Octahedron: Transfixed Edition

This is one of the best 2d platformers out there. I'm kinda shocked this still has less than 100 reviews right now. I mean this game blasts some serious rope. The movement and physics are excellent here and there is some nuance and technique that would be well suited to hard precision, though the level design is not really focused on precision. It focuses on flowing well and allowing natural feeling movement and pace, makes it really easy to get into the zone. Great for speedrunning and there is plenty of stuff for challenge runners as well, every level has speedrun and hitless medals etc.

Хорошая музыка и простой геймплей. Чуть-чуть трещит котелок, если долго не вылазить с игры. Построены уровни под ритм и уровней немало. Красивый неон и пульсация. Цена дешёвая, наверное на скидках меньше доллара стоит. Вердикт: круто! Спасибо Humble Bundle!

So, I played this game way back in 2019 on the Nintendo Switch. Absolutely loved it. Fast forward to November 2024, when I awakened last night around 11:30, could not sleep afterwards so I began perusing through my enormous backlog and Octahedron came into view. With some trepidation (because I remember how this was a very precise and sometimes twitch platformer), I launched the game and played through the entirety of the first world. All the feelings I had in 2019, were accurate. The aesthetic, the controls, the platforming, the music, the level design, all sublime. I cannot comprehend how this game did not get more recognition while under license from “Square Enix” who did, let me remember, umm, zero marketing for this game. It should be noted that the developer, “Demimonde” is highly talented and created one of my favorite platformers of all time, definitely in my top ten. This game comes highly, highly recommended. -9.5/10-LoA-

I still can't believe this game is almost a decade old, and that it has been 6 years since I've heard about it, and fell head over heels for it. OCTAHEDRON is, genuinely, one of the most unique games I've known about, not only visually but also in regards to the soundtrack and mechanics. Plus, it was there for some of the worst times of my life, and for my highest moments. And frankly, if it wasn't for this odd little game from 2018 that was practically forgotten about, I wouldn't have realised many things about myself, and probably would've still been quite lonely. Honestly, OCTAHEDRON was the thing that kept me going and made me learn how to embrace the odd and unconventional. To not be scared of things that I don't understand. But ignoring the personal stuff, let's see how cool this game is! Spoiler warning, although it is quite mild. Veetragoul, as weird as it sound, is genuinely one of the coolest settings to me, and my personal favourite video game setting. The way OCTAHEDRON combines pixellated 2D elements seamlessly with 3D shapes is absolutely amazing, and I love how much detail is packed into it. I'm still noticing new stuff every time I see it! I love how the background is mostly black with the occasional neon elements, which results in the levels, for a lack of better words, seemingly coming alive. It may be a bit "samey" for some people but honestly I think the aesthetics fits perfectly, and it doesn't feel too busy. Likewise, I LOVE the enemies, they're all so bonkers and cool and I LOVE how they combine with the mechanics to make full use of the platform gimmick. Plus adore how all of them are based on insects or viruses or bacteria or any other non-comventional creatures (Or organisms for that matter), plus the fact that all of them have no eyes amuses me since that fits the whole "Veetragoul is an underground world" thing perfectly, as most IRL cave animals don't have eyes! Also a bit off-topic, but I genuinely love the Protagonist. I LOVE how simple they are, a pure white humanoid with a colour changing octahedron for a head. They're so oddly endearing even though we barely know anything about them! Like, they live in a cabin in the woods! they write books! They do a silly Megaman reference when jumping! They can spin their head around if you press the up/ down arrows!! Genuinely my favourite Protagonist of any game. Anyways, back on track and also talking about the platforms, OCTAHEDRON makes full use of the ability to create your platforms. From enemies that can be destroyed using the upgraded platforms, enemies that can be blocked using them or even enemies that lash out if you use them, to mechanics that require platforms and even collectables that can only be reached with them, OCTAHEDRON is not scared of going bonkers with its main gimmick and I LOVE it!!! Plus some of the later platforms are genuinely insane :P Also I almost forgot one of the best parts, the MUSIC!!!!! I may be a bit biased since I love Chiptune and Trance, but OCTAHEDRON's ost is genuinely incredible to me. It suits the aesthetic of the game perfectly AND it isn't too in-your-face. Plus the way mechanics and enemies move to the beat is genuinely satisfying, I like to just sit back and watch the levels in all their glory, and observing the enemies doing their stuff to the beat, it's oddly relaxing! (Plus Authority by Chipzel and Surge by Andre Sobota are the best tracks. 11/10 they are AWESOME-) Also the plot! Yes, this game has a plot! Not spoiling too much but at first it may seem as if it make zero sense, but if you just pay a little attention to the level/ World names and even certain details, the game slowly makes more sense. Also I may be biased since I love this game a lot, but the themes genuinely make me tear up, probably because I could relate to it a lot. It should be noted that this game can be really, REALLY hard. It isn't afraid to suddenly kick you in the teeth when you get to the later levels, and I love it. It isn't ridiculously hard but you will need a few tries to get a level down, or to 100% it. Plus talking about the medals, I love how they add a LOT of replayability (Is that a word? It's a word now to me-) to the game, you can try to no-hit a level, use as little platforms as possible or even SPEEDRUN the game!!!! This game is a perfect game for speedrunning and honestly can't wait to attempt that XD. Not to mention the achievements, some of which are really tricky to pull off! In all, OCTAHEDRON is a literal hidden gem, practically forgotten about and still remains obscure 8 years after its release. And frankly, I think OCTAHEDRON deserves to be remembered as a gem of a platformer. Demimonde, if you're reading this, thank you for making such an amazing game that made me realise who I was and that it's okay to be different. Thank you for making a game that made me learn many different skills and is always my muse when I'm down but want to make something. And thank you for a game that truly deserved better than it got. If you ever make a new game, I'll try to get it ASAP, or maybe talk about it as much as I could so it won't be hidden amongst so many other games that were forgotten and ignored. Thank you, Demimonde and OCTAHEDRON.

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The game is gorgeous, really good platformer. Bur somewhere around 3-6 it stopped working with the controller, only with keyboard. Which was a dealbreaker for my kid. I'm actually very sory to not like it and because I didn't have the dexterity to play it myself, but this was my kid's opinion, that it's not worth finishing.

Probably one of my favorite platformers. The controls are tight and the soundtrack kicks ass, complete with level design that plays to it. Not to mention the bright neon aesthetic. Very excited to see what Demimonde will cook next.

This is probably my favourite game. The levels get progressively more challenging but never feel frustrating (to me at least), with the exception of the last two bonus levels that both cost me multiple hours. I have heard some people had to look up where to find the hidden tetrahedrons, though in my experience they were rather easy to spot (I don't know if it is different in hard mode). The gameplay mostly comes down to timing your moves right. I took my time so my playtime at time of review is exactly one playthrough for someone who doesn't play games like this very often. The sounds and visuals are great and there is a small storyline for a tiny bit of context. During my playthrough, I've encountered only few bugs, none of which are gamebreaking: - In one level (I think it was somewhere in world two) the game would sometimes have lags where everything would slow down for a second or two. - In world 5, I've noticed that the hearts display sometimes shows a lesser amount of hearts and lives than I actually had. - In the finale, retrying the level or exiting to the world map after a loss both crash the game. It's not that bad though, the progress up until that point is saved. Octahedron would be great for speedrunners. It has medals for completing each level under certain amounts of time or using only up to a certain amounts of platforms. As a casual player, I have to admit these challenges look too difficult for me, at least after the first few levels. Overall I'd definitely recommend!

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Good plateform game with a slight rhytmic component, better and longer than 140.