Saturn Quest: R. U. N. E. 3000

Ah yes, the infamous Saturn Quest, the only 3 game series that has 3 fans and maybe 30 sold copies put together (I imagine it's not exact but very close). Part bullet hell, part space shooter, part boss rush, some platforming here and there, and even some puzzles with exploration - so take that intuitive game design. Once again I feel like I have to thank the developer for this rather personal gift, I take it personally because only a few of us still follow these games, and I imagine the dev is well aware of its lack of appeal. As with other Arkhouse games, I don't play them because they are good games, I am playing them for the experience, strange art, unique soundtrack, and just the world that I can't truly explain. I was just about to say that Arkhouse finally made a game with fair difficulty and learned from his mistakes - yep spoke too soon, it's a nightmare, a test of patience like it always is, 5 games back to back, shoving a hot ____ __ __ ___, absolute torture, no mercy, only illusion of hope and a false sense of security. I can just see myself from 3 years ago, yea Beetle, we have been through this before you know, stop acting like you're surprised. It started so relaxing though, almost self-aware of his mistakes in a way, even kinda playful which is not something that I usually get from these games, but yea, eventually the game ramps up the difficulty to what I consider a "let me play something else" tier. Actually, I will say the difficulty in this game is kinda more reasonable, but at the same time, it's not any easier than the previous 2 just because some of the boss fights are so time-consuming, plus some of the space stages are just BS, they always are with this dev. Yea, if you did not like Arkhouse games before, this probably won't change your mind, I just think the first half of this game is a lot more accessible, not as intense as some of the other entries, and I actually really like some of the interactions in the narrative (if you want to call it narrative, there is a little twist this time), it seems the developer is more aware of his tropes now, implementing them in a more enjoyable way. Overall, whenever this game changes the genre I feel like it has a better sense of direction and purpose, whereas in previous Saturn games it was done just for the "hey, look at my artsy game". I will say that there are individual parts of this game that are well above other games from this developer in terms of being mesmerizing with beautiful pixel art, plus the music this time is absolutely stellar which is a huge upgrade from the second game. The only nitpick I have is that a lot of bosses look similar now, I actually kinda liked the design in the first game a little more. There is a pretty cool twist on the combat system, you do not just dodge bullets and hump the bosses now, but you can also build turrets and other support structures, it's kind of a cool idea, but it also makes it more confusing at first. [h1] Pros: [/h1] (+) I think there are moments in this game that would make it the best Arkhouse game in terms of visuals, music, atmosphere, and even how the game interacts with you, I actually think the world is a lot more playful this time around. It feels like the developer is a bit more self-aware, I always ***** about his game design, but it seems there is an "attempt" to use it to the game's advantage. (+) As with any game from this developer, you do get something a little different from your typical video game, and this game is no exception. It seems the developer believes he was at the height of his creative power, and I can see that. It's probably the most realized game in his collection, although it's probably not the most compelling story (I think Cube Gothic beats it slightly), there is a better sense of creative direction, and aside from a few unfair difficulty spikes, I think the game almost feels like a crazy art museum, more so than just another game. (+) I actually like how you handled the narrative this time, kinda committed to that Saturn Language joke, which worked for me personally, and I will tell you, I 100% understand those conversations and exactly what is being told - not really. I like all of the dev-to-player interactions with the hints, didn't expect much humor in this game after the first 2. (+) You know, I think that turret thing was a really cool idea and it builds upon the previous game, it just does not work that well in all situations, often making the boss fights very long, but I do like the added layer of complexity. [h1] Feedback: [/h1] Here let me copy/paste my feedback from the last 5 games. You know what, I am not doing it again, it is what it is, it will never change, stay toasty Arkhouse, you might be crazy ******, but I still can't live without you. Okay you know what, put a jump on a dedicated button, one day right, not today, and probably not next game. It's a joke I know you won't do it. [b] Overall Thoughts: 8/10 (this is a diehard fan score okay, I am aware of my biased here, I like it personally, and I am sure most people will hate this game with a passion) [/b] In the spirit of this game I will put my final thoughts in the only language this dev understands. Ro-ro-ro-ro-ro. Ex-ro-ro-ro? Do-do-do-do-do. Ex-Do-Do-Do-Do. Pe-P-Pee. Ex Pe-P-Pee? Ro-ro-ro-ro-ro. Ex-ro-ro-ro? Do-do-do-do-do. Ex-Do-Do-Do-Do. Pe-P-Pee. Ex Pe-P-Pee? Ro-ro-ro-ro-ro. Ex-ro-ro-ro? Do-do-do-do-do. Ex-Do-Do-Do-Do. Pe-P-Pee. Ex Pe-P-Pee? Ro-ro-ro-ro-ro. Ex-ro-ro-ro? Do-do-do-do-do. Ex-Do-Do-Do-Do. Pe-P-Pee. Ex Pe-P-Pee? [code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]

You done did good, kid.

