Sally Can't Sleep

A very deceiving experience, this would be a negative review if I wrote it earlier. However, there are some amazing moments in this game, but they are hidden so deep (as much as 5+ hours in some cases), I can see people getting kinda bored with it before getting to the interesting part, not to mention a ton of frustrating platforming that will gate even the diehards. That said, it feels like the dev's heart is in the right place, and while this game has some consistency problems with the experience, it's roughly going in the right direction. To be fair, I think this subgenre of exploration games is so niche, even if this game was perfect, I bet it would have like 15 reviews (reminds me a lot of "Going Nowhere: The Dream", off the rails kind of game) I need a perfect analogy to explain this game, and I think I got it. Okay imagine a big dumpster that is filled with gems and priceless artifacts, all you have to do is take them out, however, for the most part, it's full of dog turds, sharp glass, dead skunks, and some ice cream vomit, plus you are not allowed to use any protective equipment going in. I played this game for like several hours and it was mostly serviceable at best, and then I am finding these weird secrets with amazing level design and awesome visuals, wtf happened, it's like the overall experience is designed by a monkey..... oh it was designed by a monkey? (good effort then). On that note, I have played the previous game from this dev which was not even fun for 1 minute (that is a nice way of putting it), so hey, that is a big improvement, even if it is um..... lacking some overall consistency. I love any game that reminds me of the LSD:Dream Emulator family, they are all a bit different but have the same core idea, you don't really have a goal, you just look for things, explore weird places, find some strange characters, and I absolutely have a blast playing them. For a game like that, the level design and the visual design are very important, and sometimes this game does it really well, like maybe 10% of this game has some of the most fun navigation I ever had in the game, but the other 90%, kinda generic, not all interesting to explore. This game is pretty huge, with more than 7 hours of content easily, you can waste days exploring it if you wanted to, granted it's not as straightforward as you might think. The controls are fine when you just doing any basic platforming, but this game also expects you to do some complicated edge clipping, and that is where we run into problems. In my opinion, the "advanced" platforming in this game is not consistent at all, I am having a very hard time navigating certain levels to the point where even backtracking becomes a challenge. There is usually a way to bypass the hard sections if you know what you doing, but not always, sometimes you just have to do something very clunky, even impossible without some inside knowledge. [h1] Pros: [/h1] (+) I will say this game has some of the coolest moments of any weird game that I played, but most of them are hidden very deep, I think the game might bore or even frustrate people too much before that point, so it takes some effort to actually get something out of it. (+) Look, I think a lot of stages in this game are fun to explore, it's just that a lot of them are not enjoyable to navigate, and many of the trashy stages just happen to be in the first 4 hours or so, they have very little character and not as playful or self-aware, so overall it just feels like an odd experience. There is a lot of creativity in this game, it feels like you had fun making it, and it translated very well. (+) A ton of content, often quantity over quality, but there is quality content there too, just need to find it. This is a game that does reward curiosity in a big way, if you stay with it that is, or if you manage to stay with it I should say. [h1] Feedback: [/h1] [u] Collection Content [/u] - you had the right idea of hiding things around and making the player collect them, it's just that the way the game tracks the progress made it very meaningless, if it can't remember what I collected when changing the stage or after loading, there is no way I can do it within a reasonable amount of time, at the very least you would need achievements for each area. [u] Platforming [/u] - I disagree with the dev, I do not think the platforming in this game is consistent at all, it works fine in the easy sections, but once you have to do something complicated, it's a complete clown show, I can do the same input 10 times and I will get 10 different results. Maybe you can at least make some grab edges bigger, I feel like I get those 1/10 times when all I am doing is aiming for the edge, why is it so freaking hard to do, it's a basic move. [u] Overall experience [/u] - just the overall sporadic nature of the game, some of the early levels make it feel very "low effort" and clearly you had put a lot of effort into some areas, I guess I am trying to say is that you should focus on making 1 good area instead of making 3 areas that are 1/3 as good, cuz you end up having a game that sometimes feels like garbage, and sometimes makes you look like a genius. [h1] Overall Thoughts: 7/10 [/h1] (small note, would be a 5/10 after a few hours, the game changed my mind with some of the later content, the few times this game gets good, it's a masterpiece) It's like some of the coolest gaming moments that I have ever experienced are hidden deep within this trash can, but the thing is, this game just sucks sometimes, and I am not even talking about occasionally difficult platforming, sometimes the level design is just awful, and then I am finding these amazingly creative secrets with some of the best mind_____ you have ever seen in the game, it's very odd, even among other weird exploration games, this overall experience is hard to explain. It's so strange because sometimes you can play this game for like 2 hours navigating some boring levels, and sometimes the level design feels 10 times more creative and more compelling - it's the game of the lowest lows and the highest highs, it has very cool moments, but they are not easily accessible. Not really a game I think many people would appreciate just playing it, but if you really dig into it, you might find something special. [code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]

