Delicious Fruit
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by Wolfiexe
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by Wolfiexe
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by ElCochran90
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by ElCochran90
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by ElCochran90
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by Wolfiexe
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by ElCochran90
74 Reviews:
Wahfuu
So, the usual compliments to Mattins work applies here. Production is great, the levels and tiling work well together, the presentation on the bosses and the gimmicks. It's all here, and it's what you'd expect. You know what you're getting.
One of my biggest issues with Overlord was that it had the classic problem that not just I wanna adventure games but a ton of indie metroidvanias have aswell: Way, way too much empty space without purpose. Not that it's gone in this game, but it's overall a lot more atmospheric in intent than overlord, and it's far more focused (which is to be expected, given the scope difference) so not only is the problem minimized, when it does happen it takes you out of the game less.
Platforming is simple with a couple of tricks thrown around, but remains enjoyable and comfy to go through. Nothing precise or tricky here. Bosses are... fine, but the first one is really bizarrely difficult in comparison to everything else in the game (and one of its attacks is very badly communicated). The final boss was a bit of an anti climax, truthfully, but his presentation is great (and one of the transitions got a laugh out of me.) So a little bit mixed but mostly fine.
But alas, the game suffers. I don't want to harp on the game too much, since it had a certain intent to it, but I think there are a couple things worth pointing out:
The health system isn't really great. Not just because it's called FEAR yet normal hazards are the way you get hurt, but it honestly hurts the atmosphere of the game when so much can be trivialized with it. I understand that it's not supposed to be hard, but I think this went way too far. At the very least I don't think spikes should be stuff you can just shrug off or recover from. The damage is even temporary, since you can just sit there it will all regenerate. The tension of the game is just utterly drained when you can walk over a spike, make a jump, and then sit there and let the damage fall off. It works for the bosses, but not for platforming. And it shouldn't be called FEAR, honestly, unless there's some sort of alternate way of being damaged not just by hazards.
And the other thing is backtracking. One of the reasons why backtracking in metroidvanias is fun is because you get to revisit things with movement abilities or different keys/powers. It lets you unlock secrets and gives a feeling of progression. This game has nothing of the sort. It's a problem I felt in a decent amount of Matt's games, honestly. This game is better about it because there's not much of it, but it never fails to feel like a waste of time. I'd really like to see either faster backtracking or more involvement with it, because as it is now it feels empty.
But, in the end, it's a pretty chill hour to spend. None of the problems I mentioned are bad enough to not warrant playing, and Matt seems to be improving. It's worth a play if you have some time to kill.
[0] Likes
One of my biggest issues with Overlord was that it had the classic problem that not just I wanna adventure games but a ton of indie metroidvanias have aswell: Way, way too much empty space without purpose. Not that it's gone in this game, but it's overall a lot more atmospheric in intent than overlord, and it's far more focused (which is to be expected, given the scope difference) so not only is the problem minimized, when it does happen it takes you out of the game less.
Platforming is simple with a couple of tricks thrown around, but remains enjoyable and comfy to go through. Nothing precise or tricky here. Bosses are... fine, but the first one is really bizarrely difficult in comparison to everything else in the game (and one of its attacks is very badly communicated). The final boss was a bit of an anti climax, truthfully, but his presentation is great (and one of the transitions got a laugh out of me.) So a little bit mixed but mostly fine.
But alas, the game suffers. I don't want to harp on the game too much, since it had a certain intent to it, but I think there are a couple things worth pointing out:
The health system isn't really great. Not just because it's called FEAR yet normal hazards are the way you get hurt, but it honestly hurts the atmosphere of the game when so much can be trivialized with it. I understand that it's not supposed to be hard, but I think this went way too far. At the very least I don't think spikes should be stuff you can just shrug off or recover from. The damage is even temporary, since you can just sit there it will all regenerate. The tension of the game is just utterly drained when you can walk over a spike, make a jump, and then sit there and let the damage fall off. It works for the bosses, but not for platforming. And it shouldn't be called FEAR, honestly, unless there's some sort of alternate way of being damaged not just by hazards.
