Slime Fantasy: the search for the lost sword

More Reviews @ TheVideogameBacklog.com (It's not updated a lot currently because I'm working on my 2nd game.) Full disclosure: I went out of my comfort zone for this game because I saw a post about it on twitter about Slime Fantasy and it looked cool. It’s a Pico-8 game about a slime that needs his sword back to defend his kingdom and so I followed the link to Steam. What I saw there was a cool-looking pixel game with zero reviews. Honestly, I hated to see it. Especially when I thought the game looked interesting enough. Then it was confirmed to me that it was a “kill you a lot” platformer. I hesitated for a day or so then picked it up. It did and does kill me a lot; that much is true. Is it worth picking up though? Let me break it down for you. First and foremost, the game is one of those “precision platformers” where your timing and accuracy are important. If that’s not really your cup of tea, this may not be the perfect game for you. However, I wouldn’t write it off completely. Unlike some of those other games (I’m looking at you 1001 Spikes), this one can be defeated. However you will need some patience. I’ve noticed that getting through the stages isn’t too bad if you’re not just Leeroy Jenkins-ing though them. There are some interesting jumping patterns, but nothing impossible. What’s been the most impossible for me is just waiting for the right moment. There is also a timer, but it’s set so high that I never felt pressured by it. Maybe at the end of the game that’s different, but near the middle or however the crap far I made it, it wasn’t an issue. The best things about this game are the looks and controls. First up, I love the 1 Bit aesthetic (although the Steam page describes Slime Fantasy as 8 bit). I know that there are a fair bit of games utilizing this recently (I even had a prototype about two years ago) and as long as it’s done well I don’t mind. It is done well here. It’s pretty minimalist and what’s needed to give detail is there and the game’s size (resolution) is small enough to have just enough extra sprites to decorate the screen without drowning you in frivolous details. It’s a delicate balance and I feel it’s achieved here. I’m also a fan of the controls because they respond when you want them too as long as you do it at the right time (durrr…). There wasn’t many times that I pressed jump or moved and died that I couldn’t point the finger of blame to myself. That being said, while I think it’s good, I don’t feel it’s perfect. There is a funky issue with the jumping. If you hold it down you’ll jump higher, but you’ll also continue to jump when you land. So not only do you have to balance getting enough height and distance by holding it down, you’ll have to let it go as well so you don’t land and then jump up into waiting spikes. This happened a bit until I figured it out. Another funky jumping mechanic occurs when you are jumping towards a disappearing/reappearing platform. If you land it “just right” you can get some serious air by jumping into a reappearing platform at the “right” time. What this means is if your timing is off when jumping up towards a platform you know will be there, it could send you up towards some lonely spikes. Time and patience and you’ll get over this too though. Another issue I had was with hit-boxs. It’s either me as the slime or the spikes/Lava obstacles. When the ground is level with the pokie/burny stuff, you don’t need to actually touch them to die. If you get close enough, they will just kill you even if you never left the ledge. I could make all of the jumps without getting that close, but I also kind of expect to die only if I went off of the ledge into the danger. It made a few deaths feel a bit cheap. This isn’t the prime example, but timing and patience play a big role here, especially later on. The last thing that irks me are the little gold slimes that you can collect while traversing the levels. What’s the point? There are three, maybe four in each level and while they note that you’ve picked them up, they don’t seem like they do anything nor does it seem to effect anything. “It’s just for the challenge” I guess. Maybe that would count for AGDQ, but for me, when I noticed that I wasn’t getting any benefit from it, I just stopped going for them. It feels like a missed opportunity. The music also helps the adventure go pretty smooth. It loops, as one would expect, but doesn’t get annoying. The different songs all work well with the look and I’m impressed that this one dev did all the work. I know that’s getting more common place, but it’s still impressive. Final Score: Gewd. (2nd highest on the fun meter even if I would pull more hair out near the end if I had some.) Slime Fantasy a smallish game that frustrates me. I knew this going in so I wasn’t expecting to beet it in an hour. Maybe if I exercise some more patience this will happen, so I guess we’ll see. However, I bought Slime Fantasy knowing it was going to be rough, but in the end I enjoyed the experience. I think that even if “killing you” platformers aren’t your thing, the low entry price and the love clearly put into Slime Fantasy is worth a try. Just take your time and maybe after clearing this game you’ll want to challenge yourself with other titles that you’ve been avoiding. Give it a try. Be the slime. Get your sword back and defend your kingdom… because: reasons!

I decided to check out this game since it only had one review and seemed mostly forgotten. This is a rather tough platformer for the PICO-8 fantasy console where you try to get to the end of each level. There's some option gold slimes you can pick up in each level for added challenge. If you die you respawn at the start of the level. The levels are fairly short and there's only a handful of levels. The levels are timed, but I never came close to running out. The cycles are the same too so once on know the timing it'll be the same each time. It took me about 70 minutes to beat the game and that was with me collecting some gold slimes. There's a few downsides to the game. -First, there's no save system. You need to play though the whole game in one sitting. If the PICO-8 can't do saves some kind of password system could have been used. -Second, there's a strange hitbox issue with spikes/lava in line with a floor you are walking on. You die without even touching them. -Third, the jump can be a little touchy. If you hold the button down you keep jumping which can make you jump as soon as you land. This was sometimes an issue when jumping to a higher platform. -Fourth, the gold slimes. I expected some sort of tally at the end to note how many I collected. The game doesn't keep track of this at all. Overall, I feel the game hits what it strives to be: a simple old school type platformer. If you are looking for that type of experience I would recommend checking it out.

im a sucker for these dark little games that go so hard yet on the outside look simple, this game is pretty cool

nice little game

Slime Fantasy: the search for the lost sword ---{ Graphics }--- {x} Old School {} Beautiful {} Good {} Decent {} Bad ---{ Gameplay }--- {x} Very good {} Good [ Combat Stances & Weapon Attributes / Variants ] {} It's just gameplay ---{ Audio }--- {x} Good {} Not too bad {} Bad ---{ Game Size }--- {x} Old Fashioned {} Workable {} Big ---{ Difficulty }--- {} Easy {x} Easy to learn / Hard to master {} Dark Souls ---{ Grind }--- {x} No Grind {} Only if u care about achievements {} Average grind level {} Too much grind ---{ Story }--- {} No Story {x} Average {} Good {}Lovely ---{ Game Time }--- {} Long enough for a cup of coffee {} Short {x} Average ---{ Price }--- {} It's free! {x} Worth the price {} If it's on sale {} If u have some spare money left Overall thoughts This is a great platformer game. 9.5/10 Review Score