Delicious Fruit
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-
by Fardnrose
-
by Liliaum
52 Reviews:
ElCochran90
Beaten on June 16th, 2022, live.
Review written while listening to the song "Universum" by Laur, from the album "The Angel's Message", which is, objectively, the most proper song to use to write about Arcana of the Tarot.
trap
/trap/
noun
noun: trap; plural noun: traps
1.
a device or enclosure designed to catch and retain animals, typically by allowing entry but not exit or by catching hold of a part of the body.
2.
a situation in which people lie in wait to make a surprise attack.
3.
a container or device used to collect a specified thing.
verb
a) prevent (someone) from escaping from a place.
b) have (something, typically a part of the body) held tightly by something so that it cannot move or be freed.
c) induce (someone), by means of trickery or deception, to do something they would not otherwise want to do
When Kayin envisioned I Wanna Be the Guy, the game evolved into an adventure comedy, one that was tough as nails. Upon closer inspection, it really was an exercise of frustration, one that experimented freely with the patience of the player, unrestrained, balls-to-the-wall deception while giving surprises save after save. The response of the player pretty much determined how much he/she was understanding the purpose of the game. Those that smashed their keyboards or screamed in anger are used to quick progress; those that laughed or gasped were open-mindedly accepting a new branch of adventure experimentation.
The reason why I bring the original to the table is because the adventure feeling made it more alive, and remains a favorite of mine after thousands of fangame renditions and derivatives. After 15 years, things have evolved to specific genres and can be pretty much classified, unless something new comes along and is tagged as "Special". The exploration was made in the style of a Metroidvania, and the endless references to original retro masterpieces, with some mixes of modernity, made it a classic.
This is an adventure trap game that works as a comedy. If you take it as such, this will prove to be an insanely creative experience. After Outbreak and Cloudburst, this is the perfect closure for the thematic gems that lilly created, and with marimario aboard, a maker with tons of year of experience, this wonder comes out. The difficulty curve is perfect, culminating in the most satisfying challenges, and the traps literally, I dare to say, reinvented the genre for fangames.
Now go back to the definitions of "trap" because I'm pretty sure you skimmed them. When used as a noun:
-In definition 1, the animal is The Kid
-In definition 2, the attacker is the maker
-In definition 3, the container is the entire game
When used as a verb:
-In definition a), it's the ominous premise of the game; you know that will happen countless times
-In definition b), don't worry; the entire body of the kid is ensured to explode because of the most inexplicable and unexpected things and phenomena
-In definition c), it's the spirit of trap fangames
This is one of the few fangames which I have that fully understands and simultaneously applies all of the concepts from above. A falling spike is something you can predict. What about a whole giant block? What about changes in dimensions? What about the design of the game trolling you a la Duck Amuck (1953)? Back in 2007, traps were designed to anticipate how the players would think. Once the player does a plan b), the game anticipates plan b). Arcana of the Tarot, pretty much like Outbreak and Cloudburst, anticipates plans c) and d) (and takes this even to a plan f). Every single betrayal is insane as hell, and funny as Neil Breen.
When you punish the progresses of your audiences with traps, there must be a reward: give them a memorable moment; give them inventive gimmicks, establish their rules and then twist them; play with the game's design; give them something to remember so that they will want to share it with friends so they can react with a "WTF".
Today, the YouTube video "I Wanna Be the Guy - Death By Cutscene" is 14 years old and has 200K views, 1.6 K likes and only 35 dislikes. The majority of the comments are very old, but are all positive, and people keep commenting on it. One that reads "This video really captures the feeling of the whole game in less than a minute..." posted 5 years ago is one of my favorites because that comes from a person that understands the game. This is the art of breaking the rules.
After many fun gimmicks that can be considered simple and others quite fun despite borrowed (such as the Super Mario 64 one), there is nothing that will be able to properly prepare you for the wacky shenanigans throughout that will twist the entire stages. Some might look and be described as ordinarily themed ("the cave stage", "the ice stage", "the factory stage"); however reinventing twists at every turn is what sells this as a trap game.
However, even if the core of the game is trap, it is also an adventure and there is a high emphasis on this. There is a journey to fulfill, and said journey requires variety. The journey has a specific theme: travelling through worlds activating tarot cards after beating stages and thematic bosses. Recreating original videogame tilesets is always allowed as long as you make a memorable tribute to said game. The makers here don't opt for that, and decide to create a world of their own.