And the other thing is backtracking. One of the reasons why backtracking in metroidvanias is fun is because you get to revisit things with movement abilities or different keys/powers. It lets you unlock secrets and gives a feeling of progression. This game has nothing of the sort. It's a problem I felt in a decent amount of Matt's games, honestly. This game is better about it because there's not much of it, but it never fails to feel like a waste of time. I'd really like to see either faster backtracking or more involvement with it, because as it is now it feels empty.
But, in the end, it's a pretty chill hour to spend. None of the problems I mentioned are bad enough to not warrant playing, and Matt seems to be improving. It's worth a play if you have some time to kill.
Rating: 6.5 65
Difficulty: 35 35
Mar 1, 2019
MrDobryiKot
This game would be better if it had a hard mod with death from 1 strike.
[0] Likes
Rating: 8.5 85
Difficulty: 40 40
Jan 27, 2019
princeoflight612
I just wish there were more action/adventure games like this. Excellent adventure game with action elements, good atmosphere, and creative level design.
P.S. Also, that fake needle screen was straightup hilarious/
[0] Likes
P.S. Also, that fake needle screen was straightup hilarious/
Rating: 10.0 100
Difficulty: N/A
Dec 19, 2018
Quof
Pretty good. Everyone else said what I would say - great production values, good atmosphere, etc. All around good. The final boss in particular is very well made and fun to fight. The only mark against it for me is that the difficulty is just way, waaay too low. The health bar is nice, but makes the entire game extremely trivial - you can skip the bulk of platforming even without intending too, and everything's just over super fast. The game didn't leave nearly as much of an impression on me as any one of Mattin's prior games just because I blew through all the content so fast. The fear mechanic is fine, good even, but I think it overall hurt the game (or at least, the platforming not being made harder to compensate did).
[0] Likes
Rating: 8.0 80
Difficulty: 30 30
Nov 13, 2018
Cosmoing
Wow, this game is really good. Definitively not something you'd expect to see from a month of development, even from Mattin. He really went beyond himself for this one.
This has the same great production value I've come to expect from Mattin, and it really nails the "spooky castle" atmosphere everywhere. There's a lot of different enemies and gimmicks that come together to make the platforming interesting, most rooms end up feeling very unique. The HP bar definitively helps to make all this work together, as you never feel afraid to take a risk and get close to a new enemy, or do a jump more quickly without too much fear of failure. All the little details are great, too: stuff like the kid's gun needing to reload after some bullets, the Iron Maiden teleporters, all the backtracking being fairly painless, etc. Finally, most of the bosses are fantastic too, and are the highlights of my playthrough for sure.
I do have some slight hiccups with a few things, but they're pretty minor. I thought the final boss felt slightly rushed on the main attacks (the intermissions were fantastic), one boss in particular seemed a lot harder than anything else this game had to offer, and the hook mechanic was a little too finicky at times for my tastes.
That being said, do not let this detract you from playing this game. It's a wonderful experience and you will not regret the time you spend playing.
This has the same great production value I've come to expect from Mattin, and it really nails the "spooky castle" atmosphere everywhere. There's a lot of different enemies and gimmicks that come together to make the platforming interesting, most rooms end up feeling very unique. The HP bar definitively helps to make all this work together, as you never feel afraid to take a risk and get close to a new enemy, or do a jump more quickly without too much fear of failure. All the little details are great, too: stuff like the kid's gun needing to reload after some bullets, the Iron Maiden teleporters, all the backtracking being fairly painless, etc. Finally, most of the bosses are fantastic too, and are the highlights of my playthrough for sure.
I do have some slight hiccups with a few things, but they're pretty minor. I thought the final boss felt slightly rushed on the main attacks (the intermissions were fantastic), one boss in particular seemed a lot harder than anything else this game had to offer, and the hook mechanic was a little too finicky at times for my tastes.
That being said, do not let this detract you from playing this game. It's a wonderful experience and you will not regret the time you spend playing.
Tagged as: Adventure
[0] Likes
Rating: 9.0 90
Difficulty: 50 50
Nov 13, 2018