The Pale Piper

You can feel the love the dev put into this game. Great movement and music. One of the best precision platformer metroidvanias out there.

[h1] 向死而生--The Pale Piper里上千次跳跃的救赎 [/h1] [h2] 写在前面 [/h2] 当每一次坠落都意味着重头再来，你会选择继续挑战，还是放下手柄就此放弃？The Pale Piper给了我答案，即便死了上千次，我依然享受着每一次起跳的瞬间。 [h2] 核心体验：跳跳乐，且只有跳跳乐，连boss战也是跳跳乐的缩影。 [/h2] 由独立开发者呈献的一款将平台跳跃推向极致的类银河恶魔城游戏。与传统类银不同，本作彻底摒弃了血量设定，每个房间都是一次独立的跳跳乐挑战，一旦失足，只能重头开始。可以说死亡不是惩罚，而是通往精通必经的阶梯。 [h2] 游玩感受与难度剖析 [/h2] 作为类银爱好者，跳跳乐跑图贯穿我的游戏时间，但这里的跳跳乐让我猝不及防。跳跳乐的判定点有点苛刻，必须在恰当的时机起跳才能完美通过。前期凭借手感和经验还能应对，但越往后碰到困难的关卡半天过不去确实让人小脸红红的。可以说游戏的高明之处在于循序渐进的难度曲线，随着进度推进，需要巧妙运用新解锁的能力来克服障碍。即便没有血量，Boss战也设计得非常不错，考验玩家利用环境保持精准操作的心态制敌。游戏中隐藏真的超多，几乎每一面墙你都需要攻击或者翻滚跳跃碰一碰，一般都会找到新的路。 [h2] 缺憾与局限 [/h2] 本作没有中文，虽然对话不多且文本相对简单，但这确实是很多玩家在意的方面。 然后最重要的一点是没有地图，虽然每一个关卡几乎是独立的但是在需要走回头路的时候依然极易迷路。 [h2] 结语 [/h2] The Pale Piper像一场没有导航的跳跳乐马拉松，看不到终点，却让人停不下脚步。它不同于追求探索与战斗平衡的类银，而是一款很不错的需要精准操作的平台跳跃游戏。 [quote]欢迎关注我们的鉴赏家:[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45753062/]来和我组乐队吧~ [/url] 凡游皆如乐，步履扣心弦。 欢迎加入我们Steam组:[url= https://steamcommunity.com/groups/mygoreview] →‘一键组乐队’←[/url] 轻拢复慢捻，共度忘华年。 [/quote]

This game deserves way more recognition than it's getting. A mini-Metroidvania with the philosophy of Celeste and Super Meat Boy. Brutally hard one-hit deaths with no direct way to attack, but you respawn instantly on the same screen (except in a few optional gauntlets). Completed the main story in 5hr 20min with 1008 deaths (so close to triple digits). I apparently missed a lot of things, only 59% completion. Only thing I'd recommend is to give a map, at least in the endgame. I'm very interested in continuing to explore, but that's pretty daunting without a map.

.■■■■ .■■■■ ◇》》》》Peak MV baby of Celeste & Mahluk .■■■■ .■■■■

[h1]《The Pale Piper》：献给平台跳跃爱好者的类银河游戏[/h1] [quote]关注小红瓶，回血在当下点击关注[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45932802/] 小红瓶游戏评鉴组[/url][/quote] [h2]前言[/h2] 几个月前我就关注了这款作品，当时只是粗略扫过预告，以为它是跳跳乐较多的类银河游戏。实际上手才发现，何止是较多？这游戏的每个房间都是跳跳乐，连BOSS战都是。 [b]通关时长：未通关[/b] [b]游戏难度：9/10[/b] [b]我的评分：不评价（未通关）[/b] [h2]核心玩法：跳跳乐，且只有跳跳乐[/h2] 从我的标题和前言就能看出来，游戏的核心玩法就是跳跳乐。因为这款类银没有血量，所以和一般类银跳跳乐不同的是，这款游戏的每一个跳跳乐都是一个房间，所以一旦死了，就要重头开始。 [h2]跳跃难度与受众玩家[/h2] 如果你是平台跳跃游戏的硬核玩家，我强烈推荐你游玩本作，随着游戏进度的推进，机关设计逐渐复杂，后期需巧妙运用机制来完成跳跳乐，十分有挑战。 但如果你和我一样是一个跳跳乐苦手的话，那这款游戏可能会让你玩的比较难受且容易红温，前期有其他类银跳跳乐的底子还能撑一撑，但到中后期遇到几十次失败仍过不去的房间时，很容易让人红温弃坑。 [h2]除了跳跳乐，还有什么？[/h2] [b]无中文[/b] 首先这款游戏是没有中文的，但是游戏文本比较简单，英语四级的水平就能大概理解所讲的内容。 [b]无地图[/b] 其次就是游戏的地图部分，我打完了三个BOSS仍没有解锁地图，我强烈怀疑本作根本就没有设计地图，虽然我也玩过没有地图的类银（比如《红怪》），但本做多路径交错的结构容易导致玩家迷路。 [b]无战斗[/b] 再说说游戏的战斗部分，击败第二个BOSS后解锁了攻击，我本以为可以击杀路上的小怪了，但这个攻击是无法对小怪造成伤害的，只能攻击房间中阻挡你前进的石头。 [h2]结语[/h2] 《The Pale Piper》像一款献给跳跳乐爱好者的类银河游戏。如果你热衷《蔚蓝》这类需要精准操作的平台跳跃游戏，本作逐渐升级的机关设计会让你大呼过瘾。 但如果你期待的是探索、成长、战斗与跳跃平衡的类银体验，那这款游戏可能就要让你失望了，这款游戏像是一场没有地图的跳跳乐马拉松，仿佛看不到游戏的终点。 [h3] 测试配置: [/h3] [b] CPU: i7-12700H [/b] [b] GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU [/b] 欢迎加入:[url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/xiaohongping] 小红瓶游戏评鉴组[/url]

