Rynn's Adventure: Trouble in the Enchanted Forest

[b][u]See written review below[/u][/b] or watch it here: https://youtu.be/YU4Db1lo4es [h1]THIS IS A MIXED REVIEW! TL;DR: SKIP TO CONCLUSION![/h1] [i]Review copy was provided by the developer.[/i] Rynn's Adventure: Trouble in the Enchanted Forest does not appeal to me, but may appeal to others who are fans of challenging platformers. Rynn’s Adventure: Trouble in the Enchanted Forest is an unforgiving platformer, and not for someone looking for a casual game. [i][u]UPDATED:[/u] Originally this game was tagged as a casual adventure, but the tag for casual has been removed, and the platformer tag has been added to more accurately describe the game.[/i] You start each level with 3 total lives, and a full health and mana bar, [strike]which is weird, because some of the screen shots on the Steam Store show 99 lives... and having 99 lives would have been really nice...[/strike] You lose health if take any damage, and when you die, you lose a chunk of your health, but if your health bar can’t go lower then it refreshes both health and mana bars, and consumes 1 life. Killing creatures will sometimes cause health or mana bubbles to drop, but it seems random, and they don’t give a whole lot anyway. When you run out of lives and health, you lose the level and have to completely restart it. You can kill most monsters, and avoid taking damage if you spin while jumping. If you hit something while spinning, you will keep the spin bounce going. You can also dive on top of monsters, and you will bounce higher than you are normally capable of. The monsters in the game respawn VERY quickly, and there are some annoying mobs that you can’t kill at all. In the levels you collect gems and keys, and when you beat that level’s boss you unlock a special power up outfit that has it’s own unique ability, and your health and mana pool will also increase slightly based on what items you collected. Each level has a boss fight at the end with different boss mechanics, but the bosses are a complete joke compared to the rest of the levels. You can use this spin jump to cheese many of the boss fights by just bouncing on their heads the entire time. I would have preferred less difficulty during the levels, but more on the boss fights, so it would be more balanced. [h1]Pros:[/h1] [list][*]full controller support. (I highly recommend playing with a controller) [*]music and sound effects were fine throughout the game, but they get a bit repetitive [*]2D animation is looks decent, and I didn’t notice too many graphical issues [*]you can play the first 8 levels in any order you want to before unlocking the final 9th level [*]all the levels have unique design, their own mechanics, and different boss at the end [*]when you die, you don't lose a whole life, but only a chunk of health, until your health isn't high enough then the life gets used before respawning at the last checkpoint[/list] [h1]Cons:[/h1] [list][*][strike]misleading screen shots on the Steam Store page[/strike] [u][i]UPDATED[/i][/u] [*]keyboard controls felt a bit clunky, and are not customizable (use a controller instead!) [*]voice narration sounds like someone reading a story book to children [*]when Rynn hangs on vines, she twitches a lot, and when she’s on moving platforms, the platforms don’t always move smoothly either [*]when you jump off walls, you can't control your movement, and it will sometimes get you killed [*][strike]checkpoints are not marked, and are not always in a safe location[/strike] - [i][u]UPDATED[/u][/i] [*]some parts in the levels are extremely frustrating to try and get through, while the bosses are easy compared to some parts of the level leading up to it[/list] There isn’t much to say about the story, since it is very straightforward, and you’re trying to save your parents and the Enchanted Forest from the wizard and his minions. The whole game took me 9 hours, but it took a few hours to beat the first level. Once I finally did, and I got the first power up, the game got easier, until the final level at least. I wanted to rage quit many times, so I have absolutely no desire to replay the game, but there are achievements for collecting everything if you’re into that sort of thing. [h1]Conclusion:[/h1] What drew me to the game were the 'casual' and 'adventure' labels, which were very misleading. I had expected more of a story driven platformer with some challenges, but not anything too difficult. This game is NOT casual whatsoever. I know I’m not amazing at platformers by any means, but I’m not that horrible at them either. I found the game very stressful and frustrating. [u][b]This is more of a game for people who really enjoy platformers, and are very good at that type of gameplay.[/b][/u] This game is absolutely NOT for someone looking for a casual adventure. If you like my reviews, please feel free to join my Steam group, and follow my curations [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/AzralynnReviews#curation]here.[/url] You can also view this review on my website [url=http://www.azralynn.com/rynns-adventure-trouble-in-the-enchanted-forest-quick-game-review/]here.[/url]

