Quick Review: Lion Quest

Abstract and a mix of 2D/3D?
Daring, let's see how that turns out

Several games have attempted to combine 2D and 3D in new ways. Many developers experimented with such an idea – some experiments were successful, some were just okay, and some were definitely not.

Lion Quest is a game by Dracula’s Cave that was released to Steam on July 11th, 2016. You control Jethro, a lion on a quest to repair the universe after it was messed with by a teleportation experiment involving portals. The same portals you will be using to go around the levels.

"Launch you into space"? Is this really going to save you?

The character can move left and right, and jump with the Space bar. Later, Jethro gets the ability to summon cubes and constructions falling from the sky, and can stop their fall with the Zen mode, used by pressing Z and X. The game is on a 2D plane, but is actually in 3D, as you can notice the cubes and other constructs falling off with a clear 3D build to them. It's a bit subtle, but you will notice after a moment. Using the Zen abilities, you can stop falling cubes at just the right height so you can cross chasms.

Oh, I have to suspend them in mid-ar?
I thought I had to see them land in 3D and then jump!

There’s a tutorial, nine long and labyrinthine levels, and three short “X” challenge levels. At several points in the main levels, you activate switches to destroy platforms or scenery elements, or open new paths. Jethro can also rescue his animal buddies by helping them through the puzzles – when they’re on the same screen, they copy all of Jethro’s movements, and it becomes a puzzle to control both at the same time.

Last but not least, it’s possible to collect money, the rectangular golden items spinning in place – and then spend that money in the Store. This lets the player unlock new characters to play as, some of which have different speeds and even bonus abilities. The last ones cost 1000 and 2000 rectangles. I didn’t even collect 1000 during my complete playthrough. There’s no quick way to collect money in the game either, so these amounts are kind of insane.

HELP! Iam literally stuck between a square and a skull!

The game includes an arcade mode if you want an extra challenge, and a VS mode that can be tried locally or with Steam Remote Play.

This game is actually pretty tough – you have infinite lives, and thank God for that, because some areas are insane. Loads of single-square platforms, traps all over the place. One issue I’ve had more than once is getting trapped underneath fallen blocks, being unable to get out, and thus having to restart the level (see picture). And remember, I said the levels were long. The “X” challenge levels were probably built by sadists. Imagine having to jump up this.

No, yu're not goin down - you're supposed to climb up this.
With very little spaceto jump properly.

Wait, how many of those bears do I have to save here?

Having a game played in 2D with secret 3D is sort of cool, but the concept isn’t really taken advantage of. The story is almost nonexistent for much of the main levels. There are attempts at giving this world a lived-in feel, and the “world tearing apart” aspect is acknowledged with platforms and blocks falling, fair enough. The plot only picks up on Level 9, unlocked after beating all previous eight. The graphics are basic, per the base idea for the game, and the music is only okay. I do like that the game tried to include more options, like Arcade and Versus modes, but the game is otherwise somewhat lacking. Thankfully, while the game can be tough, checkpoints are plentiful across the long levels. If you want a genuine challenge, this game can provide it, but it doesn’t offer much else to keep a player invested. I still took three hours of my time to finish it, so… take from that what you will.

Lion Quest is available on Steam for 5.99$.

Quick Review: Juanito Arcade Mayhem

Juanito, a young kid and fan of retro games, sees his arcade cabinet attacked by outer space mutants called the Clonocells, which proceed to glitch every game. With the help of his alien buddy… okay… Juanito goes into the games and, armed with nothing but his various pajamas and a handful of weapons, he must do some cleanup within the games themselves!

Ahhhhhh! Flashing lights in a video game!
That's never happened before!

So I have to deal with Clonocells AND falling blocks?
Do I get something for making a full line?

