https://youtu.be/Svq5brwDYfk
[quote]A review copy was provided by the developer.[/quote]
[quote]Follow my Curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41363546-Fruit-N-Doggie-Reviews/]Fruit N Doggie Reviews,[/url] so you can be updated whenever I post a new review.[/quote]
[h1]Overall Rating - Painfully Bad ★☆☆☆☆[/h1]
[h1]First Impressions[/h1]
A game like NENA (NE), with so few reviews, typically doesn't interest me that much, even if they're all positive. However, the handful of reviews I saw on N seemed blown away by its ending, in spite of the game only taking about 60 minutes to beat. Heck, with the achievements in mind, it can actually be finished faster than that, in only about 19 minutes. Regardless, I was very intrigued, and wanted to find out what made it so special, or whether this was all being blown out of proportion. Having finished the game for myself, it's definitely the latter.
[h1]Gameplay[/h1]
You play as a robot who doesn't have a lot of abilities, as all Botley can do on his own is dash. However, you're able to take possession of specific things. For instance, you can possess an explosive barrel, and fling it at enemies, or take possession of the enemy and make a traitor out of it to kill other foes. There's a few puzzles you'll finish this way, which mostly consists of moving an NPC onto a switch, or using enemy projectiles to hit buttons. It's a mechanic that's been used in other games, though it works well here, and doesn't have any confusing design or glitches that I noticed. However, it's not a very elaborate mechanic, so the gameplay doesn't change greatly from beginning to end.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2294681331
[h1]Controls[/h1]
You have the option to play with either a keyboard or controller, and when I used the controller, I didn't notice any problems with the controls. This is in part because Botley has so few maneuvers, so the controls are pretty simple. One thing to know is that there's a cooldown before you can dash again, which is a hassle in the boss fights.
[h1]Story[/h1]
NE is set hundreds of years in the future, in a world taken over by a business ran by robots. However, there's only a few times when the lore comes up at all, and considering how you see a very small sliver of what's going on, there's no way to know whether this is accurate or not. I found the tone to be inconsistent as well. Generally speaking, it's fairly grim with the amount of NPCs that are destroyed, while others are completely immobile. At the same time though, the two main characters get everything they would want, after destroying the monolith controlling the company, "Enjoy your lives, while everyone else suffers, you selfish pricks."
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2294681692
[h1]Visuals[/h1]
It's hard for me to be positive about this, but I think the game's background are made up of square tiles. I'm basing this primarily on the outdoor environments, as the repeating designs of the grass and pathways look like a tiled floor. The game looks alright, but the enemy designs lack variety, with them consisting primarily of turrets that shoot different bullets. Other foes remind me of different colored gingerbread men. There's some differences in how they attack, yet it comes across as underwhelming when they're stamped out en masse.
[h1]Sound Design[/h1]
The music has a very tranquil sound to it, and the strumming of a guitar or other stringed instrument is enjoyable. However, I don't think it suits this setting well, when it's supposed to take place hundreds of years in the future, and human beings might be wiped out. Maybe it'd work better if there was an undercurrent of dread or creepiness, to make the whole thing more unsettling. I'd say the sound effects are sufficient, without anything being ear grating.
[h1]Pros[/h1]
🌟 The controls are straightforward and work well. Having to utilize the game's main mechanic to start the game serves as a simple tutorial or reminder.
🌟 I enjoyed some of the humorous moments in the writing, and felt bad for some of the NPCs. It's unfortunately not developed further.
[h1]Cons[/h1]
❌ There wasn't a consistent logic behind the things you could possess. It's not only machinery, which could sensibly be seen as a wireless takeover of some kind. However, you can possess non-robotic items too, such as plants and rocks. This begs the question of why other bots can't do this too, as there's no suggestion that Botley is unique or special.
❌ Elements of the world are hinted at, but never explored. For instance, all the other inactive robots at the start of the 3rd chapter. Why are they all shut off, and why does Botley spuriously boot up without any outside intervention?
❌ If you're paying attention, most enemies are a non-threat. However, the sporadic movements of the first two bosses are significantly more dangerous. It makes for odd difficulty balancing.
[h1]Tips[/h1]
🔍 When you take possession of anything else, your body is left immobile and vulnerable. Sometimes you aren't able to hide it away and make sure it can't be attacked, and will have to use good timing and quick reactions to return in time to dodge an attack.
🔍 If you attempt to go for the time-based achievements, you can turn on a timer from the options menu. This way you can see if you're on pace, or already missed the deadline.
[h1]Final Thoughts[/h1]
Honestly, I don't see why the other reviews for NE hype it up so much. I can only guess how difficult it'd be to make a game as an indie developer, but by now, lots of other teams have done just that and put out something that takes more than an hour or two to beat. If I had to guess, most of this praise comes from the post credits scene, wherein the developer, who is a self-insert protagonist, includes a video clip of his proposal to his girlfriend. Considering how it has nothing to do with the game or its story, and that I don't even know these people, it's irrelevant. If nothing else, this unnecessary intrusion irritates me, as it's very reminiscent of social media making people think whatever goes on in their life is of interest to the rest of the world. I hate to break it to you, but most people don't want to watch a stranger's wedding proposal. Get over yourselves.
Putting that aside, I find the game to be lackluster. The worldbuilding is meager, not delving deeply into its own lore or setting. Throughout the game, there's not much enemy or situational variety. It's a very short game, unless you grind for the achievements. After finishing your adventure, you're met with an abrupt ending that wraps nothing up. With nothing to make this game stand out, let alone for its asking price, I don't recommend playing NE. If you want to watch wedding proposals, do it for free on YouTube. At least then you're seeking it out, instead of having it shoved into your face.
[table]
[tr]
[th]PC Specs[/th]
[th]Performance[/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Ryzen 2700
RTX 2070
16GB RAM
ADATA SSD
1920x1080
[/td]
[td]The game ran without incident on default settings.
💖 - NE is healthy
[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
