4 Reviews:
TTBB
Rating based on Normal difficulty with no checkpoints. This review has spoilers by going into specific detail on attacks.
== Initial thoughts after clearing normal with checkpoints ==
It's really good for a first avoidance, and definitely much better than my first avoidance, but gameplay wise there's just a bunch of small issues that add up to the point where overall I can't say it was the most enjoyable experience.
Small things like plenty of instagibs near the ends of checkpoints, starts of checkpoints having lots of waiting, reaction time test on the Manifest 123 part*, and certain patterns that could've just been designed to be first tryable but aren't** (More info below).
And while an entire MV playing in the background is pretty novel, I wouldn't necessarily call it the definition of good production value or anything. It ends up just being a bit distracting, and I don't wanna see more avoidances doing it since it can get old pretty fast. There was effort into blending attacks with the MV itself at least (e.g. when the girl in the MV waves her arms in a sine wave motion, there's a sine wave cherry attack), which is cute.
== Thoughts after playing/clearing normal with no checkpoints ==
Honestly, the game was much more enjoyable this time around. All the issues regarding checkpoints no longer exist, and once you learn everything putting it all together isn't so hard, plus the game itself flows much better without checkpoints I feel. That being said, I still highly recommend you learn the game with checkpoints first, but to try it without checkpoints if you're an avoidance head and weren't satisfied with the game initially.
== Additional Notes ==
* The reaction time test on the Manifest 123 part becomes easy after you do it a couple times, but initially I found the one where you need to hold right and jump pretty hard to react to. I think a good idea would've been to have some sort of tell when the Manifest 1/2/3 numbers are being displayed. Sure you probably won't know what to do the very first time still, but subsequent attempts wouldn't be as bad this way.
** First example is the sine wave attack on checkpoint 2 after the boss section. There's a couple safe spots you can read ahead of time for this, but the middle is where you really wanna be. If you're on the left or right under the waves, they spread out in a way where you'll get surrounded and sniped unless you do a preemptive jump that also can't be too high. What makes this part annoying to me is where it is relative to the checkpoint placement. The boss section is a decent length, especially when you're first doing it and you haven't learned how to optimize damage yet, but then you have this attack which has a good chance of killing you on a blind playthrough. I actually feel like having the burst be RNG but also slower would've fit better, even if it leaks into the next attack, but it's hard to say.
Next example is on Manifest 4 when the head falls. If you're not holding left preemptively, you die. Just having some kind of warning like Red !'s on the ground at the start wouldn't hurt here. Again, this issue is amplified by where it is in relation to the checkpoint, and the fact that this checkpoint has some waiting at the start.
Last example is at the very end when the very beginning repeats. If you're not on the right side of the screen when the previous attack ends you are dead. I don't mind this one too much actually, it's pretty funny, I just wanted to mention it.
Another issue I forgot to mention, but still stuck around even on my no checkpoint run is some visibility issues. There was clearly effort into making sure this wasn't an issue by darkening the background as much as possible, but there are still definitely some parts that are a slight increase in difficulty because of visuals. I also want to note that my monitor seems to have much lower contrast (even when I try to raise it) compared to other monitors, so this most likely won't be an issue for most people, but I'll still mention them. One is the bouncing flowers, the smaller ones can be hard to see because of the spinning white head in the background. The other is when you get infinite jump on the last checkpoint, the yellow cherries on yellow background can be hard to see even if they're both clearly different shades of yellow. The safe bet would've just been to choose a different colour other than yellow here.
== Closing Thoughts ==
Overall I think while as an avoidance itself there are issues, as a passion project it's clearly wonderful. There are tons of skills the maker gets to show off in this besides just gamemaking, and the ideas themselves are very clever. I hope to see more from this maker because I really don't want to see their ideas going to waste.
[3] Likes
== Initial thoughts after clearing normal with checkpoints ==
It's really good for a first avoidance, and definitely much better than my first avoidance, but gameplay wise there's just a bunch of small issues that add up to the point where overall I can't say it was the most enjoyable experience.
Small things like plenty of instagibs near the ends of checkpoints, starts of checkpoints having lots of waiting, reaction time test on the Manifest 123 part*, and certain patterns that could've just been designed to be first tryable but aren't** (More info below).