Game Ever Studio brings Juanito Arcade Mayhem (or Arcade Mayhem Juanito?), a game released to Steam on August 3rd, 2017. It’s basically a shooter, with Juanito at the bottom, shooting upwards at the Clonecells bouncing off the floor. Later enemies would take more hits to die and have their own guns. Juanito shoots with Z, and can do a sliding dodge with X. There’s 8 worlds, each containing 10 levels, and each world is based on a famous retro property. In each world, there’s a new gameplay mechanic inspired by that property: In the Tetris land, tetrominoes fall from the sky. In the Arkanoid-inspired world, bricks stand in the way, and both Juanito and the Clonecells can break them, while Juanito stands on a platform that can grow or shrink with power-ups. The enemies in the Pac-Man world can only be hurt after Juanito collects a power pellet, and the level wraps around itself. You get the idea.

I feel the need to break all of those blocks.

On top of it all, as he progresses, Juanito gets new weapons and power-ups. For the former, there’s a fast-shooter called the Mayhem, and a gun called the Eureka that shoots bubbles in arcs in the direction of nearby enemies (hey, Juanito can only shoot upwards, that makes it very difficult to hit enemies close to the ground). As for power-ups, the usual: A shield, something that stops time for a moment, and so on. There’s roughly one new unlock per world. Juanito can get up to a three-star score on every level, and later worlds need to be unlocked by having collected over a certain number of stars. The advantage is that, as power-ups are found, earlier levels become easier to beat.

I have yet to try this game in co-op...
I just need a friend who likes crazy-tough games.

Both the main quest and the unlockable Survival mode can be played alone or with a friend, in couch co-op or across Steam Remote Play. Juanito has access to several alternate costumes, as well; in case my screenshots didn’t show it clearly enough, I favored the Mega Man-inspired one for my playthrough (though there are Mario Bros., Street Fighter, and Christmas-themed ones available from the start). Costumes even have unique animations for victory, defeat, and even when idling! Actually, the animation is one reason this game looks so good – the animation is fluid, active, a treat to watch. (Spare me the cries of “But it looks like CalArts!”, please.)

Knowing me, you'd think I would go for the Mario one.

Good thing I'm glitch-proof!

I love that the levels pay tribute every way they can; I mentioned the gameplay, but the design of the worlds is wonderful. Chock-full of references to the game being given an homage (Tetris has the Russian buildings, the boss at the end of the Pac-Man world involves the kill screen..). The music, as well; you recognize the sequences of notes from those famous games, and how they’re incorporated in the tense, energetic tracks in this series of tributes. That's pretty awesome.

The little hammer-tossing kid is NOT HELPING!

I don’t have much in the way of criticism for this one. As far as difficulty goes, I’d say it’s definitely on the tough side. Several moments are rather difficult, but like I said – earlier levels get easier over time, just got to get further through the campaign. But hey, an homage to the retro classics ought to be hard like those classics. An auto-fire would have been fun too, because I’ve been mashing the Z key like crazy to use the regular weapon. And if that’s the only flaws I can think of, I can live with that! Maybe I’m just bad at it, as it took me forever to actually learn to use the sliding dodge with the X key effectively. The game seems aware of its own difficulty, as several achievements are handed out when you perform poorly at the game.

I recommend this one, just be ready for one Heck of a challenge. Juanito Arcade Challenge is available for 9.99$.

(Also, oh hey, it's my birthday today.)

Quick Review: INK

I’m tasked with painting an accurate picture of this game; I thINK I will do just fine.

Wall-jumping and double-jumping.
In theory, those two abilities can get you anywhere.
You better get good at using them.

INK is a creation of ZackBellGames and was published to Steam on August 5th, 2015. In this abstract game, you control Roy G. Biv, a simple white square, moving around grand areas of emptiness. Roy leaves colors behind wherever it goes. It can jump on walls and even double jump; and when it double jumps, it splatters color all over the place. You can’t see the platforms until you color them by your movements and jumps. No seeing red doors and painting them black here. The bottom of the screen will kill you; normal, it’s like endless pits, right? Wrong! While later levels can scroll up, down, left or right, coming into contact with the edge of a level, be it the very top, the far left or the far right, will also kill Roy. At least, when Roy died, he splatters some more color, so you can see the level a little better.

Getting tougher...

Every leap is a leap of faith.

