[h1] EDIT 28th June, 2024 [/h1]
Major, MAJOR praise to the developer for reading this review and taking it on board so graciously. The game has had numerous updates since their acknowledgement to address points of critique identified below and it has consistently improved the state of the game-- each update has made the game the best it has ever been. The time has never been better to give this game a spin and enjoy a playthrough!
I've left my original review intact below for posterity's sake.
[h1] TL;DR [/h1]
A solid little Kururin-like. I have some points of critique, however given the concise, quick nature of the game I'm willing to let a lot of this slide. Given that the game is free, the only major investment is your time-- and this game is worth your time! For those interested in my points of critique, I have written the next Great American Novel below. Read if you dare:
[h1] Kururin nerd commences rambling [/h1]
Real quick, I know this game is rather small and the developer is active with responding to reviews, which is great to see. I want to make it abundantly clear that I write this out of sheer passion for this game, and games like it. The Kururin series is one of my all time favourite series of games and seeing games inspired by it such as this and Roundabout makes me so happy. The instant I became aware of this game, it was immediately forwarded to numerous friend groups to get them playing. What I write below is not to disparage Illegal Crayon Games' hard work, but to identify some pain points as a long-time player, and how I think rectifying these can tighten the game's overall experience without compromising its gameplay and level design (with perhaps the exception of my final point at the end).
First and most importantly-- controller bindings only allow for cardinal directions (I played on a leverless arcade pad), so I had to use the steam configurator to emulate keyboard binds. I found this issue persisted on more standard controller hardware as well (PS4 controller, personal handmade leverless using a Brook UFB and Xbox 360 controller).
If these following aspects were also addressed, Pipe Escape's play experience would improve dramatically. They are as follows:
[h2] 1. Better visual cues for deaths. [/h2]
The delay between a collision and respawn is very short, and inputs register instantly on restart. Compare this to a death in Kururin which includes an explosion effect and a retry screen appearing (or in the case of Kuru Kuru Kururin, getting outright booted to the world map). I also found the game's soundtrack grating after some time (I understand this falls to personal preference), so I muted the audio. Unfortunately, this meant losing the audio cue for collisions. An additional slider or toggle to disable music would be greatly appreciated here. Obviously a 1-hit KO game doesn't need a retry screen, but some improved visual feedback would make reacting much smoother.
The issue with reacting on respawn applies to my second point, which is...
[h2] 2. More clarity on where checkpoint flags actually are. [/h2]
During attempts, a mistake will cause a respawn. Where you actually respawn is very unclear and can only be determined through trial and error, breaking momentum severely. If the game is going to have this checkpoint system instead of using Kururin's timer punishment, then please make it clear when the player passes a checkpoint. Some stages like level 3 suffer badly from this system where a respawn will require you to move in the opposite direction you were heading in on death, through a tight space, AND on a rotation cycle different to what you were on when you died. If I can register where I'm going to be sent back to, this issue begins to be alleviated. However, some levels require entering an area, then leaving it, such as the first valve in the penultimate level. This can cause issues with another trigger point in levels. See below...
[h2] 3. Better visual cues for enabling/disabling valves. [/h2]
The game's logic with checkpoints continues to be unclear-- if you change your direction of rotation, then die, the direction of rotation persists. However, this does not apply for level triggers related to valves. Couple this with the fact that valves can be toggled on or off repeatedly and this can lead to a lack of clarity when respawning as to whether a valve needs to be interacted with again or not. Given that the majority of the time, the water flows you're stopping are off screen, this again leads to obscure knowledge checks accomplished through trial and error. A simple text pop-up stating whether the flow of water is enabled or disabled would do, though an even better (and diegetic) solution could be to have a pipe with a clear window showing a blue line to indicated flowing water (and vice versa when disabled). I understand this would require additional visual asset work, however, but I think it would work well.
[h2] 4. The final level. [/h2]
I love the ambition in including a boss much like Kururin Squash does at the end of each of its worlds, but this needs re-evaluating and I wish I could offer something more definitive here, as it feels like there are multiple solutions. As it stands, this is the only level of the game where I have an issue with its level design. All other stages are actually quite fun Kururin-type levels, but the final boss is simply tedious and requires repeating the same strategy to overcome it consistently-- that of moving around the arena in a clockwise/anti-clockwise motion (with the exception of early in the fight where you can get 1 or 2 figure eight motions in). Having the edge of its hitbox graze you and make you start over doesn't feel like a satisfying death, the HP pool is ludicrous and the UV light torch concept, while novel, feels fiddly to operate-- having the boss be able to move this and turn it off is also a major run killer. As a final gauntlet, it's certainly challenging, but the fun factor is also completely sacrificed here. One could simply nerf the health pool, but I think to improve this it needs serious re-evaluation. As it stands it's a lousy finale to an otherwise terrific Kururin-like.
Those are my rambles. Illegal Crayon, I love this game, I truly do. I would not write such a ridiculous novel-length review if that weren't the case, so despite my critique, please know that I am so grateful to see this niche genre of game getting love even today. I look forward to your future titles. :)