When both envisionings are correctly applied, the high-sky production value is more than welcome, because it will add to the game instead of being distracting. Today, many players reinforce the idea that "production value does not equal enjoyment value". Here, the visuals work in favor of the visual design of the adventure spirit and the absolutely mental traps. The latter two factors are added and then multiplied by the production value, and the result is true bliss.
I have mentioned countless times before that the trap genre frustrates me, but it all comes down to the generic conventionalisms and effortless generic deaths that the majority of makers have encapsulated the genre in. This game, after offering a plethora of 100% unpredictable tricks under the hat, never saves a trap before hitting the next save, ergo, removing the desperation of doing an entire save all over again, unlike old-school Carnival. Other lilly trap games do the exact same correct decision.
This is where the final stage comes in: the peak of lilly's creativity and style along with marimario's adventure expertise. It can barely be described with words beyond "an enchanted forest that unleashes the most unexpected troll demons at midnight". It even goes to the extent of going meta and becoming self-aware, culminating in moments of truly freaking based grandiosity.
It is impossible not to mention the bosses, especially when one has gone through Outbreak and Cloudburst: they are masterfully done, and just like the aforementioned games, they save the best for last. Still, the rest of the stage bosses are done with passion and a unique style. They are not grindy, or troll avoidances. They give the correct visual cues to react and learn the expected attacks and reactions, and implement gimmicks fantastically.
The final boss is a masterpiece: two Touhou characters at the magnificent rhythm, harmony and dubstep madness mixture of Universum by Laur. As predictable as the theme of the boss is, the boss itself is not: five stages that escalate spectacularly in difficulty with extraordinary sound editing and visual effects without saturating the screen or creating visual obstacles for knowing where your character is. The boss, moreover, has wonderful small details that I greatly appreciate, because everything adds (some may go consciously unnoticed by many, but unconsciously they allow you to enjoy the final boss much more):
-Every attack is named and has its English translation for us mortals that weren't born on the East
-When you get to the top of the screen, all titles and legends are removed so you don't lose visibility of yourself, unlike the title cards of many medleys
-Attacks are not really hard by themselves because of you requiring to do an exhausting trial and error: they hint the blind spots, announce themselves coming as a next phase, have a correct and reactable timing, and are not confusing at all. The skills required to beat them are calculation and observation.
-This is my favorite aspect and is the most beautiful thing ever: the battle syncs extraordinarily with the song. I am not freaking kidding! How can you be such a programming genius in this sense?? It is not an avoidance!! Well... During your first successful casual playthroughs, you'll realize that by the time the song says "Seek out your enemy", you'll be watching the transition to Phase 3; by the time the dubstep kicks in, you'll be doing the most intense attacks of Phase 3 with the position-based purple energy balls; exactly when the transition towards Phase 4 ends, the piano kicks in, and the avoidance starts at the same time; finally, when phase 5 starts, the song is approaching to its end and the most intense part of Phase 5, which definitely is the most pulse-pounding and epic part, the chant of the song intensifies.
Needless to say, this is a strange hybrid with hyper-contemporary adventure set-pieces aimed to cause a reaction and leave a very satisfying feel of accomplishment at the end.
[1] Like
Review written while listening to the song "Universum" by Laur, from the album "The Angel's Message", which is, objectively, the most proper song to use to write about Arcana of the Tarot.
trap
/trap/
noun
noun: trap; plural noun: traps
1.
a device or enclosure designed to catch and retain animals, typically by allowing entry but not exit or by catching hold of a part of the body.
2.
a situation in which people lie in wait to make a surprise attack.
3.
a container or device used to collect a specified thing.
verb
a) prevent (someone) from escaping from a place.
b) have (something, typically a part of the body) held tightly by something so that it cannot move or be freed.
c) induce (someone), by means of trickery or deception, to do something they would not otherwise want to do
When Kayin envisioned I Wanna Be the Guy, the game evolved into an adventure comedy, one that was tough as nails. Upon closer inspection, it really was an exercise of frustration, one that experimented freely with the patience of the player, unrestrained, balls-to-the-wall deception while giving surprises save after save. The response of the player pretty much determined how much he/she was understanding the purpose of the game. Those that smashed their keyboards or screamed in anger are used to quick progress; those that laughed or gasped were open-mindedly accepting a new branch of adventure experimentation.