I’m a bit green at this; I’m sure Roy will end up black and blue by the end. Well, it dies in a single hit. Good thing it’s not leaving only red behind, huh? Not like its fellow “lives in a platformer Hell” indie star Meat Boy. Well, Roy has roughly the same life expectancy – it dies if it merely brushes something dangerous, be it spikes or enemies (said enemies are, also, simple shapes). It may not be quite Platform Hell, but damn if it comes close. When there’s an achievement for dying 500 times in a game that contains 75 levels, you have some idea of the difficulty. It’s almost sadistic – but again, if you played anything like Super Meat Boy, then you know what the game is like. Let’s just say, I made use of some, ahem, colorful language on several occasions.

You know things are serious when they get their guns out.

Yes, all the clear triangles are guns.
All the full triangles are bullets.
And you are an almost-defenseless square.

As usual, new elements get added over time. Spikes; enemies to kill; cannons that shoot in straight lines; moving platforms; keys and locks; and cannons that shoot Roy-seeking missiles. Lord knows the platforming wasn’t already hard enough!

The graphics are simple, which is the point – part of the gameplay involves adding color to the world, after all. The music’s fine as well. As for the skill level required… I won’t lie, it’s a tough game, and my fingers even hurt when I finished it. If you like extra-hard games, it’s right up your alley. Heck, if you’ve got determination and patience, have too much free time, and are a little bit crazy like me, you can probably finish it after some time. Hey, I got the 500 deaths achievement on my first playthrough. It’s a fun one.

INK costs about 4.99$ on Steam.

Quick Review: Gone Home

(Warning: Spoilers.)

It's dark in here today!
...Oh right, it's like 1 AM.

It's not all that much brighter inside, either...

Coming back on June 7th, 1995, after a year-long trip across Europe, the 21yo Katie Greenbriar arrives at her folks' house in the middle of a rainstorm only to find it empty; not a trace of her parents and sister. Several electronics are gone as well. What’s going on? What went on?

Gone Home is a creation of the studio Fullbright and was released to Steam on August 15, 2013. Some people have taken to calling it an environmental narrative game (which is the polite way of saying “walking simulator”), and the devs themselves want it to be described as a combat-free, puzzle-free experience. So, uh, an exploration narrative game? I’ll go with that.

We don't have any positive attitude left at home, remind
me to pass by the store and buy some later.

Ah, their dad is a writer! ...with a creepy fascination
for the Kennedy assassination. Hm.

You control Katie walking around this enormous mansion and making discoveries. Her sister Samantha has left several pages of a personal journal behind, detailing the story of her life while Katie was abroad. Documents and items left lying about also reveal more about Katie’s family – her granduncle, to whom this mansion used to belong to, and of course her own parents, who've got their own personal struggles. Still, the star of the show, so to speak, is Sam and her discovering her budding homosexuality. …Don’t go “Spoilers!” at me, the game is seven years old and Gone Home has actually become fairly well-known for discussing the topic.

That was definitely created by teenagers.

Several facets of that subject are brought up, from questioning oneself, being unsure of the feelings, uncertainty and doubt, to the clear sentiment of love developing for that person of the same gender, to the confirmation from both people, to the “Okay, we’re a thing now” realization and, later, casualness when talking about it. Also remember that this is set in 1995; homophobia was far more prevalent at the time, 25 years ago, and it's represented in Katie and Sam's parents, who oscillate from unsure to outright hostile regarding Sam's relationship with the girl she loves, Lonnie. Lastly, this is about two teenage girls who, on top of dealing with these feelings, are also bound to make bad decisions when it comes to interpersonal relationships, as teenagers tend to do. I am trying my best to not spoil any precise details, but mistakes are made, both by Sam and Lonnie.

Katie, you snooped around your parents' bedroom and
you found a condom. You're 21, get over it.

...I feel called out.

