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Cthaere
For: WannaFest 22
For: WannaFest 22
SPOILER WARNING! (since for some reason the spoiler tag doesn't work ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)
EDIT: When reviewing a game, one usually picks a perspective to do so from. One may review a game while trying to be as objective and detailed as possible, as my initial review was. Alternatively, one may review a game as their own personal experience, so that a prospective player may relate to it and understand they may experience the same things, or utilize reviews as a platform to talk about a game based on its cultural impact and/or how it interacts with the community, both of which I have done in the past.
After doing some introspection, I have realized that while the objective perspective is useful to have, the subjective one is just as important to me in this case, and I will not be able to be truthful to myself without including it. I sometimes go to my profile and look at my rated and reviewed games, and seeing it above games that are much closer to my heart felt extremely wrong. This is not to say I do not stand by the previous review; Far from it (which is why I still kept it). However, I would like to present a more raw, less filtered perspective.
And from that perspective... Wannafest is a mixed bag. The vast majority of the gameplay is certainly enjoyable, but neither supremely fun nor extremely memorable on its own while still suffering from a decent amount of problems. In the first area, much of the gameplay feels dumbed down, with enemies that do not provide any meaningful interaction, to the point the autoscroller didn't manage to stick out as being less engaging than the rest of the stage. The second area is mostly good. The third area suffers from the same emptyness as the first except for having some really awkward segments and suffering from fulljump spam. The fourth stage is the least engaging I've ever seen a rhythm game be (only the 1st out of 4 measures used, and a maximum of 3 whole inputs) while the inputs themselves did felt imprecise, unresponsive and tighter than they needed to be. Monkey ball was fun & neat but dragged longer than it had to. Sonic actually had platforming and cool enemy design but the level design felt extremely claustrophobic in many places and the physics and were prone to jank. Final stage did manage to satisfy the power fantasy part of run n guns... except for the 1 life aspect, which means you had to play it relatively safe, or choose to meatgrind your way through. Dice room felt like it had 20 seconds of waiting per death and the visual design of the block was incomprehensibly bad for needle. Real final stage had some real filler (idk what the 1st room contributes to the game and while guytower is in theme it had no original additions) but was also good for most of the rest. All bosses except for sonic boss were still fun though.
As for the atmosphere, while impressive and immersive, I cannot say it is evocative of anything in me. I do not have the nostalgia factor to any of these barring Sonic (for which my nostalgia is mostly rooted in other games in the franchise) and as such it does not accomplish the intended enchanting effect for me.
All in all, had I had to rate this purely on my own enjoyment and experience, it would be 6.8, and so as a compromise with the more objective review (which was rated 8.8), we would leave neither my personal experience nor the general observer accurately portrayed (as every typical compromise tends to go) and rate it a 7.8. If you find yourself coming from a similar place I am coming from when playing games, I would not recommend this, however a typical player will likely enjoy it a great deal more.
In case you wanna read the previous review (which again I still stand by), here it is:
Wannafest 2022 is an extremely well produced and varied adventure taking the player on a stroll through a selection of old nostalgic games.
To start with the positives, on the production's end, there is a ton of effort poured in. There are a plethora of unique sprites that you don't usually see in fangames, as well as a wide array of effects from the simplistic moving background to the grand intricate 3d worlds, all of which feel completely natural in their respective stages; The visual design has managed to flawlessly replicate the games it was aiming to in a way that is rarely seen. While I do not personally pay too much attention to sound design, it is just as seamlessly handled and integrated into the atmosphere as the visuals. Unfortunately, I do not have a strong emotional attachment to these games, and so the nostalgia is mostly lost on me, but I'm sure there are many out there who would absolutely love this game much more based on this factor alone.
