Rosie Planet

I tried out this game a while ago when the creator was first demoing it and the improvements to the look and feel are pretty crazy. At the time I noticed a few things and they were very receptive to criticism and development. Seeing how much has changed with the controls to make it a lot smoother to play is really sick. There are a lot of really cool level ideas that lean into some interesting gimmicks making some of the levels feel very unique. There can always be more polish applied but you can see the passion of someone who enjoys a platforming game.

Full disclosure, I recieved a copy of this game for free. I want to start this review off saying it is not a AAA game. There is certainly some of the jank to be expected of an indie title. That said, if one can look beyond the jank, there is a fun little game to be had. The gameplay is remeniscent of Mario or Crash Bandicoot, as obvious inspirations. Movement feels decent, but is missing some features like double jump or wall kick. It does not stray too far from its inspirations but as a fan of the genre, I enjoyed myself.

this game is a gem that deserves more love!

I'm grading on a curve here, because game development is a long, grueling process - any aspect of which can be, and often is, the work of a lifetime. This makes playable games - let alone fun games - by solo devs a rare sight. Rosie Planet is among them. The fun ones. It's fun. But the reason I'm recommending it, specifically, is for aspiring devs and people who are simply interested in game design. It is imperative that those who wish to engage critically and meaningfully with Good Art be exposed to flawed art, because when you take a feature for granted it becomes nearly impossible to understand the effort and care that went into making it work. As a teacher once told me, engineers spend thousands of hours making sure you never realize that they were involved at all. New concepts are introduced frequently, and it's inspiring to watch both the complexity and the acumen with which it was created grow over the course of the game. The physics, for the most part, feel good in a way that's hard to articulate until - again - you've played something that feels bad. The music is pleasant, the visual effects are juicy, and in general things feel very On Purpose. There's also, however, an intimacy that I don't think it's possible to achieve with a bigger team. While playing this, I caught glimpses of One Person's priorities, ideas, strengths, weaknesses, and vision. I don't know this person, but the nature of solo development allows for a closer, more personal connection to the work that serves as a mirror in which to view my own. Final Fantasy 11 is the best one.

So, just to be upfront, I had played through this game in the playtesting phase, and received it for free. This is a game that wears it's inspiration of 3D platformers on it's sleeve, and delivers the experience with really neat levels, hub worlds, and some unique mechanics every now and then to keep things interesting. It may look a little rough at first glance, but something to note about this game is that just about everything was made by a single person, which in itself is very impressive considering the variety of levels, worlds, and music. Especially the endgame special levels. If you're looking for solid 3D platforming, this game is certainly worth your time.

Thanks to the developer for providing a game key. You can tell there was an actual attempt at a game here and some thought genuinely went into this. But it just had too many negatives for my taste and i really hoped this was going to release into early access rather than full release off the bat as a sort of promise to improve in time. There was some positves like the overall gameplay and some of the level designs were fine. But then there's the lackluster movement (a MUST for 3D platformers) absurdly ugly graphics that are simutaniously rather beefy to run and a ton of bugs especially for levels with set cameras. If you can grab the game for under a 5'er there is some fun to be had as long as you can look past extreme jank and the above negatives so keep expectations low. i personally feel i have to give it a negative review but if it keeps getting updated it may change in the future as there's almost enough good to make it passing into mediocre.

Rosie is relaxing on an airship on her way to a beach resort for a much-needed vacation. However, the trip turns out to be a trap set by an evil wizard, who launches rockets at the ship and forces her to jump to safety. She lands in a small village and must now make her way to the city to confront the wizard. As a classic platforming hero, Rosie’s main ability is her jump, so there is not much to learn. She can climb poles, dash which is often combined with a jump to reach greater distances, and kick enemies or objects. Because her kick has a very short range, it is usually safer to rely on the traditional method of jumping on enemies’ heads. Some enemies protect their heads, though, so you will have to avoid them or use the kick instead. You begin in a small village hub where you can explore freely, talk to people, collect beans, and enter stages. There is no danger here. A bird guides you toward your objective, and your main goal is to collect large floating stars and complete stages marked by colorful flowers. Doing so rewards you with magical seeds that allow you to progress. After this first area, you gain access to a car and can drive around the island to visit new locations. The sense of freedom is limited, as the roads are linear and some areas remain inaccessible until others are completed. Still, you can always return to earlier locations to pick up anything you missed. Each location follows a familiar theme such as desert, jungle, or snowy hub, and each contains six seeds. Five are earned in stages, while the sixth appears once you have collected all the large stars in the area. The other characters offer little more than occasional hints about stages’ locations. A charming detail is that Rosie changes outfits to match each environment. Inside the stages, Rosie is quite vulnerable. A bird companion can shield her from one hit, but a second hit will defeat her unless she rescues the bird from a cage or collects one hundred stars. Fortunately, stages are not very long and include a checkpoint around the midpoint. Even so, they demand solid platforming skills. Most stages follow a traditional linear design filled with hazards and enemies, though some introduce creative twists such as escaping from a flood or avoiding a desert shadow that conceals a giant worm. Each hub also contains a secret stage unlocked after collecting all six seeds. These are accessed through a blue flower and feature mini games instead of standard platforming challenges. You might find yourself jumping over a rope or taking part in a Wild West shootout. Once completed, the flower displays a flag to indicate that the stage is done. There is little incentive to replay them, as they offer no collectibles. The stars themselves serve little purpose, and although the number of beans in each hub is tracked, there seems to be no reward for collecting them all. Completionists may find this frustrating, especially since there is no compass to help locate a few missed beans. There is one significant issue that may not affect every player. While the hub areas run smoothly, the game can become nearly unplayable inside stages. At certain points, the screen may freeze and the camera begins to jitter uncontrollably. The game itself continues running and you can still move Rosie, which sometimes resolves the problem if you step away from the affected spot. However, the issue often returns when you go back. The only reliable fix is lowering the graphical settings to the minimum. Fortunately, the visual difference between high and low settings is barely noticeable, as the game is not particularly demanding. Overall, this is a decent indie platformer that pays homage to beloved classics rather than trying to replace them. It has its flaws and may not satisfy players who enjoy meaningful collectibles, but the core gameplay is solid.