Armikrog Reviews
Doug, I love your work as a whole, but Armikrog feels like an unpolished mess. If the entire game had received the effort that was put towards the visuals, this would have easily been the spiritual successor to games that I have very fond memories of. This clay could have used some more time in the kiln, that's for sure.
Armikrog is a decent game that holds great respect to the classic 90s-style cartoon humour using clay as the art form. The responsiveness of clicking interactive objects of any kind is extremely poor, and may feel like it does not work in some cases, but will work later. The puzzles are excellent and provide great use of tracking down hints and clues throughout the areas. The voice acting is pure comedic art; however, not enough is in the game to truly allow it to reach stellar results.
I'm not saying Armikrog isn't worth a go; it's charming, happy, and reminiscent of the time when stop motion was the most impressive style of animation. The game is delightfully odd and will absolutely make you laugh at least a handful of times. Unfortunately, the overwhelming lack of care put into some stuff that modern developers really shouldn't be getting wrong is noticable.
Armikrog is a somewhat functional game that is unfortunately full of archaic game design, half-baked ideas, glitches galore, insultingly repetitive puzzles, and unrealized potential.
The puzzles often require the player to merely regurgitate a pattern from one part of the world to another.
A great if flawed game that presents a lot of potential that might have been wasted in this first iteration of a fantastic idea. If this is the direction Pencil Test Studios is going, then I want to see more. It's fun, though short, and a bit buggy. But overall it's a great idea to pursue.
Though it starts with a glimmer of excellence, Armikrog's luster fades over time. It inevitably feels empty, falling flat in its effort to develop its characters, fill out its world with compelling atmosphere, and provide consistent puzzles with sound logic. While the game's claymation visuals are delightful and unique, that quality alone isn't enough to make it worth recommending. What remains is a half-baked experience that, for all the personality it wears on its sleeve, fails to captivate in any meaningful way.
Armikrog is a bit of a diamond in the rough. It's rough and it's a bit awkward but it's a solid choice if you're after a bit of console pointing and clicking. Just don't go into it expecting a 90s style adventure game with witty dialogue out the wazoo and plenty of items to rub on other items at your leisure. This is a very focused title and it both benefits and suffers for that.
Overall Armikrog is a fun little puzzler. It is very polished experience, and I had an absolute blast playing this fine claymation game for my Armikrog review. I love point and click games, and having that combined with claymation made this even better. The game might have seen several delays during its development, but in the end, the wait was well worth it. If you're a fan of The Neverhood then you should be downloading this game right now!
As an existing fan of Doug TenNapel's previous work, I'm very happy that Armikrog is finally available for console.
A wonderful claymation art style and a unique soundtrack aren't enough to save this point-and-click adventure from its own monotonous puzzles and uninteresting story.
On PC Armikrog would be a slightly better experience. It struggles to make the transition to controller well and the subtitles are still sized for a PC monitor rather than a television screen. It's hard to really pinpoint what would make Armikrog a better game as there's so many issues with it. There is a definite charm to it though, thanks to the visuals and audio that make it a pleasant experience when you're not stuck on a tedious puzzle. It's just a shame that the game feels so dated and the tedious puzzles are far too frequent.
Armikrog feels like a game for a different era, for good and ill. While point-and-click adventures can play to the nostalgia of some, they can feel mired in traditions that just don't translate to a more mainstream audience. If the former sounds like something you'd be into Armikrog will probably push your buttons. If the latter sounds like something you fear, Armikrog's lack of clear goals and an expectation of excessive patience means it's probably not for you.
Hardcore adventure game fans will still enjoy themselves here, but poor players dipping their toes into this genre for first time will be left scratching their heads, not from the puzzles, but due to the lack of fun found herein.
A space explorer and his alien dog wade through a mysterious planet with a dark secret.
There is so much squandered potential in Armikrog it hurts. The voice acting is great, but there's not enough of it; the visuals and animations are superb, but let down by repeated puzzles. Pencil Test Studios has created a fantastic claymation setting and fun characters, but in terms of gameplay it sticks too closely to the old-school point and click formula for its own good. Fans of the genre may get a kick out of the old fashioned style, but beyond a well-realised stop motion aesthetic, there's little here for anyone else.
I actually really liked Armikrog. As a fan of old school point and clicks, I found it a bit too easy for a veteran of the genre – though this would be great for beginners. There is a lot to like here and it has the building blocks for a strong sequel, which hopefully they get a chance to make. Playing the game for my Arkigrom review made me care for Tommynaut, Beak-Beak and the rest of the cast, and hopefully you wil as well!
Armikrog looks amazing, with the stop-motion claymation performed to perfection. However, that is as good as it gets, with clunky gameplay mechanics and the significant glitches found that are the true enemy for Tommynaut and Beak-Beak. This is the equivalent to being thrown into the deep end of a swimming pool without learning how to swim, and then trying to select the nearby life ring, only to discover that only the dog can select that option for some illogical reason. Armikrog feels like an unfinished game that was rushed out the door, with any form of character progression or story left on the cutting room floor. While it was created with good intentions behind it, Armikrog only serves as a sad reminder of just how great The Neverhood truly was, and that it may never be successfully replicated.
Playing Armikrog on PS4 was a very interesting experience. Its graphics, story, and puzzles were all very memorable, but playing on PS4 was not the best way to experience this game. Some of the graphics looked low-res at points, and most of the gameplay just does not work well on their controller, making Armikrog a more frustrating experience than it should have been. Fans of this genre should definitely play it, as it is a new and unique entry in a malnourished genre. However, if you choose to do so on the PS4, you should be aware of the poorly executed controls before going in.
I had fun with the game, but I had just as much frustration with it, too. As it stands, if you're a diehard P&C fan or you have an in with the creators or actors, you'll probably find something to like. If you don't fall into those camps, you wouldn't be hurting yourself waiting for a price drop or sequel before diving into this one. And that saddens me to say.