Clid the Snail Reviews
Clid the Snail has an interesting concept, and that’s a fact. I don’t think there will ever be another game where you play as an anthropomorphic gun toting snail in a post-apocalyptic world. However, the poor, overly difficult combat and the muted environments keep Clid from achieving anything notable. Even hardcore fans of twin-stick shooters would be better off passing on this title.
Overall, the game feels like a bore that you would be wishing the game would come to an end already.
Clid the Snail is a passable twin-stick shooter with plenty of basic plot to keep you on your slimy path. But it is very rough round the edges. Simplistic combat, dated level design and a grimdark colour palette make it a little hard to see, let alone care what’s going on.
Clid the Snail is a twin-stick shooter that's radula-deep in mediocrity. The slimy graphics and sluggish combat keep its decent story and characters from thriving outside of its shell.
Clid the Snail’s six-hour romp through the miniaturized wasteland ultimately feels like an endeavor lost in translation. A painful irony for a snail, assuredly.
Even the story in Clid the Snail hit all the notes of comedy, tragedy and action on queue. But that combat… they absolutely NAILED the challenging part. It’s just a shame that it isn’t much fun and instead just feels like an exercise in futility at parts.
Even if playing as a bipedal snail with a laser gun is different from anything else I’ve played, I can’t say I was having the time of my life with it.
At the end of the day, Clid the Snail is a fun but flawed first effort for Weird Beluga. I enjoyed the game’s more deliberate approach to its gunplay, and the weapon variety and shell customization options kept the action feeling fresh. Add to that some excellent puzzles and fantastic worldbuilding, and there’s no denying that there’s a lot to love here. That’s why it’s such a shame that things become so frustrating due to the developer’s artistic choices. After all, it’s hard to focus on a firefight when it looks like half of the screen has been slathered in vaseline. Perhaps the developer will add a patch down the road to remedy the muddy visuals. And if they do, Clid the Snail will be a much more playable experience. As for me, I’d probably wait and see if they clean things up before taking the plunge. However, if those issues aren’t enough to dissuade you, escargot ahead and give Clid a shot.
There's potential in Clid the Snail. The postapocalyptic setting feels fresher thanks to the new perspective, and the characters are charming, even if they fit expected tropes from stories about a ragtag bunch being forced to come together. A fascinating setting cannot overcome gameplay that feels repetitive due to unexciting shooting mechanics and enemies that fail to become intelligent until you reach a boss fight. It can be fun if you temper your expectations significantly, but for most people, Clid the Snail won't do it for them.
Clid the Snail is a twin-stick shooter set in a fascinating, well-realized world that trips over its own flaws and uneven pacing.
There’s a lot to like about Clid the Snail. To say this is from a small team, the worldbuilding and ingenuity is second to none. But while ‘unforgiving’ may have been the developer’s intention, the game’s boss encounters are far too frustrating to be enjoyable. With a bit more balancing to Clid and his armoury, this will be a must-play twin-stick shooter. Until then, only those with patience as hard as Clid’s shell will be able to truly enjoy what’s on offer here.
Overall, Clid the Snail is a beautiful game with tons of personality and a world that begs to be explored, but the combat and gameplay is so frustrating that it makes doing so a huge a chore. The good news is that it only takes a patch or two to fix the weapon damage and rolling issues if they're viewed by many as a source of frustration rather than challenging, fair combat. While it's not the best experience right now, players should absolutely follow its post-launch development, because Clid the Snail oozes, like so many of its menagerie, with the kind of potential that could make it an excellent entry into its genre with some meaningful tweaks.
Clid the Snail is a lot of really interesting ideas executed in a way that feels really rough around the edges. It's almost there in many ways, but some quality of life issues and design choices hold back the unique concept. Its brilliant art and character design is masked by some hazy aesthetic choices. Its "methodical" combat often ends up more cumbersome and overwhelming than tactical. An interesting story, world, and mystery, however, helped to keep my interest despite these issues. If you love taking a chance on weird ideas-and that key art of Clid with his gun caught your attention-it's worth experiencing Clid's world, but be prepared for a number of speedbumps along the way.
Clid The Snail is a charming indie game with characters that you can easily grow to love just by spending time with them, and a narrative that is entertaining and consistent all the way through till the end. However, its gameplay issues and the clash of two very different vibes pull you out of those fun moments constantly, and you're left reminded of all the game's shortcomings all over again.
Clid the Snail is a very appreciable twin-stick shooter from an artistic point of view, but which proves not to have an equally solid gameplay due to some game design choices that enlight the inexperience of the Spanish developers of Weird Beluga.
Review in Italian | Read full review
A reasonable top down shooter from Weird Beluga. While the complete package doesn't seem to mesh together right, it still has enough substance to tickle some pleasure senses.
Clid the Snail somehow manages to shoulder a cumbersome load of gameplay issues; opting to carry your attention with a unique cast of characters that tell an interesting story within a world that commands your interest.
In the end, I am a fan of where Weird Beluga aimed but not as much as where they landed. While the world that Clid resides in is full and realized, its characters unique, its level design excellent, and its overall tone unexpectedly great, the gameplay itself, not plague fuelled slugs, seems to be the biggest deterrent Clid needs to overcome. No matter how Weird Beluga wants to tackle this, whether it be leave it as it is or patch it, they still stand as very innovative and exciting developers. As for the gamer, if you think I’m just weak and you can do better managing the punishing level of gameplay, you should definitely pick this up. Otherwise, maybe see what they do moving forward before you dive into this strange and unique foray into gaming.
Unfortunately, the promising Clid The Snail fails to fully reach its potential and turns out to be a rather average game, held back by inexperience and, probably, the team's budget. Despite this, it's a great starting point for what we hope will be a long and prolific career for Weird Beluga.
Review in Italian | Read full review
A fun title to keep in mind, but one that needed a little more cooking. Despite having a lot of variety thanks to mixing combat, exploration, puzzles and some role playing, it does not excel in any of these fields. Still, fans of the genre will find a game very entertaining and with more work, it can lay the foundations for a new saga.
Review in Spanish | Read full review