The gameplay is where I will probably diverge from most other reviews. While there is a lot to love here, it takes a starkly different direction from a traditional fangame, and in doing so it feels like a few things fell through the cracks, the most notable and recurring ones being sections that featured forced waiting (such as the loading part of monkey ball, the intersections in the rhythm game part, the dice animation in the final stage, or some of the autoscrollers) (admittedly I have not tried using the skip button until the very end of the playthrough, however if it was supposed to do anything that was poorly communicated), as well as certain issues with enemy design (enemy design that encourages staying back and playing it slow and boring in the first stage, extremely spammy fulljumpy sections in the 3rd stage with very little interesting in the way of platforming to them, certain poorly communicated mechanics in the final stage such as the slime boss not killing you on contact or having to shoot downwards in the engine boss). Aside from those issues, the gameplay is consistently well executed and as such enjoyment depends mostly on how much the issues affect you and how much you enjoy the variety of completely different core gameplay experiences on offer (although don't expect much traditional platforming). In particular, I love the section where Wario chases you, the multiple paths offered in Sonic, and the concept of the dice game in the final stage. In addition, you should keep your eyes open for the bosses: They're some of my favorite parts in the game, offering a refreshing experience from the rest of the stage yet complementing it very well (with the exception of sonic which is a confusing to navigate autoscroller).
The ending of the game remains just as well executed, and contains some of my favorite screens in the game (bubsy 3d), with an amazing final boss to close it out (although I think Colonel is a bit too "avoidance skill" hard and takes slightly too long, and the wipeout attack is not fun or interesting to do) and the obligatory chase sequence and cutscene following it.
All in all, it is an incredibly well made game which was a lot more fun than I expected. While I cannot say that this is a game that I have strong emotional attachment to or would strongly regret to never have played (which means that due to my personal standards, it is not a game I can give a 9 or higher to), it is a phenomenal game and well worth playing, although I doubt you need me to tell you that.
[3] Likes
EDIT: When reviewing a game, one usually picks a perspective to do so from. One may review a game while trying to be as objective and detailed as possible, as my initial review was. Alternatively, one may review a game as their own personal experience, so that a prospective player may relate to it and understand they may experience the same things, or utilize reviews as a platform to talk about a game based on its cultural impact and/or how it interacts with the community, both of which I have done in the past.
After doing some introspection, I have realized that while the objective perspective is useful to have, the subjective one is just as important to me in this case, and I will not be able to be truthful to myself without including it. I sometimes go to my profile and look at my rated and reviewed games, and seeing it above games that are much closer to my heart felt extremely wrong. This is not to say I do not stand by the previous review; Far from it (which is why I still kept it). However, I would like to present a more raw, less filtered perspective.
And from that perspective... Wannafest is a mixed bag. The vast majority of the gameplay is certainly enjoyable, but neither supremely fun nor extremely memorable on its own while still suffering from a decent amount of problems. In the first area, much of the gameplay feels dumbed down, with enemies that do not provide any meaningful interaction, to the point the autoscroller didn't manage to stick out as being less engaging than the rest of the stage. The second area is mostly good. The third area suffers from the same emptyness as the first except for having some really awkward segments and suffering from fulljump spam. The fourth stage is the least engaging I've ever seen a rhythm game be (only the 1st out of 4 measures used, and a maximum of 3 whole inputs) while the inputs themselves did felt imprecise, unresponsive and tighter than they needed to be. Monkey ball was fun & neat but dragged longer than it had to. Sonic actually had platforming and cool enemy design but the level design felt extremely claustrophobic in many places and the physics and were prone to jank. Final stage did manage to satisfy the power fantasy part of run n guns... except for the 1 life aspect, which means you had to play it relatively safe, or choose to meatgrind your way through. Dice room felt like it had 20 seconds of waiting per death and the visual design of the block was incomprehensibly bad for needle. Real final stage had some real filler (idk what the 1st room contributes to the game and while guytower is in theme it had no original additions) but was also good for most of the rest. All bosses except for sonic boss were still fun though.
As for the atmosphere, while impressive and immersive, I cannot say it is evocative of anything in me. I do not have the nostalgia factor to any of these barring Sonic (for which my nostalgia is mostly rooted in other games in the franchise) and as such it does not accomplish the intended enchanting effect for me.