My one true wish is to be have even a neutrino as much vision and confidence in my works as Arkhouse Telegraph. A masterpiece it is. I'll look back on this for inspiration until the day I die.

Easily the best Saturn Quest game, by a lot too. Very little in this game was infuriating in the same sense that the other games are. Bosses are more predictable and easier to avoid damage on. In additrion, options have been added in most gameplay types to restore health making taking a hit much less frustrating. The game is still very difficult, but the rng hell difficulty of the previous games has been replaced with a more slow paced, tactical difficulty about careful planning a paying attention to your surroundings. As a Saturn Quest fan I feel this is truly the first game I can recommend without reservation. It really feels like the culmination of many of the gameplay structures of previous games, this time thought out and interesting in ways the previous games were not. There's still some very questionable decisions, don't get me wrong this is Saturn Quest... However this time they feel like fun quirks instead of decisions that make parts of the game borderline unplayable. That bullet visibility in the second shmup section is awful though why the hell would you do that Arkhouse? I'd be pretty upset if it wasn't fairly easy.

The gameplay is okay in combat sections (with the exception of "bump combat" sections where you can take damage for seemingly no reason sometimes) and drags heavily outside of them, with long stretches of slowly walking around samey environments. The dialog is godawful, with the characters just speaking gibberish at each other for way, WAY too long. Some of the bosses are really not fun to fight, like the worm in the platforming section who if it decides to go down your lane at the wrong time could potentially kill you in one pass, or the mushroom with its random wall of bullets occasionally leading to there being no safe space on your side of the arena. The puzzles felt really weird since you had to go to the tutorial computer to figure out what even to do most of the time. There is definitely some well done art though, and some interesting effects. All in all I would say avoid it unless you are interested in really niche indie stuff. I normally am but this was just too obnoxious for me. I can forgive a lot of stuff if the story is engaging but considering most of the game is just text boxes of "ro ro ro ro rorooro roro" and then walking around slowly to get in an annoying fight, I couldn't stand it.

Note that you have to manually save your game in the overworld, it's not something you can do from the escape menu. Not refunding this because the game is definitely a labour of love, but it is not particularly enjoyable to play.

Was so excited to see this game come out. It blew me away. There's never really an expectation coming in to these games other than to not expect anything at all. So many playstyles and ideas that get mixed and matched in different ways, it's incredibly creative stuff. Arkhouse Telegraph has a way of making seemingly-nonsensical ideas work in amazingly fresh ways. As always these games have such a unique presentation with the combination of stunning visuals and music, it's obvious so much love and passion went in to this game. Out of the three Saturn Quest games, this is definitely the most playable, there's been steps taken to make things more fair, outside maybe a couple encounters I really feel like this is the actualization of what the previous games were building towards, it's a legit enjoyable experience that I recommend. Arkhouse Telegraph's works has always been a shining beacon on why I love indie games, Regardless of quality and frustration, they've always shown me a side of games I've never seen, I don't think there is anything else like these games, it's like peering in to another world, one that I can only hope to understand one day.

R.U.N.E 3000 is the third game in the Saturn Quest series, a series that was previously planned to have SIX games and is now planned to have TEN. No less than that. Gotta respect the ambition. No need for the usual pros and cons, it's Arkhouse, you know what to expect. Great art, great music, truly original and full of soul, the indie spirit, a game for art's sake and nothing else. Play it if you love games and are very, very patient. Navigator is still very dumb, but you love him that way, probably. If you've played 1 and 2, you have Stockholm for him and Roro, guaranteed. I was very attached to these characters and am sad at the idea of not seeing them again, but that's life, I suppose. Anyway, R.U.N.E 3000 is the longest entry in the series, with the most fair and balanced gameplay. Most of it will involve fighting bullet hell bosses by managing turrets and...trying to read dialogue written in gibberish. Be warned. Arkhouse recommends you play R.U.N.E 3000 before the other two. Do NOT ! You will be confused as ♥♥♥♥. I played SQ 1 and 2 first and I was still extremely confused by the end, although I've had some time to sort it out. To be sure, it's not only a prequel. A lot of it is a prequel to SQ1, but the rest of it is a sequel to SQ2. You will not always be warned which is which, so pay attention. Won't be giving no score - Arkhouse games are unscorable. You love them with their flaws, or you don't, it's that simple. I love them. Obviously. Warmly recommended. At the very least you will have a very unique experience.

