Ian Howarth's Reviews
Until we do get that next genre-defining horror gem, Yomawari is a nice distraction that will hopefully be worked on to bring us something even more sinister and satisfying in the future.
In all, it was a decent attempt at a new concept but didn’t quite ever make it further than that.
It's unfortunate to see something new explored but not working out and becoming the 'simple but addicting' gameplay I assume it was meant to be.
With the lack of tight controls, an honest challenge and the addition of a generic plot and characters we're left with a totally average action platforming game that promised the world.
Overall, Shantae: Risky's Revenge is a nice throwback, even if it's not really that old, with a single glaring problem – being 'Metroidvania' style comes with some responsibilities that this title just couldn't hold up its end of the bargain for.
All of All of these details come together to form a fairly lifeless game – one with all the fixings and foundation of another epic showcase but without any of the polish or love that is so evident in the team's previous undertaking.
I'm aware that this review may come off as particularly negative even though I've really had a lot of fun with the game so far.
What I would love to see from Godstrike is: 1 – improved enemy attack visibility and the fixing of unwinnable positions to cement itself as a serious icon in the world of leaderboard scrapping; and 2 – a steady stream of DLC content in the form of extra bosses, new powers, and maybe more ways to play to fix its limited content and absence of deeper replayability.
"I'd definitely come back to check on a sequel but it would be out of wary curiosity, not excitement. Still, I think a lot more can be done in this space and hope to see the Lust franchise continue to flourish and evolve something special come from it in the future."
Most people won't even give this one a second look – it's not exactly a heart-pumping triple-A action-fest or a brain-bending puzzler, and it definitely isn't telling a meaningful story, but for the right couple of people it may just be exactly what they need.
Oddly though, because of the crazy random nature of this title and the ability for it to get totally out of hand, it also happens to be a great one to just boot up for a spell (I'm not sorry) and putter around with; much like the games that inspired it.
Whilst I personally feel it falls pretty far short of the 'Overwhelmingly Positive' badge it has garnered on Steam, I'm still glad I got to play it – it was an enjoyable experience in an interesting genre that's still in its infancy.
When it's all said and done, my main quarrel with all of these issues is that they are holding this super concept back from reaching anywhere near its potential and it's just such a shame to see.
Now, it might seem like I've given it quite a hard time but Flat Heroes isn't bad.
Fox n Forests isn't for everyone – it feels more like a game development experiment that resulted in a nice bite-size nostalgia trip and was released just for fun.
Truly, Penny-Punching Princess feels more like an indie experiment than a full-fledged game and that's totally fine.
The challenge and fun are waiting right there at the end for those who want to power through for it. It's just a shame there are so many little things that pile up against the experience, like the pokémon-infused pokédex that never stops asking the same questions over and over or the lack of Pokémon-worthy music.
conclusion, with the interesting part kicking in way, way too late into the game and being left quickly after with an unsatisfying conclusion made me feel like I had simply wasted my time. Having to drone through shallow plots and mysteries that the player figures out ages before Katrielle does just left me wanting to skip directly to the next puzzle or go back and play a much better Layton game.
In all I'd recommend A Hat in Time as a quick pick up game when there's a lull in the market (which 2017 definitely hasn't had), but not at it's current price.
Whilst the game is densely packed with a ton of stuff to do, I still believe most of it is much too easy or repetitive – resulting in it feeling mostly like constant fetch quests.