All in all, had I had to rate this purely on my own enjoyment and experience, it would be 6.8, and so as a compromise with the more objective review (which was rated 8.8), we would leave neither my personal experience nor the general observer accurately portrayed (as every typical compromise tends to go) and rate it a 7.8. If you find yourself coming from a similar place I am coming from when playing games, I would not recommend this, however a typical player will likely enjoy it a great deal more.
In case you wanna read the previous review (which again I still stand by), here it is:
Wannafest 2022 is an extremely well produced and varied adventure taking the player on a stroll through a selection of old nostalgic games.
To start with the positives, on the production's end, there is a ton of effort poured in. There are a plethora of unique sprites that you don't usually see in fangames, as well as a wide array of effects from the simplistic moving background to the grand intricate 3d worlds, all of which feel completely natural in their respective stages; The visual design has managed to flawlessly replicate the games it was aiming to in a way that is rarely seen. While I do not personally pay too much attention to sound design, it is just as seamlessly handled and integrated into the atmosphere as the visuals. Unfortunately, I do not have a strong emotional attachment to these games, and so the nostalgia is mostly lost on me, but I'm sure there are many out there who would absolutely love this game much more based on this factor alone.
The gameplay is where I will probably diverge from most other reviews. While there is a lot to love here, it takes a starkly different direction from a traditional fangame, and in doing so it feels like a few things fell through the cracks, the most notable and recurring ones being sections that featured forced waiting (such as the loading part of monkey ball, the intersections in the rhythm game part, the dice animation in the final stage, or some of the autoscrollers) (admittedly I have not tried using the skip button until the very end of the playthrough, however if it was supposed to do anything that was poorly communicated), as well as certain issues with enemy design (enemy design that encourages staying back and playing it slow and boring in the first stage, extremely spammy fulljumpy sections in the 3rd stage with very little interesting in the way of platforming to them, certain poorly communicated mechanics in the final stage such as the slime boss not killing you on contact or having to shoot downwards in the engine boss). Aside from those issues, the gameplay is consistently well executed and as such enjoyment depends mostly on how much the issues affect you and how much you enjoy the variety of completely different core gameplay experiences on offer (although don't expect much traditional platforming). In particular, I love the section where Wario chases you, the multiple paths offered in Sonic, and the concept of the dice game in the final stage. In addition, you should keep your eyes open for the bosses: They're some of my favorite parts in the game, offering a refreshing experience from the rest of the stage yet complementing it very well (with the exception of sonic which is a confusing to navigate autoscroller).
The ending of the game remains just as well executed, and contains some of my favorite screens in the game (bubsy 3d), with an amazing final boss to close it out (although I think Colonel is a bit too "avoidance skill" hard and takes slightly too long, and the wipeout attack is not fun or interesting to do) and the obligatory chase sequence and cutscene following it.
All in all, it is an incredibly well made game which was a lot more fun than I expected. While I cannot say that this is a game that I have strong emotional attachment to or would strongly regret to never have played (which means that due to my personal standards, it is not a game I can give a 9 or higher to), it is a phenomenal game and well worth playing, although I doubt you need me to tell you that.
Rating: 7.8 78
Difficulty: 55 55
Sep 25, 2022
gourdladle
For: RNG Dungeon
For: RNG Dungeon
make sure you can bear the unreasonable part before you play it
The avoidance is insanely good btw
[1] Like
The avoidance is insanely good btw
Rating: 6.0 60
Difficulty: 78 78
Sep 25, 2022
tommi907
For: I wanna be Fed up with path ;w;
[0] Likes
For: I wanna be Fed up with path ;w;
[0] Likes
Rating: 5.2 52
Difficulty: 26 26
Sep 25, 2022
tommi907
For: I Wanna Defeat The Eater Of Dreams
[0] Likes
For: I Wanna Defeat The Eater Of Dreams
[0] Likes
Rating: 7.7 77
Difficulty: 26 26
Sep 25, 2022