Absolutely love the ambience, art style, and animations. The player control and movement are great - very satisfying to pull off some tricks or figure out new ways to approach the many different obstacles/enemies. Some sections can get difficult but with the quick respawn per room it never really gets frustrating. There are a ton of secrets, most of which can be spotted if you are keeping a keen eye out. There is not a lot of guidance, though I don't mind that at all and the level design does a good job of guiding you in the way you need to go without being too overtly linear. I've found myself wanting to backtrack again and again to find every little secret that was either missed or didn't have the ability to reach before.

Really loving The Pale Piper, a very easy recommendation. It's a top shelf precision platformer with combat. I love that progression is metroidvania-style. Love the art style, cryptic dialogue, trickle-fed storyline. Precision platforming that includes enemies as part of the puzzle. Combat's good, bosses are challenging. Controls are very smooth. Highly polished. For more niche curation, follow me at: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/27440015-CSH-Picone/ Want more honest niche & indie reviews? Check out: https://www.cshpicone.com/gaming

Despite dying literally thousands of times, I thoroughly enjoyed The Pale Piper's seamless blend of precision platforming and Metroidvania exploration. In a simple-but-evocative pixel art world, you meet quirky NPCs who deliver [i]just enough[/i] story to pique interest without overstaying their welcome. The real star of the show, however: the level design. Each secret-filled biome teems with devious one-hit-death challenges to overcome with unique movement abilities, and when I say "secret-filled," I mean "best of luck to you finding some of these collectibles." Let it be known, too, that despite its lack of combat, The Pale Piper also delivers its share of memorable boss encounters. Though difficult, The Pale Piper rarely punishes the player; most deaths reset you at the start of a room. The optional challenges naturally demand greater endurance, but that's appropriate. In any event, expect to die a lot, unless you're way better at games than I am (and if you are... must be nice). The game also deserves praise in my opinion for including generous assist options, though I didn't make use of them. Two things I'm on-the-fence about: 1) the controls and 2) how player progression gets tracked. With respect to the former, I mostly think the controls feel tight, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit (at times) questioning the responsiveness of a ledge jump over here or a roll-bounce over there. Concerning the latter, the game eschews a map and formal quest checklist but eventually provides more general completion-tracking in their place. Hey, pretty cool: in some ways I enjoyed feeling completely lost. But eventually, when I was trying to 100% the game, I wanted to know more definitively what I needed from each biome (and where) without having to physically go to each location and grope my way around every ceiling, floor and wall. Neither issue was a dealbreaker for me, however; like I said, I'm on-the-fence. But I'm certainly not on-the-fence about this game: I enthusiastically recommend The Pale Piper. Perhaps it's just my imagination, but some of the NPCs at least [i]seem[/i] to dangle out the possibility of a DLC, and I'm definitely here for it.

Everything about this game uses simple elements beautifully. The minimal color palette fits with the neat animations, and the simple music manages to repeat without sounding overly repetitive or distracting. The movement feels great when you get it right, but it can be quite frustrating to master to begin with. The conveyance of when your abilities will and won't work how you expect is a bit off, so you have to be careful to note when anything you do ends up unexpected.

The experience of playing this game was beautiful in every regard. I can tell that this was a passion project of the developer and he knocked it out of the park. Every detail from the intensity to the vibrations on the gamepad to the haunting characters dialogue (and everything in between) was perfectly executed. Although I beat the game in about 5 hours, there are a few hidden challenges that I missed and a few interactions that I missed, and I couldn't tell you how many collectible coins that I missed as well, but I have a feeling that at some point, I will 100% this one. It is just that good. If you are a fan of 2D platforming games with lots of challenge, you NEED to play this at some point during your life. This game will stick with me for a long time to come and whenever somebody asks me to list off a perfect game, this is one that will surely come to mind. Bravo, dev... bravo.