. Bu bağlantının ise sizi salıncakta sallanırcasına ivmelendirip, bölümlerdeki ilerleyişinizde yardımcı olduğunu görebilirsiniz.

I like lots of video game, and this is one of them. Sometimes I am so busy shooting lasers and blowing up bases that I forget that video games can be art too; Little Bug reminded me of this. It is beautiful and sureal and even unsettling at times. This game made me feel feelings. I felt small in a big world, and some parts were scarry, but I had a little spirit ally to help me get through it. I actually paused while playing and tried to remember what it was like to be a little kid finding treasures, and I could remember. I loved it. And Little Bug has all of the game elements that make playing fun. It has puzzles that are tricky to get through and satisfying when completed. There were secret areas that I was suprised to find myself in. And it's hard; I died lots of times. But I also got better at the mechanics and after a bit I was spider-man-ing all over the place. The music and setting were wonderful, the best I've encountered in a while. And I really liked my little character. She felt like a real person. This is a great game, I would recommend it to anyone. Well done, Buddy System!

I honestly can't recommend Little Bug enough! It uses a unique atmosphere and platforming mechanic to tell a story that is at once subtle and impactful. The game's art style manages to be completely beautiful and unsettling at the same time which gives it this dream like quality that I really dig, like if super metroid's creepiness were coupled with an emotionally resonant story. I thought that, while challenging, the platforming was never unfair. Completing levels using Little Bug's tether/jump mechanic was exhilarating and exploring all that the levels had to offer was really rewarding. I'd be remiss to not mention this game's soundtrack. Not only is its sound design integral to its atmosphere and story but the music is some of the best video game music I've ever heard. The title theme alone regularly gets stuck in my head. But yeah really stoked I decided to pick this up.

With roughly 3 hours of playtime I think a good chunk of it were spent just on the ending section alone. I loved the art, the mechanics, the amount of bonus levels, the bits of story found in the items. But the last level’s massive difficulty spike undid all the charm for me. The story opens with some standard “this weird ass kid is stressing out her mom, and then she possibly goes to some fantasy land.” It’s fine, but the meat of the narrative shines in the item descriptions as you scrounge around levels looking for these little trinkets. The items also allow you to unlock bonus levels that get really challenging. The main mechanic of the game is using this little ball of light to swing around Little Bug. It takes some precision, but it mostly feels like a fair challenge throughout the game. There are obstacles that constantly ramp up the challenge in the form of spikes, enemies that chase, homing rockets, slippery floors etc. It’s all very well done and has a nice pace, until the end. The design for this level was just too many curve balls thrown at once. The majority of the game relies on swinging and avoiding some obstacles with mostly healthy check point areas to alleviate frustration. The ending level instead has you guiding your light through a maze while simultaneously moving little bug around, on top of that you have death hands rapidly approaching, some parts of this section are brain dead easy but lined up right next to extremely difficulty parts and checkpoints are way too far in between. At this stage in the game I really started to see the cracks. I started see when either of my characters would get a hiccup on a platform or wall, or when my light would feel sluggish or too fast. I just felt no sense of reward at the end. Overall it’s a great game. Very short and with a painful difficulty spike, but still pretty neat.

I recommend Little Bug really strongly, with one major caveat which I'll get to at the end. This game has its presentation down, and it's unique mechanic of a buddy-system style grappling hook feels REALLY well implemented and is the basis for some fun and occasionally pretty challenging platforming. If you're always on the lookout for unique platformers like I am, this totally fits the bill and has plenty of charm too. That said, the game is very, very short. As you can see by my time played, I managed to finish the game in only 55 minutes. I didn't collect everything (not a completionist), so you could technically call it a quick run through if you want, but I realize the fact that the game CAN be completed in under an hour without specifically trying to speedrun will be an issue for some people. Additionally, while some games are this short and feel appropriate in length to not outstay their welcome, this isn't one of those. Little Bug had just felt like it was starting to blossom through creative puzzles and new twists, and I feel like a lot more could have been done with it. Here's hoping the team makes enough from this one to make a sequel with more content. In the meantime, I highly recommend supporting them, especially when it's on sale.