Zapling Bygone

Después de terminar Zapling Bygone con un final "malo", he pensado mucho en lo que este juego ofrece. Más allá del Gameplay, el apartado sonoro y visual, Zapling Bygone te envuelve por su historia. No eres un héroe, ni un villano, sino una creatura que roba fragmentos de memoria para poder hacer una identidad. No hay brújula moral, tampoco preferencias, sino un único deseo de encontrar un propósito o encontrar lo que somos y de sobrevivir. Irónicamente, Zapling se siente como un personaje humano, pues se cuestiona y no comprende que carajo pasa, sin embargo avanza por un propósito. No quiero dar spoilers pero al menos mi final fue crudo, no hay nada más. No hay música épica, ni animaciones increíbles, solo una pantalla en negro con un texto que te dice "todo se fue a la mierda" y es quizá lo que pasa cuando uno muere. No es un juego perfecto, es un juego para disfrutar. Honestamente el combate es simple al igual que el diseño. Me hubiese gustado ver un apartado artístico más trabajado o con más detalle, aún que se nota que es a propósito. Disfrutable y filosófico. 7/10

Can't even start the game, it crashes

[h1][b]Review[/b][/h1] [b][i]Zapling Bygone[/i][/b] is a short MetroidVania full of mood, aesthetics, and movement, but it lacks a solid grip to keep the player engaged. [list] [*]The movement is very satisfying—to grab and slide into walls, to go faster with the dash—and using equipment provides you with a lot of freedom in terms of how you can move in the world. [*]The aesthetics are fine; it's not super-detailed pixel art, but it has personality, and I appreciate that. Also, the atmosphere the game presents is really nice; it has this dark-world mood with a weird alien sense. [*]The plot is... okay? I'm not sure if I understood everything; the story itself didn't manage to grab me and make me invested in it. I'll forget everything about it in no time. [*]The game has the "[i]Charm System[/i]" from [b][i]Hollow Knight[/i][/b], where you find different skulls hidden in the map that provide bonuses to your character; those are the equipment. I like this system very much. Some bonuses are very useful; others are purely junk. Also, the game has a similar healing system. [*]There is some unpleasant neologism featured in the game, and I didn't like it for personal reasons. Oh, and I don't know why, but the camera shakes a little when you perform an attack, and sometimes I noticed some frame drops when I moved around. I don't appreciate this, but... nothing massive. [*]I encountered some bugs; that wouldn't matter so much, but... one bug that did matter and I didn't like was: two pieces of the collection of memories of The Burdened are [b]simply missing from the map[/b]. I looked everywhere; I even consulted a guide to find the spots, but the pieces were simply missing. I was unable to complete the whole collection, but somehow I was able to complete 100%. [*]The game dabbles a bit with philosophy—not anything extraordinary, but it was a nice touch to have it in some way. [*]The bosses are very simple; the only boss that was actually difficult was the second one. It was kinda of disappointing as I didn't face a challenge beating them (and I'm not a pro hardcore gamer or anything like that). [/list] [h3][b]Conclusion:[/b][/h3] [b][i]Zapling Bygone[/i][/b] is a fairly non-linear MetroidVania, pretty short, but with freedom of movement, but it lacks... something. The combat is bland, the story is forgettable, and there is basically nothing besides the movement that grabs the attention of the player, making it a flat experience. I'll recommend it, but keep in mind that there's nothing memorable to be found here. The score is: [h2][b]5/10[/b][/h2]

Excelent Metroidvania!!

Fairly underrated and fun. The strongest aspect is the atmosphere and setting. A little rough around the edges but still worth playing if you have the time.

Interesting metroidvania with cool ideas!