This game was phenomenal. I can't go to sleep until I put my love for this game into words! It really blew me away with its fun movement, stunning landscapes, and absurdist humor that you really don't find in a lot of the more polished games . On top of all of this, you have the Yume Nikki-esque exploration system that dares the player to venture forth further and further down the rabbit hole with the promise of a new area being right around the corner. Man, there are some really good moments in this game. It does get boring at times, but I feel that this was a necessary evil in order to make the truly outstanding moments truly shine. This game is the embodiment of what I love about indie games!

Sally Cant Sleep is seemingly a dream diary (Yume Nikki-esque game,) but you arent dreaming, so Im not sure its that accurate. Its all about platforming, for better or worse. There are about 60 different worlds, which is a lot, I may have seen about one third so far. Collect feathers, beat challenges and talk to strange inhabitants. Feathers dont need to be collected to progress exploration, but for the games ending. Sallys movement is very limited until you find abilities, luckily its hard to miss out on them, as you can find each one several times across the game. The soundtrack compliments each world perfectly. [strike] The game would benefit from a assist mode like Celeste has, because I believe the main audience for this game are people that like to explore surreal and dreamy environments, without having to deal with difficult and precise platforming. Thats probably not what the creator intended, but it definitely doesnt hurt to cater to a bigger audience. It would be a shame if people bail before they have seen the majority of the games content. [/strike] EDIT: There is a assist mode now, allowing for zero gravity everywhere, thanks dev.

I wanna like this so bad, but it's simply a chore to play. The core movement has a triple jump, and a slide jump, not unlike sort of what you would find in Mario 64. But the issue here is in the lack of reliability. Both of these moves are pretty much the core of your base moveset, yet neither of them works every time it feels like it should. There were countless times throughout my 2 hours where they just wouldn't trigger despite it really feeling like they should. The same goes for the walljump, but the controls for that are just uncomfortable to start with, so that one's just kind of flawed already. Also the default jump gets you almost no height, which is extremely frustrating for how often you have to mantle up even the shortest of ledges. Which reminds me: You can mantle up ledges. Most of the time though, i would get pulled up and then immediately fall again. It's very unreliable. There is also an "advanced technique" that seems more like a bug, but if you jump the moment you reach the edge of a surface, you'll go flying. Except it's such a janky thing that it pretty much always happens at random, and can really mess you up when it does. And despite all of this jank and sluggishness, there are challenges in here that are brutal even for a more refined platformer. I genuinely am unsure if this game was playtested by anyone besides the dev, cause it feels like you would need a perfect understanding of every mechanic and level to do most of them. Now it's plenty easy to disregard that and just say "Well those are optional so no big deal I guess. Just ignore them." Except, unfortunately, such is not the case. Because you need 100 feathers to finish the game. (Feathers are the primary collectable) And even outside of challenges, some of these can be very difficult to acquire. But the REAL problem is that even merely getting around a lot of these environments is needlessly difficult. There's a feeling of a lack of polish just about everywhere. There's fans that don't blow you high enough to reach an exit unless you hit them *just* right, jumping multiple times while underwater will shoot you up at an insane speed, and there's a sprint you gain later that for some reason makes you accelerate even slower than when walking normally. The real issue I feel is an overdependence on momentum. By making every single part of the game's movement entirely based on this, it neglects any solid feeling of responsive controls. Like again even the basic jump feels like it's not particularly useful. It's extremely cool to see a first-person platformer have a moveset akin to a more traditional 3D platformer, but the implementation is simply lacking in a satisfying game feel. There are lots of beautiful and engrossing places to visit, it's just that getting to them is generally unpleasant. Thankfully if you just wanna see the cool stuff, there is an accessibility feature that allows you to activate a fly mode at any time. But I also feel that including such a feature is sort of an admittance that the game fails as an intuitive platformer. There's a genuinely awesome game in here, it just needed some extra time in the oven and a lot more playtesting.

very strange game very vibey surprised so few people have tried it isnt an experience you can get anywhere else