And while an entire MV playing in the background is pretty novel, I wouldn't necessarily call it the definition of good production value or anything. It ends up just being a bit distracting, and I don't wanna see more avoidances doing it since it can get old pretty fast. There was effort into blending attacks with the MV itself at least (e.g. when the girl in the MV waves her arms in a sine wave motion, there's a sine wave cherry attack), which is cute.
== Thoughts after playing/clearing normal with no checkpoints ==
Honestly, the game was much more enjoyable this time around. All the issues regarding checkpoints no longer exist, and once you learn everything putting it all together isn't so hard, plus the game itself flows much better without checkpoints I feel. That being said, I still highly recommend you learn the game with checkpoints first, but to try it without checkpoints if you're an avoidance head and weren't satisfied with the game initially.
== Additional Notes ==
* The reaction time test on the Manifest 123 part becomes easy after you do it a couple times, but initially I found the one where you need to hold right and jump pretty hard to react to. I think a good idea would've been to have some sort of tell when the Manifest 1/2/3 numbers are being displayed. Sure you probably won't know what to do the very first time still, but subsequent attempts wouldn't be as bad this way.
** First example is the sine wave attack on checkpoint 2 after the boss section. There's a couple safe spots you can read ahead of time for this, but the middle is where you really wanna be. If you're on the left or right under the waves, they spread out in a way where you'll get surrounded and sniped unless you do a preemptive jump that also can't be too high. What makes this part annoying to me is where it is relative to the checkpoint placement. The boss section is a decent length, especially when you're first doing it and you haven't learned how to optimize damage yet, but then you have this attack which has a good chance of killing you on a blind playthrough. I actually feel like having the burst be RNG but also slower would've fit better, even if it leaks into the next attack, but it's hard to say.
Next example is on Manifest 4 when the head falls. If you're not holding left preemptively, you die. Just having some kind of warning like Red !'s on the ground at the start wouldn't hurt here. Again, this issue is amplified by where it is in relation to the checkpoint, and the fact that this checkpoint has some waiting at the start.
Last example is at the very end when the very beginning repeats. If you're not on the right side of the screen when the previous attack ends you are dead. I don't mind this one too much actually, it's pretty funny, I just wanted to mention it.
Another issue I forgot to mention, but still stuck around even on my no checkpoint run is some visibility issues. There was clearly effort into making sure this wasn't an issue by darkening the background as much as possible, but there are still definitely some parts that are a slight increase in difficulty because of visuals. I also want to note that my monitor seems to have much lower contrast (even when I try to raise it) compared to other monitors, so this most likely won't be an issue for most people, but I'll still mention them. One is the bouncing flowers, the smaller ones can be hard to see because of the spinning white head in the background. The other is when you get infinite jump on the last checkpoint, the yellow cherries on yellow background can be hard to see even if they're both clearly different shades of yellow. The safe bet would've just been to choose a different colour other than yellow here.
== Closing Thoughts ==
Overall I think while as an avoidance itself there are issues, as a passion project it's clearly wonderful. There are tons of skills the maker gets to show off in this besides just gamemaking, and the ideas themselves are very clever. I hope to see more from this maker because I really don't want to see their ideas going to waste.
Rating: 6.9 69
Difficulty: 50 50
Jan 30, 2025
bantsmen
Rating based on Normal difficulty with checkpoints.
I'm not really an avoidance guy at all but the blurb for this game intrigued me and I definitely do not regret trying it out. The production value for this game is frankly insane and impressive for a first work. The attacks flow nicely and are mostly well-balanced (there are some insta-gibs but the checkpoints help mitigate that). I look forward to seeing what else this maker creates in the future.
[2] Likes
I'm not really an avoidance guy at all but the blurb for this game intrigued me and I definitely do not regret trying it out. The production value for this game is frankly insane and impressive for a first work. The attacks flow nicely and are mostly well-balanced (there are some insta-gibs but the checkpoints help mitigate that). I look forward to seeing what else this maker creates in the future.
Rating: 8.0 80
Difficulty: 45 45
Nov 15, 2024