Project Delta

[i] This copy was provided by the devs* [/i] I think Samus was doing too much acid, this might be the most unique and confusing metroidvania I ever attempted to play, if I could sprinkle holy water on this navigation system I would do it, it's like in 10 hours I barely made any progress for one reason or another and it's not even my fault - I am enjoying the game, but it does everything that it can to make me run in circles. Now, I have a ton of problems with how it's put together, however, I don't think it's a bad game technically, it has all of the right features and I think it can be a very unusual gaming experience, but right now I think the game could use some quality of life features and just better structure - I think the level design specifically needs some work, as well as the tooltips for the missing items. It feels almost like an arthouse Metroid, I am not sure if the devs intended for the randomizer to feel like an artistic choice, but just because it made the game feel so unusual, it feels more like a deconstruction of the genre, not just an RNG mechanic. And it's not like a metroidvania, it feels inspired specifically by Metroid, just with a weird artistic presentation, it even has a retro movement feel to it, like you have to manually deselect the crouch which is always a bit controversial. On that note, I really think you have to play this game with a controller as of this review, although why is the run and spin on the same button, it's so awkward because you need both for some jumps. Despite all of the cool features, it can be incredibly frustrating to figure out, and yet, I still think it has a compelling genre deconstruction experience. Part of the problem is that this game has a very unusual gimmick in the way it generates random environments, giving it a large learning curve. So this game comes with the 2 modes, the "story mode" which has a unique spin on the genre, and the "classic" mode which is more of a vanilla experience, or so I thought. I am just going to be completely honest, I think the classic mode in this game is awful, the way it puts together rooms makes the game feel too empty, it's just not how I expect a game in the genre to feel. Even though I think the story mode here also requires a lot of patience and it has a learning curve to it, I think you might as well go for it, I think if you go with a classic mode you might get a very wrong impression of this game, I think you guys need to focus more on the room to room content for the classic, make it more custom and more eventful. Just to give you an analogy, if you go to like a high-end sushi place, you don't want to take the sushi and dip it into a bowl of soy sauce, you want to taste the thing that the chef made for you, and same thing applies here, this is a game that comes with a cool gimmick, I think you should try to play it that way, at least the first time. Now the story mode here is a different beast altogether, granted it is kinda difficult to understand at first, but in the long run I think it provides a much better experience and a sense of progression. So the unique thing about this game is that it allows you to customize your progress, and the backtracking instead of being linear is segmented between different levels. For example, you start the game with no features to generate random rooms, but when you unlock a power-up you can place that node strategically for the next map. What I just said is just surface level, this game gets all kinds of strange and confusing, but once you have several abilities unlocked it starts to feel like a traditional metroidvania, just with a clever twist to it. [h1] Pros: [/h1] (+) In theory, I like the original gimmick that you are using to generate the levels, once you have a better grasp on the game it is a very unusual experience, even artistic in a way, like a genre deconstruction (for the story mode anyway). However, I do fear that it might be too much of a wall for new players, even though the concept is simple, it's often difficult to understand what the game wants you to do. A lot of it has to do with the level objectives and different things that you expect the player to do, but from my perspective, the only thing I understand is that if there is a missing item, I have to find it before getting to the next level. (+) The gameplay is kinda oldschool, it feels very methodic, like you have to manually go in and out of the crouch mode, which may be a good or a bad thing depending on your preferences. There is some frustration that usually comes more from the level design, but in general, I don't mind the feel of the power-ups. (+) Like many other features in this game, I do think the art style may only resonate with a specific audience, but I thought it was very different, like a Metroid on acid, there are some locations that look better than other, but overall, the effects are very cool. [h1] Feedback: [/h1] [u] Map nodes [/u] - okay I think the last one may have been a glitch, but I think you need to make it easier to understand for the player where the next step is. Like I get that I have to look for any locked nodes, but sometimes it feels like the game gives new options in explored areas, and also you get some weird objectives with a questionable sense of progression. Maybe color code the areas where something can be found better, make it 100% idiot resistant. [u] "The Classic Mode [/u] - I am not sure how to explain this perfectly, but the first thing I experienced in a classic mode is that I run to the left through 5 giant rooms that had nothing to do and somehow softlock myself in a cave. You told me to play it longer. No, if it's that bad at the start, I am not playing it longer, this is not a level design in this genre as I understand it. I think you should just make a very curated metroidvania out of the classic mode, make the progression slower and more intuitive, don't waste so much space, every room should be there for a reason, challenge or power up or something else, not 5 empty rooms leading to an item, it feels like I am playing just some alpha build. [u] Music [/u] - you know I actually really like the space station music, it's dark and immersive. However, some other stages have this odd music that feels very out of place, I would say maybe maintain that dark ambient tone, everyone loves a gloomy metroidvania, I know I do. [u] Those looping rooms [/u] - you know those levels that end with a platforming section where if you fall you have to replay the level, it's really not very fun to replay them 10 times. [u] Boss fights [/u] - would like to see a slightly better delay for some of their attacks. [b] Overall Thoughts on EA 7/1/2023 [/b] I think if you put the effort into learning the gimmick of this game, you will find a very unique experience, but I am not sure that you will find an intuitive game, it will certainly be different, the story mode anyway. Again, I think most of the individual features like power-ups and platforming don't feel bad, more so the actual structure and a sense of progression creating most of the problems. I can kinda tolerate the story mode, the classic mode needs a complete rework in my opinion. From what I played so far, this game feels almost like an artistic deconstruction, it's a cool experience if you like games that are immersive and different, even if they are somewhat frustrating. With that said, I think the game could be a lot better, but with a few better design choices, I would not say it's a bad game, just needs to be more intuitive. [b] Oh and, you really need a controller for this one. [/b] [code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]