As is usual of this type of game, the gameplay is minimal; move around with WASD, crouch with C, look at the inventory and map with I and M; and trust me, this house is so big that you’ll need the map to find your way around. This place is enormous. You can pick up items with the Left mouse button, and spin them around to study them with the Right button (useful to read the front and back covers of books, as an example). It’s possible to toss items with the Left button as well. The biggest issue I have with the controls is that the protagonist, Katie, is unbearably slow. Even if you can make her walk faster, it still feels like she’s carrying an engine block on her back. According to the devs, it’s a story and gameplay decision, as explained in this thread on the Forums. It’s still annoying, and would actually discourage me from playing through it again. It’s so, so, so slow. And if you want to find all 23 pages of the journal and their associated voice clips, you can’t leave a room unvisited, a stone unturned, a lock unopened.

There's a lot of things to find around the house, as well
as a few locks to open... just gotta figure out how.

To the game’s credit, those who want to explore the mansion in greater depth have extra quests for collectibles – Katie can find pins of bands Sam likes as well as tape cassettes and cassette boxes, finding aevery one of each (and playing every cassette in a radio) unlocks achievements. There’s also a handful of Easter Eggs to find, most of which are covered in the Steam fan-made guides. And if you want to read everyone’s story, there’s enough documentation for a few hours. With postcards lying about, you can even follow Katie's trip across Europe!

Barring the issue of Katie walking slowly, the game is good. I have a couple issues with the story itself, but when one takes into account that the story is being told by a teenager, some of the poor decisions made by Sam and Lonnie make more sense. The house is fun to explore and has many secrets, and while it's huge, a handful of shortcuts exist.

It’s a fine experience, which you can find on Steam for 14.99$.

Quick Review: Flight of the Paladin

Quick, kill that gargoyle before it turns to stone.

A creation of Grizzly Wolf Games LLC, Flight of the Paladin was released on October 23rd, 2015. The concept is simple: A knight on horseback on a quest to kill Count Dracula. Only problem, he’s stuck on a straight path with trees and walls in the way. And there are enemies all over the place. Oh, and his horse’s brakes have been cut.

This almost feels like a shmup; the horse never stops galloping, and you control the horse going left, right, up and down; hitting an obstacle is an instant game over. The Paladin has two attacks: A shot that goes forward, and a circular attack around himself that takes a moment to charge. Neither attack can hit all targets. The Paladin has no further protection. HP? Sure, he’s got some, but I never figured out how much. The video I recorded of my playthrough doesn't even show a health bar.

And yes, there are bosses. And regular enemies don't
stop coming while you fight them.

The enemies? Oh, that’s pleasant. The witch that flies from the left; the gargoyle that flies from the right and turns into an indestructible, but still harmful, stone if it crosses the Paladin vertically. Swarms of bats. Hands coming out of the ground, which can only be hurt by the circular attack. The worst of them all? Wolves that come from behind to bite the Paladin – and since you cannot aim backwards, they can only be hurt by the circular attack. Fuck, since you must keep an eye on the trees and walls (whose waves seem to be randomized), you’ll always be at the bottom of the screen, sometimes you can’t see these fucking wolves coming, sometimes you won’t know they’re there until they hurt you. No warning signs, no indicators, nothing! That’s very bad game design.

Yeah, I fucking hate those wolves.

The campaign mode only has three levels, with a boss at the end of each, but that’s not too bad for the first two. The last one is Dracula, the wolves and walls still appear, and the vampire tosses swarms of bats! Yeah, nope. Game, I flip you the bird. Want worse? The even harder Survival Mode, in which you must try to beat the whole game in one sitting without dying.

I hate this Dracula, but I hate these fucking walls even more.

That’s all there is to this one, really. Graphics are pretty bland, and the game uses four public domain classical tracks that are very commonly associated to horror and chaos. If you’ve never heard of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Toccata and Fugue, just look it up – you’ve heard it, trust me. Same for Edvard Grieg’s In The Hall of the Mountain King. Nice choices, but the soundtrack gets old quick with only four tracks. The gameplay is annoying, but the difficulty is just right for the first two levels of the campaign. Third one, I can’t even finish. Of course, perhaps it would help if we had indications of incoming enemies from the bottom of the screen or, for Christ's sake, a health bar somewhere!

I don’t recommend it. It's really bad. But hey, if you do want it, it’s over on Steam for 1.99$.

Quick Review: Five Nights at Freddy's 4

I'm at home this time. It can't be as bad as being
in THOSE restaurants... at night... right?

