Philophobia: The Fear of Love

Having played and completed this difficult platformer, I can say I definitely enjoyed it regardless of some of the minor issues I had. Here's what I liked: - Mostly short and difficult levels with fast respawning, which is nice if you're like me and like throwing yourself at the wall until you somehow miss and get past the wall. - All bosses are fun and unique. - Outside of a couple of duds, level design is good. - The mechanic of not being able to see past blocks your character wouldn't be able to see past is really neat and creates a bit of a puzzle aspect where you have to figure out where things are happening through what you can see or hear. It also allows for the hiding of secrets, which has definitely been utilized. - Story is definitely neat, even if a bit simple. I imagine it'd strike a chord with anyone who has gone through debilitating pain and grief. - The music and atmosphere are really good. I actually hope that the soundtrack at some point becomes available to download or purchase. Here are the minor issues I had with the game: - Some levels have forced deaths. I don't like forced deaths outside of specific circumstances and feel like the events that play would work better if they occurred right before you entered the death zone. - Dashing is finicky. I don't fully understand the rules that govern when you can dash, and you can't dash at all when you throw out a boomerang (this has killed me a few times in a couple of levels, and especially during one boss fight). - The movement sometimes feels a little too imprecise for a few jumps. - A few levels have hazards that are almost entirely obscured by the blocked sight-lines, meaning you'll likely only learn about them by dying to them. - You have to fight a snake. I like snakes :( Overall, I'd say the positives outweigh the negatives by quite a bit, so if you like difficult platforming then I definitely recommend that you give it a go. Side-note, as of writing this review, there's a bug where it's possible to soft-lock on the third boss by flipping the two switches in the arena fast enough. This damages the boss twice, but then the boss refuses to do anything after. My biggest issue with this is that there's an achievement specifically for flipping both the switches within a few seconds of each other. Perhaps I got real unlucky with the timings (it happened to me twice), but this should probably be looked into and fixed.

The controls are tight and I love the shadow mechanic. The shadows make it fun to discover what's around each corner and getting through a level on the first try is a thrill. And if you don't make it on the first try, the shadows force you to commit the level to memory. Most of the levels fit on a single screen which makes them short and sweet, although there are a handful of levels that will make you want to rip your hair out but in a good way! This is where the theme of heartbreak, anger and frustration fits really well. The levels are very fair in that it doesn't take long to figure out how to beat them, so it's entirely on the player to execute! Dying and respawning is also very snappy which motivated me to give even the most difficult levels "just one more try" without realizing I died 40 times. I enjoyed the minimalist art style and the color palette works really well. Well done Tim! Definitely a labor of love.

Its a fun puzzle game where you have to find a way out of each cave, searching for keys and items while avoiding traps and trying not to die which will happen a lot. And sometimes an evil voice will taunt you after death just to crush your feelings. And do not get fooled by the hearts. They are not around to give you an extra life. They are evil and they will kill you. LOL.

The unique aesthetic in the game never gets old. Its full of fun mechanics and challenging puzzles that will both frustrate you and bring you immense satisfaction when you overcome them. Its a good way to kill a few hours, and the developer clearly put a ton of love into this project. A fantastic game well worth a look!

Ok so i absolutely love the concept of this game. I do wonder how Tim came up with this concept as I have not really seen it in a video game. The game is great and frustrating at the same time lol. I keep on falling down to my death in the same as i quickly forget where the map changes :( I would not suggest playing this game in public as it could lead you to shouting out obscenities lol. The game truly represents love and heartbreak in the way it makes you feel whilst playing it.

Great game! I liked the story and the poetic cutscenes. A small detail I also liked is how thematic are the names of the abilities (deny the pain etc.)

I've been watching Tim Ruswick's YouTube channel for the last few years and decided to take the plunge and buy Philophobia. My time with the game was quite enjoyable (albeit also frustrating) and it was definitely a fairly challenging platformer. The shadow mechanic was quite interesting and added to the challenge and I liked using the dash ability a lot, though I feel the other two abilities were underused a bit in comparison. There's some elements introduced in the later realms of the game that I feel could have been introduced earlier in the game to be utilised more, like these heart stalactites that try to fall on you. The 3rd and 4th bosses were also sort of annoying due to requiring a lot of rapid key presses and quick responses to avoid dying (which I did a lot). Some of the levels in the game did also suffer similar problems with relying more on rapid responses which can lead to a lot of deaths and are a source of frustration. The story presented in the game is simple and serviceable, so anybody looking for a deep story and well written characters will want to look elsewhere. All in all, I enjoyed the game and would recommend it to people who want a challenging precision platformer and can look past some rough edges. 7/10 I also want to thank Tim for being a huge source of inspiration and advice to myself as a budding game developer and I wish him well with his future endeavours.

Avant toute chose je tien a précisé que je n'ai pas encore fini le jeu. C'est un platformer die and retry comme on en retrouve beaucoup, la grosse distinction avec les autres c'est son thème et jouer a ce jeu après une rupture difficile ... c'est pas quelque chose que je conseil, si après avoir perdu l'amour vous cassiez votre clavier/manette ça foutrait un coup au moral ;) Néanmoins j'ai hâte de savoir comment on se sort de la dépression de la rupture ^^' Néanmoins le scénario du jeu n'est pas le principal attrait c'est évidemment son gameplay que j'adore il ne réinvente pas le genre mais donne quand même accès a quelque subtilité bien pensé. Une difficulté est certes relevé mais pas insurmontable, malgré la présence d'au moins un niveau que j'ai personnellement trouver très injuste ou je suis mort bien plus que 300 fois juste pour passer un tout petit bout du niveau.... La BO du jeu est exquise rappelant aisément le thème sans pour autant en devenir lourd. Un bestiaire qui se diversifie au fur et a mesure des chapitres sans en être grandiloquent n'en devient pas redondant pour autant. Tout ça pour dire que je recommande vivement ce jeu.

A real solid hard game with unexpected subtlety in the controls. Expect some frustration, but overcoming the challenges will charge you with FIERO.

Przepiękna platformówka z oryginalną grafiką i wzruszającą historią. Poziomy składające się z praktycznie samych serc i narracja prowadzona wierszem nadają jej niesamowity, choć mroczny klimat, w dodatku muzyka nieraz zapiera dech w piersiach... No i to zakończenie... Choć już wcześniej zdarzało mi się płakać przy wzruszających momentach w grach itp., to w przypadku "Philopfobii" wyryczałam się za wszystkie czasy TvT. A, i jeszcze jedno. Gra jest trudna. Sprawiedliwie trudna, ale trudna.