I thought that the impression that this game gave me in an extremely brief period of time was worth a review. I turned this game on and it prompted me for firewall access. Suspicious, I declined, and was about to delete the game directory. Before I could, the game launched.
"Well, I suppose it's open, I'll give it a shot," I said. I hit 'new game' and the screen faded to black. Cut: fade in, an X-COMesque world map is displayed. There are areas on the map that contain small blinking circles - something is, perhaps, wrong? On the left, pods are visible. Are they stasis pods? Who can say. A pause for the viewer to take in the scene. Then, a pod cracks. Our heroine appears. She exits the pod. A beat - there are no on-screen prompts - and I realize I am in control. I go right, cross into the next room, and there is a pit. I leap over it, and the controls are silky smooth. It is at this point that I realize that we are dealing with something very different from the typical h-game schlock.
Unfortunately, then, the game crashes - my attempt to delete it was in progress when it launched, causing some kind of an error. Despite my misgivings, I undo the deletion. I launch the game and play again.
This game is worth a shot. The quality of the controls, animation, music, and structure are comparable to some of the better indie games out there. I can't say if there's true mechanical depth, a la Celeste or similar, but there was care put into the controls, such that there is a polish that is immediately apparent. I knew from the moment I jumped across a chasm in the second room that this was, in contrast to the typical h-game, a "real" game. There's something about h-games where, because we're not here solely for the game, we tolerate bad design, gameplay, controls, and what have you. You will have no such disappointment here.
For what it's worth, having played briefly, I think anyone who happens upon this title should check it out.
"Well, I suppose it's open, I'll give it a shot," I said. I hit 'new game' and the screen faded to black. Cut: fade in, an X-COMesque world map is displayed. There are areas on the map that contain small blinking circles - something is, perhaps, wrong? On the left, pods are visible. Are they stasis pods? Who can say. A pause for the viewer to take in the scene. Then, a pod cracks. Our heroine appears. She exits the pod. A beat - there are no on-screen prompts - and I realize I am in control. I go right, cross into the next room, and there is a pit. I leap over it, and the controls are silky smooth. It is at this point that I realize that we are dealing with something very different from the typical h-game schlock.
Unfortunately, then, the game crashes - my attempt to delete it was in progress when it launched, causing some kind of an error. Despite my misgivings, I undo the deletion. I launch the game and play again.
This game is worth a shot. The quality of the controls, animation, music, and structure are comparable to some of the better indie games out there. I can't say if there's true mechanical depth, a la Celeste or similar, but there was care put into the controls, such that there is a polish that is immediately apparent. I knew from the moment I jumped across a chasm in the second room that this was, in contrast to the typical h-game, a "real" game. There's something about h-games where, because we're not here solely for the game, we tolerate bad design, gameplay, controls, and what have you. You will have no such disappointment here.
For what it's worth, having played briefly, I think anyone who happens upon this title should check it out.