For a game I randomly found out was coming out soon and a game that I got because it was on a discount on PS Plus at that, it turned out to be a solid and enjoyable "blind buy".
The game isn't going to reinvent the wheel and if you played a 3D platformer especially something like Super Mario 3D World or Sackboy a Big Adventure, you will probably be familar with many of the platforming challenges and gimmicks the game throws at you.To this game's credit unlike the above mentioned games, you don't need to secret hunt and get them while playing the main levels to unlock more of the main story. The game is pretty short if you don't try to 100% it and find and all the content and do all the platforming levels in the sole purpose of just getting to the end of the stage. I feel like the game's relatively cheap price and how short it is makes a game that is worth checking out if you want a quick and relaxing game to play. Map pieces are easy to come across after beating all the levels and the boss on that island, you may need to "backtrack" to unlock more of the "main" island but I only had to do this twice.
The game comes with a "relaxed" mode but if you played a platformer of any kind before, this mode is unnesscary since the game is pretty easy to anyone who has some experience with the genre, well any that requires you to actually position, and successful land jumps as opposed to playing games with automated platforming like Uncharted and Assassin's Creed or many AAA games released in the 7th and 8th gen.
While many of the ideas and gimmicks the game features you have seen before like ground pounding switches, speed challenges while the camera is moving in one direction, chase sequences, slight puzzle solving involving orbs, underwater 2D levels, disappearing platforms, platforms that disapperar and reappear depending on when you jump, spike traps and falling platforms. As well as level themes like ice, fire and water levels. Everything that the game has you've seen before, to the game's credit it executes these ideas with a solid amount of polish and the controls are mostly fine to the point where jumping around and avoiding traps and doing all the above mentioned things feels has a solid enough challenge to the point where it doesn't seem like the game is playing itself and it's too brainlessly easy.
This might turn some people away I do like how checkpoints restore your health upon them being activated which is can be both reliving and confusing at the same time, reliving in that it gives you more of a fighting chance when doing the levels and confusing because since I am accustumed to platformers of any kind giving me the same amount of health when activating a checkpoint, I always assumed I have 1 hp after taking 1 or 2 out the 3 total hp I have rather than having my health restored upon activation. I welcome this but it can be confusing another difficulty "tweak" I like compared to other platformers is when you do a puzzle or get keys in to progress it remembers what you did after you died, this may be considered too easy but considering how impatient I am now and how I especially dislike doing the same puzzles after dying I do like that you can just continue on with the level upon completing it once since now you aren't doing a tedious rethread of old ground by solving a puzzle you already know how to do.
Jumping around, avoiding a death and getting one of the game's level tokens for getting one of the time milestones does a have a decent amount of satisfaction to it. The levels have a lot going on due to above mentioned gameplay gimmicks so even though the levels are short, the levels themselves have a lot happening in them and they all get remixed, or reused enough to the point where the game never gets one note for the 4 hours it lasts.
My only big gripe with the game is that your base "run" speed is way too slow and your sprint speed when you hold sqaure should've been the default movement speed when you move the left anlog stick. Your default movement speed is just way too slow for my tastes and especially when the game requires you to be much faster and precise during it's "harder" platforming challenges. It's easy to get used to but it can get annoying sometimes.
Another issue is that the "final boss" is basically a chase and not an actual fight and the squid you fight before him felt more like a final boss compared to him.
For those who want a hardcore challenge out their platformers will have to look elsewhere since the game is generally easy, if you don't mind easy but satisfying platformers to play then this is worth checking out.
Jumping around, avoiding a death and getting one of the game's level tokens for getting one of the time milestones does a have a decent amount of satisfaction to it. The levels have a lot going on due to above mentioned gameplay gimmicks so even though the levels are short, the levels themselves have a lot happening in them and they all get remixed, or reused enough to the point where the game never gets one note for the 4 hours it lasts.
My only big gripe with the game is that your base "run" speed is way too slow and your sprint speed when you hold sqaure should've been the default movement speed when you move the left anlog stick. Your default movement speed is just way too slow for my tastes and especially when the game requires you to be much faster and precise during it's "harder" platforming challenges. It's easy to get used to but it can get annoying sometimes.
Another issue is that the "final boss" is basically a chase and not an actual fight and the squid you fight before him felt more like a final boss compared to him.
For those who want a hardcore challenge out their platformers will have to look elsewhere since the game is generally easy, if you don't mind easy but satisfying platformers to play then this is worth checking out.
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