"Trials" indeed!
First up: full points for trying to do something different with the walking sim and platforming genres. Immediately minus one point for a very awkward opening sequence in which you fly a colourful and physics-defying spaceship through all manner of floating debris, with only a white screen and no sound effects to delineate when you've died. So we're down to nine out of ten points so far.
Then there's the music. I at first judged the joyous blips and bloops as a tad inappropriate to the scene I was being presented with, but by the time I arrived on a planet - after many a failed attempt to steer my way towards it - the tunes had kind of won me over. Partially on account of the...
Good voice acting. Again, what seemed a bit buoyant at first was ultimately befitting of the mood of the game itself. This isn't one of those super-serious, melancholy walking sims, but a colourful and light-hearted romp with tongue-in-cheek narration. After their very sombre - some might even say "pretentious" - first effort, Oracle, the devs have seen fit to lighten the tone quite a bit. The change is welcome, though not quite what I expected. So let's call that plus one point for the combination of these two aural components, and we're back up to ten.
Atmos effects, on the other hand, are practically non-existent. No footsteps, so it feels like you're floating even when you're walking (yeah, I know they tried to cover the lack of legs with self-deprecating monologue, but the Stanley Parable kinda got there first). And the aforementioned lack of crashing sound effects for the spaceship was simply unforgivable. Ten minus one equals nine again.
Graphics are reasonably charming, but minimal. There are some rather nice vistas, but as walking sims go, it's nothing exceptional. Neither a plus nor a minus.
Collision is terrible; at times completely absent. You can do things like walk over campfires with nary a reaction, much less third-degree burns. And water may as well be solid ground. Down to eight.
The platforming is...frustrating. I've often said that first-person games aren't always an ideal medium for platforming mechanics, and many parts of this game prove that. You just can't judge distances and timing as well as you can in a 2D or third-person game. The jump button is also...kinda finicky at times, and the game occasionally glitchy. Minus two points, then, as these are hardly forgivable traits in such a pedantic platforming game. Six out of ten. What really kills it, though, is that the checkpointing system is quick to become less than generous, so you'll be doing those tricky bits over and over and OVER again. So...minus another point, and we're down to five.
Incentive for exploration is decent, with lots of tiny secrets and out-of-the-way collectables for Achievements. It's still fairly linear, but makes at least some effort to please those who detest such things. Back up to six.
Story is, er...well, not really what this game's about. I'll be kind and not deduct a point for that, not least of all because I didn't make it to the end because...
The platforming eventually did me in. It just wasn't fun after a while. I can pull off a few "tricky" jumps in a row, but not five or six. And unless you're the type who can - which basically requires far more patience than I'm presently capable of mustering up - I would probably give this a miss, especially at anything other than a very good sale price.
As I said at the beginning, full kudos to the devs for trying something a little different, but there's a reason why most first-person games refrain from difficult platforming sections. At the very least, you've gotta be pretty darn good to pull off such a feat; and at present, Watercolor Games are merely promising. Nice try, though. Oh, and have an extra half a point for that awesome almost-cover of "Betty Davis Eyes" part-way through, which certainly put a big smile on my face when it kicked in.
Verdict: 6.5/10.
(PS If you enjoyed this review, feel free to check out my two Curator pages: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/9284586-ReviewsJustfortheHELLofit/
http://store.steampowered.com/curator/10868048-Truly-Horrible-Horror-Games/?appid=398210
Cheers!)
