Rose and Locket

I'm not sure what all the positive reviews see in this game because to me this game is just poorly designed for the most part. While the game has a gorgeous art style and solid voice acting, that's all it really has going for it. In short, this game is basically a platformer where you also have guns and use those to deal with enemies. The platforming can be kind of awkward because your double jump also has this mini dash as part of it meant to get you through obstacles or attacks, but it can be annoying when you just wanna jump directly above you. In this context, everything up to and including the first boss fight I would say is genuinely good, then the lead up to the second boss is a bit clunky because you're riding this bird in autoscroller screens but you can't really move backwards at all, but even that's manageable enough. The game really starts to deteriorate once you get to the lead up to the third boss though. The level design just starts to rely on frustrating decisions like putting guys offscreen that can shoot you from offscreen even though you can't even see them or forcing you to fight loads of enemies in extremely cramped spaces while barely any of them drop health. The third boss is especially egregious because it's hurling these blobs at you that can randomly spawn enemies when they land or you shoot them, so you can either have an attempt that feels way easier because you got barely enemy spawns or an attempt that just feels ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ because the game decided it's gonna spawn like four enemies that all attack you by charging at you in melee, in a cramped ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ arena where the floor is basically a conveyor sending you back that occasionally has spikes on it and the boss at the front who can lunge forward. Oh yeah, the back wall in this arena also has spikes on it, which granted do kill the enemies the boss spawns but can just as easily kill you. I still managed to beat that boss on hard mode, but even when I lowered the difficulty afterwards thinking to myself maybe I'm just ass, the game still didn't feel any more fun to play. The instance that made me turn the difficulty down is this boat ride autoscroller in the fourth boss's level where enemies are constantly spawning, but the camera is so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ zoomed out I can barely tell what's happening half the time all the while you die in four hits on hard mode and basically none of these enemies are dropping health. There's also a ton of these samurai ghost enemies in the area after the autoscroller that I still don't really understand the intention behind in terms of fighting them as the player. Your options seemed to be a) use one of your weapon's "charge shots", which takes a limited resource b) use dynamite which uses the same limited resource c) get up close with the shotgun which almost guarantees they're gonna charge you and get a hit in d) randomly be able to land a normal shot with your pistol or rifle instead of them blocking the shot? Maybe you have to shoot them from the back with normal shots but if so that's pretty damn difficult to do. Even with all this said I actually was turning around a bit on the game when I got to the fourth boss because I thought it was a pretty fair well designed fight, but then it turns out there's a second part (with a checkpoint granted) where the boss disguises himself as a samurai ghost. You have to figure out which ghost is actually the boss, avoid aggroing any of the actual ghosts, and then repeat this multiple times because once you find the boss and get your chance to damage, he'll disguise himself again. I'm also not really sure what the logic is to finding the boss among all the ghosts. There is a pair of circles in the bottom right that blink which I assume is meant to show you the boss's view of you, but even with that I don't really feel like it helped me figure out where the boss really was. This is where I just tapped out because I couldn't be bothered to keep up with this game's frankly infuriating design. Overall this game just feels like it's relying on its aesthetic and the fact that it has an easy difficulty to get people to ignore its multiple glaring flaws, from poor level design to annoying enemies and boss fights to awkward platforming due to cheap enemy placement. If you REALLY feel like you HAVE to play this game, get it on sale, but even then I wouldn't recommend it.

This game looks incredible and it has some gimmicks that are actually fun, but it gets ruined by what I feel is bad pacing and bad level design. The game feels like it wants to be longer to fully develop some ideas and utilize previous gimmicks, but it just ends up feeling rushed at some parts and slow in others. When its not having those issues its instead makes you feel lost. For instance, it will want me to jump on a platform, but all I'll see is an object that appears to be floating in the background. The entire time while playing, I was trying to give the game the benefit of the doubt the entire time, but I finish the game feeling like something is missing.

This game looks fantastic! The first few minutes already tell me that this very likely could be a great game with it's gorgeous artstyle and also the otherwise high-grade presentation values. [Update] They listened to my complaints - key rebinding is on the way! Switching my review to positive because of that, but will leave the rest of it as it was for context. //Sadly it's missing basic functionality. There is no key rebinding for keyboard and mouse. This is NOT some nice to have accessibility stuff for convenience - it's basic functionality for many gamers. There are left handed or disabled people, those with different keyboard layouts like AZERTY or those conditioned to a certain layout through decades of muscle memory - many of them cannot play a game without key rebinding. I'd be happy to switch it to positive if the game could be improved.