Saturn Quest 3 is an outstanding game concluding an epic trilogy of a little green guy that bumps into big bosses and makes them go boom. I honestly wasn't sure if I was gonna like the new Action RTS bosses in this prequel/sequel since I'm terrible at RTS games but because its less complicated, it was easier for me to learn its mechanics 😀 Also there's a Undertale inspired boss and that was pretty damn cool 😎👍

Disclaimer: This is review from player who prefer story-rich game and haven't played any game by Arkhouse Telegraph. The good: + Outstanding 80's-esque visual pixel artstyle. It reminds me of few SNES/Atari/Gameboy games. + Fairly good soundtrack. + Some cutscene/area have fascinating atmosphere. + Run well with Steam proton, so it's likely this game is playable for Linux/Steam Deck user. Although the platformer area might show too many small detail for 7" display. + Game OST/artbook is available for free on Arkhouse website. The bad: - While i understand nature of this game require player to find out most thing and go through trial-and-error, some parts definitely need to be explained better. I refer to lack of autosave (for most part of the game), not letting player know about manual save (you can do it by head left after exit for cylinder elevator until you see display/sign "< S" and suggestion to visit block H (where you get some guidance). - While the manual say i can play R. U. N. E. 3000 first, i have hard time understanding the story and lore/world building. Conversation such as "DO? DORODO!" is mostly gibberish and i only can make vague guess based on few specific term ("V2", "50/50", etc.) and area i've visited. Short recap of previous games (even it's on the manual) could be really helpful for newcomers. The ugly: * I experience a bug where i fight boss i'm not supposed to fight yet. In detail, [spoiler] after i exit from P block to get symbol cracking code, i was thrown to G block where i fight G-Cat/10th boss. The worst part is the boss HP bar started with red color and auto 3-60 cannon never perform attack. Fortunately the bug doesn't occur again after i load from manual save. [/spoiler]. * The gameplay variation/idea is very interesting, but the execution is mixed bags (more explanation on below paragraph) Saturn Quest: R. U. N. E. 3000 has lots of gameplay variant/modes (Adventure, Shoot'em up, Platformer and many more) to keep the game fresh. While each area/boss have different reason why it's challenging/difficult, many of those is very unbalanced. For example, [spoiler] Bioplatus M-3D/6th boss [/spoiler] require you to have extraordinary eye-hand coordination and multitasking skill. Among all enemy that resemble boss fight, i only managed to beat 6-7 boss without using cheat. This game also has very few checkpoint on each area/boss. On adventure/platformer area, you could restart from beginning after spending 10-20 minutes where you have to avoid same trap or collect same item again. On boss fight, that means you'll need to repeat whole fight most of the time. It's could be annoying because since you're forced to find out boss behavior the hard way or repeating tedious part of the fight. 3 HP and lack of difficulty option could be irritating for most modern player. There are time when i found out i only lose 3-10 HP when i use cheat and beat the boss. If there's easier difficulty where i have 6-10 HP, i could beat more boss by myself. But don't get me wrong, i feel really satisfied each time i beat boss (which i deemed can be beaten with practical amount of effort) without cheat. If the developer bother add easy difficulty which has higher player HP, give more Nana and slightly lower boss HP, far more people could enjoy this unique piece of artwork. [hr][/hr] While i have some rant, it's really unique experience even though i've played few hundred games. In overall, i have more positive sentiment than negative sentiment of this game. But even though i choose "Yes" when Steam ask "Do you recommend this game?", i'd rather choose "Neutral" or "Information" instead. If you're fan of 80's game or really like difficult game, you might come to like this game. But for most people, i'd recommend you to seek other game. Although if you really insist to play this game, you could use Cheat Engine and modify HP/Nana using value type Double (also called float64 or 8-byte float). P.S. I definitely will play the sequel (Episode IV-VI: White Meteor Saga according to the artbook) [b]IF[/b] the developer bother add easy difficulty option and more checkpoint during boss fight/exploration.