The Treehouse Man

Simple and Fun! It only took 13 hours to 100 percent it so not a long game

It was fun and interesting to play

Gran juego, muy divertido y distinto. Me encantaría una segunda parte que profundice en las mecánicas del juego

The atmosphere had us hooked immediately. The art is delightfully eerie, the sound design is on point (the splash of things falling in the river is particularly satisfying), the music had us sitting around just to enjoy it a little longer. Gameplay-wise the closest equivalent we have is Undertale's combat, with it's combination of simple turn-based rpg and bullet hell mechanics. Just enough variety of patterns to keep it from getting stale. It has a fairly slow pace, which we found fitting for a cautious yet determined trek through dangerous waters, but if you're looking for something more action oriented you might find it a bit of a slog. Our primary criticism is the balancing. New unlocks rarely felt better than or even equivalent to our starting options, which left us generally disinterested in trying different builds. A lovely little gem and unique experience.

First of all, you can add 6 hours to my playtime since I played when my internet was out. This is an interesting little game with fantastic style and fun gameplay. It's a turn-based bullet hell with some theological musing as a background plot (and I guess there's some platforming but like, it's mostly just a game that has platforms) . The core gameplay loop is fun, there are a fairly wide range of enemy types across 4 levels, and they each have 2 attack patterns, so each encounter feels different. I feel like the developer explored the potential of its gameplay in really clever ways. There are enemies that throw you into the air, enemies that blow you back, and it just makes combat feel interesting. The physical enemy/ character designs are great, cannot say enough good things about that, and I love the artistic feel of this game. However, the game can be really slow. Like, 5-20 seconds of just waiting for your boat to get to the next combat encounter. Sometimes there are interactables, but when you have 4 battles in a run, it can really drag. There's music and the scenery to admire, but if that amount of waiting is going to drive you crazy, give this one a skip. All in all, an interesting experience I enjoyed my time with, but I probably won't go back to it if/when I get the final achievement (which is probably where like 3 hours of my playtime have been spent-it's hard).

Interesting idea, boring execution. Each battle takes far longer than it needs to, which is a problem when the vast majority of the game is spent battling. Enemies always attack one after the other and the game loves throwing groups of 2-4 of the same enemy at you, so you'll be spending a lot of time dodging the same attack pattern for 30 seconds straight between every turn. The combat would be a lot more fun and varied if groups of enemies combined their attacks for a single more challenging pattern each turn. The upgrade system isn't particularly interesting. Each weapon and companion gets one upgrade each, but I never actually found a reason to switch off two of the weapons that were unlocked by default. That upgrade doesn't ever actually do all that much, and most of the weapons and companions you can unlock are worse than what you have access to from the start. They have gimmicks or some sort of procedure to using them, but that doesn't actually make them any more effective. The narrative is a fairly straightforward commentary on faith and religion. It's fine for what it is, but it's not particularly subtle. I would have probably enjoyed it more if there was less combat diluting it.

Too sluggish for my interests. I liked the plot, world design and probably the enemy designs too. Can only leave it at that unfortunately...

Wanna zone out a little while still having fun? well. Here you go.

I can't in good faith recommend this to others. Its got a fantastic art style. Gameplay leaves a lot to be desired though... especially if you're an achievement hunter. I normally dont consider myself one to value achievements but occasionally get sucked in and when I saw I had just one left before I finished I went for it but the achievements, specifically the ones for taking no damage, are taxing and will require repetition which exposes the flaws in the game. Repeating levels over and over, with no means to expedite the process. The game is essentially the same from the first ten minutes to the last and while for a period of time it can be fun to work towards that next upgrade most of the upgrades don't help you with the achievements... now would I say its worthwhile if you're skipping said achievements? sure maybe... but maybe not. I think theres better games out there and I enjoyed a fair bit of the game but it overall felt like a bit of a slog... it was just simple enough and short enough to put on inbetween other things but I think the devs other game, Gloom, is substantially better than this although that too is not without its faults but it feels much more skill based and enjoyable.

[i]Review originally posted to [url=http://www.dragon-quill.net/quick-reviews-2/]Dragon Quill.[/url] Comments are enabled there.[/i] I'd tentatively give this a recommendation, but it's a recommendation with a lot of caveats. This is a minimalist RPG where you play as a wood spirit summoned to cure a magical corruption that has taken hold of the forest. The story was quite interesting, delving into themes of religious hypocrisy and the behavior of people in the face of existential threats, but unfortunately the gameplay was rather dull. It takes clear inspiration from Undertale, where enemies attack with real-time bullet-dodging minigames, and while that side was generally well-done, the player’s side of things is incredibly flat and simple. You’re only allowed to equip two attacks at a time, and they’re incredibly poorly balanced; the AoE attack is gamebreakingly powerful when combined with the clown’s ability and the Igniter is unmatched for focus fire, so there’s no point in using anything else. I never changed my loadout after the first area, and there’s just not enough enemy variation for the game’s length. Every encounter aside from boss fights can be won the exact same way, so there’s never any reason to adjust your strategy or loadout. Maybe if we could have three weapons the more situational ones would have some use, but as it is they’re just not worth it.