Recent reviews by programaths

I indicated as "received for free" even if I supported the create a while ago!

This game started as a web game then the programmer decided to make it a native application for performance reasons.
So, now it runs smoothly on top of being interesting.

This is a metroidvania that is randomized with a twist: items, rooms, enemies types within the room.
All enemies are recognizable and have specific patterns. That may make it looks easy: it's not!

As of today, there is 3 distinct area in a run. A run is about 1h when you start to master the game. There is enough variety for replayability. Each area introduce new mechanics.

The game features an interesting core mechanic: build your own weapon by sticking pieces together. Also, each part you add to your weapon consume some energy. You can hold more energy by finding batteries scattered around the map. This leads to interesting choices when you have more parts than batteries required for them!

Enemies are varied and react differently to the different weapons types. The game permits to store 4 weapon configurations (3+missiles) so you can quickly switch.

It's really reminiscent of Metroid, you even have to shoot 5 missiles to open doors. Speaking of missiles, those are a valuable resources as the doors behind missiles are containing valuable upgrades. Those are totally optional though, but that would be punishing yourself!

The latest upgrade offers more challenges when you beat the game once...and this alone is not easy. Took me few hours (so, few tries) to not die!

You can see that there is some good design behind the game. A first example is that the map display a lock icon when a route is barred by a missing upgrade (like double jump). The game even gives you some hint if required. A second one is that some upgrades have side effects. For instance, the "scrub" suit makes you unnoticed by enemies!

The designer also understood that you may not want to revisit empty rooms and placed teleport around the map. And when you teleport, a portal is created to be able to go back to the teleportation room you came from! Yes, as soon you cleared a room, you can select it as a destination!

The 3 bosses are always the same (as of today) across runs. But if you go for the extra run, they are accompanied by enemies to make them more challenging!

Here is a video of me playing (FR)

Overall, the game is already solid, but the conceptor is not done yet!

Don't be fooled by the price. It's an AAA title without the bad sides.

There is a DLC to be released and this DLC is a new adventure that is disjoint from this adventure.
Also the dev mentioned other mechanics.

They did not make a sequel as they are using the same basis and felt that releasing a sequel would be quite misleading.

So, we end up with a DLC that will be a full game for the price of a good DLC!

It's also the kind of game with a lot of secret area. Exploration is more than encouraged!

Good game for practicing driving!

Violations are displayed on the GPS and that's nice.

Also, you should buy a seat, it totally change the simulation.

You have to spend some time for keybinding because there is a lot to configure.
As I play in VR with G29 and far from the keyboard, I don't have the optimal experience.

For VR, they should implement pie-menu so the d-pad could be assigned to 8 functions.
Like "->" for lights then a second direction to select which light to turn on-off.
That would work since some actions are quite rare, like putting and removing the seatbelt.

Also, it's impossible for me to quickly setup mirror, because keyboard is required and I am far away from it and in VR :-\

Also, the GPS gives missions. That add a bit of difficulty because it divide your attention. So, you end up having to manipulate the gearbox while looking around you while keeping an eye on the GPS. Not an easy task!

I hate multiplayer games and favor solo plays. Well, tabletop is different!

If you like board games, you'll like tabletop simulator. Why ? Because it works as real life: you can make errors and the game just doesn't care. It keeps all these momments that makes boardgames memorable.

EDIT: Green thumb again. Looks like they really work on it.

EDIT: found another bug. For some reason I opened the inventory and tried to right click something that was in the quick bar...it did crash the game!!!

For AZERTY users, that game requires you to switch to a QWERTY layout! It does not yet support key rebinding. -> NOW IT DOES !!

The devs did release a hot fix for a quite painful problem, so they can be responsive.

The game is really basic and it can be tedious as you have to plan ahead.

One simple example is that if you want the player to navigate trough a set of doors, you have to finish each room before "closing" it as there is not clipping possible.

Also, I didn't saw cue about which direction a join rotate. So, I had to place it then test and see that I have to remove it and add a new one which I rotate correctly.

I am curious about how it will evolve.

They could add a graph scripting engine with logic gates and delay. People do that through contraptions, but that would be nice to have a dedicated tool.

In edit mode, it would be nice to be able to change joint states so you could do a door and open it in edit mode.

Ability to carry some object could be nice too. One can imagine the ability to carry battery to power some devices!

Wires would be a good addition too.

There is two things that hurt me quite a lot:
- It's better than Mario maker 1 & 2
- It's done with GameMaker

I played few level from the main story and it's really good!
I launched the editor for few minutes and ... that's really good too!

I did not finish the main campaign, so I guess I have a "limited" set of tools, but that's already a lot!

They pulled something really good with a tool I do not find really good and they did better than Nintendo (it's highly subjective, of course!).

The only thing that took me like 10 seconds to wrap my head around is their channels to communicate between objects. They could use a "drag and drop" system to connect entities, but they went for numerical input. The downside is that if you are on channel 14, it's 14 clicks :-D
Drag and drop and "wires" would hep this tremendously, it would also offer a visual cue to immediately see what is connected to a door for instance.

So, I highly recommend this game!

There is a review with 0.2h on the game...guess he didn't pass the tutorial :-D

The game is very "simple" and can be played with mouse alone.
Code is contextual and only propositions that are valid are show.

The devs probably don't know it, but it's called projectional code editing.
If you google that term, you will see an article of Martin Fowler about it.

So, if you want to bable-tech, you can say:
"I played a game using projectional code editing to modify the snake abstract syntax tree"

A bit buggy, but EA game.

The game does not support key (re)mapping. If you are using or used to AZERTY, you are not their audience.
They wrote somewhere it was to avoid spoilers.
They could at least provide AZERTY and QUERTY mapping preconfigured ?

So, you if have an AZERTY keyboard, just pass on until it is fixed.

Seems some people do not understand the purpose of the "game": point of view and exploration. That's it!

If you don't enjoy fiddling around, looking around, uncovering, discovering, exploring...
well, you will not be able to enjoy this application!

It's only about moving, up scaling, down scaling. Seeing the universe at different scales.

You being as a wolf, can become a rock, an alga and mostly anything you see given enough time.

Find that pond very small when you were a wolf ? Why not become dirt ? Or a particle ?
What is the difference between that particle in a pond and a planet in the huge universe ?
How do you perceive "sea" when you are a fish or a landmass ?
Remember the pond you visited while being a particle ?
The scale. The perspective. Quite important to keep in mind.

The new campain is prettier but shorter.
So, to actually test the game, you must play the legacy campain too.

The old UI has something I like. When you look away, it stay in place.
This effect make you feel more in control.