It’s good to shake things up once in a while. The FNAF series seemed to stick to a formula for three games, then had its first major change here. More would come as the franchise would depart from its roots, and not always in successful ways (hello, Freddy’s World), but this marked a turn. It was an outlier in the franchise for a while, trading the security guard for a scared child and the security office for a house, and it’s only with some of the later entries in the franchise that fans figured out its role in the greater plot of the series.

Five Nights at Freddy's 4, released on July 23rd, 2015 (wow it's been almost exactly 5 years!) is about a kid trying his damndest to protect himself from malevolent (literally called Nightmare) versions of the animatronics of Fredbear’s Pizza, which are desperately trying to get into his bedroom. These things have got what looks like seven rows of goddamned teeth, and have never looked more like monsters. And they weren’t exactly angels in the previous three games either, y’know.

This one looks nice. Must again resist desire to boop...
*honk*
Dammit, I'm weak-willed.

Oh no, not you again... well, at least you're
smaller than last time...

The kid has full knowledge of his room, and knows what to do to keep the monsters at bay – sometimes, merely closing doors will suffice. And holding them closed, too! What’s that in the closet? Foxy? Begone, demon! Are those little Freddies on the bed? I must flash them with this trusted flashlight. And moving to stop one of them exposes him to the others. I’ll get through these nightmarish nights even if it’s the last thing I do! Just gotta… gotta hold on for… a couple nights. Yes… If my life depends on it… I can survive a little longer…

One of the smartest (and most devious) ideas Scott had for this one is that you must always pay attention to the sounds you hear, as they’re the only way the protagonist has to figure out what’s coming. This is in contrast to previous games, in which one could play without sound if they liked, as long as they knew how to deal with each animatronic. No sound = weaker jump scares, amirite? Here, the sound must be turned on.

Oh, you just KNOW something's about to come out.

As usual, between nights, scenes delivered in an 8bit style show more of this kid’s story, also explaining how he wound up in this dire situation. Why these things seem so dead-set on killing him within the confines of his own home, where he cannot escape. There ought to be some interesting subtext in there.

Once again, I’ve been a bit too much of a chicken to see this one to the end. I’m of the type that prefers to read up on the lore of this series, rather than experience it myself. However, I do appreciate the attempt at something different. All of the later games would play around with the base idea of the pizzeria populated by pernicious personages, further developing the story – but this is where Cawthon started breaking out of the formula, and later games only turned out better for it. (Again, except maybe Freddy’s World.)

To think this franchise has a movie in the works, and more games are still being made with both VR and AR as new playgrounds. By this point, you’ve got to wonder if it’s ever going to end, or if it’s going to go the way of “Jason X: Jason In Space”. Let’s hope the series will actually, y’know, conclude someday.

Christ, these particular animatronics have more teeth
than an entire school of manticores.

FNAF 4 is available on Steam for about 7.99$.

Quick Review: Five Nights at Freddy's 3

In hindsight, Scott Cawthon released so many entries for the FNAF series in such a short timespan in 2014/2015 that one can’t help but be impressed. It’s still a pretty famous series of horror games, with simple concepts covering a complex storyline unraveled in bits and pieces, provided you’re not such a scaredy cat as to give up at the first jump scare.

Must resist desire to boop the Freddy nose...
*honk*
Sorry, couldn't resist!

Even though I bought a bundle containing all of the FNAF games that had come out at that time (from the first to Sister Location), I am actually quite reticent to playing them. It’s not that I don’t like jump scares… well, I am not a huge fan of them, really, I prefer horror that settles in slowly, creeps into your mind with horrifying implications and freakish imagery. The jump scares in FNAF push me away, however the horror of the overarching storyline of this franchise more than makes up for it. It's fun to piece together the new details learned in each new game, to arrive to new and terrifying conclusions. But the gameplay itself feels bland to me. I know the point is to use the tools wisely in order to avoid jump scares. It doesn’t really do it for me.

Springtrap playing peek-a-boo with the camera.