Rose & Locket в моих глазах сразу выглядела как то, что непременно надо проходить. От одного трейлера я словила вайбосик любимого Darksiders (визуальный стиль и тема грехов), а по визуалу напомнило West of Dead. Ну комиксы и ковбойская тема мне всегда нравились в играх Я закрыла первую главу, завалила Гнева и сижу в полном восторге. Это тот редкий случай, когда мне понравилось всё: и геймплей, и музыка и визуал. Ощущение, будто ты попал внутрь ожившего, очень стильного и мрачного комикса про Дикий Запад. Цветовая гамма, рисовка, анимации - эстетика запредельная. Настолько красиво, что хочется останавливаться и разглядывать каждый кадр (чем я, разумется, не занималась в силу торопливого характера) По геймплею это очень необычный гибрид. Тут вам и динамичный экшен, и платформер, и элементы симулятора ходьбы, когда игра хочет рассказать историю. Но не думайте, что это легкая прогулка ради красивых картинок. Игра весьма сложная даже на среднем уровне. Механика завязана на таймингах, рывках и точной стрельбе, так что расслабиться не получится вообще. На боссе первой главы (том самом Гневе) мне пришлось включить максимальную концентрацию, чтобы не улететь на тот свет. Каждая ошибка наказывается моментально. Как перфекционист, который любит выбивать 100% ачивок, я уже предвкушаю, как буду тут страдать на пути к идеальной игре. Поскольку я играла в предрелизную версию, ачивок чего-то я не увидела, может добавят позже. Но сложность здесь честная, она не бесит, а наоборот — зажигает азарт. Пока это один из самых стильных и драйвовых проектов, что я видела за последнее время. Если любите крутой визуал, шотганы и хардкор , но при этом трогательную историю - берите, игра шикарная, несмотря на кусачий ценник. А я пошла дальше раздавать люлей местным грехам, на очереди моя (и ваша) любима Лень. Ну и уже был намек, что Глуттони тоже неподалёку...

[h1]Short, But Brimming With Style[/h1] Another small gem I discovered during Steam Nextfest 2024. It's a very stylized 2D twin-stick shooter with some simple platforming. Even though the setting is the common "battling through hell to save your loved one," the strong visual presentation and the clever blend between comic panels and platformers elevate the relatively short experience to a very enjoyable ride. Plus, I am a sucker for supernatural wild west! Great with Steam Deck! [h2]Things I Like About Rose & Locket:[/h2] [list] [*][b]Cool Blend Of Comic & Platformer:[/b] Easily the most memorable part of the game. Unlike its fellow platforming peers, Rose & Locket combines the striking visuals and free-form level design to create a very unconventional platforming experience. The bold color usage showcases a strong personality in its design philosophy. The shape language being both chaotic and simple makes platforming refreshing to play through. Comic-panels-like structures really give off the vibe of graphic comic coming to life. The game is brimming with style, and almost every cutscene is a gorgeous wallpaper material. [*][b]Satisfying Gunfights:[/b] Rose & Locket at first glance may be a rather simple 2D shooter, but its simplicity is refined by the carefully-designed details. Gunplay is snappy and fast-paced. The sound effect and the impact frame for every shot is finely tuned to perfection. All three guns have distinct traits and unique alt-fire mode. Interestingly, you don't reload guns in this game. Instead, the guns will overheat after certain amount of shots and you have to wait for them to cool down. This design, along with the fact that the enemies pursue you relentlessly, ensures each combat to be intense. You need to be mindful of your shots, actively switch between the firearms, and utilize Rose's high mobility to weave in and out of combat. [*][b]Interesting Levels & Bosses:[/b] Besides the comic-like platforming, each Grand Sin not only has unique appearance, but their respective level also offer distinct gameplay variety. For example, Wrath opens up with his tower of narrow gauntlets, ending the sequence with a multi-staged bullet hell boss fight; Lust spreads her influence with webs and her alluring words turn into a whole obstacle courses, concluding with a puzzle fight in which Rose must define her role to escape the shackles, etc. My favorite one is definitely Pride. The mirror level requires you to pay attention and adapt to two different perspectives. The boss fight is not only intense in its attack patterns, but the second and the third phase are also very interesting mechanic-wise. [/list] [h2]Things I Dislike About Rose & Locket:[/h2] [list] [*][b]Some Complaints:[/b] [olist] [*]Some transitional levels can be really awkward to play due to the sudden shift in angle. [*]The strong art style is unfortunately a double-edged sword. Some levels may be unclear about which way you should go because of the unusual platform design. [*]Late game fights can easily become visually cluttered since the special effects from both the enemies and your guns overlap so hard. [*]There is no chapter select option. If you miss a certain lore card in past levels, you have to restart the whole game. [/olist] [/list] [b]中文小簡評[/b] Steam Deck操作完美兼容！ 2024新品節挖到的寶之一，《西部幽魂》是款風格極佳的2D雙桿射擊跳台遊戲，故事雖然是老套的「為解救愛女殺破地獄」戲碼，但遊戲藉由出色的美術設計與美漫風格的另類跳台成功造就出獨特遊玩體驗，再加上我對超自然西部荒野的題材毫無抵抗力，本作時數短卻令人驚艷。 [b]喜歡的點[/b] [list] [*]《西部幽魂》的跳台設計很有趣，結合美式漫畫特有的多邊形分鏡與浮誇的線條打造出與同行截然不同的體驗，手繪風格用色鮮明大膽，幾乎每段過場動畫都能拿來當桌布。跳台常常以簡單形狀交織出看似混亂、實則井然有序的走法，玩起來十分新鮮，彷彿是在閱讀可以互動操作的漫畫一樣。 [*]一開始可能會覺得本作只是一款簡單的2D射擊遊戲，但製作團隊對於細節的講究精美了這份簡單。戰鬥節奏流暢，每一槍的衝擊禎和音效都十分到位。三把槍各具特色，且有趣的是你無需換彈，子彈射完會自動進冷卻，需要隨時留意剩餘彈藥量，加上敵人追擊的效率頗高，每一場戰鬥都是對你反應力與操作的考驗，靈活切換武器，充分利用主角的高機動性迴避才是上策。 [*]遊戲中的七大罪外觀獨特不落俗套，各自所在的關卡也有分明的設計與玩法，例如「憤怒」所在的移動塔樓充滿了各式火焰機關與鬥技場式戰鬥，最後以多階段子彈地獄Boss戰做收尾；「色慾」則是以詭異的蛛網編織，將她那誘人卻充滿劇毒的甜言蜜語化作跳台挑戰，最後主角必須重新審視自己的迷惘已脫離其誘惑。 [/list] [b]不喜歡的點[/b] [list] [*]一些過渡關卡容易因主角出場位置變化太大而來不及適應操作。 [*]強烈風格讓人印象深刻，但這也是把雙面刃，容易影響跳台流程清晰度。 [*]後期戰鬥常常因敵人或主角槍枝特效混雜過度而嚴重影響判讀性。 [*]本作無個別章節可選，導致你前幾關若有少拿什麼就只能重開新的一輪才撿得到。 [/list] [quote=author]If you like what I write, please consider a follow to [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45738167/]my curator[/url] page, thanks! 如果你喜歡我寫的東西，可以追蹤[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45738167/]我的鑑賞家[/url]喔！[/quote]