The reason why I bring the original to the table is because the adventure feeling made it more alive, and remains a favorite of mine after thousands of fangame renditions and derivatives. After 15 years, things have evolved to specific genres and can be pretty much classified, unless something new comes along and is tagged as "Special". The exploration was made in the style of a Metroidvania, and the endless references to original retro masterpieces, with some mixes of modernity, made it a classic.
This is an adventure trap game that works as a comedy. If you take it as such, this will prove to be an insanely creative experience. After Outbreak and Cloudburst, this is the perfect closure for the thematic gems that lilly created, and with marimario aboard, a maker with tons of year of experience, this wonder comes out. The difficulty curve is perfect, culminating in the most satisfying challenges, and the traps literally, I dare to say, reinvented the genre for fangames.
Now go back to the definitions of "trap" because I'm pretty sure you skimmed them. When used as a noun:
-In definition 1, the animal is The Kid
-In definition 2, the attacker is the maker
-In definition 3, the container is the entire game
When used as a verb:
-In definition a), it's the ominous premise of the game; you know that will happen countless times
-In definition b), don't worry; the entire body of the kid is ensured to explode because of the most inexplicable and unexpected things and phenomena
-In definition c), it's the spirit of trap fangames
This is one of the few fangames which I have that fully understands and simultaneously applies all of the concepts from above. A falling spike is something you can predict. What about a whole giant block? What about changes in dimensions? What about the design of the game trolling you a la Duck Amuck (1953)? Back in 2007, traps were designed to anticipate how the players would think. Once the player does a plan b), the game anticipates plan b). Arcana of the Tarot, pretty much like Outbreak and Cloudburst, anticipates plans c) and d) (and takes this even to a plan f). Every single betrayal is insane as hell, and funny as Neil Breen.
When you punish the progresses of your audiences with traps, there must be a reward: give them a memorable moment; give them inventive gimmicks, establish their rules and then twist them; play with the game's design; give them something to remember so that they will want to share it with friends so they can react with a "WTF".
Today, the YouTube video "I Wanna Be the Guy - Death By Cutscene" is 14 years old and has 200K views, 1.6 K likes and only 35 dislikes. The majority of the comments are very old, but are all positive, and people keep commenting on it. One that reads "This video really captures the feeling of the whole game in less than a minute..." posted 5 years ago is one of my favorites because that comes from a person that understands the game. This is the art of breaking the rules.
After many fun gimmicks that can be considered simple and others quite fun despite borrowed (such as the Super Mario 64 one), there is nothing that will be able to properly prepare you for the wacky shenanigans throughout that will twist the entire stages. Some might look and be described as ordinarily themed ("the cave stage", "the ice stage", "the factory stage"); however reinventing twists at every turn is what sells this as a trap game.
However, even if the core of the game is trap, it is also an adventure and there is a high emphasis on this. There is a journey to fulfill, and said journey requires variety. The journey has a specific theme: travelling through worlds activating tarot cards after beating stages and thematic bosses. Recreating original videogame tilesets is always allowed as long as you make a memorable tribute to said game. The makers here don't opt for that, and decide to create a world of their own.
When both envisionings are correctly applied, the high-sky production value is more than welcome, because it will add to the game instead of being distracting. Today, many players reinforce the idea that "production value does not equal enjoyment value". Here, the visuals work in favor of the visual design of the adventure spirit and the absolutely mental traps. The latter two factors are added and then multiplied by the production value, and the result is true bliss.
I have mentioned countless times before that the trap genre frustrates me, but it all comes down to the generic conventionalisms and effortless generic deaths that the majority of makers have encapsulated the genre in. This game, after offering a plethora of 100% unpredictable tricks under the hat, never saves a trap before hitting the next save, ergo, removing the desperation of doing an entire save all over again, unlike old-school Carnival. Other lilly trap games do the exact same correct decision.
This is where the final stage comes in: the peak of lilly's creativity and style along with marimario's adventure expertise. It can barely be described with words beyond "an enchanted forest that unleashes the most unexpected troll demons at midnight". It even goes to the extent of going meta and becoming self-aware, culminating in moments of truly freaking based grandiosity.