Maybe I should talk about the game, though. Five Nights at Freddy's 3, released on March 2nd, 2015 takes place in the 2010s/2020s, a few decades after most of the action in the franchise. The old Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza has been reinvented as a “haunted house” type of attraction. They even found an old, decrepit animatronic to fill the shoes of the long-gone heroes of the Freddy lore. Don’t mind the mold in him, that’s normal, it’s a really old suit. Anyway, this place needs a night watchman too, right? Go in there, six hours a night, and keep this place safe! What’s the worst that could happen: Springtrap turning out to be just like the killer animatronics this place housed in the ‘80s? That’s just folk tales, man. K bye, good luck!

Oh yeah, by the by, can you also spend time repairing the
automated systems? This 2020 place has 1980
technology.

Among the gameplay mechanics to keep track of, there’s the usual panning shot of the room and looking at the place’s several cameras, but there’s also a new system of vents that the monster animatronic of the day can slip in to jumpscare you. In spite of this taking place in the 2010s or 2020s, the systems are all out of whack; you need to pull up a menu to reset the ventilation, the camera systems and/or the audio devices. Phantom versions of the known animatronics may appear and mess with your perception and tools, so there is more strategy than it seems at first.

Between nights, short 8bit scenes will reveal details about the history of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, and explain more about that mysterious Purple Man. The game itself is actually rather short, with only four main nights (and during the first one, nothing happens). To compensate, Springtrap is smarter and less predictable than animatronics of games past, which may make one believe there’s something weirder going on with him…

Well doesn't he just look jolly.

In short: Not terrible, but one of the more forgettable entries in the franchise. Some clever ideas here and there, but it feels lacking overall. It’s not quite as scary as other games, and to be honest, Springtrap looks silly coming in smiling like that; but knowing the level of detail Cawthon put into everything in FNAF, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a reason for it. Skippable, unless you play for the franchise’s story and want the valuable plot puzzle pieces that this entry hands out.

FNAF 3 is available on Steam for about 7.99$.

Quick Review: Ellipsis

Created by Salmi Games, Ellipsis, released to Steam on January 25th, 2017, is described on the store page as an Avoid ‘Em Up.

I barely need to say more, really; that says everything. Still, to fill out a full review, I can say it’s a puzzle/action game in which you control a circle around the screen. Obstacles appear, color-coded; walls, deadly lasers and enemies, boxes and so on. With the mouse, carry the circle around, avoiding the murderous shapes and ships.

The picture is forming.

Collect circles, avoiod ships.
Sounds simple. It gets hard real quick.

Blue circles appear on the screen, each one containing one more dot than the previous one. Your task is to collect the first four, and then enter the portal that appears. Upon hitting a circle, it vanishes and the dots it contains may fly off – it’s in your best interest to gather them all. When the portal appears, so does a fifth and final circle, with (of course) five dots inside of it. You can play safe and head into the portal, or take risks and collect those dots as well. Do note that the area’s dangers increase with each circle reached, so it can be difficult to get the final one before getting into the portal.

At the end of a level, the game counts how many dots you gathered, and you get a score in stars, with 5 dots per star as well as a completion bonus. Sometimes, a level will include a timer, a green line on top of the screen; beating that level quickly will reward you with more dots. In those levels (and in the others as well, I’m sure), it’s possible to reach a top score of 5 stars by also collecting all of the timer dots.

Attack towers now?
Come on, that's noithing yet.

At any moment, you can come back to the map screen to see the beautiful, large image that forms as your circle is, apparently, trying to sneak into a castle and being forced to make a long detour around to reach its goal. I love how later levels play around with mechanics, such as having switches that activate things around a screen, or the goalposts appears and it’s moving along to the obstacles… There’s even a few bosses in there, too! They can be destroyed by passing close to blue explosive obstacles. For those who are interested, there's also a level editor!

This is getting along great! The last levels must be torture.

I don’t know if I’m ever going to finish it, but I enjoyed what I’ve played so far. The style is minimalist, abstract even, and there’s no music either, so the focus is on the gameplay. Over 150 levels, with small changes to the gameplay between sections. It’s a pretty good game. Look for it on Steam for 9.99$.