If anyone interested, type AubreyZm in youtube search and look for channel with a clown doll, this game seems to be a tribute to the wacky videos from that creator, love the vibes by the way. After the last patch the developer made the game somewhat playable as opposed to it running at 5 frames on release, so I decided to rewrite the review, as it's not completely accurate.
I suppose it's a bit like LSD/Dream Emulator, but more linear, with some progression forks here and there. The big issue is that this game is way too obtuse. I have been trying to figure out some of the rooms for hours, and there is not a hint, or a clue, or anything that would give me an idea regarding wtf it wants me to do. There should be multiple endings, but good luck finding them. I don't think the game is nearly as bad as some people claim, there is clearly some passion to it, and I love the soundtrack as well, it's just the technical issues and potential softlocks that ruin it.
You really need to make sure people can intuitively make progress through the game, the objectives in some of these rooms either unclear, or seem to softlock you if you fall. That said, even though this game heavily repurposes those videos, I still think some of the stages are just divine in terms of immersion, "Dream-Core" is what you call it? Is that the actual name for this style, or we just made that up.
If um, fixing the game is too much work, maybe a free level select would make a nice alternative, at least that way people can experience some of this nonsense and its devilishly divine soundtrack. I could not get very far, not that I didn't try, the game is just not working for me properly, and I am in a constant cycle of exiting and entering the game again.
[h1] Pros: [/h1]
(+) The psychotic vibes in this game are really something, it's like over the top, over the top, and over the top again. Like this game is actually hurting my eyes, my head, and my ear drums. Loving it...
(+) Man I really love the music, if this broken mess never goes anywhere, would love at least the soundtrack reupload or DLC, as a last resort redemption.
(+) The narrative seems pretty neat, except well the game is too broken to make progress. But I assume it's pretty cool
[h1] Feedback: [/h1]
[b] Update: [/b] the frame-rate was somewhat fixed in the patch
- there are places where you can get stuck, many of them, is there no way to exit to main menu? Could really use it...
- why not reset the player to the start of the stage if they fall instead of main menu
- improve the visibility of those boxes, and maybe the range at which they can trigger on door
- some rooms seem to be either softlocked, or the hints are so obscure I have no clue what to do. Maybe make sure the player either can’t enter unplayable area, or provide more guidance if that is not the case
- your game starts in a black screen until you expand the window
- (fixed) many of the stages run at like 5 frames a second, so I think you have 2 choices, you either attempt to fix the every single one of them, or.... you could add a level select, so people can at least $$$$ around in them and still experience at least some parts of it
- the death cutscene is too long
- can you upload this divine soundtrack as DLC?
[b] Overall Thoughts: Divine trash from the depth of Hell [/b]
Would be amazing weird experience, it's just so delightful in how over the top it is. But the game seems to be virtually unplayable, glitchy, unintuitive, no way to reset from softlocks, and it runs like crap depending on the level. I hope you can fix it, the world deserves a game that makes your ears bleed and ruins your eye sight. I assume it's a cool game, but I literally can't play it, it's so broken.
[code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]
