Recompile Reviews
Although the Tron inspired visuals are very unique, the way lighting works makes finding your way around a little problematic and coupled with a pretty confusing map, finding where you should go next becomes more time-consuming than it should be. With all that said, Recompile is a standard and at times fun Metroidvania title with a good story about humans and their dangerous relationship with technology.
Review in Persian | Read full review
This game is not a simple proposition, although it may look like a typical 3D platforming game at heart it is a technically complex and at times very challenging addition to the Metroidvania genre. If you are a fan of these types of games it is well worth checking out but be wary if you are not a fan of Metroidvania games. Advertised as featuring intense combat, tight 3D platforming, super-powered abilities, and an environmental logic-based hacking mechanic it certainly lives up to those claims. I would recommend being aware of this before you take the game on.
Recompile is a title that leaves us with a bittersweet taste. It stands out in the handling of the character and its improvement, but it has some elements that cloud the result such as empty stages, lack of enemies and the dreaded repetitiveness.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Recompile presents a unique concept, but the clumsy execution of its ideas completely compromises the game. The world inside the mainframe captivates with its interesting setting, especially the interpretation of programs and devices. However, other aspects have problems: the level design is uninteresting, the imprecise jump makes the platform parts irritating, the combat is truncated and dull, and the hacking mechanics are basically irrelevant. As such, Recompile is a difficult adventure to recommend.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Recompile is not a bad game by any means, I just would not say it is a great one. I enjoyed myself at times, but ultimately feel like it did not do remotely enough to stand apart from the rest of the genre. Recompile is an interesting concept, but one that feels more like an incomplete idea. I loved the concepts, but there are some core gameplay things that would need to be fixed in order for me to truly feel like the idea made it’s way onto my computer the way the developers intended.
Recompile is a frustrating game. I wouldn’t say it’s a bad game because I still had a lot of fun with it and definitely recommend playing it, as I knocked out the entire thing in a single session.
Looks aren’t everything. And unfortunately, Recompile is a prime example of that sentiment. The potential was there to make a joyful experience, one where you would look forward to trying out the various biomes and tackling the challenges in each of them. The narrative and design lured me in, as the plot choices and stylish flair of the Mainframe was engrossing. But, unfortunately, most of the actual gameplay took me right out of the experience and made it a disappointing endeavor.
With plenty of gameplay elements and areas to keep things interesting it was also nice that the adventure was kept short enough as to not fall into the repetitive trap that many others fall into once the elements keep getting added in. So overall, if you’ve been looking for a quick and fun 3D platforming Metroidvania with a bit of mystery added in then I would suggest looking into Phigames’ Recompile either here on the PC or over on either the Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5 where it’s also launching if consoles are more your thing.
Recompile is a great idea in concept. It surely is unique when it comes to its setting, visuals, and its “blink and you’ll miss it” story (in more ways than one when it comes to the latter), but as a game itself, it suffers from a myriad of issues that ended up hampering my enjoyment with it.
I love the way Recompile looks, and a Metroidvania with this much freedom could definitely work. To do so however, it would need to clean the world design up enough that you can tell where you’re going. A tighter jump or more forgiving platforms would go a long way as well. As is, far too much progress in Recompile feels like it comes down to luck and repetition rather than skill. Game Pass subscribers who love the look may want to give this one a chance, but most players will quickly want to eject from this drive.
Conceptually captivating, Recompile offers a solid narrative, with a unique and aesthetically well-presented setting. However, the gameplay fails in almost every aspect, with problems in combat mechanics, puzzle solving and platform progression, which undermine all qualities and overshadow the project's potential.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Recompile is an unfortunate example of success in applying side tasks while failing the basic task it has provided interesting storytelling through texts but with a flawed play experience full of strange design decisions.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
On the surface, Recompile might look and sound like an interesting, potentially unique, proposal.
You could say, then, that Recompile might have benefited from running a final pass on itself, to correct its unbalanced difficulty so that it’s not nearly as hard at first nor as disappointingly easy and anticlimactic in the end.
Overall, Recompile is a mixed bag that struggles to balance each aspect of its design.
Puzzles which consist of navigating logic gates by pushing buttons are fine, but not particularly taxing. The hacking mechanic has its uses, though, and a surprisingly engaging story will pull you through the game despite its flaws. It's a shame that some of the gameplay doesn't measure up, because there are some good ideas here. Sadly, there's an inconsistent level of quality that makes Recompile hard to recommend.
Recompile is the complete adventure package. It has good gameplay, an intriguing minimalist story, striking visuals and music, and developers who respect the player’s ability to explore on their own. Go get it, you won’t be disappointed.
Recompile is stylish and well-written, but its messy Metroidvania structure and clumsy platforming corrupt what fun it might have offered. Maybe this game would have been easier to recommend a decade ago, but in a world where Hollow Knight and Axiom Verge exist, and an actual Metroid game is coming out in around a month, Recompile just isn't up to code.
The exploration, narrative elements, art style, and audio are all excellent in Recompile, but the platforming begins to feel redundant after a while. Especially since the level design doesn't provide any clear direction and leads to regular backtracking and second guessing. There are also missed opportunities where the gameplay could have been more interesting and balanced. Still, the game should scratch that itch for those always looking for something new to experience.
As a metroidvania, Recompile succeeds in bringing the genre typical hallmarks into a marvellous minimalistic world, full of curiosity and poignancy. Where it fails is in its core gameplay. Between a lacklustre implementation of core mechanics, and some glaring oversights, Recompile feels it is not all that it could be. Flaws aside, there are moments in this game, both visually, audibly and narratively, that you won't soon forget. Beyond doubt, this is a stunning game in a few respects that needs to be seen. It is just a shame that the artistic vision had to be delivered at the cost of getting some of the basics right.