Poncho Reviews
Poncho is a blast to play. It's difficult, yet rewarding;the punishment for failure is minimal. The levels are unique and the puzzle designs are effective. Traversing the "parallax layers" is an elegant mechanic that circumvents traditional concepts of movement and level design. It's only held back by its overreliance on collectables and weak narrative.
PONCHO isn’t a huge game, as I found myself able to beat it in a couple hours, but it does offer replay value if you want to spend more time in this world. Without spoilers, I will say that a decision you make at the end of the game will give one of two possible endings, and there are also achievements for collecting every single collectible. While I’m not sure if accomplishing this task gets you anything other than a sense of pride, it is a nice bonus. I wouldn’t say PONCHO is for everybody, as some of the platforming, especially later in the game, can get quite frustrating, but for those stubborn enough to buckle down, you’ll get your value. Priced at $14.99 on Steam, PONCHO may be a bit pricey, but I feel it’s worth it, especially if you find it on sale. Overall, I was quite pleased with PONCHO, and would recommend it to any fans of touching, mysterious indie games. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back and find the rest of those collectibles…