It is impossible not to mention the bosses, especially when one has gone through Outbreak and Cloudburst: they are masterfully done, and just like the aforementioned games, they save the best for last. Still, the rest of the stage bosses are done with passion and a unique style. They are not grindy, or troll avoidances. They give the correct visual cues to react and learn the expected attacks and reactions, and implement gimmicks fantastically.
The final boss is a masterpiece: two Touhou characters at the magnificent rhythm, harmony and dubstep madness mixture of Universum by Laur. As predictable as the theme of the boss is, the boss itself is not: five stages that escalate spectacularly in difficulty with extraordinary sound editing and visual effects without saturating the screen or creating visual obstacles for knowing where your character is. The boss, moreover, has wonderful small details that I greatly appreciate, because everything adds (some may go consciously unnoticed by many, but unconsciously they allow you to enjoy the final boss much more):
-Every attack is named and has its English translation for us mortals that weren't born on the East
-When you get to the top of the screen, all titles and legends are removed so you don't lose visibility of yourself, unlike the title cards of many medleys
-Attacks are not really hard by themselves because of you requiring to do an exhausting trial and error: they hint the blind spots, announce themselves coming as a next phase, have a correct and reactable timing, and are not confusing at all. The skills required to beat them are calculation and observation.
-This is my favorite aspect and is the most beautiful thing ever: the battle syncs extraordinarily with the song. I am not freaking kidding! How can you be such a programming genius in this sense?? It is not an avoidance!! Well... During your first successful casual playthroughs, you'll realize that by the time the song says "Seek out your enemy", you'll be watching the transition to Phase 3; by the time the dubstep kicks in, you'll be doing the most intense attacks of Phase 3 with the position-based purple energy balls; exactly when the transition towards Phase 4 ends, the piano kicks in, and the avoidance starts at the same time; finally, when phase 5 starts, the song is approaching to its end and the most intense part of Phase 5, which definitely is the most pulse-pounding and epic part, the chant of the song intensifies.
Needless to say, this is a strange hybrid with hyper-contemporary adventure set-pieces aimed to cause a reaction and leave a very satisfying feel of accomplishment at the end.
Rating: 8.4 84
Difficulty: 60 60
Jul 18, 2022
shign
Insanely good trap game with a very fancy production. There are some of the best traps I have encountered in fangames and only a very few felt too much despite some long saves sometimes. The last stage was honestly really cringe but good gameplay-wise so I won't hold it too much against the game. Boss-wise it's also very good, however the last boss drags for a bit too long imo, the last or second to last attack could have been cut off, and is so incredibly harder than the rest of the game (like 10-15 diff harder).
If you like trap games this is a must-play, it's like cloudburst and REBELLION mixted together and longer.
[1] Like
If you like trap games this is a must-play, it's like cloudburst and REBELLION mixted together and longer.
Rating: 9.5 95
Difficulty: 65 65
Aug 30, 2021
Elmur
Despite not liking the trap genre, I found this really fun and satisfying. This is probably because the traps feel more like pattern avoidance rather than unfair trolling. I also enjoyed the bosses, even though the final boss was annoying.
[0] Likes
Rating: 8.5 85
Difficulty: 63 63
Nov 5, 2024
THOMASINO
Good traps, final boss so hard, but cute:)
[0] Likes
Rating: 9.5 95
Difficulty: 68 68
Aug 18, 2024
LastTISisLife
Everything before first boss was not that great as well as first boss, but then game becomes way more enjoyable. Torch stage was genius and my favourite platforming by far, snow stage was also quite nice. Second boss was very good. Final stage was too long for my taste and feels more like pattern avoidance at this point than trap platforming. Final save was especially annoying in that context. But then happens final boss, which is highlight of the game and very very fun and creative fight
So overall, it was kinda mixed bag, but mostly on good side. Few weak points didn't stop me from enjoy this a lot. I didn't consider this as a must-play masterpiece, but if you like trap adventures, this might be pretty solid choice
[0] Likes
So overall, it was kinda mixed bag, but mostly on good side. Few weak points didn't stop me from enjoy this a lot. I didn't consider this as a must-play masterpiece, but if you like trap adventures, this might be pretty solid choice
Rating: 8.1 81
Difficulty: 65 65
Feb 8, 2024