The Ecdysis

Before my review, I'd like to appreciate the developer for pulling this off all alone. I still can't get over the fact that this entire game was made by just one person. W for the effort. My Rating - 7.5/10 PROS- *The story is well narrated, a simple yet deeply structured writing. Overall storytelling was top-notch I'd say. *Visuals are just amazing. It was very cinematic for a solo developer *Combat was unique(not much options) but very well done. Headshots with bow & arrow was satisfying af. *Gameplay was intriguing, setup for what's coming next was very well done. * Personally loved the seamless transition between cinematics & Gameplay like in the last of us. * Art style, environment was too good and perfectly suited the story. CONS- *Ui was a bit not user-friendly (especially settings Ui) *Few bugs (just minor but I hope it'll be solved) *It was really hard to drive the vehicle in chapter-2 Overall, This game is really not for everyone. If you love games with good story and not hard at gameplay, this is for you.

[i]Content Advisory: This game includes depictions of intense violence, themes of suicide and torture, jumpscares, and spooky sounds. Additionally, strong language is frequently used in dialogue.[/i] Embark on an immersive journey with The Ecdysis, where players assume the role of Robin Jr., a daring photographer navigating an episodic Action/Adventure game reminiscent of a thrilling rollercoaster. The story unfolds with promise, offering excitement, mystery, and unforeseen twists. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3100985850 [h3]Storyline[/h3] Commencing with Robin Jr.'s pursuit of capturing nature's beauty, the game takes an unexpected turn, introducing enigmatic elements that transform our protagonist into a detective. Dive into the investigation mode, revealing a story that weaves contemporary threads to keep players engaged. Each clue adds layers to the mysteries, creating a compelling storyline. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3100985568 [h3]Gameplay[/h3] Character development takes the spotlight, providing a sense of witnessing evolving personalities similar to a time-lapse of a butterfly emerging from a cocoon. Gameplay includes exploration, puzzle-solving, and confrontations, drawing inspiration from gaming classics. While pathfinding and puzzles present occasional challenges, they do not overshadow the overall experience. However, a couple of chapters may feel more like a leisurely stroll than the anticipated thrill ride. [h3]Graphics & Sound[/h3] Visually, the game offers a stunning experience, featuring breathtaking landscapes and artwork that may occasionally repeat due to resource limitations. Picture a gallery showcasing captivating pieces with a touch of déjà vu. The original soundtrack by Kingsley Roy enhances the mood, though some voice issues may prompt a desire for subtitles. [h3]Final verdict[/h3] The Ecdysis, developed by a solo developer, stands as an achievement, despite minor bugs and sound hiccups. It leaves players anticipating more, particularly with the heartfelt final credit text that provides a warm conclusion. This game showcases the creativity and potential of solo developers. [i]The Butterfly Effects wishes to thank Hari prasath for providing a free review copy for this game.[/i] [quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44686303/]With 'The Butterfly Effects,' even the smallest wings can stir the grandest adventures, please follow us on the Steam store, if you enjoyed our review![/url][/quote]

It's a copy/paste asset game with an offensive price-tag. It's not a good game. It is just like all other asset-flip games in this category, and let's not beat around the bush here or pretend something is anything other than what it is: They are all awful to play and all look the same. The menu is horrible to navigate, only navigable with arrow keys. There's no key-rebinding or any sensitivity slider. Thankfully you can disable motion blur but as is so recognizable in these asset-flips it suffers from horrible glare and wet surfaces like a dirt-mound look like a polished and shiny metal surface when any light gets on it. The game is choppy, visually it is a bit muddy and unclear, the world is entirely made up of copy/pasted assets and contains glitches here and there like holes in the world, sudden invisible walls, assets clipping into other assets, etc., all the expected stuff in an asset-flip game. I found the gameplay to be an absolute drag, slow and mind-numbing. It is as linear as you can imagine a game to be, moving forward at a painfully slow pace. Animations and the general feel of the game is clunky and awkward. The combat(press button to kill enemy) is easy, boring and fails to convey any feelings of action or suspense, and enemies are all the same identical, featureless dark humanoid. Voice acting is very bad, it sounds like someone sitting in their bedroom at night trying to talk under their breath so they can't be heard by anyone else in the house. The character sounds utterly depressed of all emotion, which he may be canonically but getting jumped by dread-inducing black humanoid creature should garner a reaction stronger than "Oh ♥♥♥♥... that was close" in the most monotone and barren of all motivation voice possible. My review may be a bit blunt and short but honestly I do not have the motivation to go any deeper into it. It is what it is and I don't think it needs a super-detailed review that accounts for every single thing in the game. In short: It is bad. I applaud the developer for making a game all on their own as one person, even if for the most part it was just copying and pasting assets, but this ain't it. [h1]Curator page[/h1] [i]If you liked this review or otherwise found it helpful in deciding whether or not to buy this game, feel free to follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/29162366/]my Curator page[/url].[/i]

I really loved the game overall. The narration is done really well. In between there are places where the voice-over sounds a bit robotic but the setting of the game and pacing makes it up for where it lacks. I hope the developer updates the game and improves it further. All in all definitely a decent game and has potential.