I give it a recommendation, but I also think it can improve by doing a couple things to make the experience a bit more enjoyable. For reference, I've beaten the game twice, on both medium and hard difficulty. This was after some initial patches the developer released. The things I enjoyed -It is extremely stylish, love the user of color and the presentation is great. -Fully voice acted, enjoyed the voicework (though hearing 'Mama' so many times may get grating depending on if you fail.) -The bosses all have their own unique fights, nice to mix up the general cadence of things -All the weapons work well, had fun doing weapon cycling and specials mixed in with some of the bigger fights and encounters. -Worked great on Steam Deck, no performance weirdness or anything. -Developer appears to be pretty responsive to feedback and has made some great quality of life changes in response to users on the forums. The things I didn't care for -Cutscene skipping should be available at all times. Sometimes it seemed to work, others it only worked after dying at least once. This really hurts replays, because I've seen it all, and yet it really hampers a bit on enjoyment if I don't have the ability to just go to the next fight/sequence. -There are hidden collectible cards, but there is no indication if you missed them or any kind of hints, so until someone catalogues them or there is a stage select for more in depth searching, good luck on finding them if you somehow didn't progress past them. Requiring starting a whole new playthrough is a tough ask when you're not sure where to look. -The section where you die in one hit can be pretty punishing, I get the context of why it is that way, it just slows things down and you have to super careful to minimize any enemies appearing, since all they have to do is touch you once. I overall think it's a solid, short-but-sweet action game (took me around 3 hours on normal), and I hope more people check it out.

Didn't know what to expect but this game absolutely delivers. Samurai Jack vibes meet Wild West gunslinging and it works perfectly. Combat feels slick and satisfying once it clicks, and the Underwest setting is genuinely cool. Two person studio, six years in the making — and it shows. Worth every cent.

Absolutely loved this game, played it from start to finish in one go, which I don't usually do. But it was amazing. The gameplay was difficult, but I could probably sum that up into get good. The story is amazing, I love the soundtrack, the gameplay is fun and self explanatory, I love all the bosses. The voice acting is amazing. Though listening to the death sound got old kind of quickly. Don't even get me started on the graphics. It's beautiful in it's own way. Amazing game, will be adding to the games I play more than once.

Stylish as hell. Feels like playing through a gritty, supernatural comic book with smooth run-and-gun combat and tight controls. The western-underworld setting is a great hook, and the presentation is unmatched. Runs great on the Ally—perfect handheld game.