This is an excerpt from my full review, available at: http://www.gamegrin.com/reviews/rynns-adventure-trouble-in-the-enchanted-forest-review/ I tend to feel that if I find myself saying “just one more try” more than once in a gaming session, then the game has done its job. I think I uttered that phrase somewhere in the region of about 12 times before finally stopping and going to bed on the first night after starting to play. Fortunately, I'm an adult and I can stay up as late as I want ( As long as that’s OK with my fiancée). It’s hard to find anything negative to say about Rynn's Adventure: Trouble in the Enchanted Forest. It’s a really fun game and one that I'm determined to go back to after this review with the aim of completing. If you enjoy platformers and you want a strong challenge to keep you occupied then this is a fantastic game to pick up. I thoroughly recommend it.

it is a fun platformer and has a lot of challenge behind it. It took me a while to get through some levels. The only Con's I have about the game are the tutorials and sound files could use some work. Mainly the sound files though I feel if it had better sound the game would be that much better however for such a small dev team, I think they did great.

* I was provided with a review copy* The introduction to the game is much like a fairy tale which I also found enjoyable and it has some beautiful narration as well. This game is very difficult and challenging. It borrows a few ideas from Megaman such as the level select screen and power ups that are collectable in each level. The graphics are beautiful vibrent and colorful and the music is very enjoyable as well. It's by no means a run carelessly platform to platform style game, This is more so a stop and think before you make your next move platformer, you want to avoid any instant deaths or drops into traps and sometimes they are unavoidable. This game requires a-lot of time and patience to make progress. Though at times the jumping and platforming is sticky leaving the character to be stuck on a platform as it drops to your doom. Some enemies are out right bullies and just beat the crap out of you the moment you get on screen and they block paths which require you to activate a special power if you happened to have found that power already otherwise that level will be incredibly rough on you. Do I recommend it? Yes if you like really difficult platformers with beautiful visuals. It was a rage induced experiance but I did find it enjoyable as well.

A very challenging platformer with a unique art style and clever level design. The megaman inspired level progression is a great touch. Recommended!

This is a great 'old school' platformer, reminds me of lots of great games from my childhood, but with better graphics. This game is hard, but that’s the point. It’s amazing that this is the first game this studio has released, can’t wait to see what else they can do.

Rynn's Adventure is a simple but challenging platformer that has a charming and vibrant look and feel to it. I've put 2 hours into this game so far and have conquered five out of the nine levels, a pretty standard length for a platformer. I particularly enjoy being able to play the levels in any order you choose. It sometimes helps to come back and try a stage again once you've obtained a certain powerup - my favourite is the Wizard that shoots heat-seeking missiles. The music and level design are both pretty decent, with only a few gameplay sections that seemed unfair. Overall, this game is a solid effort from Arcane Four Studios. I would recommend it for any platforming fan who doesn't mind a bit of a challenge.

Well to begin, I personally want to say that the challenge is certainly present in Rynn's Adventure. The platforming in the game certainly is good. I found some of the mobs to be quite tedious in some parts of the game, but overall doable. The animations in the game are fairly good for it being Arcane Four Studio's first game ever. I would highly recommend the game to anyone who enjoys a challenging platformer. I will be investing more hours into this game with the goal of 100% completion, it certainly has my interest as far as progression goes. ~ Mithy

Pretty good fun. Expect to spend hours playing. It's challenging - but then, who wants to play a really easy game.

Too many instadeaths to really get into a good flow like in the best platformers. Very frustrating when I die because my character gets stuck on a platform. Seems like maybe it wasn't playtested very much or just bad level design. Sound fx and animation could also use some work. On the positive side the graphics are very nice and when it's not glitching it provides a nice challenge.