This game has definitely shown improvement fromt he demo that I played about a year or so ago. Very solid work for one dev. I liek that it features voice overs and some pretty slick cinematic cutscenes. The story is intriguing as it is told in the present and past. It's also priced fairly for what it offers. Gameplay impressions: https://youtu.be/JKQBM-L2Lmc

The narrative of the game is the hero, a confusing start to a more confusing end but the story was intriguing and not even in a single place it paced down. Loved the cinematic approach overall and the character development. The art style was great, visuals were good but felt repetitive due to the limited resources used. As this was made by just one guy, we can let that slide. Overall dialogues were amazing but some voice acting is out of sync for characters like uncle frank, the voice felt heavily filtered and not clear. The gameplay is good with a mixed pinch of life is strange, some Detroit become human and uncharted. The game is slow paced but it is really worth because of a unique narrative style and narrative. Pathfinding was a bit difficult in a few chapters but challenging. The puzzles were easy to solve, could've made it a bit harder. A few places in chapter-5 & 6 felt slow and boring as there were not much things to do like in the other chapters. Music was good and perfectly suited the mood. Personally loved the sliding mechanics like in the uncharted, it was lowkey satisfying. Overall, this game is well written and perfectly executed with some minor bugs and few sound issues. Most solo developed games I've seen are pretty simple and common but this one takes the spotlight, It is unique and extremely good for a single man team. The final credit text was actually a well thought move and felt wholesome. Looking forward to more games like this from the dev.

A slow and raw indie experience that leans too far into the walking sim territory and pointless combat. The game begins with no information about the story or background. All you know is that you play as Robin, a hobby photographer, who keeps pushing ahead and trying to live. The story is divided into several chapters. They may be replayed from the main menu at any moment after you unlock them throughout the normal game. However, there aren't many reasons to return because there aren't any collectibles or bonuses. The visuals are basic, and there are no extras to make things leap off the screen. The colors are grim, in keeping with the general concept of the game. Despite its limited resources and boring locations, it manages to generate some type of mood. There are several minor glitches, such as enemies disappearing immediately after being killed, invisible walls, and holes in the architecture, but they don’t break the gameplay. Voices are not good. This is because everything sounds like it was made by just one person. The child voice, for example, is weird and horrible. It sounds like the voice actor doesn’t even want to be there, emotions are completely missing. Voices might be difficult to understand at times due to the accent. There are subtitles, however they aren't the best because they occasionally don't appear at all or contain grammar errors. Because you play a man with issues, the plot doesn't make much sense. The main character is perpetually depressed, drops F and S-bombs, and asks "How is this possible?" at everything he experiences. The game is painfully slow, more than a walking sim. Stages aren't much better either. Because everything is linear, you are forced to walk long empty corridors or locations at a slow speed while listening to a depressing voice. Thankfully, cutscenes can be fast-forwarded. You get to run in some parts, which makes the experience even more painful in walking sections. The run feels like a temporary power-up that you get to use for a limited time and then forget you ever had it. While it manages to throw in a surprise, such as parts with the car, the driving is impossible because you don’t even see where you’re going. There is also combat that’s pretty pointless. Your character can use a knife to perform standard stab attacks or swift stealth kill. There's a bow for ranged combat, but it requires arrows, which are scarce. Fortunately, the guy is skilled with a knife and can withstand considerable abuse, so the bow isn't even necessary. Especially because you only get to use it in the tutorial and the final third of the game. The single enemy is a mannequin-like creature that can hear and smell but cannot see. As they can't see you from afar, you can easily take single targets out one after the other. You're meant to crawl and kill them from behind, but it's far easier to charge right at them with your knife. They succumb after a few stabs. Because the kill button is the same as the whistling button, stealth kill isn't helpful. If you miss the prompt that appears on the screen, you will reveal your location. However, the combat is so easy that you can take an entire army of creature with just a knife. Most of the time you can simply avoid it by running forward and jumping over an obstacle. At the end, I appreciate that there’s something different and that you can play the game from start to finish without any major issues, but the game has no fun parts that stand out.

I just completed the game, kudos to the developer Hari Prasath. I really like the story line, how you showcased it and being a solo game developer myself i understand the difficulties you went through. So about the game, from a game developer i think you started making this game without fully writing what are the things you were going to include in the game. Like the swimming mechanics and many more things. I respect you for such amazing cutscenes and dialogues and everything. But i would i like to point out that this game lacked in good gameplay, i understand this is story you are trying to portrait but not having a balanced, little bug free and great even locomotion mechanics can very much effect the gameplay experience. I feel that in the starting chapters you were learning things and added things as you learn, as i was proceeding to the end the levels were getting better and mechanics too, more interesting. So yeah excellent level design, like i said only thing which ruined the experience for me for gameplay, slow walking speed, can't run, restarting of levels to pass a level, and fighting mechanics which were okay. I would rate this game 7/10. Great plot, great storyline, mechanics like i said were okay. Also too long for many players to finish this and reach the end and experience the plot of the story, so all the work you did till the end would go in the well. Great game, looking forward for you to create more games and hear more of your stories and experience.