Sally Can't Sleep, ive had fun with this dream exploration game and i think it has many pros to it and some cons. [b] Pros: [/b] The game has some absolutely great music, when i first started playing i was just blown away by the soundtrack. It felt as if i could endlessly walk around areas just listening to the music and exploring. You are surrounded by a great atmosphere which makes some of the places really feel alive and more so feel as they are supposed to feel, almost like a breathe of fresh air. The mechanics for this game are some of the most interesting mechanics ive seen, especially once you start to rack up more and more powers. You can visit old areas with new powers and explore even more and get more feathers and tufts. The level design for each level is creative in a way where you want to explore more. The design also lends its self to the very creative idea of the dream like exploration. The game gives off a certain aesthetic to it, walking through the city at night all alone with the music and the subtle sounds of the city, all these sounds and locations each make you feel like you truly are somewhere special and just being there alone feels amazing. Levels are so vast that there is so much to explore, once you explore for long enough you end up finding somewhere that leads to a new place which is an entire place to explore which could lead to other places and that to other places. Because there is so much to explore there are so many hidden gems in this game that you would need to search a long time for and a lot of funny characters/dialogue which make the world seem more lived in and enjoyable. If you ever explore a whole area and want to stay there for more time there are also extra challenges for you to do in almost every area of the game, honestly a lot of these challenges are pretty hard (some are easier but some are hard). This gives the game some pretty good replayability and as you get more and more abilities you can come back and do some of the harder challenges (or try to get better and better times) [b] Cons: [/b] The game controls although unique and fun are janky at first and feel weird to control, this mixed with the mechanics that get added can be hard to get used to but this does not last long as they are not incredibly complicated. There are save points dotted around some maps where you can save your progress and the game will load from where you last saved, anything you did after that save will be null if you quit without saving. If you are in the middle of an area and cannot find a save or you think the area does not have a save, you have no choice but to go to the only save points you know which can be far away. Sometimes you do not want to go all that way just to save and quit, so if you get frustrated and quit then you are left having to redo everything you did before you quit. I personally found the lack of save points quite frustrating at times. I encountered a few bugs while i was playing, 1 of the bugs shot me out of the map and i was stuck falling forever, this bug was quite annoying as i was in a place that i had not found the save for yet and i had to reload the game because there was no reset button and as i mentioned earlier because of the lack of save points when i reset my game i was set back almost 15-20 minutes. This was very frustrating and annoying. I love the vastness of the maps and the little secrets however some places can be hard to navigate which end up in frustration. It leaves you thinking where you missed out and you might end up exploring the same areas or just quit overall. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Overall i enjoyed playing this game and i was definitely play more of this game. The exploration is very fun and the challenges are good too, i love the general atmosphere and the whole kinda like aesthetic it gives and the vibe it gives it feels comfortable and just in general nice to explore. Obviously it has its downsides but that does not weigh down the positives and i will be exploring more in the future

Delightful and very open first person platformer with chill vibes. Go around weird maps and collect feathers. Movement is pretty tough to get a handle on but once you get around to it you can just fly all over the place and be a boss. Tons of content and places to see.

Absolute masterpiece and also a shltpost of a game. On one hand you have those amazing, bizzare worlds that put you into different thoughts, its a journey not only with sally but also yourself. On the other hand you have a handful of jokes spread throughout the game (pretty funny ones if i say so myself.) On the third (nuclear) hand you have the amazing platforming (although its a bit slippery but you do get used to it) and powerups that you get throughout the game and multiple puzzles and secrets. Heading into the ending i was sure this game will be a solid 7-8 out of 10 but the ending completely blew my mind. While i do understand why some people might dislike the game, if you enjoy games like yume nikki and others of its kind, DEFINETLY DO TRY SALLY CANT SLEEP. simply put - masterful piece of art.

Fun platformer with a focus on exploration. It has surreal environments to explore in the vein of something like Yume Nikki or Hypnagogia, but it’s not as casual as those games as the platforming can get pretty tricky depending on what challenges you try to do. If you’re more experienced with first person platforming you’ll have an easier time, but if not, there is an assist mode in the options menu, and it seems like it gets easier the more abilities you find. The only objective is to collect feathers, with a very non-linear world design, so to some it could feel aimless as far as level progression, but personally I found it enjoyable to explore, and the level themes are very varied. If you want an open ended platformer with some fun movement and weird environments to explore, then this games for you.

This game is hella jank but it perfectly captures the feeling of aimlessly wandering around, unable to sleep. I'm not very good at it - I don't know if it's possible to be very good at it - but it has a lot of charm and even though I'm lost and directionless I want to keep going just to see what kind of weird stuff is around the corner. Word of warning; I think some sensitive people will projectile vomit all over if they play too much of this game.