Pinball Spire

Verticality. Some simple trick shots. More verticality. A scouting option that allows you to overview the tables and see what you should try to go for. Easy and accessible to anyone. That in a nutshell what this is. Got very little bad to say about the game once it becomes clear what you are trying to do. Short game all in all. Some 3 hours plus to complete a run. New Game+ option exists. Not bad for this price. Full or discounted.

Pinball Spire promises a pinball take on a metroidvania. With hope in my heart I dived right in but didn't quite find what I initially hoped for. What I did find was charm, atmosphere and a good amount of fun - a game that was worth it's price of entry (just over £6 for me thanks to the summer sale). [h2]The first thing you need to know[/h2] First thing's first: For you to properly enjoy this game for what it is, you need to know what it ISN'T. This isn't a pinball metroidvania. Don't expect it to be. There's a handful of powers you collect throughout the game, only two of which are used to access new areas or routes and the game is constructed in a very linear fashion. You won't be exploring new tables to find hidden passages. You won't have epic boss battles until the very end of the game. The only backtracking you need to do is forced on you, rather than something you would do by choice. This is not 'Pinball FX meets Symphony of the Night' but, in fairness to the developers, it has the beginnings of the elements that it would need to become such a thing. [h2]Why this doesn't matter at all[/h2] What is here is well worth the time of any casual pin-head looking for something a bit different. The graphics are clear and pleasing, with distinct differences in the rooms denoting areas of the spire that you are rising (or falling) through. The physics work well. The music for the game is atmospheric without getting in the way or making a nuisance of itself. Controls are easy to operate. Some of the rooms are incredibly well designed despite demanding the player make some rather tricky shots in places. The game provides an excellent player aid that pauses the game, allowing you to highlight features in the room and see what they are or get hints on what to do with them (a fantastic feature for less familiar players or those with accessibility needs). The zoom in - zoom out camera is superb, allowing you to close exactly how much of the playfield you want to see. The UI stays out of your way, allowing you to just PLAY...… there's just so much to like here and so many smart decisions. [h2] Difficulty and length[/h2] Pinball Spire has a gentle difficulty curve with the complexity of shots and boards ramping up steadily over the run-time of the game. It's easy and charming to start with, demanding and more precise towards the end. Very few sections of this game feel unfair but there are a few rooms that frustrate. Length for this game is short – 2 – 4 hours is what to expect here. While many reviews criticise this, I found this to be the perfect length for the amount of ideas the game is working with. If the game was any longer, there would be a boredom risk for the shots it demands and the environments you are in. What I got felt right for the price and for the complexity on offer. [h2] So, what is this if it isn't pinballvania?[/h2] Pinball Spire is more akin to games like 'Adventure Pinball - Forgotten Island', Devil Crash, Sonic Spinball, Alien Crush, Momonga pinball adventure or even Demon's Tilt as they all feature multiple continuous playfields, collect-x-to-continue mechanics, and have you doing something other than raw score-chasing. Pinball Spire is a more interesting take on Momonga, Sonic Spinball taking the foundation of what those titles gave us and improving upon them. This is adventureball in a small package. [h2]Room for improvement[/h2] While I appreciate Pinball Spire for what it is, there are some criticisms I must share: [h3]Room frustration[/h3] Some rooms are excessively frustrating. For example: The orrery room with the orbiting planets around the sun is one such room, requiring positioning of planets then the chaining of two powers to escape effectively but lacks easy ways to recover mana for such attempts. [h3]Save rooms[/h3] Save rooms are all the same and are made too easy to hit but are bypassable - why? If you need players to hit a simple skill shot to save, vary it between rooms. If you don't want players to miss the save rooms, just AUTO SAVE. These rooms are here just to make it feel like a metroidvania, and they add no value at all to the proceedings. [h3]Forced backtrack[/h3] A reasonable portion of the second half is backtracking through rooms you've cleared after visiting the Catacombs. This should have been where the devs added the paths you couldn't get to previously because of powers you were missing or switches you hadn't hit yet. Truly a missed opportunity. [h3]The big bad boss[/h3] The boss at the end of the game is fun but overstays its welcome, regenerating defences again and again as you battle. It takes a fun and clever challenge and turns it into a bit of a slog. Using multiple boss phases would have been more appropriate here. Telling me to do the thing again after I've demonstrated two or three times I can make these shots is not how adventure pinball should work. Look at Demon's Tilt or Metroid Prime Pinball for examples of good pinball boss battles. [BOOST for victory!] The boost ability, once collected, makes a mockery of some of the more challenging room escapes and makes some of the utility of the fireball power redundant. Once you have boost, and learn how to pair it effectively with bumping the ball, very little will stop you. [h3]Wot no minibosses?[/h3] The only boss is the end boss. No minibosses, no guardians, no sub bosses. You will feel their absence once you have beaten the game. These could have increased the content and playtime by introducing boss challenges that required clever use of the power picked up most recently. Sadly, it wasn't to be this time. [h2] Is Pinball Spire worth my time then?[/h2] Yes. This is a charming little game that won't waste your time. It has excellent graphics, a clean UI, some clever ideas and effective execution. It won't overstay it's welcome (certainly if Mr Eyeball takes a boost or two to the face) and, while you might be left wishing it was a much more expansive game, it won't leave you unfulfilled. What it does, it does well. Buy it on sale and have a whale of a time for a few hours. I sincerely hope the devs make another one to follow on from the implied promise of the ending. Hint hint, Apparition Games. Please can we have some more? ;-) [h2]What to try next?[/h2] While you wait for the devs to make more Pinball Spire, might I suggest you may enjoy: * Rollers of the Realm - a much fuller experience with plenty of ball-swapping shenanigans and puzzle rooms to pinball through. It's weaker in visual style than Pinball Spire in my opinion, thanks to it's loo-low angled camera and sometimes busy play fields. A great game though, and a hearty adventure. * Demon's Tilt - if you ever wanted a new Devils Crush, this is it. Looks great, sounds mad, plenty of challenges to do but a lot less of an exploring adventure thanks to it having only three tiers of table plus the 4 additional side table rooms for challenges. When you fancy something gothy and more focused on score, reach for this one. * Epic Quest (Pinball FX) - ZEN studios take on pinball is closer to real pinball. Their Epic Quest table takes the idea of adventuring challenges, XP gain and so on and compresses it into a single playfield. Pinball FX has many tables to get, but this will scratch the challenge itch while playing around in the adventuring theme. * Xenotilt - This is to Alien Crush what Demon's Tilt is to Devil Crush. A better design of table with more interesting challenges, but visually and thematically less appealing for me. Pick your poison. * Runix - What if Pinball FX was a roguelike deckbuilder. Focuses heavily on beating up monsters, has a clean design, but is not as exploration focused as Pinball Spire, focusing instead on singular playfields. I hope this review is of value to you and that you give Pinball Spire, or some of the suggestions above, a whirl. See you on the tables, pin-heads.